by Aaron Crash
Pru sounded like she was talking from far away. “We don’t have his number, Chaz. We could call Javier Jones. Juice boy said he was in town.”
Chazzie couldn’t get the words out, but she didn’t trust Javier. For all they knew, he was working with Carlo Bart. Why else would he be in Odessa, Texas, of all places?
Chazzie closed her eyes. Damn, she was going, going, going…
If she lost consciousness, Pru might die. Chazzie had to try to cast a Magica Cura spell. But they’d been winning for so long, they’d forgotten how to lose.
SEVENTEEN
Steven took 87 going south, headed for Odessa, Texas. Aria activated the topaz pen, and it showed them the location of the red intertwined circles. Tessa confirmed the location with the maps on her phone.
Back at the Heart’s Desire Inn, he’d stuffed himself with sausages, biscuits, and gravy—so much gravy, so many sausages, and several pans of biscuits. Once the woman at the B&B ran out of gravy, Steven ate them with strawberry jam and then honey and then fuck it, he hit the Nutella. Hard. He most likely drank a gallon of milk. He’d left behind a few hundred-dollar bills because he’d felt bad eating all that.
Aria napped in the passenger seat, cute feet on the dashboard. They’d gotten a late checkout so Steven could take care of her and Mouse one at a time, since Mouse didn’t like the group thing.
Ah, Mouse, she liked to ride him hard, bouncing up and down, smiling, sighing, laughing, and moaning. Even though she’d softened a bit in her day-to-day dealings with the other women in his Escort, she still liked their sex hard.
She sat in the second row behind Aria. Zoey was in the middle with Tessa holding her hand. Sabina was in the wayback, preparing herself for the next round of burning. The idea of the torture put a knot in Steven’s gut. He hoped she knew what she was doing.
They were all relaxing, not listening to music, just watching the flat nothing drift by. A big blue sky and lots of dry ground, browned by winter. They breezed through towns and saw signs supporting the local high school football team. They were in Friday Night Lights country all right. Steven thought it was kind of cool that people followed the careers of normal pimply teenagers with more interest than the NFL draft.
“This isn’t Wyoming flat. This is like Kansas flat,” Tessa suddenly said. “It makes me want to do geometry for some reason. Maybe because I miss the ‘Y’ axis.”
Steven laughed. For a high school dropout, Tessa had surprising knowledge about a whole range of subjects.
His phone buzzed. He went to answer it, but Tessa lunged forward and plucked it out of his hands. “No, I’ll take it. You’re driving.” The barista was all about safety first. Unless she was jumping out of buildings with broadswords.
“Hey, Bud,” she said. “No, he’s driving. Okay. Yeah, Javier Jones. He called you. Really. Uh, okay. Hey, Steven, do you want to talk with Javier Jones?” Tessa asked.
And the day just got a whole lot more interesting.
“You mean talk to him on the phone?” Steven asked.
“Yeah,” Tessa said, “so, one of his guys wanted to get in touch with you. They called our consigliere, and then Bud called us. Javier is in Odessa. And he says the Wayne twins reached out to him. They need your help. They seem to be in Odessa as well.”
It all seemed way too convenient. He spotted a turnout, slowed, and crunched onto the gravel. Aria was awake but quiet.
A semi thundered past them, shaking the SUV.
Steven got out with his phone in his hand. This was going to be an important call, and he wanted some privacy. He walked to the edge of the turnout, an ocean of scrub and weeds reaching to a fence post tangled in rusted barbed wire. The smell of winter grass reached him. He didn’t call Bud back. He dialed the Wayne twins.
“Hey, Stevie,” Pru whispered. “Are you wearing your white hat today?”
He didn’t correct her about his name. She sounded terrible. “Uh, sure. I like being a hero. What’s up? Javier Jones contacted my lawyer, er, junior lawyer.” Bud hadn’t passed the bar yet.
“Me and Chazzie got our butts kicked by your Sounders. Tore up from the floor up. They had this armor, magically enhanced, bulletproof and Exhalant proof. Grenades weren’t very effective either, but the exploding trucks did take out at least one bear. We managed to escape with most of our skin, but not all. Chazzie might be… she might not make it.” The tough woman swallowed hard, like if she didn’t, she might sob. “I’m not much better. You probably think this is a trap. It’s not. We need you.”
