stopped me as I slowly made my way out of downtown. He tapped on my windshield, and I lowered my window and turned down the radio.
“ID and pass, ma’am?” he yelled. I could barely hear him.
“Here.” I flipped my wallet open and showed him my driver’s license and the pass Valerie had given me. Nobody could get in or out without a special permit, not today anyway.
He nodded and gestured at me to go. The traffic was lighter after the checkpoint, and I raised the window and drove off. I-66 was clear, at least the westbound lanes were. I put on sunglasses to avoid the glare of a thousand windshields going nowhere on the other side. A futile attempt to see a dragonlord. Their desperation made me cringe. Dragonlords aren’t fairytale godmothers who make dreams come true.
And speaking of dragonlords, how was I supposed to bring the book back to Nathanael? Using a helicopter? Because that seemed to be the only way into Arlington at the moment.
The steering wheel began to vibrate. I looked at it, puzzled. The radio wasn’t that loud. Then the entire Audi was trembling. I realized that it wasn’t my car, it was the ground underneath.
Just like what had happened at TriMedica.
I looked at the speedometer. 45 mph. Had Nathanael sent a wyrm after me? Stupidly enough, I hadn’t gotten their promise that they wouldn’t kill me while I went for the book. Now, if they wanted to kill me, they could have terminated their visit the second I left.
Shit.
The shaking grew so intense that it became difficult stay in control. I stomped on the brake, got out and ran to the shoulder. My Audi remained in the middle lane with the door open. A convertible whipped by me, its driver’s eyes wide.
The ground exploded, the force sending my car flying. An enormous wyrm, three times the size of the one I’d killed, surged out and snapped its jaws shut on my poor Audi while the car was still spinning in the air. It crumpled like an aluminum can with a huge crunching metal noise. I’d had that gorgeous piece of German engineering for less than a month. The insurance company was going to be pissed.
The wyrm spat bits of steel from its mouth, saliva dripping in pools. This one had iridescent mother-of-pearl scales. The white sun turned them into a sparkling luster that would have blinded me if it hadn’t been for my sunglasses. Pupiless murky brown eyes stared at the carcass of my car as if looking for signs of life. I stayed low, hoping it wouldn’t notice me and go away.
Several automobiles screeched to a stop, their drivers staring out the windshields. Goddamn it. If these people stayed, they could get hurt. My valiant and courageous plan to remain hidden wasn’t going to work.
“Go! Get out!” I swung my arms, gesturing at them to continue driving. “Danger, danger!”
Apparently, in addition to reducing their IQ by about half, the presence of a wyrm turned everyone deaf. Nobody even glanced my way. Several people took out their cell phones and began to snap photos.
What kind of idiot takes pictures of a deadly predator on the loose instead of running away? “Get out!” This was the last time I was going to waste my breath on the crowd. I waved at the wyrm. “Hey, I’m the one you want!”
The wyrm turned. It was completely out of the ground now, hissing like an overheated steam valve. Its tail swiped the ground, and people and cars smashed against the concrete divider between the west and eastbound lanes. On the other side, drivers began to climb out of their cars to gawk. Northern Virginia Rubberneck Syndrome. Some were on the phone, most likely to regale their friends and families with the terror and excitement of seeing a real wyrm up close and personal.
The problem with such people is that you can’t cure stupidity, not even with magic. Not that I could work anything after draco perditio had wrung me dry. Whatever Valerie’s Sex had replenished wasn’t even enough for a circle of containment.
The wyrm raised
“ID and pass, ma’am?” he yelled. I could barely hear him.
“Here.” I flipped my wallet open and showed him my driver’s license and the pass Valerie had given me. Nobody could get in or out without a special permit, not today anyway.
He nodded and gestured at me to go. The traffic was lighter after the checkpoint, and I raised the window and drove off. I-66 was clear, at least the westbound lanes were. I put on sunglasses to avoid the glare of a thousand windshields going nowhere on the other side. A futile attempt to see a dragonlord. Their desperation made me cringe. Dragonlords aren’t fairytale godmothers who make dreams come true.
And speaking of dragonlords, how was I supposed to bring the book back to Nathanael? Using a helicopter? Because that seemed to be the only way into Arlington at the moment.
The steering wheel began to vibrate. I looked at it, puzzled. The radio wasn’t that loud. Then the entire Audi was trembling. I realized that it wasn’t my car, it was the ground underneath.
Just like what had happened at TriMedica.
I looked at the speedometer. 45 mph. Had Nathanael sent a wyrm after me? Stupidly enough, I hadn’t gotten their promise that they wouldn’t kill me while I went for the book. Now, if they wanted to kill me, they could have terminated their visit the second I left.
Shit.
The shaking grew so intense that it became difficult stay in control. I stomped on the brake, got out and ran to the shoulder. My Audi remained in the middle lane with the door open. A convertible whipped by me, its driver’s eyes wide.
The ground exploded, the force sending my car flying. An enormous wyrm, three times the size of the one I’d killed, surged out and snapped its jaws shut on my poor Audi while the car was still spinning in the air. It crumpled like an aluminum can with a huge crunching metal noise. I’d had that gorgeous piece of German engineering for less than a month. The insurance company was going to be pissed.
The wyrm spat bits of steel from its mouth, saliva dripping in pools. This one had iridescent mother-of-pearl scales. The white sun turned them into a sparkling luster that would have blinded me if it hadn’t been for my sunglasses. Pupiless murky brown eyes stared at the carcass of my car as if looking for signs of life. I stayed low, hoping it wouldn’t notice me and go away.
Several automobiles screeched to a stop, their drivers staring out the windshields. Goddamn it. If these people stayed, they could get hurt. My valiant and courageous plan to remain hidden wasn’t going to work.
“Go! Get out!” I swung my arms, gesturing at them to continue driving. “Danger, danger!”
Apparently, in addition to reducing their IQ by about half, the presence of a wyrm turned everyone deaf. Nobody even glanced my way. Several people took out their cell phones and began to snap photos.
What kind of idiot takes pictures of a deadly predator on the loose instead of running away? “Get out!” This was the last time I was going to waste my breath on the crowd. I waved at the wyrm. “Hey, I’m the one you want!”
The wyrm turned. It was completely out of the ground now, hissing like an overheated steam valve. Its tail swiped the ground, and people and cars smashed against the concrete divider between the west and eastbound lanes. On the other side, drivers began to climb out of their cars to gawk. Northern Virginia Rubberneck Syndrome. Some were on the phone, most likely to regale their friends and families with the terror and excitement of seeing a real wyrm up close and personal.
The problem with such people is that you can’t cure stupidity, not even with magic. Not that I could work anything after draco perditio had wrung me dry. Whatever Valerie’s Sex had replenished wasn’t even enough for a circle of containment.
The wyrm raised
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