Page 42 of Burn for the Dragon
By some miracle, Everly made it out of the club without anyone stopping her. With the setting of the sun, people were starting to show up, and she pulled up the hood of the gray hoodie she’d grabbed from down in the caverns as she blended in with the crowd and made her way outside. Ducking low, she ran through the aisles of cars in the parking lot, searching for Hawke’s vehicle.
She thought she saw it toward the back of the lot and clicked the key fob she’d stolen from his room after she’d sweet-talked the location from the bartender, Andrew. The headlights flashed, and she cursed under her breath, hoping no one had followed her outside yet. With a quick look over her shoulder toward the club, she ran for it, jumped into the driver’s seat, and quickly locked the doors. Everly had no idea if that would keep out an angry vampire, but she figured it couldn’t hurt.
Luckily, the car was a push button start, because her hands were shaking so badly she didn’t think she’d be able to get a key into the ignition. Her heart pounded a furious rhythm as she threw the car into drive, stomped down on the gas, and peeled out of the parking lot, checking the rearview mirror every few seconds to see if anyone was following her.
How fast could a vampire run?
Everly had no doubt Hawke would come after her. He thought he was saving her. She got that. But sometimes a girl didn’t need saving. And sometimes she just needed to take care of shit her own damn self. Now, all she could do was hope she got to her brother before Hawke did, and hope he didn’t catch her before she could. And hope he would forgive her once it was all over.
It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. She’d heard that somewhere. And if he didn’t forgive her or she got herself killed, well, it was a chance she was willing to take. Matthew was her only blood relative. He at least deserved a chance. And Hawke wasn’t willing to give him a chance at all.
Or her, for that matter.
A short time later, she pulled into the lot of her apartment building. Leaving Hawke’s car in a guest spot, she ran upstairs and quickly grabbed what she needed. Trading keys for the rental she’d never returned and leaving his on the kitchen counter, she retrieved the gym bag she’d hidden in the back of her closet.
On the way out, Everly cracked open her apartment door and paused, checking things out before she left the safety of her home. The cat was on the table outside, watching her with his typical “I’m interested in what you’re doing but too cool to show it” expression. No one else was around. She eased outside, pulling the door shut and locking it, and ran down to the rental car. She threw a quick thank you to the gods for the idea of getting it. An unrecognizable car was her only chance of getting anywhere near the Parasupe lab without being caught.
Everly didn’t look back as she pulled out of the parking lot. She was afraid if she did, she would lose her nerve. Even though she’d been planning this day ever since she’d found out who had taken Matthew, she couldn’t quite believe she was about to embark on a rescue mission to get her brother back. Or, why she would need to. Never in a million years would she have thought it was because he was one of those creatures who’d haunted her dreams. That she was one of those creatures.
But now that she knew, it didn’t change a damn thing. He was still her brother, her only family. They could lean on each other for support. They could learn about their second natures together.
She had to pull over for a minute when she was within a few miles of the facility and pull up the map on her phone. Though she’d looked at it a million times, she didn’t want to waste time taking a wrong turn and driving around aimlessly when Matthew’s life was on the line. After confirming her location, Everly found the side road she’d been looking for and drove about three miles before pulling off into a small private drive. Driving forward until the car was out of sight of the road, she parked it in the grass and got out, taking her bag of supplies. She would walk the rest of the way.
The moon was in and out of the clouds tonight, and the threat of rain hung heavy in the cool air. After the fourth time Everly nearly stepped on a clump of cactus, she started shuffling her feet. Falling on to a group of those prickly bastards was not something she ever wanted to experience. When she could see the lights of the facility, she stopped and pulled a lab coat and a badge out of her bag. The coat was from a Halloween costume, and the badge was the one her contact had made for her. She was pretty confident it would pass inspection, as long as no one looked too closely. She’d had her guy copy the design from online photos of Parasupe employees, taken just a few weeks ago when they’d had a news conference about all the new ways they planned to save the human race from “climate change.” She donned the coat, pulled her hair up into a tight twist on the back of her head and secured it with a few bobby pins, then clipped the badge to her jacket.
Now she just had to lie her way in. And this is where her deafness might actually come in handy.
Tucking a few things into her pockets, she stashed her bag behind a scraggly tree and approached the gate on foot. Armed guards huddled together to one side of the gate near the small shelter building, but they jumped to attention when they saw Everly, weapons at the ready.
She stopped and bent over with her hands on her knees like she was out of breath, then straightened and gave them a tired wave. As she approached, they eyed her clothing beneath her lab coat suspiciously, and Everly felt a twinge of nerves. She’d had no time to put on more scientist-like clothes. The mistake made her hesitate, but only for a step. Assuming an air of confidence she didn’t feel, she ignored their looks and continued toward them.
One hand on her side and a smile of relief on her face, she gestured for them to open the gate. The guy on the left, big and bald with nasty teeth, asked her who the hell she was. Everly decided to call him Asshole number one. Pointing out her hearing aid, she signed the words, “I’m sorry. I can’t hear you. Do you sign?”
Asshole number one looked at Asshole number two. He was almost the exact replica of Asshole number one, only with darker skin and better teeth, but with the same insolent stare. Asshole number two shrugged.
Everly signed, “Hey, asshole. Let me in so I can break my brother out.”
Still, no signs of comprehension. She turned to the third guard, a younger guy who was side-eyeing his two friends and signed the same thing to him.
He shook his head as he shrugged and said, “I’m sorry, lady. I don’t know what you’re trying to tell us.”
Rolling her eyes and sighing heavily, she gestured like she was writing on paper.
The three looked at each other, until finally the younger guy went inside the smaller building and looked around. He came back empty handed. “How can we not have any paper in there?”
“Because we used up the notepad and they just came and got the trash today,” Asshole number two told him.
The younger one turned to her. “I have a pen?” He held it out.
Everly gave him her best “what the hell am I supposed to do with that with no paper?” look. Pulling out her phone, she pulled up her text messages and typed out, “I’m late, you idiots. My car broke down. Open the damn gate before I call Dr. Murphy and tell him you’re holding up his experiment because the only doctor who knows how to do it is being held at the gate.” Then she held it up in front of the young one’s face. Everly had no idea if there was actually a Dr. Murphy, but she hoped they wouldn’t know, either.
Either she lucked out and her made up doctor was real and a complete tyrant, or the doctors who worked there were harsh in general, because he turned to his companions and told the one closest to the door to go in and open the gate.
He gave them both a distrustful look, but ultimately went in and did what he was told.
Everly touched her fingers to her chin and signed, “Thank you.” Heart pounding, she hurried through the gate and toward the largest building, hoping she was going the right way so as not to raise any more suspicion.
Now came the hard part. Convincing a few simple guards was easy enough, but if she ran into anyone who actually worked there it would be another matter altogether.
