Page 71 of Aleko
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” demanded Alex, striding toward his stubborn, recalcitrant child.
“Shooting warlocks,” said Pellos, lifting his Kalashnikov and demonstrating. They both ducked down again as the warlocks returned fire.
“You just got out of the hospital!”
An explosion rocked the vehicle. This one smelled like a grenade instead of magic. Alex hoped that meant the warlocks were getting desperate.
“They have grenades!” Alex pointed out, bracing the vehicle as it threatened to slide into them.
“Yeah,” said Pellos, nodding. Which was a trick that Alex was all too familiar with. It meant that Pellos was acknowledging what Alex had said, but not actually agreeing to anything. “I want to do that jumping thing that Hudson does.”
“Pellos! You can’t just leap into shifting!”
“I got the teeth thing figured out.” Pellos flashed him a grin full of sharp canines.
Alex was reluctantly impressed. Pellos had been a wolf all of three hours. Alex had no idea what the learning curve for werewolves was supposed to be but that seemed fast.
“I think claws must work the same way. I already have teeth and then I just make them bigger. So if claws work the same…” Pellos held up his hand and scrunched his face. Alex grinned as claws extended.
“OK, that was fantastic,” admitted Alex. “You’re doing great, but if you could maybe do great back in the villa?”
“Mmmm, no,” said Pellos. Lifting his gun he ran forward, keeping low, just like Alex had taught him.
“I don’t want you to get hurt!” Alex yelled after him.
“I’m fine, Alekos!” Pellos yelled back and then dove for coveras a warlock spell exploded above his head.
“That boy is going to be the death of me,” muttered Alex for the billionth time in his life. He was about to hurry after Pellos, when a movement by the villa gates caught his eye. He wheeled around, prepared to attack and saw Lia walking up the driveway.
She was walking as silent as a ghost. Her dress was filthy and torn and she was carrying a stick in her hand. The sight of her was like a sucker punch. He wanted to call out to her, but he couldn’t seem to get enough air.
Finally, he forced himself to move. He ran back toward the house, ignoring the pop of gunfire.
“Lia!” She didn’t pause or turn around. “Lia, wait!”
He ran toward her, but there was the roar of an engine and one of the warlock trucks pulled in front of him. Alex felt a fury like he’d never felt before. They kept getting in his way. All they did was hurt people. He didn’t wait for the warlocks inside to do anything—he charged. Digging down, he seized the bottom of the truck and heaved. He might have snapped a tendon, but the pain faded quickly as it repaired itself. The truck rolled, tumbling like a Matchbox car, smashing against the wall of the villa. But when the smoke had cleared, Eliandra was gone.
Episode 37
Destiny
Eliandra
Lia didn’t bother going up the drive or through the villa. She followed the path by the wall and went from terrace to terrace, following the trail from the house as it descended along stairs made of railroad ties. The track dropped precipitously down behind a sizeable standing boulder before exiting onto the beach. The cliff face and house towered over everything, shading the beach in the afternoon. A small cabana-style beach house was on the far end of the beach with a short boardwalk out to a floating dock where a speed boat and small row boat were tied.
The wind was cold as she stepped out of the damp shadow of the cliff onto the beach. The moonlight painted everything in luminous shades of dark. There was a tall figure near the water’s edge and Lia walked slowly toward him. There wasn’t any point in hesitating. Her intention was fixed.
He was drawing a circle on the sand with a stick. She could see that although it was bigger it was similar to the circle the warlocks had used on theStrumwolke.She stepped up to the circle and smudged out the nearest symbol with her foot.
He stood up. She thought he looked surprised. Although, it was hard to say in the moonlight.
Luca laughed, the sound echoing off the cliff and high white walls of the villa behind her, a counterpoint to the explosions from the front of the house. The waves continued their ever-present assault on the shoreline.
“What are you doing, little girl?” he demanded. “Are you challenging me?”
“Yes,” said Lia. She wished she had something witty and boldto say, but she was too tired.
Luca bellowed in laughter.
