Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Gary. Oh no. I’ve royally messed up. I sit frozen. If Anton Hill knows Gary is my pseudonym, then the Claw Brotherhood know who I am. Damien. Shit. My head is all mushed up, and I don’t know what to do for the best.
I can’t let them use me.
“The boss charmed the null band, so there’s no getting it off. The police should have already confiscated everything, but we didn’t want to take a risk,” says Anton as he puts his seat belt on, and the other guy starts the car.
The tyres grind against the road’s uneven surface as the vehicle turns around.
“We took his family,” he says casually as if he’s talking about the weather, and like a bad tour guide, he points at the dead, once-chatty policeman as the car rolls past him and his colleague.
Both men are dead and left on the road like rubbish.
They didn’t deserve to die. They also shouldn’t have been meeting baddies on the side of the road for a dodgy prisoner exchange, but they didn’t deserve to die. Maybe if I’d done something earlier, they’d be alive?
“We took his family and suggested to get them back, he’d have to come and collect you.
” He looks back at me and grins. “He needed all those cops to come for you because of your guards. We’ve been unable to get anywhere near you and lost a few guys.
That pink-haired chick is absolutely mental.
She’s only a diddy thing, but jeez, she’s scary. ”
I hum, agreeing with him but not saying anything aloud. Forrest is my friend, but I still have a healthy fear of her.
“So yeah, you’ve been ruining all sorts of things, and the boss is angry with you.”
“The policeman’s family. Are they safe?”
Anton huffs. “Nah, they’re not safe. What kind of people do you think we are?
I told him he’d see them again. I didn’t say that they’d be alive.
Don’t worry, Kricket, they’re all together now.
A happy family. In heaven.” Both men chuckle, and the silent guy gives him a fist bump.
“The boss wants your magic. Who knew that you’re powerful, that you can make charms?
I certainly didn’t. I would have been a lot nicer to you, really nice, if you know what I mean.
” He winks. “Might have been your boyfriend, and then I could have just manipulated you, and everything would have been fine. But no, you had to be difficult. You had to be cocky and play hard to get.”
Hard to get. That wasn’t hard to get. For him, I was impossible to get. Ew.
“But you, Kricket Jones, are a magical marvel. I can’t quite believe it. Now he will use you to go after the silver dragon.”
My heart misses a beat, and I must have misheard. “Sorry, what? Damien is going after the general?”
“Yep.”
“But… But why would he do that? It’s a suicide mission.”
He lets out a self-deprecating laugh. “Have you heard her, Dave, as if it’s that easy to dissuade the boss.
Why? Hell, if I know. Look, Kricket, I’m a minion, and we don’t get to ask the questions.
If it were up to me, I’d rather be buying pizza and Coke at that shitty supermarket you worked at.
I wish all this had never happened.” He shakes his head. “This is shit.”
“Well, if it’s shit, why don’t you both walk away? Let me go?”
Anton Hill bangs the back of his head against the seat and groans.
“I can’t let you go. If I haven’t got the protection of the Brotherhood, I’m a dead man.
The Executioner, that unicorn bitch, is hunting us all down.
She’s getting all the stragglers first. Plus if the boss’s magic doesn’t finish me off…
” He pats the driver’s leg. “…Dave here will kill me. Wouldn’t you, pal? ”
“Too right I would,” says Dave.
“Oh, and that’s not counting your guys: the tiny pink terror, the hellhound, and the loved-up gargoyle. Everyone’s gonna kill me. I might as well carry on the way that I’m going. Either way, I’m fucked. Trust the process, eh, Dave?”
“Yeah, pal.”
“I can talk to them on your behalf if you’d help me. I can… I can try to protect you.”
Anton scoffs. “You can’t even protect yourself.” He leans around the seat and stares at me. “Look, Kricket, I know I’ve been a dick to you, and you’re a nice girl. Smart too. Do what they say, and you’ll be fine. You never know. You might make it out of this alive.”
I’ve heard all this before. “Last time we talked, you tried convincing me that you had Chloe. I don’t believe anything you say. You do what you must, but please don’t pretend you’re a nice guy.”
He slumps back into his seat. “Yeah, well, it was worth a try.”
“I thought you had her there for a minute, pal. I thought you had her.” The driver chuckles and shakes his head.
“She has such a bleeding heart.” Louder, he says, “Don’t think I didn’t notice you slipping money and food into your family’s coffers while you were starving. Bet you never got any thanks for it, did you? That’s why no one ever plays the good guy, ’cause good guys are the people that die first.”
I bite my lip and stare out of the window.
“I’ve never been a nice guy. I enjoy the heat and bet hell’s toasty and warm.” He leans forward and turns the radio on, and that’s the end of our conversation.
I slump back in the seat. Both my forearms and right knee are itching. I hope I’m not coming down with anything. I bet it’s the bloody null band. I feel odd. I tug up my sleeve and glance down at my arm, and—oh, that’s interesting.
I cover up before Anton Hill can see my lovely new green scales.
What the fuck is that? I surreptitiously rub my forearms on my itchy knee and then take another peak. Yep, the scales are still there.
Don’t freak out. Do not freak out. Don’t freak out.
What the heck is happening to me? What is the null band doing? Is this Damien’s magic? Is he turning me into a monster?
To prevent myself from climbing out of my skin, I close my eyes and try to see if my tracking magic will work.
It does. Thank fate. The null band is only blocking my access to charm magic.
I immediately find Soren and instantly recognise the three other unique magic signatures with him: Owen, Forrest and Jeff.
I take a deep, relieved breath, then another. I hope they don’t get in trouble with the police when they find out I’m missing.
I’m going to be okay. Soren insisted that I drink an untraceable tracking potion. They’ll be able to find me. I need to hold on and give them time.
I pluck at the null band and hiss as the bloody thing shocks me.
They will have to remove this at some point, and I’ve got a ton of charms they are unaware of.
I’m not defenceless. Even if I’ve only had three weeks of self-defence lessons, I need to be ready, and when I get the chance, I need to hit hard and then stick to Forrest’s mantra: block and run.
I’ve no real choice but to wait this out and wait for rescue or rescue myself. I can be my own white knight.
We don’t go to my old town. They must have abandoned it after the gargoyles attacked them and rescued me. We park, and I’m dragged out of the car; as soon as my feet hit the pavement, I feel the ley line magic.
Uh-oh, there’s a portal.
No one will find me if I’m taken to a different realm!