Steven paced across the ground. His Escort, except for Sabina and Zoey, got out of Jeeves the Escalade. Zoey had been on edge since they’d entered Texas and started seeing the names of towns. This was the same region where she’d run with the Sounders doing God knows what.
“Yeah,” Steven said, “sorry, Pru. It’s a little too convenient, you and Javier and this Juice Juice all being in Odessa at the same time. We looked up the population. It’s not like it’s Dallas or Houston.”
“Aw, snap, Steven. Believe me, we are not used to calling out in our time of need. But we were following through with the Sounders. We went there working for you. Doesn’t that mean anything?” Her voice was becoming feathery.
“Where are you at?” he asked.
“I pulled Chaz into a utility shed, by some old oil derrick near Bluebird Road and 302. We’re west of Odessa proper on your way to Kermit. Tried to call last night but lost consciousness. Got ahold of Javier this morning. Didn’t tell him much.” A pause. “I can turn on my phone’s GPS signal. You can download an app to track it. I gotta go. I’m either going to puke or pass out or both. Hopefully… not… both…”
Static crackled through the speakers, and then he heard a thump. He lost the connection a second later.
They were at least five hours away from Odessa. Everything was bigger in Texas, especially the travel distances.
He did not want to split up. But he could make the flight in a little over an hour as a dragon. Aria and Mouse could go with him.
His Escort approached. He told them about Pru’s call.
Aria shrugged. “We let them die. In the end, they are like Cassius Pine. We can’t trust them.”
“Not like Cassius Pine,” Mouse corrected. “They didn’t butcher my family. And the twins did help save Steven in Chicago. We have no reason not to trust them.”
“Point taken,” Aria said easily.
“What do you think, Tessa?” Steven asked.
The barista puffed out her cheeks, thinking. “Of course you go and save them. Remember, I’m the soft, squishy filling in the Twinkie that is our Escort.”
“What is a Twinkie?” Aria asked.
Tessa sighed. “It’s a golden sponge cake with a creamy filling. And it wants you to go save those girls. To put it another way, the enemy of our enemy is our friend. If the twins got jacked up by the Sounders, it sounds like they’ll help us fight back.”
“No,” Mouse hissed. “No Sounder-slash-sounded puns. Please, I have a weak stomach.”
“Sorry,” Tessa said. “And I looked it up. Not only are they a shape-shifting cult that live in the Texarkana Primacy, the Sounders are a Seattle soccer team. I knew the name seemed familiar.”
Steven gritted his teeth and made a decision. “Tessa, you’ll drive with Zoey and Sabina. Aria, Mouse, and I will go.” He walked over to the Escalade. Breaking the news to Zoey wasn’t going to be easy. She was already terrified.
When she saw the look on his face, her lower lip trembled. Tears filled her eyes. “Brave, confident, and alone?”
“Not alone,” he said. “Tessa and Sabina will be with you.”
But for her, being without him was being alone. She closed her eyes and nodded. “I’ll be okay. We’ll hurry to get to you.”
That made Steven smile. “Please do.” Then he went to retrieve Samael’s Lash. While he couldn’t use it as a whip yet, it had cut through the magical armor covering the Morphlings. If only the Wayne twins had b
een lucky enough to have an ancient weapon like his. Too bad he hadn’t unlocked all its secrets yet.
Tessa helped Aria and Mouse gather their gear, including the Slayer Blade.
Once he was ready, Steven called Javier Jones’ number.
An accented voice answered. “Hola, Steven Drokharis. I’m standing near an oil derrick off Bluebird Road in what I believe is still Odessa, Texas. It’s in Ector County, for certain. That would be important to humans. All that matters to you and me is that we are both inside the Texarkana Primacy, and things are not what they seem.”
Steven smiled grimly. Plot twist. “Well, are they alive or dead?” he asked.
“I haven’t gone inside. I’ve been thinking about what to do since they called me. Curious they have my number. But then, the Wayne twins are not to be taken lightly. And, ese, this entire continent might be better off if they both did die.” Javier’s voice was light and obviously intelligent.
