“You sound awful,” I whispered to him.
“Stonkered,” he agreed. “Not up to this bush-bashing. But better than earlier. I’ll recover, Angel. Just need time.” He peered through the bushes. “This plan’s making me mad as a cut snake.”
“Yeah. I don’t think Sebastian’s going to be happy.”
“That’s one bloke I wouldn’t want to get aggro. But if the alpha bludger hurts someone, it’s more about what Amadeus will think.” Matt leaned against a tree. “If Darius buggers it up, will he and the council look the other way?”
“Depends on how badly he screws up.” I agreed with Matt. The alpha’s arrogance revealed just how secure he felt here. Invincible.
Then I heard voices, but not in a language I understood. I crouched lower. Couldn’t see a thing, so I listened carefully.
“We’ve got company,” Matt whispered.
At first, I thought he meant the guards. But then he pointed.
Standing not more than ten feet from us was a creature. It had six legs and was covered in dark fur, with even darker stripes showing through it. Its eyes were an insipid yellow, and they were fastened straight on me. As I stared back, it raised its short nose and sniffed the air. Sharp fangs hung down from its upper gums.
Clearly, a carnivore. Branches moved behind it. Another. And then another. A pack.
My heart raced, and my hand slid to the dart gun at my belt.
“Stay still,” Matt said. “They’re just curious. They like you.”
“How can you tell that?” My voice chimed a little louder than I intended.
“Look at their ears, their expressions, the way they sniff the air. They think you smell good.” He inhaled. “And you do. Really good.”
I shot him an incredulous look. Just as pandemonium broke loose.
The “thwip thwip” of a dart gun going off. And shouts. Along with a hoarse bark, followed by a “yip.” And lots of crashing.
The predators vanished in a flash.
“Real stealthy,” Matt growled, pushing past me.
My ear comm sprang to life. “I heards thats from up here. What the shards are you guyss up to? You’ve gots incoming. Two more. Ats speed, minutes, no more.”
I crashed through the bush in Matt’s wake, cursing as the thorns snagged my bodysuit. We popped out onto the trail...
A guard was down with three darts sticking out of him. One had hit the body armor on his chest, but one was in his neck, the other in one of his four arms. Beside him lay his sniffer critter, a six-legged furry thing about the size of a German shepherd.
The other guard was trying to crawl away, and as Matt and I appeared, Darius walked up to shoot him again, point-blank, in the neck. The guard slumped to the path.
As I stared, stunned, Darius grabbed my dart gun from my hand.
“What direction are they coming from?” he demanded of Talakai.
“South,” the Dragon snarled.
Darius and Aaron vanished, running south. Seconds later, shouts echoed. And then, silence.
I had no idea how powerful these darts were, but each guard had two in them. I yanked them from the closest one and ran to the other to do the same. As I crouched over that one, I wasn’t sure he was breathing.
“Berko bastards gave them too much,” Matt growled from where he leaned over the first guard, and tapped his ear comm. “Talakai, we need Sebastian. Now.”
“Affirmative,” Talakai said.
“Cancel that.” Darius, over the comm, sounding pissed. “We have the situation under control.”
