Page 45 of Surge of Fire

He’s choosing his words too carefully. “It’s the most powerful corporation in the world. It owns every kind of business you can imagine, has fingers in every industry, but funnels most of its resources into science.”

“Why? What’s in it for them?”

“The pursuit of knowledge.”

What crap.“And what knowledge are they after? Why dragons and earthquakes?”

“Just focus on the road. You can’t afford to be distracted.”

“You can’t afford to be distracted,” I mock.

Suddenly, a jet crashes into the side of the mountain in a fiery ball of smoke and flames. A scream catches in the back of my throat, and I watch as the dragon perches on top of the jet that’s lodged in the mountain, throwing back his head and roaring as rocks and flaming pieces of metal rain down on us from above.

“Eyes on the road!” he shouts, grabbing the wheel and turning it as we nearly go barreling over the edge of the cliff.

I slam on the brakes, and we stop in the middle of the road, the sound of our breathing the only noise in the car.

“We have to keep going,” he says.

I’m shaking, but I nod and slide my foot back to the gas.

A piece of the wing hits the road beside our truck. My hands tighten on the steering wheel, and I keep going. Because what the hell else can I do? Once that dragon’s done with the jet, is it going to notice us? I don’t want to find out.

“You’re doing well,” he says, his voice soft, almost soothing.

I chance a glance at him. There’s something in his eyes I don’t understand. Respect maybe, even though I’d nearly killed us. Still, I know I have good reflexes. I always have. Maybe I’m doing better than I thought.

Everything quiets in my mind. I think of Granger and Aydan. This is the only way to town from the institute. If they’re coming after me, they’re going to go this way. On a dangerous road. With a dragon.

Man, I hope they don’t come after me.

But even as the thought hits me, I know there’s no chance they’renotcoming for me. We’re family. I just need to get my phone back, warn them, and find another way to safely reach them.

“Town!” he says at the same time I see the sign.

I release a breath I didn’t even know I was holding and start plotting my next step.

“So where is ‘base’ located for the Specter Company?”

“Just a few hours from here in SeaFront Landing. They actually own a huge chunk of the shoreline. They have a big facility, mostly underground, just a half hour outside of OceanView. It’s a really beautiful place. You’ll love it. A lot of the staff enjoy their morning coffee on the wall surrounding the facility. They watch the sunrise over the ocean. They go for walks on the beach.”

“So I’ll be able to do all those things?”

“You’ll like Specter Corp,” he says, clearly avoiding my question.

I’ll be a monkey’s butt if they aren’t already fixing up my prison cell.

“Stop here,” he says, pointing to a small store with some covered parking.

I take several deep breaths, feeling out my body, making certain I’ve fully healed after my encounter with the dragon. I have. Strangely. So, now I just need to be faster and smarter than this asshole.

Parking, I turn to him.

He says, “We’ll hide out here while I call my bosses and update them on our RV location.”

“Sounds good,” I reply lightly. I grip the door handle, and then reach over and grab my phone from his open vest pocket, then throw open the door and run.

The element of surprise worked for me once already today. I pray my luck holds. Almost a full minute passes, with me running as fast as humanly possible, before I hear the other door fly open. I don’t look back. I can’t afford to slow down.

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