Chapter 16
Ariel turned to her friends, taking in their worried expressions.
“This is exactly what we were hoping for. Remember your positions.” She gave them a firm, yet encouraging smile.
They practiced earlier where they would hide in the obstacle course to better lure Grimm’s henchmen into their traps.
“There are plenty of agents on the ground and in the air to support us. We can do this! That man will never use us again.” A warmth spread through her chest. Was this emotion pride?
She had to learn to bury her feelings so much around Grimm, she’d only remembered how to recognize anger.
Now there was a kaleidoscope of emotions coming to the surface, some felt alien.
She smiled wide. That meant she was one step further out of his clutches.
She glanced around to see a look of determination cross the faces of the group members whom she now considered friends. Many of them were nodding in agreement. The earlier fear was erased from their expressions.
“Wait until I give the signal,” Ariel reminded them.
There was too much riding on this for things to go wrong.
The only question she had was, where was Grimm?
With her kidnapping not working out to his favor that morning, she figured that was all the more reason for Grimm to be overseeing his little operation personally.
Like always, he was probably hiding in the shadows, not wanting to get his hands dirty unless absolutely necessary.
He always had someone else do the kidnapping and dirty work for him.
He kept his focus on his experiments. Ariel hoped that was coming to an end.
She reached out and grabbed Joline’s hand, giving it a squeeze as they shared a wan smile.
Ariel turned back to the henchmen being chased towards them.
The distance was shrinking. The features on their weary faces were coming into focus.
Her smile widened. They clearly did not expect to have to run a marathon to kidnapping their victims. A shadow darkened the ground.
Ariel glanced up to see Gabby flying overhead with her long, black wings.
She was nearly silhouetted by the sun overhead in the cloudless sky.
Gabby gave a quick nod as she flew, and then Ariel noticed a tiny green hummingbird racing by on Gabby’s heels. That must’ve been Lyla.
Ariel looked back to the baddies running at them.
She chuckled as a cheetah raced ahead, snapping at the heels of one of the henchmen.
Trina was not only herding the hippos, but she was also herding Grimm’s lackeys.
The hippos, realizing they were no longer being chased by the giant cat, decided to take a break and munch on the green grass.
The cronies, so close to their prize, didn’t notice.
Grimm made sure his helpers delivered, or else they’d risk becoming his next failed experiment.
When they were a mere 15 feet away, Ariel yelled, “You’re going to have to catch us!”
As she yelled the signal, the group members scattered into the obstacle course, taking up their positions.
Some of them were out in the open, others hid.
All of it was planned out that morning as they set up their snares and traps.
Ariel took the lead. She and Joline had to run.
They were going to be the deepest in the course.
Ropes and walls and other obstacles flashed past them as they sprinted to the end of the course.
They had to be cautious. One wrong step and they risked triggering a snare or trap.
Those were reserved for Grimm and his men.
Shouting peppered the air around them as they sprinted deeper into the course.
Hopefully it was the yelling of henchmen being caught unexpectedly in the snares.
Guilt prickled Ariel’s insides. She’d feel awful if any of her friends got hurt or captured.
Joline breathed heavily at her side as they made their way to the end of the course.
Ariel’s heartbeat hammered in her ears. Her chest burned, but they were almost there.
Grimm’s leg acted nearly like her own, cushioning her stump with each stride as it sensed the ground beneath the metal foot.
As they neared one of the walls meant as an obstacle for cadets to climb over, something tripped Ariel.
It wasn’t a snare. A large beast stepped out from behind the wooden wall.
It was unlike anything Ariel had ever seen before.
It reminded her of Simon. Like Simon, the creature was made up of different animals, but that’s where the similarity to Simon ended.
It seemed Grimm’s madness had a method to it after all.
Perhaps he honed his splicing abilities on unsuspecting subjects, and then used what he learned to create this monstrosity.
Joline gave a small shriek in surprise as the massive creature stepped out. It was amazing the thing could hide behind the wall as it towered over it. Its shaggy, grey fur shook as the creature took a step towards them. The fur butted up against feathers that coated its bird-like head.
“Do you have surprises in your leg that can help take down that?” Joline asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.
Ariel shook her head. She didn’t think her taser would have enough juice to bring it down. They could lead it to a snare, but she didn’t think they’d have the strength to snag the beast. Before Ariel could suggest anything, the best gave a roar that sent shivers down her spine.
It lunged forward, snapping at Joline with a beak that looked like it belonged to a toucan. She dropped to her elbow, rolling away before the beast could cut her with its razor-sharp beak.
“Hey!” Ariel yelled, trying to draw the beast away from Joline.
It didn’t seem to work. It was as if Grimm had told it to take out anyone who wasn’t a former experiment of his.
She kicked herself for not grabbing the throwing knife from the wall of her dorm.
Ariel quickly unsnapped her track pants, clicking on the compartment that held the brass knuckles. They would have to do.
She slid them on her right hand, feeling the coolness of the metal.
There was no time to study the creature for weaknesses.
It was already snapping its beak at Joline again.
Joline tried to put the wall between her and the creature, but it smashed a strong, clawed arm into the obstacle, sending wood splinters flying in every direction.
