Angelo’s was quiet for a Thursday night. Hip-hop played on a jukebox, and a Black Hawks game played on the TVs over the bar.
Nerina sat in a corner, a windbreaker zipped up to her chin, nursing a Coke while keeping an eye on the door. She looked Rachel over as we approached the small round table.
“This is Rachel.” We sat down. “She works with me.”
“I’m his girlfriend, too. Just FYI.” She winked. Rachel tends to get possessive when other attractive women are involved.
“Hey!” The bartender was a skinny blond woman. “You guys want something to drink?”
“Two Heinekens.” I walked over the bar and paid for two heavy mugs of beer. I set them down in the middle of the table. “So what happened?”
“Elliot tried to—rape me.” She hung her head. “It just—right after you left. He just said, ‘It’s time,’ and then Andre was holding my arms behind my back. Ben tried to—stop him, and then Andre pulled out a gun and, and . . . shot him.”
I shuddered. I was glad I hadn’t known Andre was armed back at the house.
Rachel put a hand on Nerina’s arm. “But you got away. Good for you.”
She lurched back. “He ripped my shirt. That’s why—I grabbed a coat from the door and ran. Then this monster—I don’t know, it just came from nowhere. Elliot was shouting, and Andre was shooting at it, but it just kept coming. It had claws, and it, uh . . .” She rubbed her eyes. “There was blood, and Elliot was shouting, and Andre was on the floor, with his chest just—” She bit her lip. “I just . . . ran.” She grabbed a small napkin and started to cry.
“Good for you,” Rachel said again, squeezing her arm. “You’re all right.”
“What did it look like? The monster.” The Raen had sent monsters down the highway after me on my death race to Urbana.
Nerina blew her nose. “Like a—a white gorilla. Almost up to the ceiling. Heavy fur, and long, long claws on its hands and arms. And legs too, maybe. I didn’t get a good look . . .” She gulped her Coke. “I need a drink, but I don’t have the right ID.”
I pushed my beer toward her, hoping the bartender didn’t see. “We have to get you somewhere safe.” I slipped my phone out. “I know you don’t want to go back to your family, but—”
“Whatever.” She gulped half the beer and stood up. “Let’s go.”
I left some money next on the table and tapped my phone. “We’re coming out.”
“We’re right outside.” Georgeanne. “Look for the black van.”
Yeah. I’d called Russo. I didn’t want to face the Raen on my own. “Right.” I pushed through the door. All we had to do was get to my Honda and—
But Barsch stood there on the sidewalk.
A monster stood behind him.
Not the giant white gorilla with claws. This one looked like a dinosaur, seven feet tall and covered in gray scales, with wings, long arms, and spikes jutting from its huge hands. Fire blew through its lips—or it might just have been bad breath in the cold air.
“Come on, Nerina.” Barsch held out a hand. “It’s time.”
“You asshole.” She pushed at Rachel’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I looked over Barsch’s head and spotted the black van. Come on, come on . . .
Several things happened at once:
The doors of the van burst open. Georgeanne and Mika, both in tight ninja outfits, jumped out. Georgeanne held her big handgun in her fist. Mika was smaller, but the long assault rifle in her arms made her look ten feet tall.
“Go home, Elliot.” That came from Georgeanne. “And get rid of your little playmate, too.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
The dragon sprang forward, roaring and waving its spikes wide.
Mike and Georgeanne fired their weapons. No effect. Their bullets might have gone straight through the creature’s leathery body.
I pulled at Nerina. “The red car. Run!” Maybe we could make it. Maybe . . .
And then a large white gorilla with claws all over its arms and hands dropped down from—where? It was just there in front of us, howling like the Incredible Hulk on an angry rampage. It raised its thick white arms and then it attacked the dragon, driving its claws through its thick gray scales. The dragon roared, twisted . . .
Barsch wheeled around, panting. “She belongs with us! Not with you! Not—”
The assault rifle pumped bullets at the dragon. Nerina dropped to her knees. Georgeanne turned to point her handgun at Barsch. Ready to shoot him down—
And then Rachel jammed her stun gun into Barsch’s arm.
“Yahhh!” Barsch fell to the sidewalk, twitching and moaning.
“Good job, babe. Hi, Tom.” Georgeanne grinned at me. Then she planted a boot on Barsch’s neck. “Stay down, asshole.”
Rachel nudged me. “Do you know her?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
The gorilla and the dragon were still slashing each other, roaring like, well, monsters. Nerina lay on her knees, covering her head. Gunfire crackled as Georgeanne and her friends kept shooting. How long until the cops showed up?
Then the gorilla leaned up, roaring. One long claw stabbed at the dragon’s chest. Blood whipped out, black and thick. The dragon roared in agony and anger, its arms flailing, and sank onto the pavement. Its head reared back as the gorilla jabbed a claw into its throat.
