by S. I. Hayes
Chapter 82 Ryane
WE KEPT CIRCLING THE blocks hoping to find a way in, but with the truck there was just no way. We could see the smoke plumes. Something was definitely burning over at the college. According to the news reports, a riot had broken out just after four thirty in the afternoon and there had been reports of at least one confirmed fatality. Names had not been released, but hundreds of injured were claimed to be swarming the surrounding hospitals.
“Gage! Pull over, we can’t just keep circling, it’s not doing us any good. I’ve got my GPS on, Sig will find us. Let’s try to get in on foot.”
Gage threw the truck into park, right where we were on Sixth Ave and hopped out. Rolling his shoulders, he looked at me “Well, let’s get a move on. I’m ready to kick some ass.”
I laughed, flexing my fingers. Once I’d heard the news reports we swung by Samuel’s and I grabbed my boots and my gloves. I wasn’t going into a fight unarmed. Not again. The spikes in my gloves were made of silver, deadly against Otherkind, and Humankind alike. I’d do whatever needed to be done. My stomach lurched suddenly at the thought of bloodshed.
“Hold it.” I stopped him, turning to my bags. I grabbed a handful of syringes and slammed them into my cargo pants. “Just in case, I don’t want to fall into anything too deep.”
Gage walked over to me and slipped his hand into my pocket, pulling them back out. “Right now, we may need that monster.”
“No, Gage, I can’t.”
“No, Ryane. I can’t. I’m strong, but you... You’re stronger. At least for now. I haven’t embraced my wolf completely. Haven’t learned to harness him yet. I’m working on it, but I’m not there, that makes you the Alpha for our little pack of two. Understand, I take my lead from you.” He grabbed a metal baseball bat from the back of the truck and gave it a swing for good measure. “Now, let’s go crack a few skulls.”
WE GOT WITHIN A QUARTER mile of the school when I heard the flapping of wings and Gage looked up. We didn’t see anything, but then suddenly I was looking at Sig and he had his arms around me in the most relieved hug I had ever felt.
“Thank fucking God,” he mumbled into my neck. “I was so scared you’d look like a wraith after what Herlihy had in store for you. What have we got?”
“We nothing, I don’t know- who’s that?” I was staring at a remarkable man with wings that lit up the sky.
“That? Oh, that’s my dad! No time to really explain, just call him Hans for now.”
“Pleasure is mine.” Hans nodded, pulling back his wings.
“Uh-huh... Okay. Um, we were looking for a way to approach so we could get on the property. According to the reports, it’s going down in the Quad, so right in the heart of Grigori. That’s still like a mile hike once we get through the entrance. At least on foot.” I eyed Hans and Sig.
“Well, I know a way around that at least,” Sig confirmed my thoughts before I could form them. “We’ll just carry you in, like special forces. Drop you into the thick of it. Unless you want to be on the sides to assess it first.”
“Father, what do you think?”
“It would be best to find a high point and find the key players, then attack or rescue as needed.”
Sig nodded and looked to me. “What say you, in Keegan’s absence... Where is he by the way? You fall as my Mistress.”
“Keegan wasn’t ready yet, according to Herlihy.”
“Okay, so yeah, I’m your Sword, Ryane. I’ll tell you two things, I’ve not mentioned to anyone, for the fact that I haven’t seen you. I’ve bonded to Aella, so she’s a priority and I’ve kind of sworn a fealty to protect Greisen. If he’s in trouble, I’m gonna be on him to help. Is that understood?”
I nodded. I didn’t like the sound of the last part, but I knew that if Sig gave his word for it, there was a damn good reason. One he’d let me in on soon enough.
“Okay, so higher ground, that would be the clock tower. It’s the highest point in all of Grigori, isn’t it?”
“Actually the Church spire is higher,” Hans interjected. It houses the bells, we could fit up there, and no one would be able to attack unless they had wings.”
“So the spire it is.” I heaved a heavy sigh. “Did I ever mention I hate heights?”
“Well, it’s time to suck it up, buttercup.” Sig wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.
