Bite Marks (19 page)

“I would, but I am afraid my old-fashioned sensibilities would be mortally wounded if I were to avail myself of the facilities before the lady.”

“What did you just say?”

“Go ahead. You are filthier.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Twenty minutes later I understood why dogs shook themselves after baths. Because it felt
good
to be clean! So good you wanted to just,
bbbggghhh
. I changed into a pair of hunter-green jeans and a velvety red scoop-neck top. Unfortunately my boots had given their all protecting my legular regions in my last battle. Which meant I had to resort to backup footwear—a pair of black cross-trainers, the laces of which Jack had chewed and partially digested before deciding he didn’t like them after all.

Cole and Raoul looked up from a somewhat heated discussion as I joined them in the living room. Since they’d commandeered the couch, I pulled a chair over to the side, where I could see out the sliding-glass doors to check on the dog every once in a while. I leaned back and crossed my legs in front of me.

Cole immediately began to laugh. “What happened to your shoes?” After observing my deformed, slightly shredded laces I decided to change the subject. “I’ll tell you if you explain that shirt.”

He looked down at his tee, which depicted a Neanderthal dragging his club across a rocky plain. In the distance a bunch of prehistoric emus were thumbing their wings at him. The caption read, i can’t wait for kfc.

He said, “It was all I had that was clean. Now you.”

Raoul said, “Jack got into your closet, didn’t he? Don’t they sell bones for dogs to chew on nowadays?

And toys?”

“I felt sorry for him because he’d just gotten back from the vet, okay? I figured letting him gnaw on my shoelaces was the least I could do. He seemed so… depressed.”

“I told you!” Cole exclaimed. “You never should’ve had him snipped!”

“It wasn’t the surgery!” I snapped. “He met this schnauzer named Eetza while he was in there and they kind of got attached. You know how it goes.”

“Ah. She broke his heart.”

“I don’t know. He just seemed to miss her. He kept going to the door and licking it. And now, with Astral’s head blowing off in his face, I’ll be lucky if I’m not barefoot by the time I get home.” I tucked my feet under my chair. “Okay, now I’m getting bummed. Can we please talk about something else?” Raoul and Cole exchanged secretive glances. I said, “Yeah, that. Whatever you were up to, I want in.”

“You don’t even know the details!” Cole protested.

“It’s gotta be shady enough that you don’t want to discuss it with me. But Raoul’s dealing, so it can’t be evil. And that’s exactly what I need right now. Come on, you probably need a third.”

“Only if Vayl’s okay with it,”

“Okay with what?” asked Vayl. Who looked, well, the word “edible” came to mind as he stood at the end of the hallway, drying his hair with a fluffy white towel as he moved his eyes from Cole to Raoul to me. Would it be rude to turn my chair completely around and just gawk? I mean, he was kind of inviting stares by coming in all clean and damp, wearing those ass-grabbing jeans and nothing else. I scratched at my knees and wished for x-ray vision.

“Okay with what?” Vayl repeated, a little louder and a lot more sternly.

Raoul sat up, his camo jacket (of which he seemed to have an endless supply) nearly snapping to attention as he straightened. “I’ve agreed to help Cole find and pet a kangaroo. They like to feed at night.

I don’t think it will be too difficult.”

Vayl made a noise. Eventually we decided it was laughter.

“You are going to get your face caved in,” he told Cole. “And because of that, one of us should probably go along to make sure Pete gets the full report on your demise. Since I have no desire to wander the countryside, I will stay with Bergman and guard Kyphas. If that is all right with you?” he asked me, his eyebrows raised.

I sighed, moving my nails up to my thighs. “I could use some exercise.” What I didn’t add was,
since I
can’t jump your bones, and I really wanna wail on Kyphas, and Bergman’s problem is driving me
slightly batso.

He nodded. “So be it.”

Which was how Jack and I found ourselves trailing two men who’d totally flipped their lids: the former ranger who thought he’d been transported to Candyland if the enthusiasm in his bated whispers were any clue; and the doof who hadn’t learned his lesson after a bout of camel-tipping in Iran.

“It’s dark,” I whispered.

“It’s after eleven,” Cole whispered back.

“We don’t even have flashlights. How are we supposed to find kangaroos in the dark without flashlights?”

“You and I are both wearing Bergman’s night-vision lenses and Raoul can probably see better with his eyes closed. Besides, they’ll be by water. Or food. Or both. Didn’t you ever watch
Kangaroo Jack
?”