—and suddenly they were gone. No flash of light—it was more like a door sliding shut, locking them away in combat in some other dimension.
Barsch threw up on the pavement. Georgeanne stepped back. but kept her weapon trained on his back. “Mika? We clear?”
“Looks like.” Mika circled, keeping her weapon low. “Check the girl.”
“I’ve got her.” Rachel dropped down and wrapped an arm around Nerina’s shoulder. “It’s all right, kid. Calm down.”
“Are they . . .” Nerina peered around. “Gone?”
I looked around. “Maybe.”
The front door of the van popped open. Russo stepped down onto the street. “Thanks, Tom. We’ve got this.” He looked down at Barsch. “Go home, Elliot. Stay away.”
Barsch coughed and rolled over. “It’s not done.” He hauled himself to his feet. “She belongs with her own people.”
But he turned and stalked unsteadily away, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
Georgeanne holstered her pistol, but kept her hand close to her waist.
Russo held out a hand. “Come on, Nerina. Let’s go home.”
She flinched. “No. I don’t . . .”
Rachel held her shoulders. “Take your time, kid. Catch your breath.”
“We have to get out of here.” He pointed at Barsch, stumbling toward the corner. “He was shrouding the street so nobody saw the creatures, but he’s gone now. People will see—”
“Just hang on a minute.” I held up a hand. “First, thanks for staying in the car, Andy. While us and your squad were risking their lives out here fighting monsters.”
Georgeanne and Mika looked at each other. “Just doing our jobs,” Mika said.
Russo shook his head. “We don’t have much time—”
“I’ve just got a goddamn question!” The terror was fading, and I was feeling grumpy. “The Raen can create monsters, right? Like the ones last year?” I looked at Nerina. “Can the Rossini do that?”
Russo blinked. “What?”
I glanced at Georgeanne. “You two have got enough weapons there for an action movie with The Rock, Bruce Willis, Arnold, Vin Diesel, and the next Charlie’s Angels movie. You can’t make monsters, though, can you? That’s a Raen trick.”
“Monsters? No.” She patted the butt of her handgun. “But this works pretty good.”
“Yeah.” I looked at Nerina. “That gorilla—it showed up to help you at Elliot’s house. Didn’t it?”
“I don’t . . .” She cowered in Rachel’s arms. “I was so scared.”
“It’s all right now.” Rachel glanced at me. “Where are you going with this? Oh . . .” She smiled. “I get it.”
“Yeah.” I turned again and crossed my arms. “Nerina’s not Rossini, is she? She’s Raen. That’s what Barsch meant. They didn’t kidnap her—you did.”
Nerina pulled away from Rachel. “Wait. What?”
Georgeanne and Mika stepped back, ringing Russo defensively.
Russo leaned back against the van. “No. Nerina, we didn’t kidnap you. We found you—in a raid on a Raen compound. You were just a baby. Everyone else was . . . gone. My uncle Randall led the search. We were looking for scrolls, but all we found were a few burnt books. But we found . . . you.”
Nerina pulled her arms tight around her chest. “G-gone? Did you kill them?”
Russo tensed his shoulders. “Only the ones who resisted. We gave everyone a chance . . . most of them ran away.”
“Oh god.” Nerina choked. “Then I’m . . . who am I?”
The street was silent. Maybe Barsch’s shroud was still intact.
Russo held out a hand. “Come on, Nerina. It’s time.”
The wrong words. Nerina flinched. “No. No!”
“No way, asshole.” Rachel crouched, holding her stun gun. “Come on and get it, big boy. If you want.”
Wow. I’d never seen her look so sexy. Okay, maybe once or twice . . .
“Georgeanne!” Russo’s voice rasped. “Mika? Get her!”
I stepped in front of Georgeanne. “No.”
She laughed. “I like you, Tom, but—”
I shook my head. “We’re going home. You want to shoot me?” I hoped not. My life had flashed before my eyes more times than I liked to think about. “Let it go. Please.”
She glanced at Russo. After a moment, he nodded. “Fine.” He stepped toward the van door. “Take care of her, Tom. Protect her from the Raen. We’ll be in touch.”
Georgeanne kissed me again, on the lips this time, and hopped after Mika into the van. The doors slammed. The van roared away.
Rachel helped Nerina to the Honda. I got behind the wheel, my hands trembling. Rachel sat in the back, helping Nerina with the seatbelt. I started the car.
“You can stay with us tonight.” Rachel patted her hand. “You’ll be safe. I’ve got an ax.”
“I don’t know . . .” Nerina shivered. “I just don’t know anymore . . .”
“It’ll be okay.” I wasn’t sure I could promise that, but I had to say something. I started the car. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Right.” Rachel leaned forward, breathing on my neck. “Then I want to know what that kiss was about.”
Oh hell.
###
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