The Book of Death (Bourbon Kid 4)

hood of
the car as it screeched along the icy path towards the front gates.
    ‘Are you trying to hit them
all?’ Sanchez asked as a Panda’s face splatted against the windscreen directly
in front of him.
    ‘It’s kinda hard to avoid them,’
said Flake, fighting with the steering wheel.
    Sanchez looked over his shoulder
to the back seat. The Bourbon Kid had Beth draped across his lap. He was
brushing her hair away from her face and wrapping a white rag around her neck
to stem the flow of blood from the wound Jessica had inflicted upon her.
    ‘How’s it look, man?’ Sanchez
asked.
    ‘Not good. We need to be at the
museum in a matter of minutes if we’re gonna have any chance of saving her.’
    ‘It’s eleven thirty already!’
Flake shouted back.
    ‘Then I’ve only got half an
hour,’ said the Kid. ‘Put your foot on it, Flake.’
    ‘You got it.’
    Sanchez shuffled back around in
his seat and watched Flake steer the car through the front gates and turn left
onto the road. ‘Jesus Flake, Stevie Wonder drives better than you!’ he yelled.
    ‘And he plays the piano better
than you, so shut up,’ came the reply.
    Sanchez ignored the insult. He
was just relieved to see that the road into town was free from undead monsters.
He hadn’t exactly approved of Flake’s driving on previous occasions when he’d
been in a car with her. She had a habit of hitting something every thirty
seconds, whether it be a vampire, werewolf, zombie or simply a book. At least
when Sanchez hit something like a snowman, it was intentional. With Flake at
the wheel he had to take up his default position, gripping the dashboard
tightly with both hands and hoping for the best. By some small miracle, Flake
didn’t crash into anything else for the rest of the journey to the museum, in
spite of the icy roads and her high speed driving.
    After a ten-minute rollercoaster
ride across town, she parked up right outside the front of the museum.
    ‘We’re here,’ she yelled back to
the Kid.
    He was already opening the back
door and climbing out. He slammed it behind him and stepped onto the pavement.
Instead of racing straight into the museum he tapped on Sanchez’s window.
Sanchez wound it down a few inches.
    ‘Whassup?’ he asked.
    The Kid leaned as far into the
space at the top of the window as he could. ‘Flake, take care of Beth for me.
I’ll be back as quick as I can.’
    ‘Sure thing,’ said Flake. ‘Good
luck!’
    The Kid dashed off up the stairs
to the museum. Sanchez wound his window back up and peered over his shoulder at
the back seat. Beth was laid out in a state of unconsciousness, her head rested
against the seat. She was barely breathing. It was entirely possible that she
might either die or transform into a vampire at any minute. ‘We best stay up
front,’ he suggested.
    Flake scowled at him. ‘She’s dying, for goodness’ sake. I’m gonna go sit in the back with her to make sure she’s
okay.’
    ‘Fair enough,’ said Sanchez. He
reached down and picked up The Book With No Name, which Flake had thrown onto
the floor by his feet when she got into the car. ‘I’ll keep hold of this book
in case she transforms and we have to kill her.’
    Flake had just opened the
driver’s side door to climb out. She hesitated and looked back at The Book With
No Name in Sanchez’s hands. ‘Oh shit!’ she said, wide eyed. ‘The Kid’s gone
into the museum without the book! You’d better take it and run in after him!’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I promised I’d stay here with
Beth. You’d better run on in after the Kid and give him the book. He’ll never
get the Eye of the Moon back without it!’
    Sanchez looked out of his
window. The front door of the museum was open. The Kid had already gone through
it. If Sanchez wanted to catch up with him before he confronted Rameses Gaius
he was going to have to get a move on. He tucked The Book With No Name under
his arm and opened the car door. As he climbed out, Flake raced around from the
other side of the car. She opened the back door so that she could climb in and attend
to Beth. Before she climbed in she hesitated. Then she reached out and grabbed
a hold of Sanchez’s arm. She pulled him over to her.
    ‘What now?’ he asked.
    ‘I wanted to say thanks for
pulling me clear from the fire earlier.’
    ‘Oh. Yeah.’ He found himself
blushing as he thought back to the moment he had dragged her away from the
fire. ‘Well, y’know,’ he mumbled, ‘you’re my ride