A few spayed Joline, cutting her arms and cheek. She screamed with the sting of it.
Ariel ran toward the monster, using her momentum to propel her into its leg.
She gave a flying punch to its kneecap. The beast howled in pain as its leg gave out.
Before it could stand, she rolled toward it, giving a punch to the haunch of its uninjured leg.
While Ariel couldn’t tell what type of mammal the hind legs were from, she figured hitting it in its joints would be the most painful.
And it seemed to be working. The beast cried out in pain, rubbing its aching joints.
“How do you like it?” she yelled at the beast. “You’re trying to hurt my friend. Your beak would do far worse damage to her.”
The creature blinked its yellow eyes at her. They reminded her of Arty’s ostrich eyes.
Instead of attacking again, the giant monster sat down, flicking its long, furry tail like an agitated housecat.
Joline rounded in front of it, pressing a hand to one of the wounds on her arm.
“We don’t want to hurt you, but we have to protect ourselves.
” Joline’s tone sounded less sure of herself, but she was doing her best to follow Ariel’s lead.
That was when Ariel realized what she was doing. She was attempting to reason with it.
“Does Grimm make you hurt people?” Ariel asked, trying to keep her tone compassionate.
The beast gave a sound that was a cross between a grumble and a cry before nodding.
If Ariel didn’t know better, she’d say it looked sad.
“Were you a shifter?” she asked, wondering how the creature was created.
If it used to be a person, then she had a chance to turn it to her side.
Although, from some of the henchmen she’d encountered, that wasn’t always true.
But if this thing used to be an experiment that didn’t want to be changed, there was hope.
The creature wrinkled up its white, feathery eyebrows in concern before it nodded again. It clicked its beak, as if trying to talk before letting out another whine like a sad puppy.
Joline let out a gasp. “I’m so sorry,” she said in a near whisper. “But just because Grimm changed you, doesn’t mean you have to answer to him.”
“He’s a liar,” Ariel added. “Whatever he promised you is a lie.” She waved her arm towards WANC. “These people here might be able to help, but they won’t do that if you go around eating cadets.”
The creature turned its yellow eyes to Joline, before bowing its head as if sad over its past choices.
“That’s right,” Joline agreed, taking a small step forward.
“No more trying to bite me, and we won’t hurt you.
And we keep our promises.” She glanced at Ariel, a look of surprise on her face as if she was surprised that talking to the thing helped their situation.
Wanting to take a risk Ariel thought was worth it, she extended her hand out. She hoped the creature wasn’t playing a trick. If she lost her arm, she’d be pissed to say the least. “Deal?” she asked, hoping Joline could throw her quills in the thing’s eyes if it did try to take a bite out of her.
The creature took her hand in its clawed one, shaking on their truce.
Joline looked out to the lake in the distance. “Hear the water out there?” She pointed as she explained, “The lake is cold, perfect if you want to put your legs in. The chill will help with the pain.”
It nodded slowly as it rubbed at its aching knee and ankle. Then it got up with a groan, limping off to the lake.
Ariel still couldn’t believe they didn’t have to kill the beast to get away. She thought for a second there they were both going to be the animal’s lunch. She was glad they didn’t have to kill a former shifter who was probably blackmailed into doing Grimm’s dirty work.
She turned to Joline. “Are you okay?” she asked, taking in the scratches left by the wood splinters that sliced her.
Joline nodding. “I think so.” She gave a dark chuckle. “This must be what it feels like to be hit by my quills.”
Ariel gave her a tired smile. “Don’t think too much about it.
We might need those quills.” She put a hand on Joline’s shoulder, trying to comfort her.
She wanted nothing more than to walk away from this chaos and hold Joline tight.
But they had a job to do and friends to protect.
“We need to keep going. While the beast didn’t take us out, it left us behind schedule. ”
After Joline nodded, they picked up the pace to a brisk jog, weaving through the course.
Before they reached their position, a middle-aged man stepped out from behind a wooden platform.
His thin lips pulled back into a smile. His eyes were so dark the pupils seemed to swallow the irises, and they stared through Ariel, pinning her in place.
They both halted immediately, afraid to get close to the man.
“I’m so glad you came right to me,” Dr. Grimm himself said in his trademark reedy voice. The confidence in his tone said that he felt he’d planned this whole thing by himself. The puppet master at work, controlling everything. “And you brought your friend.”
Ariel didn’t like his tone one bit. Or the look he gave Joline. It was as if she were a meal for him to savor. Ariel’s stomach soured. “You stay away from her.”
“Or you’ll do what?” he asked, taking a step forward.
“Grimm, I’m warning you!” Ariel nearly shouted through gritted teeth.
Grimm’s face dropped into a sour expression.
He looked like a toddler whose friend just stole his favorite toy.
After clucking his tongue, he said, “My, how the mighty have fallen.” His black eyes found Joline.
Ariel could have sworn she could hear her girlfriend’s heartbeat quicken.
“Do you know what we do to our pets when they bite us, little cadet?” Before one of them could respond with something snarky, Grimm answered his own question: “We put them down.”