“If I might suggest we do this in our truest form, it will make carrying them easier, less strain on us, and movement will be less cumbersome,” Hans suggested as he looked around, rolling his shoulders, his wings begging to unfurl, the flames that kissed his feathers died down to reveal them to be a brilliant red and orange, tipped in white and gold, like they had been traced with a paint marker.
“It would be easier,” Sig agreed. “Would you mind riding on my back?”
“Do I have much choice?”
Hans and Sig shook their heads no.
“Hey, do I get a say here?” Gage whimpered. “I don’t really wanna fly.”
“Too bad pup. It’s what we got, plan wise. So you gotta do it. Look at it as an adventure. Or are you a fraidy Cat?” Sig teased. Even in moments of great stress he could find a glimmer of levity.
“I-Oh...” He crossed his arms. “Fine.” He was going to pout now. I could already see it coming. We would probably never hear the end of this if it went sour for him.
Sig blew a puff of smoke, then cracked his neck as Hans continued his transformation, the two of them together took up the entire road and half the sidewalk! Sig nudged me. It never occurred to me that he couldn’t talk like this, but it made sense. Obviously, how could he, no lips to articulate.
“Sorry, yeah, hopping on.
“Be careful, of my sails, they’re sharp.” I heard his timber in my head all of a sudden, it disorientated me, turning me around.
“Wait, how did you?”
“In this form we are telepathic to our Mates and Masters. You are my sworn Mistress, so you can hear me. You can also see through my eyes when I fight and fly, if you so wish it. But that takes time and practice. Frankly, I prefer it if you stay out of my head.”
“No problem,” I answered, taking the lift from his front leg as he offered it to get me up and over his long neck to settle between his massive shoulders. I sat low and wrapped my arms around his neck as best I could. They didn’t make it around. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
“No Ryane. I’m fine, just hold on, you’ll be okay, I won’t be flip flopping or loop d’ looping.”
“Please don’t”
I watched as Gage hopped up onto Hans’ back, he seemed to have an easier time holding on than I did. Hans was shaped differently, his was not that of a Dragon, not exactly. His front legs were the forepaws with the five digits that Sig seemed to have, that acted as a balance and hands, but his hind legs resembled those more of a bird, with thick long talons. Feathers and scales covered him in layers and his head was long, but his neck was far shorter. He had a beak with a long line of small pointed teeth, where Sig had a longer skull, full of teeth more like a jungle cat or a wolf, large canines and then smaller teeth in succession behind them. Hans’ eyes were also a little wider set, and a brilliant blue.
“Wow.” I couldn’t hold my expression.
“I know.” Sig lifted off and Hans followed. I swear I heard Gage yelp.
Chapter 83 SIG
AT THE SPEED OF A DRAGONS wing, we came upon Grigori. Smoke curled in winding clouds that made Ryane choke and I nearly lost her from the convulsions. We pushed through it, I could barely see the ground if not for the light of the fires breaking through the tar blackness of it. We lifted above it to the spire and I flipped, catching Ryane in my arms as I took on my Human form and landed. Father did the same with Gage, who unfortunately threw up as soon as we hit the balcony. I immediately felt sorry for anyone on the ground. I don’t know what the boy was eating, but it smelled God awful.
“You alright?” I asked as he wiped his mouth.
“I was fi
ne till he flip-flopped me,” Gage complained, his eyes scanning the ground below. “It’s a mad house down there, isn’t it?”
I looked down, I could hardly see through the smoke, and as we tried the entire spire shook as in the distance the entire Science building collapsed.
“Fuck, me,” Gage shouted. “How in the Hell are we gonna stop this?”
“I don’t know.” Ryane pulled out her cell and dialed.
“Herlihy? God, it’s a mess... The entire school is going to be destroyed.... We need help... I don’t know... I said I don’t know!”
“He says we need to find Aella.”
I nodded, “I’ll go, she’s gotta be down there somewhere.”
“I’ll come with you, son.”
“No, you stay up here, you keep them together. If I need you I’ll send a flare up.”
