Raven worked her way between Evan and Nancy, her stumpy dog pulling against his red leash and his growl like hate made into sound. “I may sound nuts, but I saw something two nights ago, and it wasn’t a gas leak.”
Tony came forward wearing a scowl and a Mother Earth tee I kind of wanted to steal even though Hekla was correct in calling me out on recycling. “She’s right,” Tony said. “A few of us saw a…a…”
“Well, say it, Tony,” Nancy snapped. “You’ve tried to tell me three times already.”
“A dragon,” Tony croaked.
Well, Tony, you are a surprise, a deep voice said into my mind. I blinked, realizing the unicorn of darkness was in my head, listening to this.
Hey, do you have information? I asked the dark unicorn.
But there was no answer. Didn’t matter anyway. I didn’t have the brain space for all this shit.
About two-thirds of the crowd laughed nervously in response to Tony’s mention of the dragon. The rest backed him up, Raven included. I kept my mouth shut, not sure where this was headed. If we could get them on our side, maybe they could help us distract the demon and help me destroy it.
“It’s true,” Raven said. “Right when I made it to Coren’s driveway, I saw a blast of purple light and this big ass monster.”
Nancy nodded grimly as the crowd’s talk grew louder and more frantic, voices pitching higher and higher. “Listen! I’ve told you as much. Coren is a witch, and she has bedded a demon! We must drive them out of our beloved Franklin!”
Oh, boy. “Okay. Hold on. So you see me fighting against the monster trying to eat our beloved Franklin but you want to toss me out?”
Nancy’s face went poppy red. “You are the reason it’s here!” Tiny spit bubbles showed at the corners of her mouth.
“You’re not wrong, but we’re trying to kill it and save your ass!”
Hekla jumped between us. “Hey. Hey. Let’s bring it down a notch, ‘kay?”
“No.” Dain jerked his head at Evan and his brother. They took a rifle from a couple of other idiots in the crowd, then handed the gun to Dain. “This ends now.”
Dain fired the weapon into the sky, and I jumped at the same moment police sirens wailed down Hillsboro.
“The demons!” someone shouted.
Lucus and Kaippa hovered above the castle, not even trying to use glamour. The sun glinted off the jagged claws of Kaippa’s wings, the claws that were still regrowing since the unseelie had filed them down. The wind tore through, smelling like piles of burning leaves, and the draft ruffled Lucus’s ivy wings.
Dain pressed the cold end of his gun against my temple and forced me to start walking. “Tell your lover to back off or—”
“Or what, Dain? You’re going to shoot me, then go to prison for life? Bullshit. You’re not going to shoot me, fucknugget.”
Evan had his rifle angled up so its tip pushed against Hekla’s jaw. Her eyes were wide, her bangs wet with perspiration and sticking to her forehead.
Lucus surged toward us, but I didn’t want him attacking. They already hated us. We had to show them we were on their side.
“I’ll handle this!” I called up, then watched as he drew back with a mighty wingbeat, Kaippa on his six.
The armed jackasses roughly escorted Hekla and me into two separate white SUVs. I hated the fact that my Yew Bow was in the casting chamber.
Dain cupped a hand at his bearded mouth and squinted his eyes at Lucus. “I’m dropping her at mile marker 69, the mall exit. Meet them there if you want. I don’t want to break any laws, but I will if I have to in order to protect Franklin. If y’all come back, all bets are off.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. “And how exactly did your past behavior take care of our precious hometown? I seem to remember you getting arrested for graffiti at the Franklin skate park.”
Evan’s ruddy-cheeked brother pushed me across the slick leather seat and belted me in. Evan sat in the front passenger seat and pointed his rifle at me while Dain crawled into the driver’s side.
I had to figure this out without using Lucus and Kaippa. We couldn’t just kill these people. Sure, they were idiots, but I didn’t honestly blame them for wanting to get us out of town. We were trouble. Problem was, they thought the demon dragon would leave if we did. I didn’t think it was going to be that easy for them.
Dain peeled out of the parking spot along the street and barreled down the road. We zipped down First Street, past the new Americana Taphouse, the old granary silos, then bumped over the railroad tracks, heading for the interstate ramp off Murfreesboro Road.
“Hey, guys. Listen. I get it. The world isn’t what you thought it was. Welcome to the party. I didn’t know about any of this insanity until recently either. But believe it or not, we are the good guys here. We are trying to take that monster down, and we’re the only ones who can. The thing isn’t going to just slip out of town on my heels. I mean if it does, great. But that castle we were in, the one your eyes probably tried not to see, that was real and it belongs to a complete asshat psycho nightmare named Ludovico Sforza. He is the real thing, guys. The real damn thing. You do not want to deal with him on your own, and he is set to arrive at any minute. I don’t gamble much, but if I were like you, Dain, I’d throw all my craft beer money on the fact that old Ludo is going to want to rule his new kingdom with a very magical and very iron fist. That means Franklin is in serious danger. You can’t be picky about your allies here. You need me. You need my whole freak crew, man.
