by David Wood
When he hit the ground, he hastily stripped off his wingsuit, stowed it in the trees, and then took a moment to get his bearings. The forest was unnervingly quiet, yet he sensed a presence there. Someone, or something, was watching him. Well, not for long. He moved into the shadow of an ancient oak tree, and activated the dagger.
Time to storm the castle.
Chapter 31
“Kill her.” Morgan’s eyes glazed over and she lapsed into unconsciousness.
Angel looked at Jacob. He was too far away for her to close the distance between them before he could draw his gun. Besides, she didn’t know if she had enough left in the tank to take him on. Her eyes flitted to the weapons rack. If she had a knife, maybe she could... no. It was too far. She was at his mercy.
Jacob looked from her to Morgan’s supine form, then back to Angel. For the first time, emotion registered on his face. Uncertainty.
“I won. That means you show me the front door, right?” She tried to sound confident, but fatigue gave her voice a breathless tenor that made her sound weak.
“I can’t let you go.” Jacob looked down at Morgan again, as if she would rise and tell him what to do.
“This is bullshit.” She tried to keep the rising panic from her voice. “A deal is a deal.”
Morgan groaned and began to stir, which spurred Jacob into action. He hurried over to Angel and grabbed her by the arm.
“You can leave by the back door, but we have to be quick about it.”
She stumbled along beside him as he guided her through a dark corridor, stopping in front of another suit of armor.
“More secret doors?”
“Yes.” He opened this door in the same manner as the last. Behind the suit of armor, a narrow corridor led to a wrought iron gate. Jacob hit another button and the gate began to rise. “Go straight ahead. Follow the path through the forest. You’ll find a gate at the far end. Go!”
Angel didn’t wait for him to change his mind. She ran and didn’t look back.
Locke found Morgan lying on the floor in her workout room. He helped her to her feet and escorted her back to her study, reluctant to comment on her injuries.
“You were correct,” she said. “The girl was a worthy opponent.” She sat down behind her desk and looked up at him, her eyes their usual icy calm. “Report.”
“The map that Maddock gave us was accurate. We located the Templar church beneath the graveyard at Trinity Church.” He did not want to tell her the rest, but knew better than to make her ask. “There was nothing there. Maddock, or someone else, got there first.”
For one of the few times since he’d begun working for her, Morgan looked weary. She closed her eyes and went through a series of calming exercises, breathing deeply and exhaling slowly. When she finally opened her eyes again, her face was a mask of serenity, though anger lurked beneath the surface.
“I had the dagger examined by experts at the museum. It is a fake.”
Locke did not react to this bit of news. Dane Maddock had outwitted him, but the game was not over.
“Where is the girl?” he asked. “You did not let her go, did you?”
“Of course not. I told Jacob to kill her.” She logged on to her computer and called up the security cameras that overlooked the grounds. “He should be burying her about now.” She pursed her lips. “It looks as if he put her out the back door. I intended for him to kill her himself, not feed her to the children.” Scowling, she turned the monitor around so Locke could see the young woman running through the forest.
“He must not have sent the signal yet. One of them is just watching her, see there?” He pointed to the upper branches of a leafy tree, where a scaly green and gold figure perched. “I’ll go get her.”
“No need,” Morgan said. “I can send the signal from here.” He tried to stop her, to tell her he had further use for the girl, but it was too late.
A high-pitched tone sounded all around her. It was there only for a moment and, when it faded, something rustled in the trees high above her. Angel kept running, looking up to see what was there, but she saw nothing. Her feet kept pounding the soft earth and she wished she knew if she was close to her goal, but the forest up ahead seemed to go on forever. Her body ached and her lungs burned, but she kept going.
It’s just like training, she told herself. Feel the burn. Embrace the pain. Fight through it. Keep chopping wood. Every bullshit phrase a trainer had ever spoken ran through her mind, each more absurd than the one before. I just want to get out of here.
Up ahead, something moved among the trees. She quickened her pace and, as she hurdled a fallen log, something leapt out and snapped at her feet. She cried out in alarm as razor sharp teeth closed on empty air where her foot had been an instant before, hit the ground, and kept running.
Her eyes must be playing tricks on her, because what she’d seen wasn’t possible. Behind her, the thing was in pursuit and it was gaining on her. Up ahead, a low hanging limb dangled over the path. She leapt up, grabbed hold, and swung herself up into the lower branches of the tree. Down below, she heard an angry hiss and the scraping of claws on the tree trunk. She began to climb, and didn’t stop until she was a good fifteen feet off the ground.
She sagged against the tree trunk, gasping for breath. What the hell was that thing? She could still hear it down on the ground. Apparently, it couldn’t climb, and that was fine with her. She didn’t want to look, but she had to know what was after her. Clutching the tree so she didn’t fall, she leaned over to peer through the foliage.
