“That your private detective?” Gris-gris asked. He could hardly sit still.
“Yes,” Griffen said. “I wonder what went wrong?”
“What can we do? I got to save Val!”
“I don’t know!” Griffen said.
“Well, I ain’t no good at just waitin’ around!”
“We have to,” Griffen said. “We don’t know where to go.”
The phone between them rang. Both of them snatched for it, but Gris-gris was faster.
“Hello? This is Gris-gris. What? No, tell me! Oh, all right.” He handed the device to Griffen.
“Hello?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. McCandles. Our confidentiality rules are strict. We only give information to the client.”
“That’s all right. What did George say?”
Debbie sounded frustrated.
“I can’t reach him. The message says that he is out of cell-phone range at the moment. I have left a message to have him notify you as soon as he can.”
What more could he say? Griffen thanked her and hung up.
“What do we do?” Gris-gris asked. “No way I can raise enough people to watch all the roads until she get here. We’ll just have to drop out of the tournament.”
“I can’t!” Griffen said, torn. “I promised my uncle. He’s got a lot riding on Penny.”
“You have any other way to find Val?”
“No,” Griffen said. “We’ll just have to defend her when she reaches us.”
Gris-gris nodded and patted the inside pocket of his light jacket.
“Yeah. That monster better be ready to run. I’ll be loaded for grizzly bear.”
Griffen didn’t reply. He worried that guns and a protective brother dragon might not be enough.
• • •
George hugged a tight curve coming down the steep country road. Once he got it up to speed, the Prius did pretty well. Mai must have gassed it up right before she went to get Val. The needle had hardly left the F side of the gas gauge.
Ahead, he spotted a green route marker. He let out a huge sigh of relief. He had studied the area map and a topographical chart, so he knew that a left would take him to the city and the airport. Mai might want to fly back to New Orleans, but Val had no identification with her. After 9/11, she couldn’t get past security, especially not with tickets bought on the spot. They would have to drive.
He waited for a semi to pass, then swung into the lane behind it. The screen of his mobile phone lit up. He noticed the name of a local carrier and four blessed bars of signal. He grabbed it and hit the autodial.
When Debbie answered, he blurted out a report of what had just happened.
“I lost sight of the demon about fifteen miles back, but there just aren’t too many through routes out of here. Mai had a cell phone. Call her, Debbie. Keep calling her until she answers. Warn her about the thing. Give them all the data we have. Warn them!”
“Where are you going?”
“Toward the city. They’re going to want to get on the interstate ASAP. We know they’ll be heading toward New Orleans. Get me some backup!”
“I’ll send every available demon hunter to the area,” Debbie said. “Griffen McCandles wants to talk to you. He got a warning from a local witch. She saw the demon in a vision.”
“Oh, great. Now we’re getting news flashes from the great beyond. Did she say how to defeat it?”
“No.”
“Dammit. That’s why I hate séances. They’re always unspecific about details. I’ll do what I can to catch up.”
George hung up. The words “I told you so” hung in the air, even if Debbie had left them unsaid.
Forty-eight
Mai hugged the wheel of the enormous car. She was uncharacteristically silent. The argument they had had almost all the way through the mountains was the first serious fight they had ever had.
Val glowered out at the gray asphalt of the highway. She couldn’t decide if she was more angry than frightened, or more confused than either. She had been dragged out of the house where she had lived for months, with nothing but the clothes on her back and some food. They had left behind her wallet, her cell phone, all the baby clothes, and that wonderful crib, but they had also ditched Melinda and Henry. She didn’t know whether George was a monster or not. He said he was from Griffen. He had given them the car. Her mind spun in circles, but all of it pivoted on one single point.
She couldn’t help herself.
“Why did he say that you probably were after my baby for your family?” she burst out.
“I told you, Val,” Mai said, tight-lipped, staring at the road, “that is a lie. I came only to rescue you from Melinda’s clutches. You are my friend. I would never harm you or your child in any way. The George seeks to put a wedge between us, to get you for himself. It seems as if he is succeeding.”
“What about his saying he came from Griffen?”
Mai felt beside her for her purse and fished out her cell phone. “Call Griffen yourself and ask. We are more than far enough away to be out of Melinda’s dampening spells and hacked technology.”
Val seized the small phone and dialed Griffen’s number. A series of tones came out of the speaker.
“Dammit! No signal,” she said. She peered through the back window. Any minute, she expected to see Melinda drive up in a tank, or something, and carry her back to the estate. This time Val doubted she would be housed in a luxury room. They would probably lock her in a dungeon right next door to Lizzy. She couldn’t decide whether to be more furious at Melinda and Henry, or at herself for being tricked into complacency over and over again. She had lost months! She should have stuck to her distrust of Melinda. Though the elder dragon had been a good ally during Mardi Gras, Val knew she had an agenda. To know she had walked into it like a mouse into a trap left her feeling disgusted with herself. She clapped the phone down on the seat between them.
“Damn!” Mai said. “This countryside is absurd! Val, how long have we known one another?”
Val pulled her attention away from the rear window and plumped her back against the seat.