“Why do you say that?” Steven asked.
“I’m assuming you are coming to help them, no?” Javier asked. “We can talk more when you get here.”
Aria and Mouse had their bags ready for flight. Mouse had the Slayer Blade slung over her back. They must’ve seen the troubled look on his face because Tessa looked worried.
Mouse was more direct. “For the love of biscuits, what is it now?”
Steven held up a finger. “Are we fighting today, Javier? Is that the game you want to play?”
“I’m here alone. I’ll be right here. When you gave your speech in Chicago, you said that you were not seeking an empire just yet. I have not harmed you or your Escort nor any of your vassals. So we’re clean, ese, at this point.”
“Are we?” Steven asked. “Funny, you’re in Texas, and the assassins coming after me are in Texas.”
“Big state. Come alone. We’ll talk. I’m gonna hang up now. But I don’t mean you any disrespect.”
The line went dead.
“Holy shit,” Steven said. “That was Javier Jones. He’s with the twins, but he’s not sure if he wants to save them or not.”
Mouse threw up her hands. “Oh, perfect, that is just wonderful. Kill me now. No, wait, I’ll just save that for the inevitable ambush.”
Steven glanced at Aria. “What do you think?”
“I think we’re going in,” she said. “The plan is the same. But Mouse and I will be standing by. Tessa, Sabina, and Zoey will join us.”
“We’ll get there as quick as we can,” Tessa added.
Steven thought about it for a minute. Sabina’s divination skills would definitely give them an edge in any fight. Tessa’s shield work and guns were a deadly combination. She could blow the shit out of you, but you couldn’t get to her. As for Zoey, in her bear form, she was a fucking tank with three-inch claws and a whole mess of pissed-off grizzly. He’d not seen her fight, but just her sheer size would help keep the three of them safe. Especially if anyone was trying to hurt them. Just the thought of Zoey’s rage put a smile on Steven’s face. She’d thrown him around in bed. He knew from experience how strong she was, and how aggressive, when her heart settled on something.
He kissed Tessa. Aria cast the Magica Defensio spell. And then the three of them shifted into dragons and took off through the cool Texas winter air. They’d follow the strip of highway 87 south to Odessa, which seemed to have become the center of a Dragonsoul shitstorm.
EIGHTEEN
Steven landed on Bluebird Road, about half a mile away from the oil derrick. He then slipped on jeans, boots, and a shirt. He slung Samael’s Lash over his shoulder and started walking. Mouse and Aria would remain dragons, circling in the air above him. Any trouble, and they would scream down from the sky and engage the enemy.
Yet Steven didn’t think there would be a fight. He was putting a lot of stock in Javier’s nod in Chicago. At some point in his adventures, someone said that not all the Dragonlords wanted things to remain the same. Some wanted revolution as much as Steven’s father had. Was Javier one of them?
The light was changing as the sun started toward the horizon. Tessa had been right. This was Texas flat, a whole new thing. He walked down the road with its chipped asphalt and fading paint, clip, clop, crunch.
The place smelled different than the Wyoming plains where he now lived. He wasn’t sure why. It was still an arid climate, but it seemed wetter somehow, the sage sweeter.
He saw Javier Jones by the derrick. The rusted building with busted-out windows sat on cracked concrete fifty feet away. The oil company must’ve sucked out all the gas because everything was in disrepair and ruin. It seemed oddly fitting to be meeting Javier there.
He crunched his way across the cement and then swished through weeds and dirt. Every nerve in Steven’s body was alive. He was tired from flying in, but they’d gone slower to conserve energy, less DragonStrength and less SerpentGrace. He was low on Animus, but he still had enough to defend himself.
Javier’s beard was thicker, and his hair was more salt-and-peppered than the last time Steven had seen him. His dark eyes had long lashes on them, and he knew most women would find him irresistible. He stood in a gray suit with a black shirt. He was solidly built, a little shorter than Steven, but the man radiated power. He had three Primacies under his control, one gifted to him by Rahaab himself. So Javier had met the Alpheros. Did he know about the Mirror-Souled Path?
