Experiment in Terror 05 On Demon Wings (41 page)

Amazon, just like you are. It must run in the family.”

At the mention of family, I frowned. Images and

sentences from seeing Pippa in the Thin Veil came floating

back to me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and leaned in closer. He

took his hand and gently stroked my chin with his thumb.

“I went to a place...” I began, unsure of how to start or

finish. “A place cal ed the Thin Veil. Black Sunshine. Pippa

was there. I talked to her...”

He nodded, his eyes reading mine. “You know she’s

your grandmother.”

“Yes,” I said, breathing it out. “You knew...”

“I figured it out,” he said. “But I didn’t want to be the one

to tel you.”

“My mom...my mom said she was crazy, she put her

away. Both her and my dad, they practical y kil ed her.”

His hand went up to brush the hair off my forehead. My

skin jumped at his touch, butterflies ignited in the heart of

my being. “I am so, so sorry, Perry. I wil do everything I can

to not let that happen to you.”

“You already have,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have made it

back here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Roman almost had you. He was so close. But I think he

was too afraid of making the same mistakes he did with the

boy. The one who died. He should have been able to free

you himself. I had to do something.”

I swal owed hard, overtaken by his sacrifice. I felt so very

smal .

“I guess I have to save your life at some point now,” I

said. “To make things even.”

“Perry,” he said quietly, his fingers trailing down the side

of my face, “you’l never have to save my life. You
gave
me

life. I never lived a single day until the day I first met you.”

Then he smiled warmly at me. It had al the grace and

heart in the world.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Bird’s voice broke through the

moment. “I heard voices and wanted to see if she was OK.”

Dex didn’t move but his eyes flitted up to Bird in the

doorway and he smirked. “You sure suck at timing, bird

man.”

To be honest, I was a little grateful for Bird’s intrusion. I

wasn’t ready to hear such things from Dex’s mouth. I was

stil mad at him for what he had done and my heart prickled

a little from the memory. I could forgive Dex but it didn’t

mean I could forget.

“It’s OK, Bird,” I said, moving my head just enough to

see him and his grandfatherly face. “He was just fil ing me

in on what happened.”

Dex took his hand away from my face and sat farther

back on his pil ows. One hand, though, kept a hold of mine.

“You already look better,” Bird said, looking me over and

nodding approvingly.

“Wel , black eyes and a lightening mouth never did

anyone any favors.”

He chuckled. “Your humor has returned too. Wel , Miss

Perry, now that I can final y talk to you in there and you

alone, I am very happy to see you again. How do you feel?”

“Shitty,” I said, but smiled. I was happy to see him, too,

and in the right circumstances.

“Your body wil recover fast,” he said. “You might be able

to go home tomorrow.”

Home? I hadn’t even given my home much thought. What

would I be returning to?

“Don’t worry,” Bird said, picking up on the vibes that

were tensing up my muscles. “Ada has cal ed your parents.

They know you are safe.”

That doesn’t mean anything anymore
, I thought. I shot

Dex a look. He stared back, pupils hard with determination.

