by Romi Hart
She blew out her cheeks. She had to think. “You’re right, Major. I’ll stay here in Henderson. How soon can you get the chopper out?”
“I’ll send it as soon as we get off the phone. Can you hole up somewhere safe for the next hour?”
Riley spotted the old guy coming toward the vehicle. “I think so. I can see a restaurant next door and the Atchafalaya Gold Casino is right across the street. I’ll meet the chopper there.”
“Very good, Lieutenant. Stay put and we’ll have you home in time for breakfast.”
He hung up just as the old guy opened the door. He slotted behind the wheel and faced her. “So? What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to go over to that Popeye’s for a while. My ride is picking me up at the casino in an hour.”
“Mind if I join you?” he asked. “I could do with a bite myself.”
She burst into a grin. She was never so happy to talk to someone she never met. “You can join me, but I don’t think I’ll be doing any eating. I don’t have any money.”
“I’m buying.” He thumped his fist into his chest and reached for the door handle.
She grabbed his arm. “Hold it. I didn’t mean that.”
He bobbed his head and smirked behind his thick mustache. “Don’t throw a wet blanket over me. It’s not every day I get to take a fine lady like you out to eat. Leave me this one story to tell my buddies after you’re gone.”
He got out and shut the door in her face. She couldn’t stop chuckling at his sense of fun. He really was the nicest guy on the face of the Earth. No one could convince her otherwise.
14
Riley and her new friend left the minivan where it was and sauntered toward the Popeye’s. The guy swept the door open and bowed her inside laughing all the way. She could get used to this treatment. He didn’t act like she was a mutant bent on world destruction. He probably didn’t even know the New Breed existed.
He gestured toward the counter and they slid into their stools. He picked up the menu. “What do you want? You can have anything. Money’s no object.”
She blushed in spite of herself. “Quit it. You’re spoiling me.”
“That’s the idea. I have to tell my buddies I did the job right, don’t I? I’m having the crawfish.”
“Of course you are.” She scanned the menu. “I guess I’ll have the same thing. What the hell, right?”
He laughed and put the menus aside. He went to the register to order. That left Riley free to survey the place. A few families occupied booths across the room. The kids chattered and colored with crayons.
The guy came back and sat down. He swiveled around to check out the local color, too. A few people sat at the end of the bar. Two black men talked in low tones.
Like something out of a distant memory, one of them turned around. He faced the counter, but he didn’t stop there. He kept turning, turning, turning with impossible slowness. He rotated all the way around so he faced Riley and she saw him clearly.
The sight violated the whole illusion she built up for herself in the last few hours. She found herself looking at the shiny black face of Finn Weeks. She knew him perfectly well. She couldn’t mistake him for anybody else.
He shouldn’t be here. He couldn’t be here. He should be at the gas plant or else in the hunting camp. He couldn’t be here. How did he find her so fast?
He didn’t rush in to attack her. He just sat there smiling at her like she was his oldest friend in the world. He could be any ordinary man sitting at a bar waiting for his food. He didn’t even try to approach or talk to her.
The old guy pivoted around and blocked her view of Finn. “So was your mom mad about you ditching your boyfriend like that?”
“Huh?” She snapped out of her trance trying to understand what he was talking about.
“You said you broke up with your boyfriend. You said you had to ditch him in the bayou.”
“Oh! Right.” She pulled her head out of the clouds. “No, she wasn’t mad.”
She had to think. She had to get away from Finn before the cavalry arrived. She looked around for a clock. How much longer before the chopper came to get her out of here?
She had to play it cool until then. Once the chopper landed, Finn wouldn’t be able to do anything. None of the New Breed would be able to. They wouldn’t want to show themselves to the humans or attract unwanted attention.
Their food came, but Riley only picked at hers. Her heart pounded in her brain. She needed a clock. She swallowed down the nausea stinging her throat. “How long have we been here?” she asked the guy. “I’m supposed to get picked up in an hour.”