The Dragonlord Prime nodded at Steven. “You came alone. I’m surprised.”
“I have friends close by,” Steven admitted. “In case you want a fight.”
Javier smirked. “No, no fighting. I don’t plan on coming after you at all. Do you know why?”
“Not really a question I need to answer,” Steven said. “I think you want me to know.”
The Latino Prime gave him a slight bow. “Yes. I do. You see, every one of us started to pay attention to you once you killed Rhaegen Mulk. Because you entered the game at that point. You had a Primacy. Then.” Javier snapped his fingers. “You had three. And you slew Rahaab in the process. The same Dragonsoul who gave me the Sonoran Desert Primacy, much to Rhaegen Mulk’s displeasure.”
Steven liked that Javier had called Rahaab a Dragonsoul. However, that wasn’t the case. It meant that the other Dragonlords might not know about the Mirror-Souled Path and the Alpherian abilities.
“No one has ever done what you have done, ese.” Javier inhaled. “I grew up watching American action movies. And I always wondered at the minions. They would throw themselves at the hero, even though a dozen other men died before them. Over and over. It seemed foolish. But watching the hero win was very satisfying.”
“So you’re not going to come after me because I’m the hero?” Steven asked.
Javier tilted his head. A pensive expression filled his face. “I would not say hero. But then, neither would I use the word messiah. No, you are a force in this world. Maybe hurricane or tornado is the better word. Now that you are in the world, things won’t be the same.”
“And are you okay with that?” Steven asked.
“You don’t ask a tornado to be polite. You don’t reason with a hurricane. You survive it. And that’s what I plan on doing. I want to survive you, ese. Others aren’t going to.”
For the first time since they started talking, Steven relaxed a bit. He smiled. “No, you’re right. The more Primacies I acquire, the more I’m worth. At some point the temptation becomes too great. Take me out, get a dozen Primacies, it would be worth the risk. Acquire an Escort, gather a Hoard, build Aeries. That’s what dragons do, right?”
“That’s the way it has worked, si. But that was before you came along. I look around, I see what the humans are doing, and I get nervous. I met your father at a poker game in Vegas. We talked. Stefan was worried the humans were going to destroy the planet, and he was planning an escape route. This was during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons. You get me?”
Steven nodded and thought of the doors at the top of the St. Vrain Aerie.
Javier continue
d. “Of course, Rahaab wasn’t going to let your father start opening portals. Not with the Zothoric. And so he ends your old man and his entire family. I figured that would be the end of it. No change for us. Then you come along.”
“What are you doing in Texas?” Steven asked. He wanted to get to the twins. Or was this all bullshit and Javier was just stalling him? It seemed the Latino Prime had no love for the Wayne sisters.
“Bad shit happening in this Primacy, ese. You got the Sounders coming after you, and you have the Wayne twins scheming, and then you have the Americos Chambers. The one in Odessa seems to be active. I went down there, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then, I don’t have your same mojo working for me.”
The Americos Chambers. That was as good a description as any. But were the pools connected to the three mythical brothers? Or were they Rahaab, Mathaal, and Icharaam?
“Can you do Magica Divinatio magic?” Steven asked.
Javier grinned showing straight, white teeth. “I’m not going to answer that. I’ve been straight with you, but I don’t want you thinking too hard about my strengths and weaknesses. When you go on the warpath, I want you wondering about what I can and can’t do. And it’s best you don’t know how many vassals and women I have in my Escort. It’s why I’m here alone.”
The Latino Prime grinned. “Well, part of the reason. The other part? Sometimes a man needs some time alone. Sometimes, all those women can get to you. It’s still new. You’ll see.”
Steven raised his eyebrows. Maybe. But not yet. “Okay, when I’m on the warpath, how do you want me to handle you and your Primacies?”
“Come and talk to me first. That’s all I ask. If I had wanted to make a play to take you out, I’d have tried today. Your Escort is split, and I got you alone. You have to be careful about that, ese.”
Dread filled Steven. Javier was right. They were far stronger together than apart. Had he sent forces to intercept Jeeves? Steven desperately wanted to check on them.