Chapter 43 #2
“Why did you just open fire on them?” Becca asks. She’s sitting astride her dragon.
“That’s classified.”
“My dragon heard them surrender, and you opened fire anyway,” she calls out, her voice carrying across the clearing. “They are unarmed. Why are you shooting at unarmed Draig citizens?”
“You have no authority here,” the security male snaps. “This is none of your concern. You were told to stand down.”
“We’re not standing down.” Becca’s jaw tightens. She glances back at me, and there’s something in her eyes. She looks confused for a moment. “Grim didn’t fight us like a dragon gone rogue. There’s something going on here. Something that doesn’t add up.”
Drake is still in front of us, still in partial shift. He’s clutching his side, where blood oozes. He has a graze on his arm and another wound on his leg.
The security operatives advance as a collective unit, weapons raised once more.
“Stop right there, and lower your weapons, or our dragons will incinerate you,” the male rider on the green dragon booms.
“No! You stand down,” the combat male in charge barks at the riders. “We have the situation under control. You may leave now… Thank you for your assistance.”
The security forces don’t lower their weapons. They keep advancing, albeit a little slower.
“Move back!” Becca yells. “Right now!”
Mist rears up on her hind legs, her white scales gleaming in the fading light. She opens her jaws and blows a column of fire straight up into the air.
The heat is intense. I feel it even from here. Wren shrinks back against me, trying to make herself smaller.
The security forces stop. Several of them take involuntary steps backward, away from the wall of flame. A couple drop to the ground, screaming.
“There will be a hearing about this,” the lead security male shouts, his voice tight. “You are interfering with an official Mainland Security operation. There will be consequences.”
“You’re right, there will be,” the male rider on the green dragon shouts back. “There will be a hearing about why you opened fire on unarmed people. Why you shot a Council member. You can all leave now. We will bring Grim into custody ourselves.”
A tense silence falls over the clearing. Nobody moves. Nobody breathes.
Then the lead security male gestures sharply to his team. “Fall back.”
They retreat to their vehicles. Doors slam. Engines roar to life.
One by one, the vehicles pull away, leaving deep ruts in the soft earth. The rumble of their engines gradually fades into the distance.
Becca dismounts from Mist, her boots hitting the ground with a solid thump. The male rider on the green dragon does the same.
Drake shifts back into his human form. He staggers but manages to keep his feet under him.
The riders approach us cautiously. Like they’re not quite sure what to make of the situation…of us.
“Does someone want to tell us what the hell is going on here?” Becca asks, crossing her arms over her chest. She’s in full leathers, as is customary for riders.
“It looks like the Mainland is putting something into our vaccinations that doesn’t belong,” Drake says. “Anti-vaxxers raided the Vaccination Center. They were intent on proving it.”
“Is that why they wanted access to the vaccination doses?” Wren asks. “We thought they wanted to destroy them.”
“What anti-vaxxers?” Becca asks, frowning. “This is making less and less sense.”
“The ones that took us hostage,” Wren says.
“The ones that were gunned down in cold blood,” I add.
“No, they weren’t,” the male rider says. “There were no anti-vaxxers.”
“Yes, they were. They were trying to surrender along with Sally and Ethan Porter, who worked in storage,” Drake tells them.
“That’s not how it—” the male rider starts to say, but Becca puts a hand on his chest, and he stops talking.
“I have evidence. I can prove it,” Drake tells them. “I need to get it to—”
He falls down on one knee, clutching his side.
“Dammit, that hurts.” He grunts. “I hate being shot.”
“At least we’re alive,” I tell him. “Being in pain is better than being dead.”
“And this all really happened?” Becca asks me. “You didn’t suddenly go rogue and shift and—?”
I’m shaking my head the whole time.
“I’m Wren.” She steps forward.
“Wren?” Becca frowns, turning to her. “You’re supposed to be dead. Grim was supposed to have killed you.”
“As you can see, I’m very much alive and can vouch for everything Drake just said. I saw the anti-vaxxers. I watched them being gunned down…my friend, Sally, too.” Her eyes fill with tears, but she blinks them back.
“What do you need from us?” Becca asks Drake. “We’d better hurry, because I have a feeling those Mainland pricks will be back before long. I think they might bring reinforcements.”
Drake hands Becca the cellphone. “I need you to take this to the Head of Technology at the Council building. His name is Vulcan. Tell him I sent you. Tell him that I need him to get into the memory and extract the last video that was recorded. Once he has it, he should send it to all the Council members, myself included, as well as the head of Draig Security.”
“Yes, sir.” Becca nods.
“How did you find us?” I ask her.
“I watched you fly away. You were slow AF.”
“Injured, you mean,” I tell her.
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes. “Mist woke up, and we were able to follow and watch where you landed. We suspected that something strange was going on. Like Jake says.” She points at the human male.
“You didn’t act like an out-of-control rogue dragon overtaken by rage.
You went easy on us. You could have killed Jake’s dragon and really hurt Mist, but you didn’t.
I went back for Jake, and we came to investigate.
We saw them open fire on you after you surrendered. ”
“Thank you for coming. Thank you for following your gut and for doing the right thing,” I tell her.
“Any time. I’d better get going. I can’t believe all of this.” She shakes her head. “Do you have any idea what they’re putting in the vaccinations?”
“No,” Drake says. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. We just need to expose those bastards.”
“Okay, then. Let me go and do just that,” Becca says as she walks away. She mounts her dragon.
The male does the same. Then we watch them take off.
“Do you think this friend of yours will be able to restore the memory?” I ask Drake.
“If anyone can do it, it’s Vulcan.” Drake starts walking toward his truck. It’s slow, and he’s limping. “Are you coming?” he asks.
“Where to?” Wren asks.
“The Council buildings,” he tells us, like we’re idiots. “If we hurry, we might still catch Vulcan in action.”
“Yeah…of course,” I mumble.
“You two need a hospital,” Wren says. “You’re both bleeding.”
I look down, and sure enough, the wound on my leg is oozing blood again. Not much.
Drake is bleeding between his fingers, which are pressed to his wound.
“We’re fine,” Drake says.
Wren rolls her eyes. “I’d better drive.”