Three Southern Beaches: A Summer Beach Read Box Set (30 page)

“I do vote for roughing them up a bit—maybe knocking out a few teeth,” Jenny added hopefully.

“I’m good with that as long as you kick them in the stomach. Preferably till they vomit. Now, I have to go and see what’s happening. Backup is on the way and we’ll get you out of here soon.”

“Essie, be careful,” Sandy said. “We’ve missed you and it would just suck if you died today.”

I grinned and gave her the thumbs up sign. “I have no plans to die today. I have too much to live for.”

Chapter 13

Where in the world was my backup? I was actually going to try to do this one by the books, but the longer I waited the more danger the girls were in. If it was discovered they were out of their chains all hell would break lose. I sniffed the air and caught no sign of Hank, Junior, Granny or Dwayne. Not good.

Staying low and close to the dilapidated buildings, I made my way toward the sound of voices.

“We have what we need,” Puck said. “I have no more use for the ones in chains, but I want Essie to go with us.”

Awesome, that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life…be the egg slave to a smarmy Dragon. Not happening.

“Absolutely not,” Tina #3 screeched. The two others voiced their displeasure quite vocally as well.

Puck Flare’s roar was no small thing, and from the sound of it, the Tinas concurred. I could feel the heat and I was outside of the building. The sound of screams and slapping followed. Had he set them on fire? If they stop, drop and roll they’d live, but…

“You have almost outlived your usefulness,” he hissed as the women moaned and whimpered. “What happened to Peter and Paul? You told me to plan a bogus meeting to throw the Sheriff off and now they’re not here when I need them,” he roared.

“They’ll be here,” Tina #2 assured him, sobbing.

“Peter has the formula on him and I need it now,” he said coldly. “This operation will go up in flames, pun intended, if I don’t have their assistance. If something has happened I will burn this town to ashes and use you three as kindling.”

“Well, that would suck the big one,” Junior whispered in my ear as he slid his hand over my mouth and thankfully trapped the scream that was on its way out.

“Why can’t I smell you?” I whispered as I punched him in the chest.

“Ouch.” He rubbed his pecs and I rolled my eyes. “I added a new compound to the tanner. Completely erases scent. Vamps can’t even detect it.”

He was brilliant, but he was alone.

“Where are the others?”

“We had a little situation at the station.” He grinned and chuckled. His calm amazed me.

“Spill,” I said as I pulled him to a safer spot behind another broken down building.

“Your buddy Dwayne did the mind meld thing and it went a bit awry.”

“Oh god, is he okay?” The thought of losing Dwayne was incomprehensible to me.

“He’s fine. So is Hank and your granny,” he added quickly. “But the Dragons…” He winced and gagged.

“What?”

“They’re not so fine.”

“Define not so fine,” I said.

“They exploded.” He turned a greenish hue and I backed away just in case he felt the need to hurl.

“How in the heck did they explode? Are they dead?”
Was this some kind of Dragon trick
?

“Oh, they’re dead alright. Dwayne mumbled some Vampyre voodoo and the Dragons’ skin started bubbling and before you could say, Dolly Parton’s built like a brick shit house, they blew up like a freakin’ bomb. Their guts are spread all the way from Main Street to Hangman’s Trail.”

That was a full six blocks. Impossible. I actually felt the need to hurl. I settled for a small gag and attempted to compartmentalize the visual. Also impossible.

“Dwayne did that?”

“Yep. Yep, he did.” Junior shook his head in wonder. “No clue how we’re gonna explain that one to the humans. Lots of community activities coming up; the Watermelon Festival, the Treasure Hunt, the Potato Sack Olympics…It’s a damn mess and smells like hell.”

“Septic,” I muttered. “Tell them city septic exploded.”

“Might work.” He nodded. “Saw the girls. They told me what was happening. Crazy shit. I wanted them to run, but they were having none of it.”

“I know.” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “Apparently the Dragons in town had the formula. I do believe it’s a three Dragon job. If they don’t come back, and clearly that’s not happening, Puck will incinerate the town.”