“Well, really since I came to New Orleans. You and Griffen were at college. I didn’t visit him much, so I hardly ever saw you.”
“Right. But since then?”
“Well, I honestly thought we were getting to be friends.”
“We ARE friends,” Mai snapped. “Curse it! I knew it would be trouble if I let my guard down.”
Her vehemence puzzled Val.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because dragon females scarcely ever make friends. We are protective and territorial and very competitive. I had never really had a friend before. You and Griffen are a very different kind of dragon. It has been hard for me, but I have been trying. Having you doubt me makes me wonder whether I am wasting my time!”
Val glanced over and saw the trails of tears glistening on Mai’s cheeks. She found a fast-food napkin between the seats and reached over to dab Mai’s face. At first, Mai swatted her hand away, then let her dry the tears.
“I’m sorry,” Val said. Her heart went out to the other woman. “You’re not wasting your time. I love you, and I’m glad to have you as my friend. It’s just that living with Melinda for months has made me paranoid.”
“It’s good to be paranoid,” Mai said.
“I am,” Val said.
“Good.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I mean it.”
“I said, don’t mention it!”
“Okay. Um, I see a gas station up ahead. Would you mind pulling over?”
“Again?”
“I can’t help it!” Val said. The capacity of her bladder had shrunk with the increasing size of her pregnancy, but she had been able to cope with it while she was
living in one place. Riding in a car jostled her baby up and down on the beleaguered organ. “Please?”
“Of course,” Mai said with a sigh. “That only makes the ninth stop since we left Melinda’s. Never mind. I will top up the tank. This car is not nearly as economical as the Prius.”
Val climbed out of the passenger seat and squeezed life back into her muscles as she walked toward the gas station’s office. Her tailbone felt numb. How lucky it was that Mai and George had had to swap cars. She couldn’t imagine making the trip in her condition in a compact, no matter how roomy inside Mai said it was. She stretched her back while waiting for the gas-station attendant to unhook the ladies’-room key from the wall behind the cash register.
As she walked around the small building, Val marveled at the landscape in that part of the country. She was so intent at staring at the mountains around them that she tripped on a pebble. She kept her balance, but the stone skittered away from her foot. It came to rest in a tuft of grass, but the scratchy sounds kept on.
Rattlesnake?
Val scanned the grass for movement. She was too ungainly to leap as she might have before. Besides deploring how it had come about, her temporary but increasing clumsiness was one of the only things she really disliked about being pregnant. She took careful steps, scanning all around her. Griffen had said her skin couldn’t be penetrated, but she didn’t want to trust his assurance out there in the middle of nowhere.
After her visit to a blessedly clean though dimly lit restroom, Val emerged into the sun and tiptoed back toward the car. The scratchy noises were growing louder. The rest stop was so quiet she could hear the radio playing inside the office. Could those noises be the tires of a distant truck?
Melinda had to be behind them somewhere. Val knew the senior dragon wouldn’t let her go so easily, not after she had gone to so much trouble to trick her into leaving Louisiana, then letting Henry put the mellow on her so she wouldn’t want to go home.
The big laugh was that if Melinda had been straight with her, she might have enjoyed her experience and wanted to stay longer. Knowing it was temporary would have let her appreciate the luxurious surroundings all the more. It would have been awesome to have her friends visit her in that mansion. The food was fabulous. She had been a little lonely, but there had been Marcella . . . and Mike.
Val felt torn. She had never dated what they called a “suave, sophisticated man” before. He wasn’t anything like the well-dressed, high-tipping, visiting businessmen or conventioneers who piled into her French Quarter bar who tried, often obnoxiously, to get a piece of ass to go with their drink. Of course, she reminded herself, Mike wasn’t like them—he was a dragon. Like her. If Melinda had done anything for her, it had been to widen her horizons and made her think about her future. Gris-gris was fun to be with, generous, passionate, willing to let her be who she was, but could he handle what she might become? People cringed at the mention of Melinda’s name. Would the sound of “Val” one day elicit that same response?
The car parked beside the pump was empty; Mai must be in the office, paying. Val hoped she would keep track of the expenditures. She fully intended to repay Mai all the money she had put out to find and rescue her. Val straightened her back, releasing one more kink, and tried to look formidable as she walked back to the car.
Hail to me, Queen Dragon.
Then something grabbed her ankle.
Val tumbled heavily to the ground. She became aware all at once that the scratchy noises had stopped, and so had all the other ambient sounds. A naked man with gray-white skin held on to her left leg with both arms. She kicked at his ear with her right foot. He raised his head to snarl at her. His pupils were slitted.
This was not a human being.
Val screamed.
“Val!”
Mai ran out of the small building, with a rangy, balding man in greasy gray coveralls at her heels. The monster growled a warning. They wheeled to a halt.
“What in hell is that?” the man yelped.
“Hell is correct,” Mai said. Leaving him gawking, she sprang at the creature. It let out a hiss and bit at her. She dodged, kicking it in the ribs. Val punched at its arm, trying to free her leg. The pale creature pushed Mai off. She tumbled head over heels over the gravel. She jumped to her feet. The monster started to drag Val toward the bushes. Mai leaped on its back, trying to pull its head back.
