“The dragon has taken it to a new level this week, but it’s not uncommon for the magical to attack me. I’ve been killing their kind for almost twenty years, first as a soldier and now as a government contractor. They don’t seem to realize that the ones I kill are horrible criminals and it would be best not to associate with them. They don’t get it that I won’t come after them unless they do something really, really wrong. It’s frustrating.”
As evinced by my white knuckles around the steering wheel. And the tightness in my chest again. I felt the need to grab the inhaler, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Mom. In front of anyone. The only saving grace was that, so far, I’d been more prone to the lung constriction when I was in a quiet albeit stressful situation than when I was in battle. Maybe adrenaline helped keep the airways open. But could I count on that to last? I didn’t know.
Rocket whapped his tail against the upholstery, wagging in sympathy. Or maybe he was showing relief that I’d dismissed Sindari.
I’d sent him back to his realm, wanting him to be fresh if that dragon showed up again and I needed him. I was still almost shaking with anger at Zav’s audacity to want to use me as bait. If he showed up again to arrest someone I was in the middle of battling, I didn’t know what I would do, but I would complain vehemently.
Maybe it was possible to lodge a protest with his vaunted Dragon Justice Court. I would just have to figure out how to mail letters through a temporary magical portal to another world. No biggie.
“If you did something to help them,” Mom said, “the good ones, maybe your reputation would improve.”
I almost said there weren’t any good ones, but that wasn’t fair. Greemaw had helped me, and it wasn’t like the kids with the balls and pool toys had been oozing evil. Just because their families had fled their original worlds didn’t mean they were all criminals. Even if that was what I’d been taught during my military training, I’d seen plenty of examples otherwise over the years, so I knew better.
“Help them, how? It’s not like I’m rich enough to start a foundation.”
“Maybe you could hunt the people that hunt them for sport.”
I shot her a semi-confused look. “Is that a thing?”
“Greemaw said it was. That’s why she’s invited so many to her secure valley. Some of the beings we saw were there to visit and trade, but a lot of them are too weak to fight groups of people with guns, so they’re hiding under her protection. They worry that if they defend themselves and kill a human, someone like you will come after them.”
“I wouldn’t. I research my contracts before I accept them.” I did now. Now that I was an independent. Once, I hadn’t had the choice, and there had been a few assignments that had been less than clearcut.
“I doubt they know that.”
“I’ll keep your suggestion in mind, but helping Colonel Willard is my priority right now.”
“I understand.” Mom removed her boots, plunking them down, along with her socks, and put her feet against the dashboard.
“Are you really seventy-one?”
“Do you ask because I’m far too healthy and spry to be so old or because you think retired people can’t be quirky?”
“Yes.”
She snorted. “I’m surprised you got the year right. You haven’t been around for a birthday in a long time. Or invited me to visit for any of yours.”
“I know.” I didn’t want to argue again, so I left it at that.
“Though now I understand a little better why,” she admitted softly without looking at me. “That werewolf almost got me. My bullets didn’t do anything against it.”
Not sure what to say, I took the exit and headed toward her neighborhood.
“Should I get some silver bullets?” Mom asked. “I saw someone selling them in town and thought it was silly, but now I wonder. That’s the correct course against werewolves, isn’t it?”
“Silver is toxic to them, yes. You’d still have to plow one into their heart or brain to achieve a quick death. They’re hard to kill.”
“So I saw.”
There were two black cars with government plates waiting in the gravel driveway as we approached. It had only been a matter of time.
I was tempted to keep driving, zip around the block, drop Mom off somewhere safe, and head back to Seattle, but two agents in gray suits were standing outside and waiting. They looked right at us. Not that I couldn’t still run—I imagined the local news reporting on a high-speed chase through their quiet tourist town—but if I wanted my words to Zav to be true, that I wasn’t a criminal, I couldn’t flee.
Reluctantly, I pulled in behind their cars. Dimitri’s van was in its usual spot, in the gravel beside the driveway, but I didn’t see him around.
The agents’ eyebrows arched when Mom exited the car and let Rocket out. There was a mixture of golden and silver fur all over the back seat. I hoped Lieutenant Sudo had to clean it.
