Chapter Thirty-Seven #3
Spotlights searched the night sky, crisscrossing over the clouds in a frantic dance.
The rain, however, had taken a momentary break, as though assessing its options.
If the slate-grey, fast-moving clouds were an indication, the break wouldn’t last long.
In his human form, Stryker, with AJ held at his side, had landed on the rooftop garden sanctuary of a luxury hotel that overlooked Puget Sound and a giant Ferris wheel.
He had not been able to shapeshift into a Dragon.
Evidently, he was still getting the hang of it.
Instead, using a combination of his superhuman core and dumb luck, he had ridden the air currents and landed on the rooftop.
The hotel had created a parklike setting, complete with trees, a winding river-rock path, fountains, and—fortunately for him—a tourist shop with “I love Seattle” clothing.
AJ was convinced that the men who had shot and killed Zacharias and then turned their guns on them were not connected with her father or the Seattle police force. It was obvious they hadn’t come to rescue AJ but to kill Zacharias and any witnesses.
Stryker did not know if her assessment regarding her father was true. What he did know was that there could be only one reason to search the skies. Someone knew what—or more importantly, who—they were looking for. They were searching for a Dragon.
“You can fly?” Teeth chattering, she rubbed her arms, with the classic deer-in-the-headlights expression. “That’s cool.”
He shrugged. “More gliding and jumping than flying, this time,” Stryker said with a grin. He should have known she would have questions.
She rubbed her arms again. “You’re right. It was seriously scary. When I was younger, my father used to tell me bedtime stories of fantastical creatures. I thought he had a wonderful imagination. Now, I realize all the stories were true. So, you said you were a Dragon Wizard. What is that…exactly?”
“That’s a long conversation and you’re cold.
Hold that question while I find us a way inside the building.
We are too exposed. Zacharias was right when he mentioned something wasn’t right when those men dressed like policemen arrived so soon after you’d called and left a message with your father.
And then there’s the question of why someone ordered a search of the skies.
You only do that if you think the person you’re hunting can fly.
The building we’re on now is most probably locked, thanks to the crowd and the police, but I think I have enough power to glide us down to the street level.
I’m still figuring out how to recharge,” he said with a sheepish grin.
Hugging her arms against her waist, AJ moved nearer a walled structure in the center of the rooftop. Her head jerked toward a door. “Or we could use the stairs.”
He made a slight bow. “Your wish is my command.”
Once on the street level, Stryker led AJ in the direction of the Ferris wheel. He needed answers and had planned to meet one of the contacts he had made over the last few days at that location if anything went wrong. Being shot at and hunted certainly qualified.
A spotlight swept over downtown Seattle, illuminating the city in an artificial glow. He had an eerie feeling that whoever was after him and AJ was getting closer. He could not allow that to happen.
With AJ beside him, Stryker headed toward the perimeter of the Ferris wheel.
The wheel kept turning even though the area was closed due to the storm.
Lights shone from its spokes like the lights from the northern lights of an Aurora Borealis.
A strong feeling of homesickness gripped him like a vise, and he doubled over.
Alexandra rested her hand on his arm. “Are you all right? You look like you might throw up.”
He closed his eyes and gulped in salt-kissed air. “I am fine.”
“Oh, really? My father once told me the definition of the word ‘fine’ when I used it to describe my day at college. He said the word meant ‘freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional.’ Which one of those words describes what’s going on with you?”
“Take your pick. I am a Dragon.”
She hesitated, while a cacophony of emotions played over her expression, from shock to fear, and finally settled on annoyance. She narrowed her gaze. “No one’s perfect. I’m a Sagittarius. What is your point?”
“How about this: I am still trying to figure it out.”
“Better. Exactly who are we waiting for?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You’re smart for a human. The contact I’m meeting should be here soon. Are you still cold? You look cold.” He started to take off his sweatshirt with its image of the Space Needle, but she reached for his arm and pulled him onto the bench seat.
She laughed, shaking her head. “As much as I enjoy seeing you without a shirt, you need to keep your clothes on. Clothes are a big thing in the human world.”
“Good to know.” He concentrated on the Ferris wheel. It was surprising how comfortable he felt around her. Maybe it was the whole thing of facing death together and surviving that had built a sense of ease. Whatever it was, he did not want to risk examining it too closely.
The lights of the Ferris wheel blurred through the misty rain as the wheel turned.
A melody played, but he did not recognize the tune.
There was a merry-go-round, and rows of booths set up for food or games where the prizes were giant stuffed animals.
Everything about the park evoked a simpler time, a time of childhood wonder, where most problems were manageable.
But it was an illusion, an oasis, a place where time was only suspended.
Sooner or later, you had to reenter the adult world.
“How well do you know your father?” Stryker said.
****
AJ pressed her lips together and glared at him, a trait Stryker had found amusing when Zaharias was the target. Not so much when he was the recipient. Too late he realized that suggesting she did not know her father as well as she thought she did was the wrong thing to say.
“Are you suggesting that the men who killed Zacharias—and tried to kill us—were sent by my father?” Without waiting for his answer, she stood, hesitated for a moment, and then stormed off in the rain.
He pushed to his feet. “I am sorry. That was a stupid thing for me to say.”
She turned and glared at him as though believing her stare would turn him to stone. “Apology not accepted.”
“I saved your life.”
Her glare deepened.
“I am an idiot.”
“Yes, you are. The question you should have asked was whether someone might have been listening in on my father’s calls.
Unfortunately, if that is the case, everyone is a suspect.
” She cocked her head to the side. “You know, I like you better this way. A week ago, when you were assigned as my babysitter, you never smiled and wouldn’t have admitted that you were wrong. ”
As she turned and headed toward the Ferris wheel, the words she had spoken registered. He jogged to catch up with her. “What do you mean? We never met until the day I shifted.”
AJ turned toward him, searching his expression.
“You really don’t remember, do you? My father and your brother, Rowan, thought I needed protection.
I objected, of course, but as usual they ignored me.
Anyway, while you and I were investigating the Eye Doctor murders, you were poisoned and almost died.
Rowan and Morgan saved your life. I don’t remember too much, as I was affected by the poison as well.
When you awoke, you turned invisible, shifted into a dragon, and disappeared.
The next time I saw you was on the balcony when you saved my life. I thought you remembered.”
His memory was as fuzzy as Seattle through the rain. He had no recollection of the Eye Doctor murder cases. He remembered seeing Rowan and Morgan when he awoke, and registering that Rowan was his brother. He hated that he had forgotten the missing pieces of his human life.
The breeze off Puget Sound increased, swirling the rain around them as they stood facing each other.
Stryker waited. They were linked, if only by circumstance.
Was she in his life to help him understand the connections between his two worlds?
There was no such thing as coincidence. The next step was for AJ to embrace the same conclusion.
He heard people running over a gravel path and pulled AJ behind him. “Stay close. They’re coming.”