He checked his phone. “Forty minutes left.”
She couldn’t eat. She couldn’t sit still. She could only watch the guy guzzle his beer and suck down his crawfish. The one time she went off alone in southern Louisiana, she couldn’t enjoy the local food. She couldn’t think of a worse torture.
She stared down at the pile of bright red crustaceans in front of her, but her head shot up when the door opened. She gaped in horror as Victor, Bryce, and Cameron Griffin strode in. They walked past her and lined up at the counter.
She couldn’t even see them facing the oldster, who kept grinning and living the highlife while she sweated. The three men blockaded her between themselves and Finn. Their presence scorched her back, but she didn’t dare swivel around to face them.
Her mind shifted into overdrive. She had to get out of here. She had to make it to the casino, but the chopper wouldn’t come for another thirty-five minutes. If she left the restaurant now, nothing would stop Victor and his men from nabbing her. She’d be a sitting duck.
She willed herself not to move. “What’s the matter now?” the guy crowed. “Lost your appetite?”
She attempted a weak smile and averted her gaze. “I don’t feel so good all of a sudden.”
He jerked his chin over his shoulder. “You can go lie down back at my place. You can call your mom and tell her to pick you up there.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks, but she couldn’t call it a blush. She didn’t want to go anywhere. This restaurant gave her the only safety she could ever hope to find.
She shook her head in despair. “I just want to go home.” She wanted to cry saying those words. For the first time, she recognized it was hopeless. The next instant, she flatly refused to accept that. Just a few more seconds and she’d be on a chopper to Barksdale.
The guy upended his beer bottle and slurped the juice off his fingers. He crumpled up his napkin. “Welp, what do you say you and me take a walk outside until the time comes?”
He got up and made for the door. Riley’s guts twisted in knots. Now she could clearly see Finn staring at her. She could only imagine the Griffins doing the same thing behind her back.
How many more New Breed were waiting outside this restaurant right now? They would jump the guy and maybe kill him before dragging her back to the Quag. That was how she repaid this stranger for his kindness. She didn’t have the decency to ask his name.
Her soul ached to call him back, but she didn’t. He sidled to the door and opened it. He turned around and raised his eyebrows when he saw her sitting there. He questioned her with his gaze. He didn’t understand. How could he?
She would never be able to explain this to him, so how did she really think she was going to explain it to Major Dickerson? He’d debrief her before he did anything else. He’d hammer her with questions. Would he believe a word she said? She dreaded him believing her even more than she dreaded him not believing her.
Finn cast a quizzical glance at the guy over his shoulder. That infuriating smile graced his lips. It made him look mind-blowingly handsome and unstoppably dangerous. Why didn’t she listen to Victor’s warning about him?
She couldn’t listen to the warnings. Finn cast a fog over her mind so she had to listen to what he said. He told her about the gas plant at Breaux Bridge. Then he lifted the veil and let her run her little gerbil wheel exactly the way he
planned.
The guy came storming back. He leaned over her, propped his arm against the counter, and rasped down into her face. All his good humor evaporated in a second. “What’s the matter with you? You come all the way over here and you don’t eat my food? What’s wrong? I’m not good enough for you or something? I gave you a ride. I let you use my phone? Why are you running so hot and cold on me?”
Icy sweat trickled down her back. She stole a fleeting glimpse up at him and lowered her eyes. “I’m really sorry. I never should have taken advantage of your generosity. I’m ashamed of myself. It’s just that I…. I just…. need to sit here until my mom comes. I can’t explain it. I don’t want to go outside. It’s not that I don’t like you and I really appreciate everything. I just….”
She broke off. She hated herself for the whiny twang in her voice. She would give anything to spend the day with this guy and give him a story as long as his arm to take back to his friends. She couldn’t do that. She could only stare into the venomous glassy eyes of Finn Weeks.