He nodded. “Okay, but you need to do something about the fires.”
“When I find Aella, we will.”
I took off down from the spire, my chest ached, my scales had never receded from their initial rise. I knew she was alive, I knew she was still in pain. I could feel her. I just had to catch her scent.
THE BASE OF THE SMOKE plumes was devastating. The smell of Otherkind blood soaked the earth and there were bodies strewn all over the grass. Some were Human, most were us. I shook my head, drawing my weapon and cloaking myself, I was not going to be ambushed. It was too quiet., I couldn’t take any chances I didn’t know who had stated this, whose side did what, for whom I should be leery.
I spied to my left, a member of the Campus Security, he carried a rifle and was kicking the body of an underclassman I didn’t know. When the young man groaned, he pointed the weapon and before I could reach him, pulled the trigger. I ended him in a single slice of my Katana. He’d just killed a wounded and unarmed boy! I now knew who the wrong side was, at least. It wasn’t us. It was never us. I heard a whimper and turned around to see, of all people, Kimmy, Ryane’s little blood whore. She was lying curled up under what looked to have been a podium at one point. She’d spied me when I appeared after taking the man’s head.
“Kimmy?” I asked softly. I reached out and she gasped, pulling away. She was covered in blood and beside her was what was left of her friend Tessa.
“They just went crazy... Then the one with the wings...”
She sobbed as I pulled her out of the hole and into my chest. I scooped her up and out of the carnage, back to Ryane and the rest of them.
“Oh, my God.” Ryane took Kimmy into her arms. “Babe, what on earth?”
“She’s in complete shock. Listen, I could be here all day with survivors. I can’t do that and look for Aella.”
“Then what do you want us to do?”
“It looks like whatever went on is either in a lull or is over. Father can you cloak and snatch and grab, to a safe distance? I thought as we were coming, I saw EMS trying to get here. Maybe if they see us trying to help, it will do some sort of good.” I was already trying to find solutions to the problems, even as they were tacking on more. I couldn’t let all of Keegan’s hard work go to waste. Two years of it, and now it was all to be gone? I couldn’t stand for that.
“I can. You go on, find your love.”
I hugged Ryane for luck and dove back down into the darkness.
chapter 84 Ryane
I COULDN’T STAND IDLE while Hans did all the heavy lifting, as it were. I made him take Gage and I to the ground. I could barely breathe in the Quad but that wasn’t where I wanted to be, I had him take us to the Deviant dorms. It was far enough away that if anyone was hiding they may be okay. We might get some answers and that was what I was hoping for. Some insight into what had happened. Hans left us at my request to do as Sig had asked. He didn’t like it, but I commanded him and he obeyed. I think I’m beginning to like this ability, it’s coming in handy. Gage and I came up on the dorms silently and found the doors were barricaded shut. That, at least, meant someone was inside.
“Now what?” I asked, looking at him.
“Now I get them to open up.” He took a deep breath, and licked his lips. “Here goes nothing.” He let out a deep and mournful howl that echoed throughout the courtyard, followed by several short yips.
“Nice.” I half laughed. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“I am a Werewolf.”
I nodded, then turned my attention to the door as I heard a bar slide out of the way and the locks click. Tawny’s face was the first one to appear.
“Oh, my God!” She grabbed me, pulling me inside as I grabbed Gage.
“You’re okay.” She kissed my cheek, then started to check me all over.
“You can’t stay out there. It’s not safe. That damn Dragon went nuts and started dropping people from up high.”
“Wait, what? Aella?”
“Who else? You know any other Dragon? I know it wasn’t Sig, he breathes fire. I don’t know what she’s slinging, but people were dying instantly!”
Gage looked confused. “That’s not possible. She couldn’t... She wouldn’t. Ryane you gotta believe me. She’s cursed!”
“Yeah? Then who’s out there with the wings?”
“That’s a good question,” I answered, looking to Gage, who looked at the ground.
“What else is there that you aren’t telling us?”
“Well, there’s another possibility... That it was Greisen Calder. See, well, he’s... Sig and his mom, well.”
