I suppose I’ll play along. He opened the door. No point in letting you get hurt again.
She lowered her hand. “Get back inside Jet. You’ll make the situation worse.”
He grabbed his gun. “I never said I’d kill anyone. Christ, never assume I’m like you.”
If Lim and Travis issued warnings—and Karyn, too—then she might have a fight on her hands.
Not what she wanted this evening.
“Lucille.” She inched over toward a curly, blonde and her green Pontiac. “Didn’t you give up this territory years ago? Why practice here without notice?”
“We don’t have to answer to you.”
The hairs on Mye’s neck stood up. Even her response was different than usual.
Lucille, second-in-command of the Dragons, never fought with anyone despite her checkered past and less than stellar attitude. She just went against her boss whenever he had a hair-brained idea. The one thing she could give Lucille was her sense of loyalty. She never left Jeff when he got incarcerated for his antics.
She always took care of her team.
But this time was different. Her entire demeanor conflicted with her words. Her bravado only got her so far. Underneath that hardened voice she quaked in her boots and watched everyone on her team like a hawk.
What happened to them?
“Lucille.” Mye approached her and pulled her aside. “Come on, hon. What’s going on with your crew?”
“It’s not me.” The younger woman mouthed, then pointed at the tattooed man near a red Pontiac. “He…”
Mye motioned her hand upward. “Speak up.”
“He had another great idea.”
“Okay.”
“He made a deal with some woman. A woman dressed in red, I think. He wanted a way to win the race on Saturday and she promised him the perfect fix. Then she handed him these containers. She said they’d win if they took these before the race.”
Lucille dropped a blue metal container with an LED screen inside Mye’s hand.
She pointed a claw at Travis.
As if by magic, he hurried out of the car, then approached her. He shared the same idea she had—bewilderment mixed with anxiety.
Holy shit. They had to contain this before this became an epidemic and someone called the CDC.
Otherwise, she’d become a laboratory specimen forever.
“Mye.” Travis snatched the container from her hand. “How dangerous is this new drug, anyway? Would they be able to administer an antidote for this inside a hospital?”
“Nope. Not yet.”
“Don’t tell me those boneheads took it.”
“I suspect they have.”
“Why can’t you meet smart people?”
Mye almost choked on her impromptu laughter. “Oh, please. You act like people choose to be stupid.”
“They do.”
“Yeah. I know.” She grimaced. “But to me, everyone’s stupid. Then again, I have an IQ of near three hundred. I hear that jaded me.”
Travis glowered. “Well, that explains why you’re condescending toward everyone whenever they have a brilliant idea. Still, you should learn some common sense, genius.”
“Humph.” Mye turned away from him. “I can’t help your intelligence rests in the average percentile.”
“There, there.” He gave her a noogie. “You’ll outsmart us one day.”
She swiped at him.
He dodged.
Lim approached her and caught her wrist. “Careful. He’s right. You should curb your over-inflated sense of entitlement.”
Oh, he’d pay for those words.
She’d have a nice chat with him whenever they returned home.
“Anyway.” Lucille tugged on Mye’s arm. “I couldn’t talk them out of this, Aviere. Honest. Jeff thought I took it too, but I hid it from them. But they acted weird afterwards. Like … more aggressive. They might have been given steroids. Those make athletes aggressive, right?”
Steroids? Perhaps.
But not today.
“Okay.” Mye rubbed her thumb along the metallic surface. “Have there been any other side effects?”
Lucille lowered her head. “Yeah. Not all our racers came. Kevin … lost control of his car. He screamed in pain and something exploded. He went over the cliffs about twenty minutes ago.”
“Explosion?” Maurice draped an arm around Mye’s shoulder and neck. “Whaddya mean? Like inside the car or—”
“I couldn’t tell.”
There was a moment of silence.
Blood didn’t mix well with certain compounds. Hydrogen peroxide came to mind, but it wouldn’t play well inside an insulin tube or syringe. Once it reacted to blood, it became foamy and expanded until it was a bubbly mass.
