Scales (Avery Rome Book 1) Page 14

  Bey bowed again, toward the FBI Agent.

  “Do not forget that Lang Peterson is also in charge of the armies of the Shifters. Simply being of her station would make the insults you hurled at her a matter that would likely cost your own life.” Pausing the Vampire bowed, a very short, truncated thing that seemed almost annoyed, somehow. “It very nearly did. Three times in mere moments. If not for the… Cooler heads of Lars and Ms. Rome, this situation would be most different presently. Perhaps we should…”

  He stopped, cocking his head a bit. Then he grimaced. It was nearly ten seconds later when Avery figured it out, Lang rolling her eyes.

  “Police. This isn’t a good scene for them to walk into.” She looked around, ready to do something, but before any good ideas were presented the first car came into view. Moving far too fast for the side street the hotel was on. There were five cars in a line, moving toward them faster than was normal.

  Naturally, the instant they were out of the vehicles, all the weapons were pointed directly at her. Avery got that, actually. She was twelve feet tall at the moment and weighed in at enough that no one had ever bothered to find a scale big enough for her to stand on. Even the things used for horses weren’t large enough that way.

  So she was kind of intimidating at the moment. Worse, she couldn’t actually speak to them, to let them know she wasn’t harming anyone. If she could, Avery had to doubt that it would actually do all that much. She looked like a monster, because she was one. It wasn’t the fault of the men and women that had come that they saw her for her true self at the moment.

  Borden had dropped her fire arm and was holding up her badge.

  “FBI! FBI! Don’t shoot! There’s no threat here. FBI!” She sounded nervous still, which meant that half the cops, all men in this case, didn’t seem to believe her.

  Avery didn’t know what to do, so just stood there as one of the men started shooting at her. The bullets scored her scales on her right arm, which hurt a bit, but didn’t really injure her that much. It was one of the other men that stopped them all, his voice firm.

  “Hold! Cease fire! Hold!” The man pointed his weapon down, but the man who fired first was still aimed at her middle. She could see the line of intent coming from him. It was a scared yellow line, which waivered a lot as he stood there, pulsing with energy. Tasting of fear and burnt bread.

  It was non-shooting cop that holstered his weapon first.

  “Um… I don’t know if you can understand me. We’re not here to hurt you.” The man, who had a silly seeming mustache and short brown hair tried to speak softly.

  Avery looked down at her bleeding right arm, then glanced back at the man. He got the idea, words being used or not.

  “Okay, fine, other than that. Sanders didn’t mean it. He’s just scared.” The man was holding his hands out in front of himself, showing he wasn’t ready to kill her. His friends all were, but that one officer in blue of the ten men standing there wasn’t personally ready to end her days. His voice was low, but carried well enough. “To tell the truth, Sanders is a bit of a little girl. Not that you heard it from me.”

  For some reason that got the tense man to relax. After about five seconds the weapon went away, which got the others to do the same. Except one of the people who was standing well back, aiming a rifle at her. Avery glanced that way, then shook her head.

  The man doing the speaking moved closer, doing it slowly. As if she were a wild animal that was going to attack if he moved the wrong way. Which wasn’t a horrible plan. She’d done that before, after being shot. It could happen again. Not that it was going to. This wasn’t her first change. Also, these people had stopped trying to kill her after the first bullet had creased her skin. Her family, the clan, they wouldn’t have stopped. They hadn’t until she’d killed enough of them to get the rest to run away.

  The man in blue turned a bit, his face calm. That way he could speak to everyone there.

  “So, um, what’s going on here? I notice that the car there is a bit beat up?”

  It was an interesting way of saying that there was a pile of scrap in the middle of the parking lot, but Avery was willing to go with the idea that it was just a few minor dings. At least if it made anyone feel better.

  Bey bowed then, holding it for a bit. He got a head nod back from a few of the men.

  “Ah! There was a small incident. We here represent some of the other governments of the world. The young lady here from the FBI erred slightly, not understanding what would result. Miss Rome moved to protect her from our combined wrath, along with Lars of the Trollienkeine. I accidently struck her, which resulted in the vehicle being lost. Unfortunate, but not a matter for your people. Indeed, it may be best for you to leave now? We have work to do. Tasks which should have been started already.”

  The way he spoke the words were strange, but the men all started to nod. Without saying much, they simply relaxed as a group.

  The mustache man in blue smiled at her and waved.

  “As long as you’re all right? Everyone? We aren’t here to make problems. We solve them. At least that’s the goal.” It seemed legitimate when he said the words.

  On the good side, they all left then, with Agent Borden looking concerned.

  “You did something to them? They shouldn’t have left like that. Not without doing a lot of paperwork first.”

  The Elder Vampire looked at Borden, his face annoyed again.

  “I simply suggested a course of action. They seemed happy enough to comply. Most reasonable. Now, we have some difficulties here. What would Miss Rome need for her comfort. A dressing for her wound? Food perhaps? I’ve heard that sudden changes of form often require a payment in fuel for a body.”

  Lang took a deep breath, then smiled, glaring a bit at the FBI agent.

