Chapter 32
When Cos begs me not to do something, it’s like a red-rag to a bull.
Ooh, I wonder if Ludo gets fighty around the color red. I’ll have to experiment.
I wave the empty Sour Patch Kids bag in front of my dragon-friend’s face.
“I’m trying to drive,” he snarls. The Range Rover wheels spin on a particularly deep snow bank.
“Easy on the Tokyo drift, Cos.” I dribble a little as I speak. Downside of rawdogging all the candy is saliva-city.
The truck pulls to a halt, so we follow suit.
I jump down into the snow. “Brrr. I’m going to freeze my snowballs.”
It may be cold and gloomy under these trees, but I feel freaking free right now.
I hadn’t realized how the walls of the academy had made me feel so penned in. My centaur likes this wild outdoor space.
“We need to start hiking, we’ll lose daylight in an hour.” Bossy old Feniks. But when I look at Tee’s red nose, it makes me want to whisk her away to a roaring fire in a cute, snuggly cabin asap.
If she gets wet, I can strip her down, rub her dry…and then make her wet all over again. Soaking, in fact.
“Donovan.”
Oh right.
So off we hike. Feniks is using a handheld GPS thing, and making silent arm signals when we need to change direction. It’s all very Navy SEALs. No, wait. The navy is at sea, not land.
Whoa. Seals! That’s why they’re called Navy seals, they slither around on the ice, then dive sneakily into the water.
What are hardcore land soldiers called? No idea.
We finally turn left on one of ‘Team Leaders’ hand gestures and arrive at the ‘safe house.’
Safe cabin.
If your definition of a safe is a pile of damp logs held together with pine sap and bird shit. It’s a squat shabby building that would be played by Gimli if it was in Lord of the Rings.
“Nobody tosses a dwarf,” I announce as I pull open the creaky door.
“Max, Donovan, check the perimeter. See if there’s anything within half-a-mile of here, the map says not but who knows,” Feniks snaps.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” I salute, but he turns his back on me and starts waving his hands around, casting the keep-away spell on the little shack.
The wind whistles through the trees. Windward Forest is aptly named. The air up here is so crisp, it’s like biting into a cold carrot.
On my circuit, I spot nothing of interest apart from a rusted-out campervan that looks straight from a horror movie, and some hoof-tracks that my inner centaur reliably informs me come from deer.
Heading back to base, I suddenly get a ‘whoa nelly’ from my horse.
What’s up, boy?
Following my gut, I stealthily climb a snowy rise.
On the other side is a track running through the trees. Snow and mud are churned up like vehicles head this way frequently. “Interesting, very interesting.” I take out my phone and do a few snaps, then decide to follow the road. Sneakily, like a ninja, of course.
Sometimes two human feet are better than four hooves.
My centaur is practically vibrating. He smells them before I see them.
Cigarette smoke.
I drop into a crouch behind a frost-covered boulder, my heart doing a gallop against my ribs. About fifty yards away, a couple of dudes in snow-camo are hanging out.
Moving from boulder to prickly bush I get closer and strain my ears to listen in.
Come on, you assholes, say something helpful.
“...you think we’ll get to break in this new batch?” one says, grabbing his crotch.
My fists curl.
What the fuck. If I was in centaur form, I’d put an arrow through his beady eyehole.
The second man laughs. “You do you, bro, but I ain't into the young shit. I’m a fan of a mature woman, or at least over fucking sixteen. Fuck, I’ve gotta get a transfer, this place is depressing.”
“You’re too uptight,” voice one says.
“Fuck you, Trevor. Just because my brain is not wired to be a fucking pervert, doesn’t make me uptight.”
“Yeah, whatever. I heard they’re bringing in a new one tomorrow, and she’s eleven. Might be more to your taste?”
“No thanks. What time’s the arrival? I hate all the paperwork.”
“Supposed to be at nine in the morning, I’ll be getting off then.”
The voices begin to fade as they move away, at the same time my brain is going a million miles an hour.
First, I want to kill those two, especially the one who talks about fucking kids. Fucking. Children. Oh Gods. My stomach rolls. Don’t puke. I’ve got to focus.
Secondly.
Wait, what was the second thing?
The kids.
This is it. Bingo, Yahtzee, etc. We’ve found the evil lair where they keep the kids.
Knowing Feniks will get his panties in a wad if I do more solo exploring, I decide to retreat. One thing at a time, Donovan. One thing at a time.
As soon as I set off, I immediately step onto a branch that snaps loudly.
Hmm, stealth has never been my middle name.
Nothing has ever been my middle name, actually. I guess our parents didn't want to waste time coming up with ones for me and Wes.
I pause, waiting with my foot on the broken stick, but it appears the guards didn’t hear me. Phew.
Move quietly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, horsebrain.
I focus on my steps and only make relatively small noises all the way back to the cabin.
“Hey, honey, I’m home.”
The interior is one big room with a fireplace that is sadly without a fire.
Tee has her hands buried deep in the pockets of the black puffer I got her. Her sweet, cold, face is encircled by the furry hood. Love it. She comes over, stands on tiptoes and brushes the snow off my shoulders. “Anything?”
“Saw some bad guys,” I tell her casually.
Willow leaps up from where she’s digging in a cupboard and bangs her head on an open drawer. “Ow, freaking so much.”
“Got a bonk on the noggin, Bloomhower?”
“What did you see?” Feniks says, getting up from where he’s splitting logs with some kind of mini-ax. “Without any more foolishness.”
I scowl at that.
I know I’m not Mega-mind, but I don’t like being called stupid. Tee-Tee puts a hand on my arm. “Go ahead, Donovan.”