“Caught that part,” he said as he carefully handed me a squirt gun. As I examined it, wondering if he’d lost his mind, he grabbed my wrist and immobilized me. “Shit’s dangerous, Essie.”

“It’s a squirt gun.”

“Yes, Einstein. It’s a squirt gun. A squirt gun that has a liquid in it that will inhibit a shift—stop it completely. The one thing we can’t let happen is to allow that Dragon to shift. None of us stands a chance against a pissed off psychotic flying reptile the size of a football stadium.”

He was correct. Wolves were deadly but Dragons beat us on size alone…not to mention the fire thing.

“Did we happen to get the formula?” I asked.

Junior rolled his eyes and grunted. I took that as a no. Did it matter? Dragons were notoriously selfish and greedy—at least that’s what I’d always heard. There was a very good chance that each of them had played a specific role and didn’t show their hand even to each other. That would certainly ensure they needed each other. Or to be more precise, wouldn’t kill each other and it would explain why Puck was so furious they weren’t back yet. Holy hell, I didn’t want to be around when he found out they’d been turned to goop.

“I need to go in there and douse the Dragon,” I said.

“You’re almost correct,” Hank said from behind me. Junior slapped his hand over my mouth and stifled my scream again for the second time in five minutes. Hank had definitely used the self tanner too. “But I’m sure you meant
we
.
We
need to go douse the Dragon and then tear him to shreds.”

I glanced over at the man who made my world right and I grinned. “Yes, I’m sure I meant to say that.”

“What about the she-wolves?” Junior asked.

Hank put his finger to his lips and pointed. The Tinas were making their way back to the holding room where the girls were. Their hair and clothing were singed and they appeared shell shocked and pissed. Crap.

“Junior, go around this building, come up on the rear and protect the girls. I’d like the Tinas alive, but you have my blessing to use deadly force.”

“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more. Where’s Granny?”

“She stayed in town. Go, go, go.”

Junior quickly shifted and left.

“Dwayne?” I inquired.

“He’s also in town doing crowd control, seeing as he was the one that caused the massive disaster.”

“You left a vampire and my granny in charge?” I was shocked and impressed.

“Not just any Vampyre…A three hundred year old gay drag queen Vampyre who can blow up Dragons.” Hank put his hand over his mouth, closed his eyes and gathered himself for a moment. I was becoming increasingly more relieved that I’d missed Dwayne’s new party trick. “Your buddy is apparently the hit of Hung. The crowds started chanting ‘Gaga’ as soon as they saw him. They were listening to him more than they were listening to me, so I told him that he and Granny were running the show and to clean up his mess. Then I left.” He shrugged and grimaced.

“Plan?” I asked.

“Your call.”

I swelled with pride that he was going to follow my lead. The simple fact that he trusted me meant the world.

“He has fertilized eggs in there somewhere. We need to get them and any computers or files we find.”

“Wait. Eggs? Fertilized?”

“They’re trying to cross breed species, dismantle the Council and take over the world.”

“That was nice and succinct.” His eyebrow shot up and I flipped him the bird.

“I’m good like that.” I grinned and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll go in first and pretend I’m running from the Tinas…I’ll tell him they were trying to kill me—that I’m scared. I’ll throw myself in his arms and squirt him.”

Hank pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, a sure sign of
I don’t like this plan
…

I ignored his body language and went on. “As soon as he’s wet, you come in and shoot him in non-kill spots. We’ll restrain him and I’ll find the evidence.”

“Nope, not gonna work.”

“Why isn’t it going to work?”

“You have to get him in the eyes or mouth to make the solution work.” He winced, started to say something and stopped.

“What? Spit it out. We don’t have time,” I said.

“I can not believe what I’m about to say, but…”

“Say it,” I hissed.

“You drank Dwayne’s blood. Yes?”

“Yes.”

