Page 100 of Saving the Last Heir
Behind me, the house shuddered as both Bauer men tried to get out the front door in their wyrm forms. There was a howling shout of indignant rage behind me, but I kept going, moving as fast as I could before they realized they needed to shift back in order to get out.
Ahead, the turbulent roar of an engine took my attention away from the sounds behind me. Shyanne came screaming down the driveway in the car we’d tuned up. Behind her, at some distance, two wyrms slithered forward, their savage jaws open as they screeched.
Coming to a halt next to the massive oak tree I’d told her was our meeting point, I heaved for breath and spared a glance back at the house. I almost smiled. Christian had risen from his pretend knockout and had shifted. He, his brother, and father were all trying to fight their way out of the front door. Tanner and Broderick had shifted back, and from a distance looked like they were trying to shout at Christian to change back and allow them out the door, but Christian, in a faux fit of madness, stayed in his massive form, trying to jam himself through the door, blocking their exit.
Good job, buddy.
“Not bad, Mister Adelmund.”
With Bryn in my arms, I spun in place as Shyanne skidded to a halt beside us.
There, only a few feet behind us, a familiar woman stood, hands raised in surrender. It took a half second for me to realize who she was. The short-haired maid I’d seen upstairs. The one who’d been screaming as I pretended to knock Christian unconscious.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I shouted.
“Jackson!” Shyanne screamed from the driver seat, her voice rising in panic. “We gotta go.Now!”
The two guard wyrms were less than a hundred yards behind us and movingfast.
“I’m going with you, Jackson,” the maid said. “I’m the eyes Mr. Anitoli spoke of. He told me to make sure you had no unintended stops along the way. Let’s go,” she said, then got into the car as if I’d invited her.
Shyanne, too terrified of the wyrms approaching, completely ignored the woman. “Get in the fucking car, Jackson,” she screamed.
“Goddamn it,” I cried, and ran to the rear of the car, gently laying Bryn in the trunk. “Sorry kid. Hang out here for a bit,” I said, then closed the trunk.
The two wyrms were less than twenty yards away when I jumped into the back seat.
“Go!” I screamed.
Shyanne slammed the car into gear and hit the gas. The tires spun in the grass and dirt, failing to gain purchase.
“Come on,” Shyanne grunted.
Turning, I nearly shouted in surprise as the first wyrm reached us, its jaws wide as it snapped forward like a rattlesnake, the steak knife teeth clacking shut less than a foot from the window.
The tires finally caught traction and jerked the car forward, pulling us away from the two dragons trying to kill us. Shyanne pulled the wheel hard, turning in a tight circle. The Bauers had finally managed to get out the front door. Tanner and Broderick rushed toward us, with Christian well behind, all three in their wyrm forms. Like massive snakes from hell, they surged toward us.
“Faster,” I muttered.
“No backseat drivers,” Shyanne growled through clenched teeth.
Tanner Bauer snapped at the car, his teeth going for the tires as we shot past him. I had no idea how close he’d gotten, but it had to have been a near miss. Once Shyanne straightened out the wheel, she rocketed down the driveway toward the gate. Turning, I looked through the window at the pursuing wyrms and swallowed hard. They moved so fucking fast. Broderick Bauer was only about a hundred feet behind us.
“They’re close,” I shouted, not taking my eyes from the oncoming dragons.
In response, Shyanne pressed the gas harder. The high-pitched wail and hiss of a turbocharger spooling up drowned out all other sound for an instant, and the car shot forward even faster, finally leaving the dragons behind.
As I watched, the realization that they weren’t going to catch us showed in the angry glowering eyes of the dragons. When wecame to the gate and turned onto the main road, the last thing I saw before they vanished was Tanner Bauer’s dragon rearing up like a cobra and throwing his head back to the sky as he screamed out in rage and grief.
Dragging the ski mask off my head, I let out a shuddering breath of relief, and smiled, but the grin died on my face a moment later. Only Christian knew his sister was safe in my hands. The rest of them? They probably believed she was as good as dead. I remembered how I felt the night my sister’s egg was taken, and this was the same thing. The feeling of helpless sorrow? The agony of wishing you’d done something different? I wouldn’t want to wish that on my greatest enemy, and I’d just done it to my closest friends.
Clenching my fists, I turned and glared at the woman in the passenger seat, who sat there as if she was on a road trip with family.
“Jackson?” Shyanne asked, her voice shaking with adrenaline. “Are you gonna tell me who thefuckthis is?”
I sniffed the air and nearly gasped in surprise.
“You’re a wyrm?” I said in disbelief. “You…why are you helping the drakes? You’re going against your own people? How can you do this?Whywould you do this?”
