Lamp Riders: A Jinn Motorcycle Gang Novella (7 page)

“I don’t even know you.  You could still be an evil villain or serial killer.”

“Based on your moves earlier, I’m pretty sure you could take me out even if I was. But I’m not a serial killer. I do kill the ladies with my good looks, though.”

Celia rolled her eyes but couldn’t help a small grin from appearing. It was so tempting just to jump on the bike. Granted, she had real concerns about how Abdul was going to make Pico into a shopkeeper, and she had never done anything so stupidly risky before in her life as jumping on a stranger’s bike. The desert had done nothing but teach her how bad risk could be in a land that suffered no fools. However, on the other hand, she was truly worried about turning into human jerky under the blistering sun, watching tumbleweeds roll by until she turned to dust. Everyone said she needed to escape, and maybe they were right.

“It’ll be a quick trip?”

“Anything you want. Hop on!” Abdul walked over to the bike and hopped on.

“One trip then. Just to see it,” Celia said suddenly, before she could change her mind. She grabbed the helmet that had magically appeared in the air in front of her and stuck it on her head. It fit perfectly.

Abdul’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he gave a loud whoop of joy as she climbed on to the back of his bike. As she settled in behind him, he grabbed her hands and pulled them tight around his waist. He was warm and felt like a brick wall.

“Hope you don’t mind being close. Because I certainly don’t,” he pronounced happily, turning on the bike’s engine and starting to back away from the store.

“Is...Pico a human now? Promise me my parents are safe.”

“Eh, I can’t make him perfectly normal. He’ll look like a guy with a wicked skin disease and have a weird fascination with lettuce. But don’t you worry; he’ll be the politest worker your store has ever seen. Most meth heads who stumble in won’t even notice.”

“I guess that works,” she mumbled, holding on tightly to him.

The bike roared down the road, blurring the browns of the desert into a swirling mass of muddy soup. Celia had never traveled this fast before, and she wasn’t even sure if they were still in the ground. She looked down and saw the desert slowly slinking away beneath them. They were definitely not on the ground.

“What is your land like? I bet it’s beautiful with lots of big trees and lush meadows. Crazy waterfalls, even!” she shouted out, trying to avoid looking at the ground.

“It is actually a desert,” Abdul said, hitting the gas and making the bike lurch forward even faster.

“WHAT?!” she screamed over the roaring wind.

“You’ll like it!” Abdul shouted back, squeezing one of her hands with his own. Even with the wind rushing around them, his voice sounded like it was right in her ear.

With that, Celia found herself starting on her greatest adventure. The daughter of Viento Frio, so long shackled to that dusty town, was finally free. After yelling at Abdul for not disclosing they were going to yet another desert, she settled into the seat and looked out at the vast sands of her home state as they flew off. It was perhaps the recklessness of youth, but she felt prepared to take on anything that day. She felt like she was finally starting on the adventure she was always meant to take. The fact that the adventure included a hot genie and a flying motorcycle was certainly unexpected, but she wasn’t going to question it. She decided just to enjoy the ride.

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