How to Lose Your Dragon (The Immortality Curse Book 1)

by Peter Glenn

  “Come on, Rick! I don’t have time for this!” I shouted after him.

  But it was no use. The man was off like a rocket. Again, I couldn’t really blame the guy. That whole “fight or flight” thing, you know? I guess Rick’s inclination was for flight, once he broke out of his shock. Which, given his general demeanor, was not surprising.

  I shook my head and raced down the street after him. Lanky Guy might be out for the count, but who knew how many other dauntless warriors might be out there wanting to kill either him or me?

  My stomach wound burned and oozed, and my legs ached as I ran after the little guy, but I paid it all little heed. For about the hundredth time in my life, I wished my immortality had come with accelerated healing like you hear about in the comics, but it wasn’t to be.

  True, I did heal faster than a typical human, but it was more like going down from weeks to days and less weeks to minutes. Even magic only took things so far. And it wouldn’t regrow a limb or anything, either. At least, I assumed it wouldn’t. I’d never really tried.

  “Rick! Buddy! We need to talk!” I yelled.

  Up ahead, I swore I saw a flash of his signature brown hair and brown jacket. He was running across a street, not even waiting for the crosswalk to change.

  I tsked a little. Didn’t he know how dangerous that was? Of course, he’d just seen me skewer a guy, and now for all he knew I was coming to finish him off, too.

  Yeah, I guess I wouldn’t have cared so much about jaywalking, either.

  A car horn blared as it screeched to a stop, barely missing his fleeing body. It startled poor Rick for just a moment, and he jumped backward. I grinned. That was just the kind of thing I needed to catch up to him.

  I sped up as much as my tired body would let me, determined to catch up to him before anything bad could happen. Up ahead, I saw him start to run again. He scrambled around a nearby corner into an alley, which made me wrinkle my nose.

  Just where was he going? Did he even know how dangerous alleys could be in the dark? I really didn’t have the energy to save him twice in one night. Not injured like I was.

  I sped across the street, ignoring the cars. A few other drivers honked at me, but I’d almost caught up to Rick by this point. I made it across the rest of the street with no problems.

  From somewhere behind me, I heard a low growl and wondered if Lanky Guy had somehow caught up to me again.

  I chanced it and spun around to look, panting and wheezing. My eyes scanned the crowds, but I didn’t see Lanky Guy anywhere.

  Off to the left, I saw a couple of guys hunched over a trash can, and there was another dude with a giant mohawk walking up to them. Drug dealers, most likely. Or spellcasters. Either way, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t my problem.

  Further down the street, I thought I spotted a rather large, gray dog, but it was only there for a moment, then it was gone. In its passing, my nose caught the faintest scent of wine wafting down the sidewalk.

  I shook my head. Exhaustion and blood loss were probably getting to me by this point. For all I knew, the street was empty. I returned my attention to finding Rick.

  The alleyway he’d turned down was just ahead. I crept into it, trying to move slowly so I wouldn’t startle the guy.

  “Rick?” I said in a voice barely over a whisper. “You there, Rick?” There was no answer.

  I took a few more steps forward. A quick flash of something dust-colored swam past my vision as something moved off to my right.

  My hand instinctively went to the hilt of my katana, but I reminded myself it was probably just Rick, so I retracted it just as quickly, willing the muscles in my arm to release their tension.

  “Come on, Rick. I just want to talk to you.” I put my hands out in front of me, palms open, to show that I meant business. “I won’t attack you, I swear.”

  “Gaah!” someone yelled.

  Something heavy crashed into me from behind, sending me sprawling. I pushed out my hands to break my fall as damp concrete rose up to fill my vision.

  A fresh wave of pain rocked the back of my head as I felt a bruise start to form there, and I spun around, scrambling back to my feet and unsheathing my katana in one swift motion.

  I raised my blade to lash out at my attacker only to see Rick standing there, holding his briefcase in both hands, eyes looking wild.

