by Richard Amos
“You want to go to the gates?” Sam questioned.
Phil grunted. He was a troll of practically zero words.
“Yeah. We … were heading that way.”
Sam folded her arms. “I don’t need to know the details. Just kill the dragon and,” she turned to Nay, “don’t get yourselves killed.”
Nay kissed her cheek.
“We can do this,” I added. “Race up there, go into the gates and let the dragon follow.”
Sam frowned but said nothing.
“There’s nothing else we can do,” Dean said. “I’ll go with that.”
“I can hotwire a car,” Greg offered. “We’ll need something fast from the get go.” His face twisted in thought for a moment. “I know exactly where to get one from.”
“Then let’s move,” Nay said, planting another kiss on Sam.
“Be safe, baby,” Sam whispered.
“And you.”
These survivors would be safe here with the trolls. This was their territory, and they defended it fiercely. As long as we got the dragon away, they’d be okay.
“By the way,” Sam added. “Got some beasts locked up in the wine cellar if you wouldn’t mind dealing with them when you get back? Little shits ruined five barrels of beer. I need them dead, but then the dragon came. No worries now, only mushies.”
What the hell was a mushie? I’d look it up on the app when this was over. “No problem.”
“Thanks. Go kill a dragon.”
Words I never would’ve expected to hear in my lifetime.
Chapter Eleven
We took the alleyway that ran behind The Mermaid, making a left down another and heading straight into Mystique Square.
The right side of the shopping precinct was in flames. Soon it would spread and consume the lot.
“Can you make it rain?” I asked Nay.
“Not without Karla,” she replied sadly.
It was worth an ask.
Her candle shop was a victim of the fire. She didn’t say anything, didn’t even look in that direction.
I could hear the beating of the dragon’s wings, but it wasn’t above Baby Rainbow. In fact, the street was still untouched by the fire as of yet, though it would spread eventually.
My sparks were still on, flashing hungrily.
“This way,” Greg said, taking point.
We followed. How the hell were we gonna put this out? “Can the goblins do it?” They’d managed to put the city back together after the shadow twins drama.
“I really hope so, babe,” Nay answered.
Greg took us down a side street where a red four-seater Porsche sat. I didn’t know much about cars, but I knew this would be fast.
“Friend of mine’s car,” Greg said. “Haven’t seen him for a while.”
I hope that didn’t mean he was dead. Bad thought, so I didn’t vocalize it.
“Who?” Nay asked.
“Ryan,” he replied. “Flash bastard, but a good bloke.”
“Oh, yeah. Hope he’s not dead.”
Seems I didn’t need to say anything.
Greg smashed the driver’s window, and the alarm shrieked. He leaned in and did something to shut it up and make the door locks pop open. The golem mechanic got in and did more of that hot wiring business, bringing the engine to life.
I opened the left rear door as Nay hovered by the front passenger one. “What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“We need to get its attention,” she said.
“I still can’t see it,” I answered unhelpfully.
“I got this, Jake.”
I swear she said the word sparkle, then some blue fireworks—her staple color—went off above us.
Nay ran a hand through her cropped, azure hair. “That should do it.”
A proper display was going on up there in all shades of blue. Big bursts of color and light, a spray of screaming sparks, rockets trailing over the street.
The dragon roared.
“Get ready to take off,” Greg ordered. “As soon as it spots us, we’re gone.”
The beating of wings, the growl of a monster—it was making me gnaw my bottom lip, yet also boiling my blood.
“Come on, prick,” I whispered with a stomach flipped upside down. “Come get me.”
It swooped over the street, finally finding us. With another of its almighty roars, I was in the car, and Greg screeched out of the street.
Chapter Twelve
Greg tore up the asphalt as we hit the main A road heading to the west of the city. He was really letting the car unleash its speed. There was barely any traffic, which surprised me, but too much when there was a fire-breathing bastard on our tail.
I was twisted in my seat, watching it give chase. It let out bursts of fire, taking out buildings and trees. Man! If only I had friggin’ wings! I’d go up there and kick some serious lizard arse!
The screams of death still echoed in my ears. I’ll avenge you, I kept saying over and over in my head. It was a promise. I wouldn’t die, wouldn’t let Lilisian’s pet win, or let her win.
Dean was watching the beast with me. The A road became the overpass that went above the streets and trees and shops, cutting through high-rise glass structures of the financial district of glass towers, eventually leading to the industrial quarter. It was all untouched, the lights twinkling within.
The dragon beast swept its huge tail at a curved glass tower, some bank HQ, slicing through glass and metal. Shards rained down on the road, on the streets below. A huge chunk crushed a car, another barely avoiding a collision with it. That vehicle screeched to a halt and was quickly engulfed in a ball of flame.
“No!” I yelled, punching the seat.
Dean put a hand on mine, his fingers disappearing into the light of the sparks. It looked freaky as hell but it was comforting all the same.
Whatever this was he was doing, I wasn’t questioning it. I liked his hand being there. It brought a level of calm to me like he had a knack of doing. Probably his fae skills. It was a comfort I needed to stop me throwing myself through the rear window in a bid to get at that winged beast.