“Oh, are you- you’re kidding, right?” I shouted. “That sick fuck is his son?”
Gage nodded yes.
“And that’s why he’ll protect him.”
Again, a nod of yes.
“IF that is true, that still doesn’t explain the actual Dragon I saw! A half breed can’t transform!” Gilda, one of the other girls from the dorm spoke up, she busted tables at the Pepper Pot twice a week, so I knew she wasn’t one to make up stories.
“That we will have to look into as well.” I turned toward the door again. You lock this back behind us. Just in case.”
“You know I will,” Tawny answered. “Be careful, those security asshats are still around. They’ve got guns now too. I know they were using iron for the Fey, so I’ll assume they’ve got silver too.” She hugged me and kissed me for good measure, before pushing us back out into the smoke and ash filled air.
As we rounded the corner toward the clock tower, I heard the radios of at least three Campus Security personnel. I put out my hand and Gage stopped, holding his bat at the ready. We slowly made our way toward them, hoping to catch them off guard. Then I heard the click from behind us.
Fuck. They must have seen us and set the trap. We turned, hands in the air. Gage dropped the bat.
“Well, well what have we here? A couple stragglers? What are you? Human or Otherkind? How shall we find out? Touch test? Warning shot?”
“Please, we are just trying to get out alive, me and my boyfriend here,” I pleaded, trying to sound like a scared little girl. “We were in the Science building before it dropped. I just wanna go home.”
“C’mon boss, look at her, she can’t be too much trouble, and he’s just a tall skinny kid.”
I liked what I was hearing, although I heard Gage growl at being called a kid.
“Down boy.” I whispered. “Give it a sec.”
“We gotta take um in to him.”
“Fine.”
“You come with us or we’ll be forced to shoot you.”
I nodded. “Perhaps we could be taken to someone we could reason with, if not, at least we’d have a face to tell Herlihy about after I tore it off.
Chapter 85 SIG
THE SUN WAS STARTING to go down and pretty soon I was going to have to rely on my dark vision, but for now this in between time was going to make me vulnerable to attack, Having the keen eyesight we have is a great gift, but at dusk and dawn it renders us like the Humans and makes us vulnerable. I was coming up on Alabaster Hall when I heard my name called. No one should have b
een able to see me cloaked except for another Dragon, I turned toward the sound to see my brother, Alewar, as he was calling himself now. He was in the doorway to the Hall, motioning me toward it. I flew to him and inside.
“Is Aella here?” It was all I could think about as I looked around, seeing a spattering of wounded, Otherkind and Humans from the stench of it.
“No, but she’s alright, I think. Managed her Dragon, at least for a minute there, she did,” he answered meekly. “We’ve hunkered down till nightfall. The local PD and Security are too easily picking us off with their gases and guns right now. In the dark we can get out, or at least fight back better. The Cŵn Annwn are ready to hunt.”
I heard snarls and saw a pack of eight large black dogs padding around in a far corner, nipping at each other. I nodded. “How did this all happen?”
“Huh, well, you left and all Hell broke loose. Aella was hazed by the Human class and when she complained and was dismissed the Lady Marigold didn’t stay idle.”
“She incited all of this?”
“I did not.” Marigold stood up with her hands on her diminutive little hips. “I just told the Otherkind that we didn’t have to put up with being attacked.”
“They retaliated on the rugby field and the school was put on lockdown. So the Otherkind put on a sit in protest, but then the Senator’s body happened and the place boiled right on over.”
“Wait, the Senator? Which? Who?”
“Some guy, we brought in his body, well, what was left of it.” He pointed me in the right direction. I headed over, and pulled back the bloodied sheet. My eyes widened as I realized I was staring at the mangled body of Leonas Calder.
I put my hand to my head. “This isn’t good. This is fucked up. How do we fix this?”
“You don’t,” Mary deadpanned. “We have to push through it. Get beyond it and find my sister. “They’re gonna try and blame her for it and it wasn’t her. It was Greisen. I saw him in the air, just dropping bodies.”