Chapter 23 Jackson #2
Shyanne, too terrified of the wyrms approaching, completely ignored the woman. “Get in the fucking car, Jackson,” she screamed.
“Goddamn it,” I cried, and ran to the rear of the car, gently laying Bryn in the trunk. “Sorry kid. Hang out here for a bit,” I said, then closed the trunk.
The two wyrms were less than twenty yards away when I jumped into the back seat.
“Go!” I screamed.
Shyanne slammed the car into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun in the grass and dirt, failing to gain purchase.
“Come on,” Shyanne grunted.
Turning, I nearly shouted in surprise as the first wyrm reached us, its jaws wide as it snapped forward like a rattlesnake, the steak knife teeth clacking shut less than a foot from the window.
The tires finally caught traction and jerked the car forward, pulling us away from the two dragons trying to kill us.
Shyanne pulled the wheel hard, turning in a tight circle.
The Bauers had finally managed to get out the front door.
Tanner and Broderick rushed toward us, with Christian well behind, all three in their wyrm forms. Like massive snakes from hell, they surged toward us.
“Faster,” I muttered.
“No backseat drivers,” Shyanne growled through clenched teeth.
Tanner Bauer snapped at the car, his teeth going for the tires as we shot past him.
I had no idea how close he’d gotten, but it had to have been a near miss.
Once Shyanne straightened out the wheel, she rocketed down the driveway toward the gate.
Turning, I looked through the window at the pursuing wyrms and swallowed hard.
They moved so fucking fast. Broderick Bauer was only about a hundred feet behind us.
“They’re close,” I shouted, not taking my eyes from the oncoming dragons.
In response, Shyanne pressed the gas harder. The high-pitched wail and hiss of a turbocharger spooling up drowned out all other sound for an instant, and the car shot forward even faster, finally leaving the dragons behind.
As I watched, the realization that they weren’t going to catch us showed in the angry glowering eyes of the dragons.
When we came to the gate and turned onto the main road, the last thing I saw before they vanished was Tanner Bauer’s dragon rearing up like a cobra and throwing his head back to the sky as he screamed out in rage and grief.
Dragging the ski mask off my head, I let out a shuddering breath of relief, and smiled, but the grin died on my face a moment later.
Only Christian knew his sister was safe in my hands.
The rest of them? They probably believed she was as good as dead.
I remembered how I felt the night my sister’s egg was taken, and this was the same thing.
The feeling of helpless sorrow? The agony of wishing you’d done something different?
I wouldn’t want to wish that on my greatest enemy, and I’d just done it to my closest friends.
Clenching my fists, I turned and glared at the woman in the passenger seat, who sat there as if she was on a road trip with family.
“Jackson?” Shyanne asked, her voice shaking with adrenaline. “Are you gonna tell me who the fuck this is?”
I sniffed the air and nearly gasped in surprise.
“You’re a wyrm?” I said in disbelief. “You…why are you helping the drakes? You’re going against your own people? How can you do this? Why would you do this?”
She glanced back at me, not an ounce of shame or regret on her face. “You people,” she said with derision. “You think everything is about honor? Sometimes it’s really true what they say. Money talks, and bullshit walks.”
Shaking my head in confusion, I said, “But they’re your people. You can’t just—”
“Listen, rich boy,” the woman said, glaring at me over her shoulder.
“It’s easy to have morals and integrity when you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from.
It’s easy for you and those fucking Bauer assholes.
You snap your fingers, and you get what you want.
Do you know how many dirty sheets I’ve changed?
They aren’t my pack, I work for them. I’ve done bullshit jobs for those people for almost two decades.
I remember when Christian was a fucking teenager.
I had to clean up his fucking crusty masturbation socks, for God’s sake.
And now I’m doing the same for his asshole brother.
” She leveled a finger at me. “And now they order me around? Fuck that. When Mr. Anitoli approached me and offered me more money than I’d make in a whole lifetime of working for the Bauers?
I couldn’t say yes fast enough. So fuck you and your indignation.
Fuck you, fuck them, and fuck that little bitch in the trunk.