So, what made these people explode?
Behind her, someone screamed. Then another scream accompanied it. Soon, horrific wailing filled the air.
Poor Lucille whimpered. She hid against Maurice’s chest and held her hands over her ears.
The people in their cars met a horrific death.
If someone told Mye her blood made people spontaneously combust, she would have dismissed it. However, she couldn’t refute the claim on the reports any longer. Not after this. There was nothing left of these poor saps. Their cars were filled with blood, guts, and uncontainable amounts of gore only appropriate for X rated horror films.
“Deities help us.” She placed a hand over her mouth. “I never imagined someone could manufacture a drug like this. I mean, it’s possible, but it’s immoral.”
Travis made the symbol of the cross.
“Aviere.” Lim took her hand. “I don’t think we can—”
“Finish your sentence later.” She nudged her head toward Lucille. “There’s more important things to worry about than fighting, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You guys take care of Lucille.” Mye pulled up her sleeves. “Travis, get my purse. As much as I regret this, we’ll have to inspect what’s left of their bodies. You can stay behind if you like.”
“Be glad you only saw their last moments.” His pained voice shook. “I didn’t want to hear them. Their screams … it…”
Yeah. Horrific. She got it.
Still, they had a job to do.
She hurried to her car. If Travis couldn’t shake his fear, then she had to act. They couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity to collect evidence no matter how traumatic the crime was for them. She’d never get another chance like this again.
As she pulled her purse out of the car, a creature screeched in the woods.
Mye shivered.
They weren’t safe here.
“Guys, I think we need to leave.” It took every ounce of willpower to keep her voice strong. “Someone—no, something—followed us here. We’ve got to keep Lucille safe. Let’s split up and book it.”
Karyn marched up to Jet. “What about the dead people? We can’t just leave them here. We have to call the police.”
Travis gave a dark chuckle. “Yeah. Because the police will believe us when we explain people exploded, Miss Greene.”
“You know…” Mye poked her head out of the car. “You’re awfully calm about this. Shouldn’t you be afraid of what happened?”
“Believe me, I am.” Karyn grabbed her arm and pulled her close. “Bad shit happens around me. I’m sort of a bad luck charm.”
“That makes two of us.”
“You ever heard of those mage assassins with cool red trench coats? I’ve hid from those assholes for years.”
Mye almost grabbed Karyn’s shirt, but stopped herself.
Those were the same people after Travis and Lim.
“This looks like their handiwork.” Karyn flexed her fingers. “I heard a rumor they got a mage who makes things explode. I’m not sure if she’s related to me or not. Word through the grapevine says she’s an electric mage like me. So, I’ve stayed hidden. If it’s my first guess, then she’s dangerous. She’s gone off the deep end
before.”
The shrill shriek came again.
This time even closer.
“We don’t have time to argue.” Mye felt the mask morph her into her dark persona. “Go with Lim and Reese. They’ll keep you safe until we meet you back at the apartment.”
“You’ll need help.”
“I’ve got him.” She thumbed to Travis. “I’ll be fine.”
Uncertainty crossed Karyn’s face. “If you’re sure.”
Mye’s claws extended. “I am. Go on.”
Karyn scurried over toward them.
Mye slipped into Jet, then flipped the earpiece on. “Yo, Peter Peckerhead.”
A testy voice responded on the other line. “I have a name, you feisty bitch. But what?”
“Listen. We’ve got a situation.” She waved Travis into her car. “We’ve got some dead people. They exploded. Now, we’ve got some creature chasing us. I need you to send us backup.”
“The bruiser squad is heading to your location. Just hold your position until they arrive.”
Well, thank goodness for small favors. Maybe she should leave her earpiece on more often.
“Keith.” The weight of her partner’s first name sent a cold chill through her. “I’m going to cover the rear while they drive to the highway. Do you think you can hold them off with your magic?”
Silence lingered through the car.
Goddammit.
He couldn’t doubt himself now.
Belladonna's Curse Page 16