A vision from her darkest nightmares peered back at her. It was reptilian, and at least ten feet long from its snout to the tip of its powerful tail that lashed back and forth. Its body was dark green in color, its throat copper. Its toes ended in sharp, black claws that dug furrows in the ground and shredded the tree trunk as it struggled to get at her. Her first thought was of a komodo dragon that forgot to take its Ritalin. It had the size, general shape, and forked tongue of the giant lizard, but there were some significant differences. Aside from the coloring, the creature’s hide was sleeker, and its movements more agile. The biggest difference, however, was the bright orange and gold frill that flared out behind its head.
“What the hell are you?” she muttered. Of course, the real question was, how was she going to get away from it? Climbing from tree-to-tree was out of the question. The limb she sat on would not support her weight should she move more than a few feet out from the trunk. Outrunning it wouldn’t work either. The thing would be on her as soon as she hit the ground. How could she have been so stupid as to let herself get treed?
As she contemplated her next move, panic welling inside her, she heard another hiss. She looked up to see another of the lizard-looking creatures high in a tree farther down the path. It had spotted her, and it flared its flame-colored frill and hissed angrily. And then it leaped out of the tree. She watched, mesmerized, as it spread bright red wings and glided toward her.
“Holy crap,” she whispered. “It can fly.”
The man, a powerful-looking black man with a shaved head, stood staring at a suit of armor. That was weird. He was the first person Bones had seen since entering the castle, so Bones decided not to kill him... yet. Maybe the guy would lead him to Angel.
All of a sudden, the man shook his head, turned, and headed off down the corridor. His Glock at the ready, Bones crept after him. The man came to a door with an electronic keypad lock, entered in a code, and the door swung open. Bones moved in behind him, ready to shoot should the man go for his weapon, but he seemed unaware of his surroundings as he walked slowly across the blue carpeted room, picked up a remote, and turned on a flat screen monitor, which displayed what looked like security footage of the grounds. He pressed a few buttons, and four images appeared on the screen, each displaying a section of forest.
Bones was disappointed to see that no one else was in the room. He guessed it had been too much to hope that Angel would be in the first room he entered. So m
uch for that. Time to see if he could squeeze any information out of this guy. Three silent steps, and he held the barrel of his Glock to the base of the man’s skull. The man froze.
“I’m in a really bad mood, so I suggest you don’t make any sudden moves.” Bones poured every ounce of his hate and anger into his voice. “Put your hands out in front of you. Slowly.” The man complied, and Bones relieved him of his weapon. “What’s your name?”
“Jacob.” His voice was dull, not so much unafraid as uncaring.
“All right, Jacob, where’s my sister?” He figured he’d have to do some persuading, maybe with his knife, but Jacob answered right away.
“She’s gone. I let her go.”
Bones wanted to feel relieved, but he wasn’t buying it.
“The hell you did. Tell me the truth, or I’ll cut your eyes out and feed them to you for lunch.”
Now Jacob didn’t seem so uncaring.
“I swear. She’s not here anymore. Morgan will probably kill me for it, but I let her go.”
Bones didn’t know why, but he sensed the man was telling the truth.
“Is she all right?” He bit his lip as he waited for the answer. If something had happened to Angel, he’d burn this place to the ground, that is, if Maddock didn’t do it first.
“She was when she left here. A little banged up, but not by me.”
Bones finally took a moment to look around the room. There was little to see, except a rack of weapons.
“What are the swords and crap for?” He had a few ideas the uses someone could find for such a sinister array of weapons, but he forced those thoughts from his mind.
“Morgan trains with them.”
As he continued to look around, his eyes fell on a dark spot on the carpet. Blood. He turned to ask Jacob whose blood it was when he glanced at the monitor on the wall, and what he saw erased all other thoughts from his mind.
“What the hell is that?” The image of a winged creature with a long, scaly tail and a fiery frill filled the screen.
“A dragon,” Jacob said.
“Don’t mess with me.” Bones dug the barrel of his pistol into Jacob’s neck. “What is it, really?”
“That’s what Morgan calls them. They’re lizards, really. Her family began importing different varieties from around the world centuries ago: komodos, frilled dragons, flying dragons. They bred them and culled out the smallest and weakest. But when Morgan took over, she started messing with their DNA.”
Bones remembered what Tam had told them about Morgan’s philanthropic efforts. She gives a lot of money to charity. She supports genetic research to fight all sorts of diseases. They even named the reptile house at the London Zoo for her because of all the money she gave them.
“Is she crazy?”
“Maybe. But she’s fascinated with dragons, it’s sort of a legacy, and if she couldn’t have the real thing, she was determined to create the next best thing.”
“Don’t tell me they breathe fire.” Bones didn’t bother to keep the scorn from his voice.
“No, but they’re deadly all the same. The one on the top left has the power and ferocity of the komodo, and the agility of the frilled lizard. The one on the bottom right is almost as big, just as vicious, and it can fly.”
Bones’ mouth was suddenly dry, and a sick feeling hung in his gut. Maddock was out there with these so-called dragons.
“Morgan has them trained to hunt at a signal,” Jacob continued. “And the smartest one will even obey her commands.” Just then, a high-pitched note, almost like a whistle, rang out, and the dragons on the screen suddenly became alert.
