To Elayra’s relief, Ghent had understood. Almost as quickly as she had drawn her dagger, he lunged between the two front seats at Miles’ arm. Trying to make sure to give Ghent ample room as he grappled with Miles for the gun, she reached her other arm around to the front along with her weapon to try forcing Miles’ back into the seat so he had less leverage. The garbage littering the floor shifted beneath her feet as she partially stood to get as good a grip as possible around both seat and man.
 	Luckily for Miles, even in his insanity, he had enough sense to give in at the lick of the dagger’s blade. His roar made their triumph glitter in her eyes. At last, they had the upper hand against him. And Ghent had even played his part well.
	The triumph turned into rage as she let their situation fully settled in her. Now, she had no need to play the obedient peacekeeper. [i]They[/i] were at no one's mercy but time's.
	“Shut it,” she hissed in his ear at his all but incoherent rant as Ghent gave his own order. She spared him half a glance when he raised his commandeered weapon, wondering if he could even use it without her getting caught in the crossfire.
 	She checked her grip on the dagger, keeping it firm and her arm steady in case Miles decided to try pulling it from him, or had another trick hidden up his sleeve. Incapable of seeing his face well from her position, she kept an eye out for any sign he planned to retaliate, her body ever ready to react should he so much as twitch, a predator watching its rival. She snorted and opened her mouth to respond to his prediction, but Ghent beat her to it.
	At his demand for Miles to get out, she shot Ghent a glance that said, ‘Not yet!’ but she did not dare look away from Miles for long. He seemed about as confident of Ghent’s abilities with the gun as she was, and did not appear to be taking her threat much more seriously, to her annoyance. It made him only that much more unpredictable. 
	She smirked when Ghent gave his warning about her. In emphasis, she adjusted the blade and added enough pressure behind it so it was unnervingly close to breaking skin. 
	“While it wouldn’t surprise me if Ghent passed out at the sight of blood,” she began in a low, menacing voice. Her smirk faded, replaced with dour indignation and determination, “it doesn’t bother [i]me[/i] one bit. So, unless you want your corpse to provide a distraction for the cops, you’re going to answer a few questions. Lie, and I’ll make sure you die slowly. Simple as that.”
	She took a quick breath, giving him little room to object before spitting the first of her questions at him, closely watching his reactions as well as she could, using the rearview mirror to her advantage. “Who [i]are[/i] you, Miles? Why are you after us? By order of the Red Queen?” Though she was certain the Sorceress would not use someone like him, she had to ask. “How do you know about the portals?”