Sam took aim.
Toad Man swatted the gun from her hand with alarming force. He licked his lips. “You’re mine now, pretty lady.”
CHAPTER 10
Water poured through the wall of the cavern like it would through a huge crack in the Hoover Dam. It was up to Sid’s knees and rising fast. The vorpeen floated among the inner tide, splashing in the surge. The ones that still lived wrestled with their fate. Sid was glad. It appeared the vorpeen couldn’t swim. It was a small victory.
“Smoke, how are we going to get out of here?” she demanded.
The rangy man’s hands were digging into the slit between the elevator doors. His face filled with strain. “Man, these doors are stubborn!”
Sid sloshed through the waters. She grabbed hold from the other side. The doors wouldn’t move. The lights quavered in and out. The darkness came and went like the door of a coffin opening and closing. She glanced up at Vormus, who floated just beneath the ceiling. “A little help?”
Frowning, he said, “I’m not fond of getting wet.”
“You’re going to get wet one way or the other. Now get your ass down here!”
Vormus complied, sinking in the air and landing beside Sid. She stepped aside. The shifter sank his nails into the crack between the doors. He eyed Smoke.
“On three,” Smoke said. “Three!” Putting all his muscle into it, he grunted. His face filled with strain.
A notable amount of concentration formed on Vormus’s pale face.
The elevator doors parted a foot with a groan, revealing emptiness. No elevator.
Sid jumped into action. She wedged her body inside the seam and pushed with her knee. While water spilled into the elevator shaft, she pushed with all her strength. There was a pop. The metal doors gave way. “We need to climb,” she said.
Smoke nodded.
Vormus slipped inside the shaft and floated up, saying, “I’d carry you if I could, but my power is limited. Good luck.” He vanished up into the pitch-black shaft.
“Over here,” Smoke said. The water was up to his chest. His hand locked on an emergency ladder built into the shaft. He grabbed Sid by the hand and pulled her over. “You go first.”
Hand over hand, she raced up the ladder. In the black, she could no longer see a thing. It was like climbing inside a tunnel with no end. The water rose under them, trying to swallow them whole. Sid felt like the entire island was sinking.
“Hurry, Sid,” Smoke said.
Fueled by adrenaline, she climbed. It seemed to never end. One rung after another, she hoped to see a glimmer of light. She hollered up the shaft, “Vormus?”
There was no reply.
Panic set in. She didn’t have any idea how deep the shaft was to begin with. The elevator ride had been so long. Her limbs grew tired. They’d just battled countless vorpeen to the point of exhaustion. Now she was fighting for her life again. And at the top, she knew the elevator would be blocking their way out. Another enemy to fight in the pitch black. “Smoke, how deep are we?”
“I don’t know, but the water is almost on my toes. Keep moving!”
She stopped. “I’m not going out like this without a fight.” She dug out her supervitamin pill, stuck it in her mouth, bit down, and swallowed. She resumed the climb. The higher she went, the more her shoulders ached. At last, the pill kicked in and the throbbing eased. She climbed faster. “Vormus, where are you?”
The shifter shouted back, “Under this albatross of an elevator.”
Sid practically ran up the ladder. Her head smote a metal beam. She shook it off. She could sense Vormus. The vitamin enhanced her sight just enough to make out an outline of the shifter above. “Get out of the way.”
Vormus drifted aside.
Holding onto the rung by one hand, she leaned over and punched the bottom of the elevator with the other.
“Heavens, what are you doing?” Vormus asked.
“I’m getting us out of here!” She cocked back and punched again. Wham! Hitting the metal over and over, she found a soft spot in the floor. She punched several times. It wouldn’t give.
“Sid, the water’s rising fast,” Smoke said.
“I know that!” She laid into it with everything she had. The water was still flooding the shaft. She took a breath. They were all underwater now. She lost the force she needed to put behind her swing. Her fingers found the edge of the metal panel.
Please, Jesus, don’t let us die like this!