“Hello, gents,” I said once I got out. “If you’re here for the car, I’m going to assume you brought another one that I can use. Did Lieutenant Sudo tell you about how my Jeep was wrecked in the line of duty?”
The two men, both clean-shaven except for bland mustaches, exchanged long looks with each other.
“Ms. Thorvald,” one agent said, stepping forward. “We’re taking you into custody under suspicion of colluding with Colonel Willard to embezzle tens of thousands of dollars from the U.S. Army Occult Research Department in Seattle. There’s an additional charge for stealing a government car.”
“It’s not stolen. It’s right there. You can have it.” I buckled on my weapons, hiding the movement behind the open car door, while debating my options. I needed to get back to Seattle and find an alchemist to heal Willard. And it looked like I needed to clear her name—and mine, too, damn it. I couldn’t get stuck in jail.
But if I beat the crap out of these guys and ran off, I might be labeled a criminal forever, never getting a chance to clear anybody’s names. Worse, I’d end up with every cop in Seattle chasing me while I tried to figure out how to save Willard. I needed the government to work with me, or at least not oppose me.
“Will you come along without resisting arrest?” One agent eyed me warily.
He shouldn’t have been able to see the magically camouflaged Chopper and Fezzik, but he looked like he suspected they were there. Too bad. I would rather have been eyed dismissively. If they knew all about me, it would be difficult to slip away from them. Maybe I would get an opportunity on the way back. So long as they didn’t take my charms and I could still access Sindari…
Did they know about them? I had no idea how much Willard had recorded in my file.
“Yes,” I replied. “I’m tired of driving. Do I get to ride in the back? We are going to Seattle, right?” If they meant to take me somewhere else, my willingness to cooperate would go downhill.
“Fort Lewis, for now. You’re not in the military anymore, so you won’t receive a military judgment, but it was deemed a safe place to hold you.”
Safe. Meaning the army knew what they were dealing with and could handle me more effectively than a traditional civilian jail?
Well, at least Fort Lewis was in the right direction. The drive up there would give me five hours to contemplate my next steps.
“Remove your weapons.” The man shifted his jacket aside to rest a hand on a handgun in his holster. “We know you have them.”
I was tempted to rest my hand on the much bigger firearm in my thigh holster, but it was time to play nice and cooperate. Sighing, I removed Chopper and Fezzik and laid them on the gravel. The men stirred as I stepped back, and to them, the weapons appeared out of thin air.
One agent picked them up, and the other opened the door to the back seat of his car, gesturing for me to get in. There were two more men in the car in front of that one.
“Val,” Mom said uncertainly. “Will you be all right?”
“I hope so. Will you keep taking care of the cat for now?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.”
She headed for the front door, tugging Rocket along with her. The agents didn’t try to stop her.
As I turned to get in the car, the man holding my weapons lifted his hand. “Give me your necklace too.”
My gut dropped into my boots as he pointed straight at the Sindari charm.
“Pardon?” I plastered the most innocent expression on my face that I could manage. It probably came out as the most panicked expression.
“Remove it.”
“Why? It’s just jewelry.”
“We know it’s not.”
I rethought my decision to cooperate. But there were four of them, and my mom hadn’t made it inside yet. My mom and her dog. I couldn’t risk a shootout here.
“Your necklace.” He gestured firmly with his hand.
I reached for the tie in the back, as if meaning to comply, but my mind was scrambling. I spotted a wide-eyed Dimitri staring out from behind one of the curtained windows in the back of his van. So that’s where he was. Had he been hiding in there because he thought the agents were here for him?
He saw me looking at him and pointed at something in the yard. One of the tacky metal statues. The bear facing the driveway and holding a giant fish. What did he want me to do with it?
“Take your time, Thorvald,” the agent growled.
“I never take it off. It’s a tough knot.”
He pulled out a multi-tool, flicked open the pliers like a switchblade, then thumbed open an actual knife.
I should have let the dragon take me to dangle as bait. He wouldn’t have made me take off my weapons and charms.
“I’m also not sure I can trust you not to hawk it on eBay,” I added, stepping away from the knife, especially since he looked like he wanted to cut the leather thong for me, while it was around my throat. No way.
“I’m sure your faux ivory trinkets would bring a fortune.”