“Oh no.” Jacob wobbled and almost lost his balance. “Morgan must have seen her and sounded the call. I thought she could get away.”
“You thought who could get away?” Bones asked, though he already knew the answer.
Jacob hesitated, and when he finally replied, his voice was cold.
“Your sister.”
Chapter 32
Angel wanted to scream, but her voice was frozen in her throat. The beast glided toward her, growing ever closer and ever more frightening. She had nowhere to go, but she’d be damned if she would sit there. If she was going to die, she’d die trying to escape. She looked down, searching for a soft place to land. She was up on the balls of her feet, ready to make the leap, when a shot rang out and the creature in the air shrieked.
Two more shots rang out, one tearing a gash in one of the creature’s winglike membranes and causing it to veer off into the woods. The second shot caught it in its belly, and it tumbled to the ground and thrashed about in pain.
The creature at the bottom of the tree cocked its head, sniffed the air, then tore off down the path toward the sound of the gunshots. As Angel watched, another shot came seemingly out of nowhere, pinging off its skull and tearing a ragged hole in its frill. It hissed and kept moving. The thing was tough.
Another shot rang out, the bullet striking the beast in the foreleg, and she thought she saw a muzzle flash in the middle of the pathway, but that couldn’t be. There was nothing there,but somehow she knew who had come to her rescue.
“Maddock!” she shouted. Suddenly, all the fear and uncertainty of the past few days overwhelmed her, and she burst into tears. Crap! She didn’t want Maddock to see her acting girly, but right now, she couldn’t help herself.
The creature continued to charge, ignoring its wounded leg. Angel wanted to help, but what could she do without a weapon? As the tears welled in her eyes, the world became a kaleidoscope, where a myriad of crystallized lizard beasts attacked an invisible assailant.
Two more shots rang out. She didn’t see where the first one struck, but the second one did the job, catching the beast in the eye and dropping it in its tracks. Ten feet down the path, the air rippled and Maddock appeared, holding a pistol in one hand and a weird-looking knife in the other.
Sobbing and laughing, Angel shimmied down the trunk of the tree and, by the time she hit the ground, he was there. She wanted to save face by saying something sarcastic but, before she could open her mouth, Maddock swept her up in his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back, the way she’d wanted to for years. He broke the kiss all too soon, and she was suddenly aware of the sounds of more of the lizard things approaching from all directions.
“I love you,” she blurted.
“Yes you do.” He winked and smiled, and she punched him in the chest.
“Ass.” She kissed him again. “You were, like, invisible. How...”
“Not now. We need to get out of here.” He took her hand and turned to lead her back in the direction from which he’d come, and froze. Two beasts barred the way. “The other way, I guess. Hop on my back.”
“I can run,” she protested.
“Just do it. I’ll explain later.”
She saw no point in arguing. She hopped up on his back and, as they headed along the path back toward the castle, something strange happened. The air shimmered around them and the world got weird for a second.
“What did you do?”
“The knife is a cloaking device.” If he was feeling any strain from the added burden of her weight, he didn’t let it show. He kept up a steady pace, though she could hear the beasts on their tail coming closer.
She was about to steal a look behind them when she saw one of the beasts leap from a tree up ahead and come soaring at them. She called out a warning, but Maddock had already leveled his pistol and fired two shots. Both of them caught it in the wing and sent it spinning into the trees. Now she looked back.
“Maddock, I think they can smell us, and probably hear us. They’ve almost caught up!”
He quickened his pace.
Angel held her breath as the castle appeared in the distance. Would they make it?
“Come on, come on,” Corey urged as he waited for Jimmy’s program to worm its way into the cracks of Modron’s security system. It hadn’t taken this much time at the museum. Surely it wouldn’t be much longer. He wo
ndered how Bones and Maddock were faring. If he couldn’t break into the system, they might not be able to get out again. No, he couldn’t think that way.
He looked down at the spinning icon that indicated the program was still at work and tried to hurry it along by tapping the screen. Waste of time, he knew, but he hated this impotent feeling.
Just then, he heard voices close by, and the cargo area was suddenly bathed in sound and light as someone rolled up the back door. They were finally getting around to unloading the truck. Corey performed a few mental calculations. If it was only a couple of guys and they worked slowly, he might have ten minutes before they found him.
He was keenly aware of the weight of the pistol on his hip. He wasn’t much of a shot. Heck, he didn’t even know what kind of gun Tam had given him, but he would have surprise on his side. No way they’d be expecting an armed geek to be hiding here. Maybe he could get them first. He’d have to try.
Heart racing and palms sweating, he sat back and waited, hoping the computer, or Maddock and Bones, or both, would hurry up.
“You sent my sister out there with those things?” Bones snapped. “You’re dead.”
“No! I was trying to help her escape,” Jacob protested. “I couldn’t take her out the front door, so her only chance was the security gate in the back. The dragons don’t attack unless the signal is sounded. I thought she could make it.”
“What security gate? This whole place is walled and fenced in.”