She began peeling it back. More strong fingers joined hers. With a wrench and a heave, the panel peeled away. Sid shoved herself up and burst through the elevator’s flooring. She grabbed Smoke’s arm and pulled him through. Smoke did the same for Vormus. All together, they pulled open the elevator doors. The three of them spilled out into the tunnel under the forest. The water spilled out, too, and vanished through a grate in the floor. Sid coughed and gasped for air. Smoke and Vormus did the same.
Sucking for air, Smoke said, “That was close. Nice job, honey. How’s your hand?”
Still filled with energy, she opened and closed her fingers. “Well, there’s probably going to be some swelling.” She grabbed Smoke’s hand with her other one, and the two of them helped each other to their feet. “Come on.”
With some feeble coughing, Vormus fell in behind them, and on their way out of the tunnel, he said, “Assuming Toad Man was the rat, I can only imagine that within minutes, Kane will know we’re coming after him.”
Sid was climbing the steps to the topside. “I’m pretty sure he knew that. Why else would he have moved the prisoners? The entire thing was a trap. They knew we’d go in there.”
“And to think they almost got all three of us at once.” Vormus toyed with the hem of his sweater. “Oh dear, I have a snag.”
“It’s possible there is a rat among us,” Smoke said. He led the way back to their gear. “Either that, or we missed something.”
Sid got her phone and texted Sam. “We’re out. All is well. Be alert.” She didn’t get a reply. Sam always replied within seconds. “Something’s wrong.”
“Why do you say that?”
Sid lurched up. Her enhanced senses picked up a blood-curdling scream in the air.
CHAPTER 11
“Such a pretty face. It’s almost sad to see it go to waste.” Toad Man had Sam by the neck. His tongue licked her skin. “Mm, you taste good.”
Sam punched him in the groin.
The shifter didn’t flinch. “Really? Have you any idea how many times that’s happened?”
She drew back and hit him again.
His eyelids flicked up.
“That’s two times I know of, tadpole.”
A heavy force collided with Toad Man. It tore his grip from Sam.
Guppy had his powerful arms locked around Toad Man’s head. He scissor locked Toad Man’s legs with his own legs. Face reddening, he held onto Toad Man. The silent ball of muscles did everything in his power to crush the life out of the shifter.
The supernaturally powered shifter shed the burly man. He pummeled Guppy in the face several times.
Guppy staggered back on wobbling legs. His nose was bleeding. He steadied himself and advanced.
“Oh, so pathetic. Brave mortals so eager to test their mortality. It’s no wonder the Drake finds them so entertaining.” Toad Man set his shoulders. “Come on then. I like the screams that come when I break bones.”
“Hey wart-face.” Sam stood behind him with the shotgun. “You forgot somebody.”
“Oh, how dreary.” He spread out his arms. “Fine, shoot me with your little shotgun. I could use the tickle.” He scratched his shoulder with his webbed fingers and claws. “As a matter of fact, I have an itch right here.”
She squeezed the trigger. With a pow, a net made of metal webbing burst from the barrel. Expanding in an instant, the net covered Toad Man from head to toe. The links engulfed his body and wrapped him up from side to side.
Toad Man gaped. “What the hell is this?” He strug
gled against the bonds. The more he wiggled, the tighter the net became.
“It’s called a toad catcher,” Guppy said. He marched over and slugged Toad Man in the belly. “That’s for touching Sam.” He pushed the shifter to the ground and kicked him repeatedly in the ribs. “This is for all those others you killed, murderous fiend!”
A boat skidded up the boat ramp. Sid and Smoke jumped out and rushed over. “Oh my, you got him!” Sid said with a wild look in her eye. “I can’t believe it.” She hugged Sam. “Thank God you’re safe.”
“It was nothing,” Sam said. “I just hope he doesn’t give me warts. If I get a wart, I’ll kill him myself.”
“We can’t be killed, mortal!” Toad Man yelled.
Vormus floated down to the ground. “On the contrary, there are plenty of ways to kill a shifter. Totally destroying the body is one. That’s going to happen to you, Eugene.” Lording over the man, he added, “I suggest you cooperate.”
“Never. You know as I do you can’t defeat Kane and his minions.”