That fiend played her from start to finish. He told her exactly what she wanted to hear so he could drive her to do what he wanted. He wanted her to make a run for Breaux Bridge. He even anticipated her hiding out and avoiding the gas plant. He kept one step ahead of her all the way.
The guy sat down with a broken sigh. He rested his forehead on his hand and blinked down at her uneaten food. “I really don’t understand women at all. I really don’t. I reckon I never will. They’re a mystery to me. Maybe that’s why I’m alone. My ex-wife—she always said I didn’t understand her and no truer word was ever spoken. I’ll die in the dark about them.”
She put out my hand to touch him. “I’m really sorry. I know I’m not helping at all.”
He whipped out his phone. “It’s five minutes until your ride comes. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
She had to pry herself off the stool. This time, she tailed the guy to the door. Her nerves jangled when Finn got out of his seat and beat them to it. He yanked it open and strode outside.
A heavy tread told her the Griffins followed behind her. She let go of the door and someone pulled it inward. A gust of the air-conditioned interior billowed out. It vanished in the sizzling Louisiana heat.
Her heart pounded one slow, thunderous concussion after another. Those blows reverberated through her on an endless, punctuated dirge leading her to her death.
The pair hit the tarmac. The old guy headed for the casino. The telltale thump of a chopper beat the air. Adrenaline scorched Riley’s insides. This was it. She was getting on that chopper or she would die trying.
The helicopter broke from behind the nearest building and hovered over the casino. Riley’s fate hung in the balance with it. The pilot eyed the ground searching for a landing spot between the parked cars.
The old guy took off running toward it. He waved his arms like a deranged fool. The chopper descended into a space right in front of the casino entrance. Riley gulped down a yell of protest. The pilot couldn’t have picked a worse spot if he tried.
The skids touched the pavement and the guy charged the cockpit. She didn’t want to think what he was saying. She saw her chance and started forward, but Finn whipped around and blocked her way.
At that moment, someone rammed her from behind and strapped stout arms around her shoulders. She exploded struggling to get away. She couldn’t miss this one window of hope. She couldn’t let that chopper leave without her. She couldn’t let them take her back.
She kicked backward and struck her captor’s shins. She tore at skin and fabric, but whoever it was held her with an iron grip. She sensed through the close contact that it wasn’t Victor. She would have known instantly if it had been.
Sure enough, the next minute, he rushed past her heading for Finn. Finn’s smile broadened. Then her worst nightmare unfolded before her eyes. Victor charged past her, but he didn’t look at her. He lunged for the chopper and shifted in mid-step.
In half a second, he unfurled his wings to become that fearsome dragon that made her hair stand on end. In the distant reaches of her shattered mind, she realized there was no one around to see this. No humans would ever see what happened, so why should the New Breed care about showing themselves?
At the same instant, another dragon rippled past on the other side. They converged on the chopper flying faster than thought.
Before they reached it, Victor unloaded a cataclysmic belch of flame. It struck the fuselage with blistering heat. The pilot floundered in his seat for a second. He batted at his safety harness trying to escape, but it was too late.
The second dragon added his fire and they ignited the craft to an inferno. The old guy who helped Riley so much staggered away screeching in fright. He bumped into Finn, who turned around and caught him by the shoulders.
For a second, the two men stared at each other. The old guy gaped down into Finn’s hypnotic brown eyes and Riley’s heart plunged into her shoes. She recognized that glazed expression only too well. Finn caught him in his overpowering gaze. Now the guy couldn’t move.
Finn braced his arms. With a brutal shove, he sent the man spinning backward. He bumped into the torched chopper and pitched into the flames. They enveloped him and snuffed out his last scream.
Riley erupted in fanatical insanity. They couldn’t do this. They couldn’t take her last hope and leave her devastated. She ripped and tore at her prisoner’s arms. “No! No, Finn! You bastard! I’ll kill you for this, Victor! Do you hear me! You sons of bitches—no!”