  “Dude. You scared me,” I said, putting my katana away again. “Now, put that briefcase away so we can talk.”

  Rick blinked his eyes a few times, but he didn’t budge from his attack-like stance.

  Off in the distance, I heard the tell-tale sound of sirens blaring. They were several blocks away yet, and we were in an alley, so we still had a few minutes, but not long. I’d have to convince Rick in a hurry, or do something drastic.

  Not that I minded doing things the hard way, but it was a pain in the butt, and I was still tired. Plus Rick really didn’t deserve it. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Other than agreeing to work with me, but we all make mistakes.

  “Come on, Rick. If we don’t go soon, we’ll have some unwanted company.” I extended my hand to him again, the non-bloody one, palm open. “Just come with me and I’ll explain everything.”

  Rick still looked like he was about to swing his briefcase at me again, but I saw his arms flinch just a little bit. Whether it was from exhaustion of his own or a willingness to listen, I couldn’t tell, but it was promising. It meant the adrenaline was most likely starting to leave his body.

  “Let’s go, Rick. I can take you some place safe.”

  “Safe from whom?” he spat. “More of your sword-wielding friends?”

  I balked. “Friends? You mean Lanky Guy back there?” I barked out a quick laugh. “I wouldn’t really say we were friends. More like acquaintances at best. Friends don’t usually try to skewer you with three feet of metal.” My face was beaming at him for that last bit.

  Rick rolled his eyes and his hands lowered just a little bit. “Very funny.”

  “Hey, I try. But nah, from the police. I just killed a man on the middle of 6th Avenue. That’s not going to go over well with the onlookers.”

  I craned my neck a little toward the entrance of the alleyway, listening for those sirens. They were maybe two blocks away now, coming in hot.

  “We’ve got a couple minutes, tops. Scenes like that make a pretty big splash with the locals.”

  “Tch,” Rick replied, staring straight at me. “I bet.”

  I laid my hands bare and shrugged. It seemed like this wasn’t the right time for humor. Or maybe Rick just didn’t like my jokes. Either was possible. It was information to file for later, but right now, I had to get both of us off the streets, and fast.

  My hand reached out to him again. “Okay, enough with the jokes. But we really do have to get going. You were with me, so the police will be after you, too. Come on.”

  Rick’s eyes trailed down to my outstretched hand and his briefcase faltered.

  “That’s a good lad. Put that thing down and we’ll get out of here.”

  His briefcase finally fell to his side, and his free hand snaked toward me at a snail’s pace. “Okay, Damian. But only until we’re in the clear, then I’m outta here.”

  “Agreed.” It was a lie, but he didn’t have to know that.

  Whatever I’d inadvertently dragged him into by giving him that purplish cloth earlier wasn’t going to go away on its own. He’d need my protection until it was gone. But there was no sense in scaring him too much. At least not yet.

  Besides, he still had a job to finish for me. Not that I had the money to pay him, but he’d agreed, and I wasn’t about to let him back down with the fate of the world at stake.

  I took the offered hand and started running, dragging Rick along behind me. He groaned, and his sweat-tinged wrist almost slipped out of my grip. I clamped down harder and kept going, hoping my grip would hold. Rick grumbled a bit more, but off we went.

  Behind me, the sirens grow louder. It seemed like R
ick had finally noticed them, too, now, since his eyes went wild again, and he stopped protesting so much. He may not have been fond of me yet, but no one liked being questioned by the police for a murder. Especially if they were innocent like Rick. Seattle police weren’t known for going easy on people.

  A police van screeched to a halt at the mouth of the alley, and my heart leapt out of my chest as a few officers piled out of it and into the alleyway.

  I pulled Rick harder, and together we tumbled around a corner and out of sight. That had been a little too close for comfort.

  “Stop in the name of the law!” an officer yelled down the alleyway. His voice really carried well. I was impressed.

  I’d always kinda wondered why the police shouted that phrase. In all the movies and TV shows I’d watched, no one ever stopped when the police said that. They always picked up the pace.