“His thick skin is thinner when the sun is up. I’m sure he’ll be more willing to talk then.”
Sirens and lights were racing across the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
“Time to go,” Smoke said. “Pop the trunk, Sam.”
The back lid of the Hellcat opened.
Smoke picked Eugene up by the net, dropped him inside, and shut the trunk lid. Sam tossed him the keys. He snatched them out of thin air then glanced at Sid. “Care if I drive?”
Her head was swimming. The vitamin had worn off. “Go for it.”
CHAPTER 12
Smoke parked the Hellcat behind an old strip mall in a bad neighborhood. Graffiti covered the exterior walls. Train tracks ran behind him. He got out of the car. Sid and Vormus joined him. Sam and Guppy hadn’t followed. They’d set out on another mission.
Facing a metal door, he pressed the button on the side then glanced up at the camera overhead. Moments later, the door popped open and a little head appeared around the door’s edge. It was Asia. “Aw shit, it’s you.”
“Good to see you too, Asia,” Smoke said. “Is Mal in?”
“No. Goodbye.” She tried to close the door.
Smoke held the door fast. “After you, Sid.”
Sid shoved by Asia.
“Watch where you’re going, hippopotamus!” Asia said with her usual disdain, but then she got her first look at Vormus and snarled, “What the hell are you?”
“A vampire.”
She fixed her slanted stare on his chest. “Very ugly sweater. And why are you all wet?”
“Hold the door,” Smoke said to Vormus. He fetched Eugene out of the trunk and hauled him inside.
“What the hell is that?” Asia fanned her nose. “And why do you all smell like the river? Mal! Mal! Your spooky friends have returned. They smell like bad sushi!” In her bright-orange kimono, she hustled away. “Mal! Take care of your visitors. I’m finishing The Young and the Restless.”
***
The strip mall had a sublevel to it. The walls were concrete like an unfinished basement. The lighting was all fluorescent. It was filled with a bunch of secondhand furniture consisting of a king-size bed, sofas, tables, and several desks. Mal sat in front of a wall of monitors with active images on all the screens. The scholarly man wore a rumpled lab coat. His hair was long and frazzled. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. He clicked on the mouse.
Sid slumped on the couch. Her head was leaned back in the cushions. She could barely keep her eyes open. She’d never felt so exhausted before. It was like she had just swum the English Channel—not once but twice.
Smoke was talking. His voice was low and soothing. He caught Mal up on everything from the time Vormus came up until right now. Eugene Green lay on the floor, huddled up and whining.
It was morning.
Toad Man was all man. The net was off. He was secured by two sets of flex cuffs that bound his wrists and ankles. He had griped when Asia applied the cuffs. She’d smacked him in the back of the head, saying, “Shut up or I’ll chicken fry your frog legs, ugly man.”
Mal’s body language didn’t sit well with Sid. He was a little bit out of it. She leaned forward and gave Asia a nod.
Asia shuffled over and leaned down. “What?”
“Is Mal okay?”
“He’s never been all right. We used to make love three times a day, and now it’s barely three times a month.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Sid pulled at her imaginary beard. “Why’s he so shaggy?”
“What do you expect? We’re living in a strip mall. There isn’t even a shower. I have to go to the YMCA and take a shower after I work out. All the round eyes are always staring at me. Burly men.” Her face soured. “I don’t like them. I like them scrawny myself. Except Smoke.” She eyed the dark and handsome man. “He’s a fine specimen. How many times a day do you two—”
“Is Mal sick?”
Asia popped back. “No. Not sick. Just goofy. I have to go.” She hustled out the door and upstairs.
Sid found Smoke looking back at her. She could tell he had heard what she said. That was when she heard Mal speak out loud for the first time. “I am sick, Sidney, but it will pass.” He turned around in his chair and let out a rough cough. “Asia says I’m not taking enough vitamins and I work too hard. Both are true.”
“Me and Vormus know a cure for that,” Eugene said. He sat on the floor, straining against his bonds. “Though I don’t think they’d take the likes of you, professor.”