“We’ll be there soon,” Dean said as the road entered a denser maze of conglomerate headquarters, the buildings almost kissing the barriers on either side.
This was so frustrating. I hated the helplessness of it all. This had been my idea, yet it all still sucked!
Kill …
Yeah! Tell me about it! The dragon’s wings sliced through the compact buildings. It spat fire that couldn’t quite reach the Porsche.
Ha! In your face!
The buildings pulled back, giving way to more open space with the odd glass tower here and there. Soon they’d come to an end and the road would make its descent down into the area where the industrial quarter sat.
And the beast realm gates …
“Oh, shit!” Greg growled.
“What?” I turned to see. “Oh. My. Bloody. God.”
It stood with humungous hairy legs astride the A road. A dirty loincloth covered its groin, the rest of it hairy and naked, pink-skinned. Two red eyes sat in a wide face, straggly, dark hair hung in patches down to its shoulders. My sparks were positively nuclear in their reaction to it … to them. Crap! There were two of them.
Giants. First dragons, now giants. My kingdom for a beanstalk to get up and kill the gits.
The first giant scooped up a car and tossed it aside, smashing and exploding in a glass tower.
There was a pile up beneath the monsters, no way through.
“Fuck!” Greg boomed.
Dragon to the back, giants straight ahead … what the bloody hell! If we didn’t slow down, we’d crash head-on into the pile up or be plucked from the tarmac by a giant. Slow down, and we’d be roasted. Sure, I could use my shield, but that wouldn’t do anything to help move the situation along. We’d still be on the road surrounded by the drama.
Bollocks!
Wait … The shield could help ping the dragon away, buying some time.
Then there was the problem of the giants and getting past the pile up, or even off the overpass.
All in good time.
I relayed my plan as the car slowed.
“I’ve got an idea for after,” Nay added. “Run straight back to the car.”
“You better not die,” Greg said and slammed on the brakes.
He turned the Porsche as it screeched to a halt, smoke coming up from the tires. He’d maneuvered it so my side of the car was facing the dragon.
I moved my arse, adrenaline pumping. My boots pounded the road like my heart pounded in my ears. I ran straight for the winged bastard. It was flying low, determined to make a kill.
Fire came from the wide mouth. I hit the mental button, and the shield came up to protect me. The impact of its weight striking my defenses took my breath away. The flames lifted, giving me the satisfying sight of the beast smashing into a building, then winced at the level of damage it did. The big git made a shocking size hole in the glass structure. Please don’t let anyone be in there!
No time to linger. It was already ripping the air with its fury. Fooled it twice now—couldn’t take a chance on doing it again.
I ran straight back to the car. My guardians were waiting at the barriers at the side of the overpass.
“Run, Jake!” Greg boomed.
A crash and a roar, glass and wings—the beast was free and back on the hunt.
Greg scooped me up as I got within grabbing distance and dropped me over the edge. I landed on something soft before I could process the plummet. A blue cube cushioned my fall and gently rolled me off. It was jelly and foam and feathers all wrapped together.
Okay then.
In quick succession, my friends followed me, saved by the not-quite-jelly cube.
“Now run!” Nay yelled.
This part of the city was alien to me, apart from the industrial quarter. But I tore down the tree-lined road toward a vast stretch of open land. There wasn’t anywhere to hide, the only things other than the space was a river cutting through it, a bridge crossing it. What was this, some kind of nature reserve? I could see the shadows of the industrial quarter on the horizon.
“Where we going?” I called behind me.
“Get to the bridge!” Nay replied.
I glanced behind, and the dragon roared, giving chase again. My legs didn’t need telling to work overtime.
A boom behind me. I couldn’t look, had to keep going. Just a few more feet …
I made it, running onto wood that clattered under my heavy footsteps. I spun as my guardians joined me, watching as the giants smashed down on the overpass.
“No!”
It came down under their assaults, a terrifying boom that shook the wood beneath me. Smoke filled with debris mushroomed into the sky.
“No!”
The dragon was ready to get burning again.
Nay stamped her foot three times. “You owe me, Sally!”
Who the hell was Sally?
The inferno was mere seconds away.
“Sally! I swear to God, I’ll curse every jar of strawberry jam in this city to taste of cabbage.”
The fire was coming! I got ready to use my shield.
There was a flash of blinding silver light, and the wood fell away from under me.
Chapter Thirteen
I was standing knee-deep in silver water.
“What the actual hell?” I said.
We were in a room made of white marble, adorned with nude male figures painted in nothing but silver. There were silver drapes billowing across two arched doorways, and a silver-haired woman reclining on a chaise longue, eating strawberry jam from a jar with a gleaming silver spoon.
Nay with her love of blue, Purple with her love of all things plum, and now this woman. Was there something about Coldharbour that made people stick to one color scheme?
The woman popped the spoon in the jar and stood up. Her long, straight silver hair fell down to her backside, and her pale skin sparkled with silver glitter, her body clad in a skimpy silver dress. She wore silver heels that clicked on the marble as she approached.
“Is this him?” she said, her accent a strong south Yorkshire one.