Now watch your goddamn mouth before I tell Mr. Anitoli to kill your little sister. ”
She turned back around and glared out the window.
I sat, in shocked silence, several different emotions warring within me.
I wanted to call her a traitor and an honorless, soulless, heartless bitch, but I also understood how easy it was for people to be turned.
Some money? A little power? The removal of a rival?
Any of those, plus more than a dozen other reasons, could get anyone to turn their back on the people they considered family or friends.
How easy would it be to turn a servant? Regardless of how well Christian’s family treated their staff, there would always be that separation.
Servant and master, employee and employer, the haves and the have-nots.
Anitoli probably didn’t even need to offer this woman much to become an informant.
There was also the chance that along with money he may have threatened her in some way, like he had with me.
At this point, God only knew what kind of deal they had.
If we ever managed to save our race, I would remember this. I’d pass the knowledge of this moment down to any children or grandchildren I might have in hopes that they would remember.
“You’re a little ball of sunshine, aren’t you?” Shyanne finally said, glancing sidelong at the other woman.
The maid gave Shyanne a withering look and sniffed the air, her look going from disgust to surprise. “A human?” she said, then looked at me again. “You really are pulling out all the stops. Mr. Anitoli will be pleased. It shows you have drive and courage. Well done.”
I opened my mouth and retorted, but she held her hand up. “No talking. Let’s just drive. I’d rather that than to hear any more bullshit you might try and spout. Unless,” she added, lifting her cell phone, “you want me to call and complain about you to Mr. Anitoli?”
With a frustrated sigh, I sank back into my seat. Shyanne remained silent, but from my vantage, I watched her knuckles turn white as she gripped the wheel.
“Give me your phone,” the maid demanded a few minutes later, looking at Shyanne.
“Why?” Shyanne snapped.
“Do you know where we’re going?” the maid asked, her voice thick with ridicule.
Shyanne was silent for a moment, then her eyes flicked up to her rearview mirror to meet mine. I gave her a slight shake of the head, and she huffed out a breath before pulling her phone free and handing it over. After a few seconds of tapping, she handed it back.
“Go to that address,” she said.
“How the hell would we know where to go if you weren’t with us?” I demanded.
She shrugged, unconcerned. “If I didn’t have the chance to intercept you when you tried for the girl, Mr. Anitoli would have texted you.
This makes things easier and less likely you two will try some shit.
Though, I don’t think he has anything to worry about.
I saw the way you laid out your best friend back there. You’re committed to your sister.”
Good. Even Joseph’s spy had bought our act. That meant there would be less suspicion of me and less chance that they may anticipate a trick.
Driving on in silence, my mind sank in on itself.
I should have been happy that I was close to getting my sister back, but was that really true?
After what Shyanne said, and my own experiences, I had a hard time believing Joseph would hand over my sister’s egg.
Not when I’d proven to be such a good and obedient pet for him.
No, he’d keep holding my sister’s life over my head until he could get nothing more from me, or I ended up dead or in prison. That was the fact.
After everything I’d seen, I didn’t trust the drakes as far as I could throw them. Many of their species were fine and good people. The problem was, a large portion were like Joseph Anitoli, and wanted nothing more than to see the end of winged dragons once and for all.
Glancing at the front seat again, I watched the woman twist her fingers together in her lap. A sign of anxiety and worry.
“What’s your name, anyway?” I said.
She didn’t bother looking at me. “Jaden.”
“Well, Jaden,” I said, “I hope this is all worth it for you.”
Her shoulders stiffened, and rather than retorting, she turned her head to look out the passenger window.
That’s what I thought. Had money exchanged hands for her help?
Probably, but she was acting stranger than a simple underling would.
It was possible she was just scared something would go wrong, but it was more likely that Anitoli was using other means to control this woman.
Perhaps she was exactly like me. Did the mobster have her child?
Her partner? A parent? Was there some secret she couldn’t allow to be revealed, and he was threatening to do that?
Whether true or not, I chose to believe that instead of believing that someone would turn on their own kind for nothing but money.
If nothing else, it made me feel incrementally better about the whole thing.
“It says we’re about thirty minutes out,” Shyanne said as she pulled the car out onto the highway.