  “Would it be allowable for us to use a room here? This needs to be called in. Avery will need a place to rest. Food would likely be welcome. I know that I always feel famished after a change. It will be several hours before she can do it again, meaning the pain of the wound will have to be carried until that time.” It was kind of clear that the woman was gearing up for a new fight, which was going to be annoying.

  It got worse when Lang got going, after a moment.

  “Eric, may I use your phone? I’m certain that President Samson will wish to know that the Human government has attacked our only line walker.” She was flushed at the thought, which wasn’t a great sign, given that the woman had seemed calmer while moving to strike down an armed government agent.

  A move that, had Borden been standing there alone, armed and shooting, still would have ended with her death. Possibly Lang having to pad away as a wolf, but unharmed a few minutes after the fight.

  Interestingly, it was Lars who worked out that Borden would have no clue what being a line walker meant. The man explained it, his words a bit awed sounding as he covered it all. What he didn’t do was look at anyone except the Human woman, who was rather frazzled now, after everything.

  “The line walkers can travel the nodes and lines between worlds. At will. Most groups have methods for doing so. Of those, most take great time, effort and death to make happen. Sacrifice enough of your own people and you can, at times, open a hole to a specific location.” He stopped and took a deep breath, smiling. “Before only Greater Demons could do this without great cost. Now a very few have learned to do this, opening the worlds, all of them, to their people. Avery Rome is the first and only Shifter to learn this from our world. None of my people have been able to do it yet. Only one Mage has done so. The price of such a being… The… Value?”

  Lang closed her eyes then, nodding.

  “If Avery had died protecting you, all of us would have died this day, or soon at least. Possibly killed by our own people. That would have been the good option, by the way. We very nearly saw a war started here today. One that might end in the death of millions or more.”

  It was clear that Borden wasn’t buying that idea. Avery didn’t car
e at all, once she thought about it. What she wanted was going to be hard to come up with, since eating, then resting for a while was a nice sounding plan. Not that she was tired, but there was an exhausting sense to the day so far. They weren’t there for her to be a burden, but walking around naked with a bleeding arm wasn’t a brilliant plan either.

  Borden moved off, her body language subdued, nervous and fretful. Instead of calling in an air strike, she headed to the front desk. It was a real hotel, not a motel, which meant that there were no rooms that could be entered from the outside, which pretty much meant walking through the whole building to get to the room she was supposed to head off to as soon as the woman came back. It was annoying, since her talons were leaving gouge marks in the parking lot as it was. Just trying to walk into the poor building would damage it on a level that she couldn’t afford to pay for. Having no money at the moment ruled that right out. Plus, it would be really rude to allow that to happen. The hotel hadn’t wronged her in any way, which was a thing to keep in mind.

  No one else got it though, this time. Lang tried to get her to go in, pulling on her left arm but Avery shook her head and pointed at her toes. Then, after several minutes of being alternately pulled and pushed at by the older woman, which did very little, she just moved to the side of the building and sat down on the grass. That had the rest of them trying to stay with her, except Borden, who seemed to think she was throwing a fit, even if she was being calm and collected while doing it.

  Talking about it, or even writing a note was just too difficult at the moment. Even smiling to show that she was fine wasn’t going to work. Her mouth was snout like and filled with teeth at the moment, making that one too hard to manage.

  It meant that the Agent left, since she was too busy for whatever Avery was going on about. The words used were a bit kinder than that, but it was really clear that she wasn’t completely happy with the situation at all. Worse, she kept glaring at Bey when he wasn’t looking, as if that was going to earn her a better chance of staying alive that day. She did promise to come back that evening however, if they managed to get their Dragon girl in line. It was embarrassing, but a few hours later, after having a nice big snack of fake Mexican food that Bey had gotten for her from a fast food place, she was finally able to change back.

  It was embarrassing, since she was outside and naked, but Lang had gotten her clothing from the van for her. After she was dressed, the woman patted her on the shoulder. Very gently, as if she expected an explosion. They were still on the grass, with Avery in tan fatigues and tennis shoes, since her boots had been destroyed in the change. That or when she hit the car in the first place. Given the damage it was probably that first one, she realized.

  “Are you well, Ms. Rome? I know that the events of the day were… Less than ideal. We can take you home, or…”

  She snorted. It was rude, so Avery spoke quickly after that.

  “I couldn’t go inside, because my talons would have destroyed the floors. It’s one of the hazards of being me. I’m fine. It was only about not wanting to ruin the place here. It seems nice. Thanks for getting the food, Mr. Bey.”

  That got a nice smile from the strange looking bald man.

  “I had wondered! That was most understanding and considerate of you, then. Again, I must apologize for earlier. That…” He smiled at her, his face different this time. Like he was fighting tears. “I was most pleased that you survived. The blow that was used was done in anger, but full speed and force. Few beings could have survived it. The sound of your impact was like an explosion. I had feared that you were beyond all help, until you altered your form, standing mere moments later. Now, I should repair the damage between us. I will give you all I own.” There was a bow then, which was low and held.

  As if he actually meant it.

  Avery shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t get the idea, but it had been an accident, not a murder attempt. In training they had to do things like shoot each other at times. When they did that, no one took offense at it. Ruining the man, even for a while, taking all his things away from him, was a horrible idea. She had so little herself she understood how precious items might be to others.

