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“The wererats,” I said, and realized that wasn’t enough explanation.
“We saw the rats,” Edward said.
Something moved behind him. I looked back at the warehouse wall with its bricked-up windows. The wall was solid like Edward and Olaf’s tactical pockets, but just like with what they were carrying I could see that there was something dangerous behind the bricks. I realized that Deimos wasn’t screaming in my head anymore; had it been the wererats and Obsidian Butterfly’s power? I didn’t overthink it, I just said, “The dragon is right behind that wall.” I pointed at it.
Edward didn’t argue. He dropped the chains he’d gotten out of Olaf’s gear bag and reached for a box, one of two, that I didn’t even remember being there before.
Olaf got silver fireproof suits out of his bag and Edward’s. “Why didn’t you start with the suits?”
“Vampires don’t rise until dark, dragons included,” Olaf said.
“I didn’t know either.”
“Now we do,” Edward said, and had the assembled LAW, light anti-tank weapon, in his hands.
“How do you keep getting those?”
Edward didn’t answer me, he probably wouldn’t have answered me anyway, but he was busy getting into his silver suit. I didn’t have one of those, so what was I going to do? I sat up and looked around and spotted the SWAT guys watching the exits. I reached for the mic on my vest that was there when I worked with local police, but it wasn’t there. I couldn’t remember why it was missing.
“Tell SWAT to get away from the building,” I said.
Edward hit his mic and did what I asked. SWAT drew back, or atleast the ones I could see, and that was great, but that delay meant Edward wasn’t ready when the wall burst outward and fifty feet of dragon rushed out. I had a moment to admire him glistening in the sunlight, all white belly scales and dark head and back. It was like something out of a fairy tale, and then fire poured out of his mouth and the mythical moment turned into a nightmare. Olaf was the only one in his suit. Edward was still putting the head part on, and I was shit out of luck.
52
Olaf threw asilver cloth over me; then I felt his weight on top of me and then heat poured over us. I wanted to scream, but one factoid I remembered about fire was that breathing in superheated air was deadly, so I held my breath, which was stupid because before the heat left I had to take a gasping breath. If breathing had been the wrong thing to do, that would have been it. Olaf moved so that I wasn’t pinned under his weight, but I wasn’t sure if I could uncover myself and not fry. Fire-breathing dragons were a new category for me, and I admit to a second of hesitation inside my silver cocoon of safety.
I heard thewhooshand knew it was Edward deploying the LAW. I’d been with him once when he used one and it wasn’t a sound you forgot. Would Deimos blow up when it hit him? I didn’t know, so I stayed under the only protection I had. I heard an explosion, then a thunderous sound and heat, but it wasn’t just heat, it felt like the fire was closer this time and the flames moved against the silver blanket. It was the weirdest sensation, like air and water and heat made into something that could touch you. It took all I had not to scream as it rushed over the top of the blanket. I thought I heard men screaming, but I couldn’t be sure, and then it stopped again. The silence seemed louder this time.
“Shoot it again,” Olaf said.
“It’s too fast,” Edward said.
I yelled, “Can I come out?”
“Yes, it’s running,” Edward said.
I threw back the silver blanket and found them both running across the parking lot toward the rapidly vanishing backside of the dragon. Gunfire let us know that he’d run into the SWAT officers or other local police. Olaf was almost out of sight even in the silver suit that made moving awkward, but Edward wasn’t far behind. I was impressed that they could run at all, let alone that fast.
I stood there with no weapons, I didn’t even know where my badge was, but as I watched them run out of sight I couldn’t just stand here and do nothing. I looked down at the men’s bags and decided that they’d be okay with me borrowing. I could see everything they had in their bags’ layers from what I could possibly see with my physical eyes, which meant my eyes were still full of stars. It helped me see a handgun in Edward’s bag that would fit in the front of my vest. It was his old Heckler & Koch USP 45 that he’d carried as his main gun until H&K made a tactical version you put a suppressor on, and there were grenades. Of course Edward would have grenades. I normally don’t like them, but today I stuffed two of them into the big pockets of the tactical pants and was bending over to get a third when a bullet whizzed past me, and I threw myself behind the boxes and bags. I hit the ground flat, and I was small enough that it hid me. The second shot went through the bag near my head. I had cover but it wasn’t hard cover. Fuck!
My hyena stirred to life, snarling and giving that gibbering sound that should make you run if you’re alone in the dark. I knew who it was before he screamed, “Anita, you bitch! You spoil everything, everything!”
I had the gun out and ready as I belly-crawled forward trying to see around the bag without getting shot. Another bullet went through the bag, and I was glad it was Olaf’s bag without the grenades. Istarted to peek around the bags to aim, but the moment I thought about it I could suddenly see not just the contents of the bag, but through the bag to what was on the other side. I could see Kane walking toward me with the gun in his hand, raising it for another shot. I trusted what I saw and sat up, aimed, and fired before I could think about it. Kane screamed and fell to the parking lot, holding his stomach where I’d shot him. I should have shot him in the chest, but I didn’t want to risk Asher. Damn it.
I came out of cover cautiously, gun aimed at him while he writhed on the ground.
“Toss the gun away, Kane.”
“Or what? You won’t kill me. You love Asher too much to risk killing him when I die.”
“Toss the gun, Kane, I mean it.”
He tossed the gun. “Asher broke up with me, but you knew that.”
“I didn’t know that.” I moved wide around him to get closer to the gun he’d thrown but kept my eyes on him. He’d attacked me before, but never with a gun.
“Don’t worry, he can’t wait to tell you and Jean-Claude what a good boy he’s been, according to his therapist. The one you made him go to!”