“The solution won’t harm a Vamp and even if it stops your shift, I can shift if I need to.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you need to put some of the liquid in your mouth and kiss the bastard so we get it where it needs to go,” he ground out unhappily. His fists were balled up and his face had flushed red with fury. “I am sick that I just suggested that.”

“It’s brilliant and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Yes, it’s disgusting, but I really want to leave here alive today. Just stay outside until you hear me tell him, um…tell him how hot his lips are. Do you get the double entendre thingie I just said?”

He rolled his eyes and groaned.

“I thought it was pretty good,” I muttered.

“Inspired,” he snapped. “Put the crap in your mouth and let’s do this. I’m going in human. I’m going to try not to shift unless it’s necessary. Even losing a second with a Dragon is deadly. He can still blow fire in his human form. As far as guns go, their healing power is extraordinary and guns are useless. We’ll have to go hand to hand and break his neck. It won’t kill him, but we can restrain him. I fight first and you destroy whatever you find as far as the experiment goes. On the outside chance that we die in there, I don’t want him leaving with anything that can be used to make a Wolf-Dragon. If I’m going down help me, but it will be more of a distraction than an advantage if I’m trying to defend you.”

“I find that insulting,” I snapped.

“Have you ever fought a Dragon?”

“Have you?” I shot back.

He stared at me long and hard and I realized he had. He had fought a Dragon. When in the hell had he fought a Dragon and how did I not know this?

“Just stay away from his mouth and nose once he’s pissed and we might come out of this in one piece.”

“How do you know all this?”
How did he know all of this
? This was info I’d never heard.

“Because I’m…”

“Where are they?” Puck bellowed. “Everything I’ve worked for is going to hell. I will kill all of them.”

“Go. Now.”

I quickly squirted some of the liquid in my mouth as I ran toward the door of the building where Puck Flame, the assjacket, was having a hissy fit. The taste was so foul, my eyes watered. Dang it… No, that was good. Crying was good. My inner wolf jerked and fought inside of me, realizing she was trapped. I had no time to calm her. I pushed her down and burst through the door. Eyes wild and body trembling, I took in the scene.

The room was positively high tech. It had been completely refurbished—had to have taken months to create a lab this sophisticated. This was no haphazard operation. Medical tools, computers and vials littered the counters. There was a metal gurney in the center of the room with thick straps attached to it. My stomach roiled as I realized what had happened to my pack members on that table. Monitors beeped and small petri dishes were cooking under fluorescent lights. Bingo for the eggs.

“What are you doing in here?” Puck demanded, advancing on me.

I shook my head violently and let my tears flow. Speech was impossible or I’d loose the solution.

His demeanor changed lightening fast and an unfamiliar scent filled the room.
Oh hell to the no
, he was aroused as evidenced by the bulge in his pants.

Use it. Make it work.

Moaning, I threw myself into his arms and rubbed my body against his. It was all I could do not to gag. Between the liquid in my mouth and the disgusting man running his hands over my body I was in hell.

“Are you all right, sweet thing? Did those girls try to hurt you?” he cooed and pulled me flush against his huge frame. Thank god, Hank was outside. This was nothing I wanted him to see.

I shook my head yes and wove my fingers in his hair, pulling his face toward me. He needed no more of an invitation than that as he crushed his lips to mine, forcing my mouth open and plundering inside. I spit the solution into his mouth and he jerked back as if burned.

“My god,” he sputtered as his lips puckered unattractively and he coughed. “For such an exquisite girl you have appalling oral hygiene. You need to brush your teeth. Immediately.”

“But your lips are so hot,” I shouted and almost burst out laughing at the puzzled look of horror on his face.

Hank came through the door and everything froze for a moment. Confusion ripped across the Dragon’s face quickly replaced by an anger so intense I almost turned away. How an animal with this much power and ire had been kept at bay by the Council for so many years was mind boggling.

Hank’s power and magic filled the room and the Dragon looked startled for a brief second. To be honest I was a little thrown too. When in the hell did Hank get so deadly? The Dragon spread his arms and began to chant.