  “I couldn’t take your things. You need them for one thing. We should focus on the mission here. What do we do next? I cost us hours so far. We still have the van…” She walked around the side of the building to check, which proved she was right. The messy, totally destroyed car was still there as well. Bits of tan painted metal and blue cloth were easily visible. The remains of her shirt. No one had come to take it away or anything.

  They were able to go in, having rooms. Ones that were paid for by the FBI. Technically they had four rooms, because Avery wasn’t considered important by the government, so hadn’t been provided for. That was sensible, given her low status in the world, not even being as clean as tainted humanity. Lang seemed tense about the whole thing however.

  “We can get you something. It won’t be a problem, I’m certain. The rates aren’t all that high here.”

  Except that, when they went inside the hotel to arrange that, they were dealing with people that had seen the events earlier in the day. The man behind the counter was apologetic, but brutally honest at the same time.

  “I… We can’t. If something happens and she changes into that demon thing again, inside one of our rooms… The damage would be horrendous!” The words weren’t mean seeming, but hurt to listen to anyway, even if she could see his point.

  Still, Avery wasn’t some softy or anything. She’d lived for the last three years in tents. When she wasn’t just outside on the ground. Here she could do better than that, she realized.

  “No problem. I can sleep in the van? That way I can guard it all night anyway. I don’t suppose I could get a pillow or something?” Wadded up clothing worked, but wasn’t that comfortable. Not if the real thing was available.

  The man behind the counter smiled at her then, even though the others looked ready to execute him. For real.

  “We can do that. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. Pillows, blankets… Yes. I’ll set that up? I don’t know how to handle the car out there. That…” There was a soft tremble to the words, but the man didn’t crack really.

  Avery had missed that part, but it had to have been loud. An Avery shaped missile had torn the thing apart. How her head hadn’t popped off she didn’t understand. It was probably either something Bey had done, or a Dragon related thing. She was fine now however, which was better than things might have gone.

  The counter man, for all he didn’t want a Death Serpent in his establishment, scurried personally to get her bedding, which had several pillows, a half dozen thick blankets and a small bowl of candy. Chocolate mints in individual wrappers. Not having anything else to do for the time being, she jogged out of the place to set up a bed for the night. It was just starting to get dark, but was a major time change from the Congo, which was the last place she’d slept. Her eyes felt heavy, but staying up for a while was important. Especially since she might be needed for something.

  Driving Lars places, for instance.

  A while later, at nearly six in the evening, Agent Borden came back. This time she had an older fellow with her, who was dressed up nicely. A lot like Eric was. He’d changed his clothing for some reason. Lars was dressed up in a jacket as well. A hugely oversized corduroy thing. It was a nice brown color, with three or four different shades of thread having been used. It was painfully obvious to her, but most of the others would probably have called it a single color. Avery saw the world as more interesting that way, but recalled what it had been like before her change.

  Lang had come out as well, being nicely dressed herself. She was in a skirt, blouse and jacket, all in official looking black. The older woman even had some makeup on, which she hadn’t bothered with earlier. Avery had never worn anything like that herself. The Gray women didn’t allow that kind of thing. At battle camp it had never been required of her either.

  �
��Agent Mitchel has come to stall us by taking us out to dinner. I think we should go and eat as much as possible, in retaliation.”

  Avery smiled, but shook her head.

  “I could use the food, but these are my nice clothes. I don’t seem to fit in with the group. I can wait here? Or drive you?” Either worked for her, since being embarrassed in public wasn’t a great plan in her book.

  For some reason everyone seemed a bit worked up at her words. At least there were worried glances coming her way. Some of it seemed wrong though. For instance, Bey, an ancient unclean Vampire gave her a lingering sad expression as if it were a real thing. No one tried to force her to go eat with them however, which was better than it could have been. After a few minutes, they even drove off, Lars in the van, with her driving him to the restaurant. It was probably the best plan, after all.

  That way she could watch the outside of the place, in case an attack came.

  Chapter ten

  It was well and truly dark out by the time they got into the parking lot of the rather nice seeming restaurant. There were no windows looking in from the front, so Avery sat in the white van, listening to what people were doing inside. The movement of waiters and waitresses allowed her to build a good sound picture of what was going on at any given moment. That was a see through blue color inside her mind, but it worked. She could use it to really tell a lot about what was going on even through the solid walls.

  For instance, Bey was the seldom moving body with no heartbeat. Lars, sitting not far from the undead man boomed with every slight shifting of his weight, his mighty coronary system screaming at the world powerfully. Lang, Eric and Borden were all pretty normal that way. The interesting thing was the FBI boss next to the Agent. Mitchel.

  That was his last name, which followed the military style for such things. That part wasn’t a problem for anyone, it seemed. His heart beat was wrong though. Slow and steady, but skipping beats occasionally. It was hard to work out, but it seemed like the man was producing about twenty powerful heart beats per minute. His body seemed Human otherwise. Guessing, Avery figured that the man had taken something before the meal. A drug of some kind to help him stay calm.