Persephone Alcmedi 00 - Wicked Circle

hundred-and-fifty-foot-tall turbine. Liyliy was so focused on me that she must have misgauged the rotation of the huge blade. I heard her cry out as it came down on her head.
    Taking advantage of the opportunity, I sped around the south side of the Cleveland Browns Stadium.
    Seconds later, Liyliy still wasn’t behind me.
    Just as I released a sigh of relief she dived from the opening in the upper section of the southwest corner. Apparently being smacked by the giant metal blade of a wind turbine wasn’t enough to hurt her.
    I intentioned for speed, and Liyliy’s talons raked through the broom’s straw. It caused the top of the broomstick to point up and I was carried once again into the sky. Below, Liyliy hit the ground but immediately flopped and flapped to gain altitude.
    Though my heart was racing, the cold wind was becoming more than a mere annoyance. This gown had zero warmth, but I had to escape. With a thought, I hit the open air and asked the broom for sixty miles per hour. Seventy. Eighty.
    The wind was such that I found myself again wishing for a pair of goggles like I’d seen other—albeit older —witches wear. My eyes were watering and forced shut. I managed a forward peek every few seconds to ensure that I wasn’t about to fly into a cell tower or something that might sneak up on me, though I was relatively certain that that wasn’t going to be a problem while skimming the shoreline of Lake Erie.
    The harpy was far in the distance, but not giving up.
    Ninety. A hundred.
    The skirt of my dress was flapping so hard that I heard it begin to rip. The sheer outer layer couldn’t withstand this kind of abuse. Neither could my skin; I was so cold. My body ached with exhaustion again.
    Cedar Point Amusement Park appeared when I was peeking. Behind me, I saw nothing of the owlish figure, so I dropped low and slowed, halting on the far side of the Sky Ride.
    I was panting like I’d run a race, but I hadn’t. I was just so tired. Ready to blame it on an adrenaline rush bottoming out, I thought of something that I hadn’t considered before: How does a broom fly? It’s a magical item with the specific capability of flying, but what fuels it once it’s in the air?
    There was only one answer that made any sense. Me.
    I just fueled a broom for triple-digit speed. After being drained during the forced-change spell, I didn’t have much to spare.
    Apparently, the intentions were only as good as the stamina the riding witch had to offer. I could refuel from the line, to a point anyway, but my pursuer would likely sense that and locate me, so for now, I resisted that urge. Finding cover was priority number one. The harpy might have been gone, but I needed a warm place to hide and recover. I surveyed the darkened park. There was no getting into the stairwell that led up to the ski-lift-like Sky Ride. The doors were of course locked.
    Directly across from me was the Jack Aldrich Theatre. To the north, I saw Point Pavilion. That would provide overhead cover at least. I flew under the metal roof and put my feet down atop one of the picnic tables.
    I’d just begun to feel a noticeable reduction in my pulse when a shrill screech echoed over the park. I flew to the end of the row, then crawled under the end of the farthest table and slid the broom with me. The scuffing sound of it made me grit my teeth and hope that Liyliy hadn’t heard.
    Talons clacked on the metal roof as it creaked with the weight of something large.
    Shit, shit, shit!
    Stock still, I held my breath.
    It seemed a long minute ticked away before I heard the scrape of talons leaving the roof.
    Relief flooded over me—too soon.
    Liyliy, in human form, dropped to the ground midway of the pavilion, clothed in a sheath of gray silk.
    She’d be waiting for a shift of shadow to give me away. So I remained frozen in place and watched her from the space between the seat and the underside of the table.
    Her silk fluttered into mist, stretching, searching.
    She was going to find me no matter what.
    I dropped to my stomach and rolled from under the table on the far side, dragging the broom with me and intending it up even as I rolled atop it.
    Liyliy screeched, jerking her misty-parts back to her and shifting to owl smoothly. The broom carried me over the wall to back of the pavilion area and toward the roller coaster there. Liyliy was right behind me. I swerved into the coaster’s supports, darting through where she was too big to follow. There were