Nothing worked. Her screams fell on deaf ears. Finn rotated around and smiled at her. He never blinked. He didn’t feel a god damned thing at killing an innocent man for no reason.
The two dragons roared over the burning chopper. They vaulted high over the casino and wheeled around. One of them fluttered over the building eyeing the landscape. The other stretched out his neck and dropped.
Victor burned in a treacherous arc toward the parking lot. He swooped in a low curve over the flames. At that moment, Bryce let go of Riley. Her volatile rage burst to the limit of her extremities. She rounded on him swinging for the fences.
She attacked him punching and kicking. She wanted to destroy him. She wanted to smash his head to a pulp for this.
He leaped clear. He didn’t even try to fight her. Her first punch made contact with his jaw. His head whiplashed sideways. She aimed her next blow for his chin, but at that moment, an invisible hand snatched her off the ground.
In an instant, the dragon plucked her up in his claws and took off into the wild blue yonder. She screamed again, but nothing could take her back to the ground now. The casino whizzed away at lightning speed. The other dragon flapped up next to Victor and fell in at his wingtip.
She twisted around, but all she could see was the Earth teetering farther and farther below her. Lake Bigeaux sailed past under her. The Atchafalaya River rose out of the verdant swampy countryside and she realized the terrible truth. He was taking her back to the village.
15
Riley yelled at Victor. She cursed him, but the wind sucked those words from her lips. They meant nothing up here. No one could help her. She couldn’t just give up, but what could she do? He had her. He beat her. Now he got to keep her. She looked all around her at nothing. She was finished.
At that moment, a sonic boom resounded over the horizon. Five jet fighter planes rocketed out of the ground on a collision course with the dragons. Victor hesitated. Cameron streaked by him followed by Finn. The planes bombed through the cloud with their engines screaming.
Riley’s spirits soared. They came after her! Major Dickerson must have scrambled the air support when he deployed the chopper. They would show these dragons a thing or two. The next minute, black dread seized her when she realized they were coming right at her.
They veered at the last second and whizzed around Victor. One of them unleashed four rockets. The missiles flared against the blue firmament. Victor dodged. Three of the missile
s grazed his wings and one pounded into Bryce. The phalanx of dragons checked.
The last rocket smashed into Victor’s shoulder. He bellowed to shake the Earth. The impact knocked him back and he flailed his wings to right himself. His claws slackened around Riley for a second before he solidified his grip.
She heard herself yelling out to him, but she couldn’t form words. If he dropped her up here, she was history.
The next instant, he clamped her tighter and set off flying eastward. The other dragons put on speed, but the planes only banked and came back for another pass. Victor flexed his wings and the air thumped Riley’s eardrums with a high-pitched drone.
The planes broke formation. They rolled around the dragons. Victor jerked to confront them and one of them unloaded a wicked barrage of machine gunfire. Bullets peppered his flank and burst around Riley’s head.
She cowered for protection, but before the assault ended, another plane fired more rockets at him. The shot hit him in the skull and bowled him head over heels. His talons opened and Riley tumbled out.
The whipping air tore at her clothes and hair. She couldn’t scream now. She could only blink in surreal disbelief at the broad expanse of sky separating her from the cruel, unforgiving ground. Nothing could stop her from falling.
The next minute, gravity hauled her downward with dizzying strength. It yanked her toward the Earth. No one could break that grip. She somersaulted over and over, but her brain still blotted out the appalling reality. She was doomed. At least she would die quickly. She couldn’t do anything but…..
Fly. Fly, Riley. Her innermost soul whispered on that humming wind. It murmured in her ear and bubbled in her blood. Fly.
The next instant, her wings unfolded. She stopped falling. In a fraction of a second, Victor crashed across her path on a collision course. He barely averted his flight in time to avoid barreling right into her. He zoomed by her shoulder and took off into the heavens.
She looked around her taking it all in. He came after her the way he always did. If she didn’t shift on her own, he would have caught her. He would never let her fall.