“This must be Melinda’s guard dog,” Mai panted.
“How did it find us?” Val asked. The creature wasn’t hurting her, but she couldn’t break its grip. She gagged on its moldy aroma.
“Heads up, ladies!” a deep voice cried.
Val dropped flat against the ground just in time to see a shadow swoop down.
CLANG!
The garageman swung a huge red metal canister into the creature’s head. It fell limp. Val kicked free and scrambled away from it on all fours. The man helped her to her feet. Mai rose with more dignity. The monster lay unconscious on the ground. Val got her first good look at it. It seemed to be a cross between a human and a lizard, with fine, tiny scales where people had vellus hairs. Its fingers and toes ended in curved claws instead of nails. She shivered.
“What is it?” the garageman asked. “Is that Bigfoot?”
“No,” Mai said. “It’s a dangerous lunatic.”
“I’m gonna call the police,” he said, heading for the office. Mai caught his arm.
“Don’t,” she said. “They won’t be able to handle him.”
“The cops around here are pretty good, ma’am,” he said. “Besides, I knocked it out cold. It ought to be down for a while.”
A moan interrupted them. Val and Mai spun to look at the creature. It was coming around. Mai grabbed Val’s arm.
“Hurry!”
The two women hurried to the car and jumped in. Mai fumbled with the keys for a moment, then revved the ignition. The engine roared mightily. Mai threw it into gear.
The creature jumped to its feet like a gymnast and ran to intercept them. Mai set her jaw grimly. She planted her foot hard on the accelerator. The car leaped forward. It hit the monster and knocked it twenty feet in the air. Val twisted around to look as Mai peeled onto the access road and headed toward the highway. The pale creature got to its hands and knees just as Val lost sight of it.
“How could I have lived in the house all that time without knowing it was there?” Val asked, horrified in retrospect.
“Damn Melinda and all her ilk!” Mai said. “I have seen that creature in the bestiary my family keeps. It hates dragons! How can she control it?”
“Henry,” Val said. “It has to be Henry.”
“Then both of them are chasing us, running behind their unspeakable hound,” Mai said glumly. “All those switchbacks delayed us enough that it was able to catch up. It will be easy for it to follow us on the highways.”
“Should we take smaller roads?” Val asked.
“No. It is following our scent. We would only be slowed down going through all those small towns. We had best continue on the fastest roads we can take, at maximum speed. Can you still drive? If we spell one another, we can continue day and night, stopping only for gas.”
“I can drive when you get tired,” Val said.
“Good. We should reach New Orleans within two days. We have food, thanks to your friends. I don’t know whether to thank or curse George. He has all my camping equipment and supplies in my car, though I cannot deny that this is a more comfortable vehicle for long travel.”
Val was grateful for her friend’s quiet confidence.
The car thumped along the road. Val stared out the window. Through endless miles of pine trees and hanging vines, she spied a river. Her eyes followed the blue expanse, and she thought of swimming, water-skiing, inner-tubing . . .
“Uh, Mai?” Val asked.
Mai didn’t shift her gaze
from the road.
“What?”
“About those stops? Could you pull over at the next gas station?”
“Already?” Mai asked, outraged.
“It’s not my fault!” Val said, feeling defensive.
“Curse it!” Mai said. “Why did our species ever stop laying eggs?”
“Please?”
“We don’t stop again unless we have to,” Mai said. “I don’t care if you wet the seats. It’s only a rental.”
• • •
Mike rang the bell of the Wurmley residence. He tugged at his collar to make sure it was straight. It had been almost a week since he had last seen Val, and what a memorable night that had been! If an opportunity presented itself, he wanted to be alone with her again. She was a little vigorous, almost violent, in her lovemaking, but that made her all the more exciting to be with. The love bite that she had left on his chest, just above his left nipple, had healed into a circular bruise. It made him laugh ruefully to see it in the mirror.
The door was ajar. Mike pushed it open in time to see Marcella run toward him. Her arms were full of ladies’ undergarments. By the size, they couldn’t have been her own. Behind her, he heard shouts and other sounds of busyness.
“Oh, Mr. Burns!” Marcella said. “This isn’t a good time . . .”
Mike smiled. “I’m here to have dinner with Val. Can you tell her I’m here?”
“You know perfectly well she isn’t here! You helped her escape!”
Melinda bore down on him with righteous fury, her secretary in her wake. Mike knew Cousin Melinda had a chancy temper. It was what had made him reluctant to enlist her as a potential patron for his run for the Senate, but he had kept the relationship open because of Val. Now he wondered if he had made a terrible mistake. Female dragons were dangerous.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mike said, keeping his voice calm. “What do you mean, escape? I thought she was visiting you of her own accord.”
Melinda glared at him.
“But it was you! We have the security tapes to prove it! You were here less than an hour ago. You led my security staff on a chase around my gardens to distract them, and Valerie departed in the confusion.”
Robert Asprin's Dragons Run Page 36
