Page 92 of Catastrophe

“Charlie, if you have a distraction prepared, that would be useful,” Baelen said.

A distraction? From what? Shit, way to put me on the spot.

“Baelen, don’t you have some kind of blood thread power? You can’t make Fafnir explode right now?”

“You think I haven’t tried? The whole stage area seems warded.”

The crowd seemed to close in on the two hunters and on the stage Fafnir smiled, pleased they were turning on one of their own simply because he told them to.

“What about blowing up another random hunter just to cause a distraction?”

“Because that will cause them to turn on our supernatural friend out of fear,” Baelen said. “Michael, tell them he is lying. Tell them the dragon drains everyone of magic and life. Tell them he’s doing it right now.”

I couldn’t quite hear the conversation that ensued, but I saw the crowd gasp and step back. And everyone put their hands to their noses as blood trickled out.

Jesus, Baelen did that to every hunter?

“Baelen?” I asked.

But no one turned to the dragon pointing their pitchforks, instead their eyes narrowed on Michael. I noticed Fafnir cross his arms with a smug smile on his face as he watched the crowd turn on the hunter, accusing him of causing their nose to bleed.

“This isn’t good,” I muttered. “Plan B, Baelen. You need a Plan B.”

He didn’t respond.

Michael and his friend continued to argue with the crowd, but it wasn’t going in their favor. When someone moved to attack them, Michael whipped out a gun, but didn’t fire. It was a warning. He didn’t want to hurt the people he’d known for so long or the community he grew up in.

But with their bloody noses and cruel glares, it didn’t appear they held the same affection for him now his lineage had been revealed.

Fafnir yelled something, and all heads turned to the stage as the dragon roared and charged toward Michael and his friend. Its maw stretched, opened, ready to swallow him whole.

“Arabella, please tell me you’ve got everyone free. I’ve got a rampaging dragon in the courtyard and I need to let people out.”

“Everyone is out. We are waiting for the portal back.”

The crowd panicked, diving out of the way and Michael's finger on the trigger pulled one, two, three, four, five times, hitting the dragon in its wings and chest.

The dragon roared again and small holes pierced its wings, but the shots to the chest seemed to bounce straight off the green scales and back into the crowd. I saw a few people hit the ground while other hunters pulled desperately at the doors and screamed at being locked in, their glares turning to their leaders.

“Jesus Christ. Get the fuck out of the way.” I yelled at Baelen as Michael and his friend dived to avoid the dragon’s huge claws.

The hunter and his friend vanished. Baelen must have turned them invisible, too.

Fafnir didn’t look so smug anymore. He shouted something, but the chaos was too much for him to control. He didn’t stop the dragon. He watched as its giant head turned and tracked the invisible group as they dodged panicked hunters and headed toward the crate.

The hunters standing around the crate on stage suddenly dropped to the ground bleeding from their eyes, ears, and mouth and something shattered next to them—glass?— Suddenly the crate burst open and a disheveled red-headed man sprung out of the box and made a run for it.

Laurence?

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Holy shit, he’s alive. My heart was in my throat as I unlocked the doors for him to escape, not caring that all the other hunters poured through the exit, too.

“Laurence is among the hunters, he’s going to—” I started on the comms to Arabella, but I stopped suddenly when the dragon roared, dived straight over to him, gobbling him up before anyone could do anything to stop him.

“No!” I yelled, my hands slamming the desk as I jumped to my feet. No. Fuck. No. Did I actually just see that? I felt sick. “Guys?” I asked Baelen quietly.

“We are all alive. We are healing Zaide and then we will portal out.”

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