“Fine. I saw a couple of dicks wearing that gray and white snow camouflage stuff. They had guns but weren’t paying any attention to the surroundings. Too busy talking about what they want to do to the kids they’ve got locked up.”
There is a crash, and Ludo stands in the doorway. The armful of logs he was carrying dropped on the ground.
Agh. Not surprised.
The big guy was once one of those kids. I go over to give him a hug, but Theo beats me to it.
Bloomhower pulls on my pant leg. “Let them be.”
“Who made you the boss,” I grumble, picking up the scattered logs. “And can we light that fire? It would freeze the tits off a nun in here.”
“Once it’s fully dark,” Boring McBoring face says. “Then no one will see the smoke.”
I flop down into a chair, feeling fed up.
“Snack?” Bloomhower asks.
After I nod, she passes me a warm pouch of noodles. “Thanks.”
Max comes in, and I watch as she shovels snow into another pouch, gives it a shake, then hands it to the hound.
“What the? Magic food?”
Willow chuckles. “Self-heating camping food.”
Finally Feniks decides it’s dark enough to light the fire.
“So, are we waiting until the stroke of midnight to go do our reconnaissance?” I ask him.
“No point. I’m sure they have the same amount of guards around the clock. We’ll go soon, spend as long as we can getting information, then sleep. Tomorrow probably won’t have much chance to rest. Let’s go outside and see if shifting is possible.”
Yes! My centaur is chomping at the bit.
In a clearing we form a circle, then Cosmo throws some glow-light spells up in the air. “Not that bright,” Feniks hisses, so Cos dials it down a notch.
“OK, who’s up first?”
I was going to say me, but Max beats me to it. It happens in a heartbeat. Max ripples into the hellhound, his fur blending into the darkness, but eyes glowing like fire.
From the doorway, Willow gasps. If she thinks that’s impressive, I’m going to blow her mind.
Next up, Ludo goes full bull. Fully Bully.
He hardly has to try at all; he just slides into the minotaur body, silent as always.
“I’ll go,” I finally get to say, and with a snap, crackle, pop, I’m a horse. “Whattcha think, Bloomhower?” I circle in the snow to show off my fine tail. She laughs with delight.
Pretty sure it’s delight.
Now there’s only Alexis and Cos left.
Cos is standing there, scowling like the maddest person ever, veins popping in his forehead. He grunts, his hands clawing at the air, but he’s still just a guy in a ridiculous tailored snow suit.
Not a single scale. No wings. Nothing.
"Fuck my life. Why is it not working?" he snarls, kicking snow into the dark.
Theo’s bestie gives him a long look, from toes to headtop, then raises an eyebrow. “Seems to me the rest of these guys all love and respect Theo. Quite the coincidence that you're the asshole who treats her like shit, and also the one who can’t access his innate power.”
Ooh, the balls on her!
Cosmo stiffens, looking like he wants to incinerate her, but too bad. He’s got no firebreath.
Theo walks over and reaches out, tilting his chin from side to side. “I've seen you at your worst, Cosmo Drakeward, but never at your best. Do you even have a best?”
Whoa. Good question.
“Your best is important right now. There are lives that can be affected by how effective you are. Consider this a bone thrown.” She closes her eyes and the world stills. I can’t see it but I feel it. She’s giving him Lumina.
The next second, she releases his face with a snap that has to rattle. “Now, get your head in the game,” she commands like the warrior princess she is.
I look at Alexis and he grins. “Our queen,” he says, and I totes agree. I will bend the knee, the cock, whatever she wants.
For forever more.
Cosmo inhales sharply, his eyes flashing an ice blue that is more intense than normal. Suddenly, the air around him shimmers. His skin turns oily. I see him trying to stifle his screams. It’s not like the rest of us. It’s painful.
The tar hardens into iridescent scales, and two massive, leathery wings unfurl, nearly knocking me on my butt.
Rump.
Is that what a horse butt is called?
“Dramatic,” Willow sighs. And I think I love Theo’s bestie. In a completely platonic way, but jeepers, she’s got a cool mouth on her.
Feniks, still in his human bod, does more magic and I feel it weave around me.
Yep, nothing to see here. I’m fully coated with Occulta Apparentia.
I guess he has to keep his normal head, not eagle one, because of all the orders he needs to bark out.
“We need to see every access point of the facility. Ventilation, drainage, everything.” He turns his attention to Ludo. “Are you OK with this? If there’s a chance you’re going to be triggered into a PTSD episode, it’s better if you stay here.”
Man, for a guy with no words, old Bully still knows how to shut someone up with a stare.
“Fine,” Alexis says. “But it needed to be addressed. So, listen up. Tonight is information gathering; our current intel is virtually all blanks. Tomorrow we break in and steal the children. This evening—find answers to all the problems you can.”
With that we don't waste another second. Alexis and Cosmo take to the air, while me, Ludo and Max charge forward. Well, I do. Honestly, I leave the slow pokes in the dust.
Snow.
The facility tries to block itself from me with its nauseating, nothing to see here, spell. But I’m not buying what this building is selling. Nope. Instead I circle the perimeter, feeling the wards that pulse like a heartbeat.
—Mega wards— I tell Team Sparkles.
—I can feel them through you— Theo replies. Her voice rings like the perfect bell in my head, sharp with focus.
—Don’t break them— Captain Crunch commands. —We’re just after the layout…no heroics.—
Yeah, yeah.
I take off at a flying pace, confident I’m invisible for my speed as much as the spells. —Can I take out some guards?—
I’ve spotted several that are begging for an arrow through the heart.
—NO—
So boring.
—But tomorrow, yes. You can kill them all—
That’s more like it.