  It was the same for Rick and I. My abdomen ached in protest, and I felt a trickle of fresh blood drip from my wound, but I could deal with it later. We were only a few blocks from relative safety, if I played my cards right.

  “Where are… we going?” Rick said through halting breaths.

  “Somewhere safe.” I glanced back at him and flashed him a grin. “I told you.”

  “Ugh.”

  He didn’t seem like he believed me, but he didn’t have to. I kept going.

  A knot of shoppers blocked the sidewalk ahead of us, but I plowed into them headfirst anyway, shouting obscenities and flailing like mad.

  The shoppers dispersed before anything bad happened. I’m not sure if it was my antics or my general appearance, what with blood dripping from my abdomen and two swords strapped to my person, but either way, it did the trick.

  One of the women dropped a bag in her haste, and several small packages spilled out onto the still-wet ground.

  “Sorry!” I yelled back at her. I gave her a quick salute then kept running, Rick in tow.

  We crossed the street quickly. The lights were behaving for me at the moment, so we didn’t even almost get run over in the process. It was a welcome change.

  Almost there now, I kept telling myself. Just a couple more streets to get down, and we’d be safe.

  Two officers spilled out onto the street behind us, looking a little bewildered. Even from this distance, I could tell that they’d come armed with top of the line tasers. I don’t know if you’ve ever been hit with a taser, but let me tell you, it’s not pretty. I’d tried it once in the nineties when the tech was really hitting the scene. Me and a couple of buddies were curious to see what would happen. Wow. Those things are no joke. I was down on the ground mumbling like a little baby in under a second. And the current models were much improved. Now they were wireless, could fire multiple shots, and could activate at up to twenty feet.

  Not good news for us.

  The cops came up to the women shoppers, and they pointed the two in our direction.

  My expression soured. I should have helped her pick up those packages. Maybe she wouldn’t have blown our cover that way.

  People these days, am I right? Won’t even keep the police from chasing you when you run them over, dripping blood on their purchases. Whatever happened to common decency?

  Rick and I kept moving.

  We made it across another street before my luck with the lights went awry, so I chanced crossing it anyway. A few horns blared their worst at me, but we were almost to safety, and the police had our tails again.

  Rick and I raced across the street in record time, then I grazed past another group of shoppers in front of a cell phone store and dashed down the nearby alleyway. Only about a block and a half left to go now.

  Behind me, the police were shouting louder and starting to catch up to us. Once more, I was reminded of the fact that I really needed to do more cardio one of these days. But in fairness, I was dragging another person along with me and had used up a lot of energy in the previous combat, and the cops were fresh.

  We made it down the alley, and I sped around the corner, almost crashing headlong into a bemused homeless person, his white-knuckled hands clutching a small cardboard sign like his life depended on it.

  Can you spare a dime for the world’s worst conversation? it said.

  I snickered a little. The sign was funny, and he deserved to be rewarded for his creativity. I fished around in my pocket with my free, bloody hand and pulled out a crumpled fiver, tossing it at the homeless guy as we raced past him.

  “There’s more where that came from if you tell the police we weren’t here!” I promised, flashing him a smile.

  Homeless Guy waved at me and winked. We kept running down the street, racing for the next crossing. It was starting to get more crowded now with more pedestrians milling about, which had kinda been my goal, although the crowds thinned out pretty quick for a bleeding guy with two swords towing another guy with a briefcase. People were weird like that.

  The light ahead was red, but a crowd was starting to form up behind me, so I took my chances and waited. When running from the cops, I’d learned it was actually best to make it look like that wasn’t what you were doing.

  Rick pulled on my sleeve a bit, but I shushed him and stood my ground.

  Behind me, I heard the scuffle of heavy boots on pavement as the police came around the corner, tasers in hand. They pointed them right at Homeless Guy, who folded like a metal chair, pointing right at us.

  Seriously, what has the world come to when you can’t even trust the homeless?