“No, it’s Hugh Grant,” Nay snapped, stepping out of the pool.
“Thank God it’s not him,” she answered. “I can’t stand that man.”
She and Nay air-kissed, albeit reluctantly.
“How you been?” Sally asked.
“Stressed.”
“I can tell.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I know someone who can help with those lines.”
“Hey, I’ve got some great potions you can drink down right now. They’re bangin’.”
“I bet. I’m Sally,” she addressed me.
“Jake,” Nay said, “this is Sally—the last vampire in Coldharbour.”
Sally flipped her hair with a sweep of a manicured hand—nails sparkly silver. “Hi.”
“Hello. I thought all the vampires were gone.”
She bared her fangs at me. “Really?”
“Sally managed to slip through the cracks in this little pocket,” Nay said. “Like a complete pussy.”
Sally pouted. “Bitch. I did the smart thing.”
“Whatever.”
The vampire rolled her eyes. “Hi, Greg. Looking as scrummy as ever.”
“All right, Sal?”
“And who do we have here?” Her silver eyes roamed over Dean, every inch of him. She licked her lips. “Fae. I love fae men. Mmmm. They are the best lovers with cocks to die for. No offense, Greg.”
“This is Dean,” Nay responded.
So was this gonna be an eye-fuck session? She was really giving it some. I looked over to Dean, expecting a scene like there’d been with him and DI Williams, all flirty and annoying. Why not? He was so hot and cold. At least it would give me a clear answer that Dean was only after one thing.
But he’d kissed me again in The Mermaid, and now his eyes were on me, not her. My knees went weak. No buckling for me, though. Gotta stay upright and ready to kill.
With the flick of a switch, reality came crashing down.
“The overpass,” I said. “All that destruction. Again!” I kicked the water.
“Mind the pool!” Sally yelped.
I ignored her, too pissed off. “Where are we?” I sighed, one of those really big ones to try and shift the ache and rage of misery. It didn’t help.
“Don’t worry,” Sally answered. “You’re still trapped in the city. I just made myself a little invite-only pocket of happiness.”
“With my help,” Nay added. “Hence why you owe me.”
The water churned with the wading of legs. Dean came to stand beside me. “Strawberry jam?” he asked the vampire.
“My weakness, as well as fae blokes,” she replied.
“Right.”
She purred. “You’re so hot. I’d love to cover you in jam and lick it all off your body. I bet you’ve got a hot bod under those clothes.”
“There are other people in the room, you know?” Nay sniped.
“Please! How many times have you and Sam sucked face in The Mermaid and given everyone a show?”
“You shouldn’t be watching.”
“Nowhere else to look!”
“We can’t stay.”
“I know you can’t. Consider the favor-owing void. Glad you didn’t get cooked by that thing, though.”
“How caring of you.”
“I do worry about you.”
“From the safety of your marble paradise.”
“Hardly paradise,” Sally said.
My phone was ringing. “It’s Rose,” I said. I answered the goblin.
“Jake!” she yelled.
“Rose?”
“Oh, thank the goddess! Jake! We have something you can use, darling! It’ll stop the dragon fire. Randy wove it. Where are you? Where’s the dragon?”
“Hold on, Rose.” I explained what she just said to the group.
Greg’s phone was ringing now. “Bliss!”
“Yay for the goblins and their weaving magic!” Nay cried.
“We’re at … where are we?” Greg said.
“Say the marshlands,” Nay replied.
“You’re up there?” Rose said. “Near the gates! You were planning on going to the gates?”
“That goblin doesn’t know about me, does she?” Sally asked.
“We’re at Sally’s bridge,” Greg said into his phone.
“What the fuck?” Sally snapped. “The wolves know?”
“Jake?”
“Of course they do!” Nay replied. “Sabrina West likes to know everything.”
“Jake?”
“Nosey old cow!”
“Jake?”
“You’re where?” Greg asked.
“Jake?”
“I can’t believe you, Naomi!”
“Oh, zip it, Sally. I need some water from the pool.”
Bloody hell! It was like an audio version of a mad day in Piccadilly Circus.
“Jake?”
“Yes … sorry, Rose.”
“We’re coming up.”
“On the sleighs?”
“Yes.”
Crimbo sleighs in January … uh-huh.
“Hold tight. We’re coming. Bye, darling.”
“Bye.”
She hung up.
“Rose and Randy are coming,” I said.
Nay’s phone was ringing. “Hello, Karla. Yes, we’re at Sally’s bridge.”
Sally rolled her eyes and picked up her jar of jam, spooning big red blobs into her mouth.
“Wolves are coming,” Greg added, putting his phone away.
“The cavalry,” Dean said.
“Yeah, man.”
Now my bloody phone was ringing again. I looked at the screen and frowned at it. I’d saved the white eye guy’s number because it was, well, required.
“What?”
“Where are you?”
I told him, not mentioning Sally as he wouldn’t know, and she’d probably implode if more people knew about her weird silver and marble hideout.
“You with that vampire?”
“Vampire?”
Sally’s mouth dropped open.
“Don’t play dumb. I don’t give a crap about the vampire. I’m heading up that way. Stay where you are.”