Page 63 of Just Dare Me
“I’m going to pretend that’s your thumb sticking up, Terrance, which means we have agreen light.”
I haven’t even finished enunciating theton the end of the wordlightbefore there’s a flash of movement from the side of the tower. That would be Parker, darting in and swiping at one of the thugs, who drops to the ground. Terrance’s heat blob leaps down from the landing and kicks the other thug square in the chest. The attack is over in two seconds flat.
“All clear,” Parker says.
“Moving in,” I reply, putting my Crap-pile into gear and driving forward. Ardee Todd bobs his big, plastic head on the dash. “So, you’re all with Elle on this? You’d rather become human than have them find out about us? Nora?”
“Are you kidding? No way,” she says.
“Oh, stop being so modest. We all know you’d still keep your men, even if you lost your powers.”
“Maybe so, but there’d be other…advantagesI’d lose.”
“See, I knew it! Youenjoyreading people’s minds. You act like it’s this huge burden—”
“Not that stuff,” she interrupts. “Wait, you think I enjoy invading peoples’ private thoughts every time I—”
“No, no, hold on a sec,” I interrupt right back. “What the hell powers are you talking about, then? What ‘advantages?’”
“In bed, duh.”
Elle gasps. “No!”
I can hear the gloating smile in Nora’s voice when she says, “Let’s just say that my siren powers enhance certainphysical pleasures.”
Elle repeats the same gasp. “No fair!”
“And it’s not just on my end of things,” Nora adds.
Elle says, “So not fair!” I hear a slap, and Oliver grunts in pain.
“Hey! Would you not do that, please?” he complains.
“It wasn’t even that hard,” she says.
“I don’t mean the slap. I mean acknowledging me when we’re talking about Nora and…”
“And what, sex?”
“It is kinda weird,” I say. “He’s your brother.”
Elle bursts into giggles. “You should see how red his face is right now. Red light!”
Parker’s voice sounds alarmed. “Red light?”
“No!” I blurt. “No red light. Still green light. Here we come. Open sesame.” After passing the last of the salt mounds, I roll to a stop in front of the tower. Parker and Terrance each take a door, rolling them back to reveal a cavernous elevator car, designed to transport oversize industrial equipment and vehicles down to the salt mine a thousand feet below.
As I pull into the elevator and throw the gear shift into neutral, the rumbling motors of two motorcycles approach. One of them rolls to a stop on my left. Nora is driving, with Ilren sharing the seat behind her. On the passenger side of the car, the other motorcycle squeezes in. Russo drives, his huge frame making the bike seem tiny. Charlotte hugs him from behind, resting her boots on the back pegs.
Footsteps on the roof of my car signal that the last members of my team have joined us. Two coyotes step down the windshield to the hood—Nolan, with his puffy golden fur, and Darby, whose mottled gray coat is thinner, showing off muscled legs. Nolan says she’s fast, and I believe it. They make themselves comfortable on the hood, Darby rolling onto her side and Nolan laying his head across her neck and closing his eyes. It’s confirmed: cutest couple ever.
“A-team, in position,” I say. “B-team, where you at?”
“Just passed the halfway marker,” Elle replies. “Next time, you guys get the stairs and we get the elevator. This is balls. Can’t we just reverse this conveyer belt and ride it down?”
“Sure. If you’d like the entire East Side horde to be waiting for you when you get down there.”
She’s talking about the extraction ramp, a mile-long tunnel with a conveyer belt for transporting salt from the mine up to the surface. The tunnel is also lined with stairs, serving as an emergency exit for workers. Basically, B-team is going through the back door.