Vormus swatted Eugene in the back of the head so hard his chin hit his chest. “Be silent, fool. I’m close enough to ripping you apart that one wrong syllable will trigger me.”
Eugene clammed up. His eyes attached themselves to the floor.
“We need more information from him,” Smoke said to Mal. “He’s not talking. You got anything for that?”
Mal lifted a brow. “So, you want to use a truth serum on a shifter? I’ve never tried before. Humph. I’d be delighted.”
“Let’s get to it then,” Smoke said.
“Eh, the problem is I don’t have one. I’m not the CIA, you know.”
Smoke pushed the sleeves of the sweetheart suit up to his elbows. The muscles rippled in his forearms. “I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way then.”
“What hard way?” Sid asked.
“Torture.”
“Do you even know how to torture a shifter?” Eugene said, choking out a laugh. “What are you going to do, waterboard me? I’m more amphibian than man. I can take all the pain you can dish out.”
Walking over, Smoke stooped above the shifter. “So it won’t bother you if I push your eyes back into your head?”
Eugene swallowed. “Er…no?”
“Don’t fret, everyone.” Mal forced himself out of his chair and sauntered over to a lab table. He opened up an alligator-skin doctor’s bag and dug out a metal case. Unclipping the hasp, he opened it up. There was a vial and a syringe inside. “This poison may or may not kill him, but he’s going to feel like he’s had a heart attack at least a dozen times.” He filled the syringe with the clear contents of the vial. “Should I do the honors or should you, Smoke?”
“Vormus, help me hold him.” Smoke said, taking Eugene by the arm.
“Disappointing,” said the vampire. “I wanted to see you push his bulbous eyes back inside his head. Honestly, I can take care of this dilemma myself.”
“You didn’t do so well back in the fort.”
“His bluff fooled us all.” Vormus held the shifter fast. “It happens.”
Mal sank the needle into the shifter’s neck.
Eugene screamed.
CHAPTER 13
Eugene’s eyes became feverish. They darted from face to face. “What did you do?” he shrieked desperately. “What have you done to me?”
“Does it burn?” Mal said, tapping the syringe. “Hmmm, I accidently took some of his fluids out, which could be helpful for my
research.”
Smoke took out his knife and held the blade in Eugene’s face. “I could take some skin from him. It’ll grow back. I think toad DNA heals up. Isn’t that what they used in the first Hulk movie?”
“No, that was Jurassic Park,” Mal corrected.
“Actually, they used frog DNA in both of them,” Sid added.
Smoke gave her a nod.
Mal checked his watch. “Eugene Green, is it?”
The shifter licked his lips between shudders and gasps. “Yes, Eugene Green.”
“Those severe heart palpitations should start up any moment,” said Mal. “Just remember, it will go on for hours. Your chest will feel like it’s caving in on itself, like an earthquake inside your frame, but I have an antidote.” He fished through the doctor’s bag. “At least I use to have one. Oh crap, I’ll be right back.”
“What?” Eugene lurched up. “Where’s he going?”
“Just sit back, Eugene. He’ll be back.” Smoke talked nice and easy. “Mal’s not one to lose things. Besides, you’re tough. A few heart attacks will feel like a walk in the park for a tough guy like you. Say, where would a guy like you be from, anyway? I’m guessing Jersey. Are you a Jersey boy, Eugene? Where are you from?”
“I’m from King of Prussia near Philly.”
Sid eased over.
Smoke gave Sid an approving glance. He continued. “I’ve been there before. Nice place. They have a pretty big shopping mall there, don’t they?”
“Yes. But that’s well after my time.” Eugene strained his neck. Peering at the stairs, he said, “Where is he with the antidote? I feel like my heart is pounding out my ears.”
“He’ll be back. Do you want a drink?” Smoke asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Sid, will you check the fridge over there?”
“Right away.”
Eugene shuddered. Wide eyed, he stared at Smoke. “Where is he with the antidote?”
“Hmmm, it looks like the travails are just beginning. That was a pretty bad tremor. Your teeth clacked. Uh,” Smoke looked around, “we might want to get him something to bite down on.”
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