I could almost hear what he was thinking, that he wasn’t

going to let anything happen to me. And yet I was suddenly

and appropriately scared. Dex may have just pul ed me out

from another dimension, but when it came to my parents he

had absolutely no power whatsoever.

~~~

We left the house early the next morning, just as the sun

was done climbing above the brown, grassy hil s. Roman

was hard-faced and tired as he saw us off. He was stil as

removed as he was earlier and kept his cool demeanor, but

I could at least pick up a sigh of relief; like by helping me

has was able to forgive himself about the boy.

I was stil feeling a bit broken and bruised, but I had no

injuries on me whatsoever, and after I was thrown into a

much-needed, steaming shower, I felt almost as good as

new. It was nice to be back in Dex’s car, sitting in the back

with Ada, not constricted by rope or wrapped in duct tape.

We dropped off Bird at the bus terminal in Lapwai. I

insisted we drive him to catch his plane in Boise. Hel , for

what he did for me, I would have taken him al the way to

Red Fox. But he told us we needed to get home before

things got any worse for my parents and I had to agree with

that.

It was hard to say goodbye to the man. Along with Dex,

Bird was one of those people who
got
me, and made me

feel like I could face anything. He cared and he was

selfless. I wanted him to come home with us, to explain to

my parents what happened and why it happened. But this

was a battle that Ada, Dex and I had to fight on our own.

The thought was terrifying and it preyed on me as we

drove back into the cold mountain passes, heading toward

Portland. I sat shotgun watching the trees whip past my

window, wishing I didn’t feel just as scared as I had when I

was heading the other way. Pippa was right. I not only had

to watch out for the dead, I had to watch out for the living.

My living loved ones were proving to be just as frightening,

and an equal threat.

I could tel Dex was thinking that over too as we both sat

in silence, music playing quietly from the speakers. Only

Ada seemed in good spirits and was chatting to us about

who knows what. She must have gotten the hint that we

weren’t paying attention, because she tapped Dex on the

shoulder.

“Hey, Dex?”

He grunted in return and glanced at her from the corner

of his eye.

“You stil with your floozy girlfriend?” Ah, there it was. The

elephant in the car.

I almost gasped at her audacity but caught it just in time.

I didn’t want to make any sudden movement, lest Dex think I

actual y cared whether he was with Jenn or not. Cuz I didn’t.

Or at least I told myself I didn’t.

He gave her an incredulous look. “Obviously not.”

She smacked him on his arm. “Don’t look at me like I

asked a stupid question. Because it’s not a stupid question

at al , and you damn wel know it.d gl

He looked back at the road and adjusted his hands on

the wheel. “Fine.”

“So you broke up with her?”

“Yes,” he said sharply.

“Way to find your bal s, man,” Ada congratulated him

and sat back in her seat.

I snuck a peek at him. He was chewing on his lip, brow

low on his eyes. The question made him uncomfortable and

I was glad. That’s al I was glad for. The fact that he broke

up with that stupid bitch had no effect on me.

“Who got custody of Fat Rabbit?” I asked.

A smile tugged at his lips and his expression lightened.

“I did. Rebecca’s looking after the farting bastard right

now.”

“Poor Rebecca,” I said. I wondered if I was going to see

her again, wondered what the future now held in store for

me. First things were first though. I had to get home and

sort that shit out. No matter what happened to my

grandmother, no matter my feelings about it, I couldn’t let it

happen to me. I had to do whatever I could to appear

completely sane and normal for the next while, if not forever.

I would not let my own parents turn on me and turn me in.

I turned around in my seat and looked hard at Ada.

“What?” she asked.

“Ada,” I said, “when we get home, I need you to promise

you’re going to do whatever you can to make me look

normal.”

She let out a laugh. “Wel , that’s not going-”

“Ada!” I cut in sharply. “I’m serious. Mom and dad won’t

hesitate to put me away in a hospital. We have to drop al

this exorcism nonsense.”

“Nonsense? But it’s what happened,” she protested.

“Perry, the things I saw. What you did...”

“I know. You, me, Dex, we are the only ones who know it

and wil ever know it. You’l have to tel them that Dex took

me to a native shaman. But that he applied some herbs

and did a healing session. My fever broke. It turns out I was

delirious. I’m fine now and I don’t remember a thing.”

She gave me a wary look. “Do we real y have to lie?

Mom and dad aren’t the enemy anymore. You
are
fine.”

“Yes, we do have to lie.”
And they are my enemy
, I

thought.

“Can you do that, little fifteen?” Dex asked.

She crossed her arms. “Wel , yeah, I’m pretty good at

lying. I just don’t think it’s going to be the end of the world

like you are both brewing over. They’l be upset and hel a

mad but real y they’l be glad you’re OK. When I spoke to

them, they were just real y, real y worried.”

Dex and I exchanged a weighted glance and spent the

remainder of the drive in silence. Silence except for my

heart that was beating faster with every street we passed.

By the time we turned onto our fair street, twilight hung in

the sky, casting a moody glow over everything, and I was

nearly sick with nerves. As we came up the house, we saw

three extra cars in the driveway; two of them had Portland

Police displayed on the sides. I gasped. Dex reached out

for my hand and I clutched it hard.

“Wow,” Ada said under her breath as she looked over

the scene. “Think mom and dad overreacted much?”

The Highlander came to gradual stop, the asphalt

crunching under the tires.

Ada hopped out of the car and started walking slowly

toward the house.

Dex held my hand tighter and leaned across the console

to me. “I have you. You’re going to be OK. I won’t let anyone

take you anywhere.”

Forget my parent’s overreacting; I hoped Dex and I were

the ones overreacting.

I nodded but my lips couldn’t find a smile.

We got out of the car. He came around to me and

grabbed my hand, holding it as tight as before. Ada was

almost at the front door when it flung open and my father

came roaring out like a charging rhino.

“YOU!” he screamed, as he stormed toward us, not even

giving Ada a glance. He was surprisingly fast and his fury

was directed at Dex, not me.

He came right up to Dex and swiftly clocked him across

the face.

I screamed as my dad’s punch knocked Dex back a few

steps. He didn’t fight back but he protected his nose with

his hands as my father went after him again.

“That was for my daughters!” he yelped, as he threw

another punch, which Dex managed to dodge.

There was something a bit touching about my father

doing that for Ada and me, but that feeling didn’t last long

when there was a flurry of activity and three cops ran out of

the house, fol owed by my mother and Maximus. My mother

grabbed Ada, crying and holding her close, while Maximus

cal ed my name and trotted over.

I moved away and went to join Dex but the three cops

were at him, one of them holding back my father while the

other two grabbed Dex’s arms behind him and threw him

against the cop car. They fished out the handcuffs and

began to read him his Miranda rights.

“What the fuck!? Nooo!” I cried out, and started running

but suddenly arms were wrapped around me from behind

as Maximus held me back. “Let go of me, you fucking

asshole!”

“Perry, calm down,” he said, but didn’t let up.

I screamed at my father, “What are they doing? They

can’t arrest him!”

“He’s wanted for kidnapping,” the officer with my dad

said, letting him go. My dad adjusted his tie and kept his

beady eyes on Dex, his face read and sweating.

“We’ve been looking for you al around the state,” said

the other officer who was holding Dex’s head down against

the car. I now recognized him as the Channing Tatum cop

from the other day. “Two cases of kidnapping, crossing

state lines.”

“Hey, I chose to go with him!” Ada yel ed, flinging herself

out of my mother’s hug.

“You’re a minor,” the officer responded.

I strained against Maximus’s stronghold. “But I’m not! I

wil ingly went with Dex too!”

“But you’re not of your right mind,” I heard a voice say

from my right. I looked at the house, past Ada who was

marching up to the cops, past my mother, who failed to