Her eyes must be playing tricks on her, because what she’d seen wasn’t possible. Behind her, the thing was in pursuit and it was gaining on her. Up ahead, a low hanging limb dangled over the path. She leapt up, grabbed hold, and swung herself up into the lower branches of the tree. Down below, she heard and angry hiss and the scraping of claws on the tree trunk. She began to climb, and didn’t stop until she was a good fifteen feet off the ground.
She sagged against the tree trunk, gasping for breath. What the hell was that thing? She could still hear it down on the ground. Apparently, it couldn’t climb, and that was fine with her. She didn’t want to look, but she had to know what was after her. Clutching the tree so she didn’t fall, she leaned over to peer through the foliage.
A vision from her darkest nightmares peered back at her. It was reptilian, and at least ten feet long from its snout to the tip of its powerful tail that lashed back and forth. Its body was dark green in color, its throat copper. Its toes ended in sharp, black claws that dug furrows in the ground and shredded the tree trunk as it struggled to get at her. Her first thought was of a komodo dragon that forgot to take its Ritalin. It had the size, general shape, and forked tongue of the giant lizard, but there were some significant differences. Aside from the coloring, the creature’s hide was sleeker, and its movements more agile. The biggest difference, however, was the bright orange and gold frill that flared out behind its head.
“What the hell are you?” She muttered. Of course, the real question was, how was she going to get away from it? Climbing from tree-to-tree was out of the question. The limb she sat on would not support her weight should she move more than a few feet out from the trunk. Outrunning it wouldn’t work either. The thing would be on her as soon as she hit the ground. How could she have been so stupid as to let herself get treed?
As she contemplated her next move, panic welling inside her, she heard another hiss. She looked up to see another of the lizard-looking creatures high in a tree farther down the path. It had spotted her, and it flared its flame-colored frill and hissed angrily. And then it leaped out of the tree. She watched, mesmerized, as it it spread bright red wings and glided toward her.
“Holy crap,” she whispered. “It can fly.”
The man, a powerful-looking black man with a shaved head, stood staring at a suit of armor. That was weird. He was the first person Bones had seen since entering the castle, so Bones decided not to kill him… yet. Maybe the guy would lead him to Angel.
All of a sudden, the man shook his head, turned, and headed off down the corridor. His Glock at the ready, Bones crept after him. The man came to a door with an electronic keypad lock, entered in a code, and the door swung open. Bones moved in behind him, ready to shoot should the man go for his weapon, but he seemed unaware of his surroundings as he walked slowly across the blue carpeted room, picked up a remote, and turned on a flat screen monitor, which displayed what looked like security footage of the grounds. He pressed a few buttons, and four images appeared on the screen, each displaying a section of forest.
Bones was disappointed to see that no one else was in the room. He guessed it had been too much to hope that Angel would be in the first room he entered. So much for that. Time to see if he could squeeze any information out of this guy. Three silent steps, and he held the barrel of his Glock to the base of the man’s skull. The man froze.
“I’m in a really bad mood, so I suggest you don’t make any sudden moves.” Bones poured every ounce of his hate and anger into his voice. “Put your hands out in front of you. Slowly.” The man complied, and Bones relieved him of his weapon. “What’s your name?”
“Jacob.” His voice was dull, not so much unafraid as uncaring.
“All right, Jacob, where’s my sister?” He figured he’d have to do some persuading, maybe with his knife, but Jacob answered right away.
“She’s gone. I let her go.”
Bones wanted to feel relieved, but he wasn’t buying it.
“The hell you did. Tell me the truth, or I’ll cut your eyes out and feed them to you for lunch.”
Now Jacob didn’t seem so uncaring.
“I swear. She’s not here anymore. Morgan will probably kill me for it, but I let her go.”
Bones didn’t know why, but he sensed the man was telling the truth.
“Is she all right?” He bit his lip as he waited for the answer. If something had happened to Angel, he’d burn this place to the ground, that is, if Maddock didn’t do it first.
“She was when she left here. A little banged up, but not by me.”
Bones finally took a moment to look around the room. There was little to see, except a rack of weapons.
“What are the swords and crap for?” He had a few ideas the uses someone could find for such a sinister array of weapons, but he forced those thoughts from his mind.
“Morgan trains with them.”
As he continued to look around, his eyes fell on a dark spot on the carpet. Blood. He turned to ask Jacob whose blood it was when he glanced at the monitor on the wall, and what he saw erased all other thoughts from his mind.
“What the hell is that?” The image of a winged creature with a long, scaly tail and a fiery frill filled the screen.
“A dragon,” Jacob said.
“Don’t mess with me.” Bones dug the barrel of his pistol into Jacob’s neck. “What is it, really?”
“That’s what Morgan calls them. They’re lizards, really. Her family began importing different varieties from around the world centuries ago: komodos, frilled dragons, flying dragons. They bred them and culled out the smallest and weakest. But when Morgan took over, she started messing with their DNA.”
Bones remembered what Tam had told them about Morgan’s philanthropic efforts. She gives a lot of money to charity. She supports genetic research to fight all sorts of diseases. They even named the reptile house at the London Zoo for her because of all the money she gave them.
“Is she crazy?”
“Maybe. But she’s fascinated with dragons, it’s sort of a legacy, and if she couldn’t have the real thing, she was determined to create the next best thing.”
“Don’t tell me they breathe fire.” Bones didn’t bother to keep the scorn from his voice.
“No, but they’re deadly all the same. The one on the top left has the power and ferocity of the komodo, and the agility of the frilled lizard. The one on the bottom right is almost as big, just as vicious, and it can fly.”
Bones’ mouth was suddenly dry, and a sick feeling hung in his gut. Maddock was out there with these so-called dragons.
“Morgan has them trained to hunt at a signal,” Jacob continued. “And the smartest one will even obey her commands.” Just then, a high pitched note, almost like a whistle, rang out, and the dragons on the screen suddenly became alert.
“Oh no.” Jacob wobbled and almost lost his balance. “Morgan must have seen her and sounded the call. I thought she could get away.”
“You thought who could get away?” Bones asked, though he already knew the answer.
Jacob hesitated, and when he finally replied, his voice was cold.
“Your sister.”
Chapter 32
Angel wanted to scream, but her voice was frozen in her throat. The beast glided toward her, growing ever closer and ever more frightening. She had nowhere to go, but she’d be damned if she would sit there. If she was going to die, she’d die trying to escape. She looked down, searching for a soft place to land. She was up on the balls of her feet, ready to make the leap, when a shot rang out and the creature in the air shrieked.