  Still, I might have done the same in that position.

  I gave Rick’s arm a rough shove and bolted out into the street. The light hadn’t changed just yet, but it was almost there, so I hoped we’d just look like eager civilians.

  It was no use. The cops came after us regardless, shouting and yelling for the crowds to get out of the way.

  The two of us sped down the street as fast as our legs could carry us. I ran almost diagonal through the intersection to get to the other side without having to wait for another light or make another commotion. With a few more giant leaps, we made it into the next alley.

  Almost there. It was one more street over now.

  We made it through this alley and out the other side with no further issues, then I went down the street until we reached the sign that said 4th Avenue. Here, I backtracked just a bit, launching us straight into a massive throng of people milling about, all watching some speaker off in a corner who was yelling something into a microphone on a makeshift stage.

  My lips curled into a smile. We were here. We were safe for the moment.

  Westlake Center. Home to virtually every protest Seattle had.

  Rick yanked his hand out of my grip and glared at me. “This is your idea of safety?” he said with a scowl. He hissed and clutched his briefcase closer to him.

  “Yep.” I nodded at him. “The perfect cover.”

  His eyes rolled again. “The perfect cover? We’re out in the open!”

  “Yes, but we’re surrounded by people.” I pointed at the people all around us, closing us in, hiding us from view from their sheer numbers. Anyone could get lost in the midst of a crowd this thick. Which meant it would be near impossible for someone like the police to find us without breaking up the crowd. And they rarely broke up peaceful protests anymore.

  I spread my arms as wide as I could. “Lots of people around us. Much harder for the cops to find us in here.”

  The person everyone was listening to - the one with the microphone - spouted off something about government controls and touching protocols. I wasn’t really listening, but the girl had a pleasant voice. In any other circumstance, I could have listened to her dulcet tones for hours on end, and probably would have.

  Rick shook his head. “You got lucky.”

  “Pfft. Luck had nothing to do with it. This is Westlake Center. There’s always some sort of protest going on here.” I flashed him a toothy grin. “See? Perfect cover. We’re just another couple of protesters, out to prove a po
int.”

  Rick looked around him, then, and noted that there were people from all walks of life packed in around us. It was a claustrophobe’s nightmare, but it would in fact make it harder for the cops to pick us out from the crowd. I ditched my damaged jacket, too, hoping that would give them pause. Not much I could do about the swords, but I wasn’t the only one in the crowd that was armed, so there was that.

  More importantly, it would give us a good chance to rest for a minute and give me a chance to catch my breath. Plus, Mei’s bar wasn’t far from here, and we’d be even safer once we got there. We just had to shake off the cops first.

  Up ahead, I saw the cops spill out onto the street. They craned their necks, scanning the crowd, but neither Rick nor I were particularly tall, so we kind of blended into the crowd.

  A moment or two later, the cops shook their heads and went back around the corner, out of sight.

  I felt the tension leave my body, and I inhaled deeply. Rick did the same.

  “See? I told you it’d work.”

  Rick shot me an icy glare, but he nodded.

  He sighed once more and shook his head a little. “Look, this has been nice and all, but I think I’m going to go,” he said. He started rummaging around in his jacket pocket for something. “I appreciate your offer from earlier and all, but why don’t we just call it a wash. I’ll give you back your little cloth and forget about the fee, and we can just pretend we never saw each other. I think it’s for the best.”

  I peered down at his grubby hand then and saw the bit of purple cloth in it, poking out at me.

  “Oh come on, Rick,” I whined. “After all we’ve been through together?”

  My mind raced. I needed something. Anything. Some sort of reason to keep him around a bit longer. It was either that or knock him unconscious and drag him with me.

  And my arms were already tired, so that option wasn’t preferable.

  “Really, it’s for the best,” Rick repeated, practically shoving the cloth at me.

  I took the scrap, and he started to turn to leave, muttering something under his breath, but I wasn’t really listening, so I didn’t catch what it was.