“Yeah. But I saw
Crocodile Dundee
too. Don’t you think they’ll be worried about becoming a midnight snack if they loiter by the river at night?”

“We’re following a freaking Eldhayr! We’ll find them!” he hissed. “What is your problem?”

“You mean besides the possession, worrying about Bergman and Cassandra, and saving the space program so her vision won’t haul off and kick us in the ass?”

“Yeah!”

“My butt itches,” I admitted.

“Well, deal with it! I’m sure not going to watch!”

So I did, and thought about how low I’d sunk. Scratching my ass like a beer-swilling, pot-bellied La-Z-lounger as I slunk through the foothills west of Wirdilling. Although, once I’d relieved the worst of my irritation, I realized the hills looked pretty nifty given the shades of gold and burgundy my contacts added to them, like a bowl full of mint ice cream scoops topped by waves of sugar-coated cinnamon sticks.

Even without our Miles-vision we’d have had an easy walk. At least at first. The hills had been grazed so close they traveled like a putting green. Yeah, we encountered some rocks and a few dips and folds. But compared to some of the bush I’d hacked through, this was pudding. Of course, I knew a devastating fire had done most of the clearing for us several years before. And as we climbed, we began to see its remains in the charred trunks of the pine trees that had once dotted the landscape.

Jack whuffed. Not a bark, but definitely a
pay attention
noise that stopped us. We stood silent, peering into the night. Then Raoul raised an arm, pointing to a copse of grass trees. They stood about sixty paces from us, looking eerily like a group of fingers tipped with frothy green rings. Behind one thick-trunked specimen, standing absolutely still and staring right back at us, was a large kangaroo.

I kept watching. Yeah, now I could see more. Probably fifteen in this group, including four or five pouch-free joeys. Most of them were too busy eating to have noticed the small sound Jack had made.

Teen Me squealed.
Sew kewl!
I rolled my eyes. But I did have to agree. Because, holy crap, were they
large
!

When the first roo began to graze again, Raoul crept forward, motioning for us to follow. I moved my hand around toward my back. My jacket creaked and Raoul jerked his head toward me. Parallel reaction from Cole. I shrugged, dropping my hand, trying to ignore the growing prickles that felt like my rash had erected tents and dug a fire pit.

Raoul motioned first to himself, then to me.

What?

He made the motion again.

No! Have you seen how big these hoppers are? I thought we were going after, you know, little
ones!

Again with the motion, this time insistent and combined with a jab from Cole’s elbow. I sighed and nodded. I’d play up to a certain point, but no way was I going to get up close and personal with a creature whose feet looked like they were made specifically to crush my spine!

Raoul and I split, taking opposite tracks around to the back of the herd. Cole began to move forward. I gathered the plan was for him to try the pettage on his own. But if it didn’t work, Raoul and I were supposed to spook the roos into hopping toward him, in which case he’d have multiple shots at success.

I finally found a spot I liked where I could observe the landscape from between the split fingers of a grass tree. Jack sat beside me, his ears twitching as he followed the action. Which was progressing, but slowly. Cole now crouched within reach of a five-foot female that seemed completely occupied with her meal. At least he’d picked one that was too young for motherhood. Maybe, without that protect-the-baby imperative riding her, she wouldn’t try to cave his skull in when he touched her. Maybe she’d just squeal and run.

He stretched out his hand. His fingers were so close to her shoulder you couldn’t have slipped a bar of soap between them when the female startled, veered away, and ran. The whole mob caught her mood and suddenly they were on the move.

Raoul leaped up from his hiding place, yelling, “Ha! Move! Hop! That’s it!” Pause. “Jasmine, they’re coming toward you!”

But it wasn’t organized like a cow stampede. Fifteen kangaroos had chosen fifteen different directions out of that copse, and I was only guarding one exit.

A big male hopped at me, looking surprised and somewhat pissed. An expression I found eerily familiar.

But that was no help, and I couldn’t imagine how me yelling like a cowboy with his nuts in a wringer was going to turn the animal around. In fact, I kinda thought I was going to get pummeled. So I drew Grief and took a shot. Relax, I made sure it hit the ground.

Actually a couple of the roos did too. The sound must’ve scared them so much that they lost their footing. But they found it again and decided, as a group, that it should lead them away from me. At least three of them agreed that meant they should hop toward Cole. But this wasn’t a leisurely stroll. This was run-for-your-life-dammit! They pounded toward him, covering six feet at a stretch. And he just stood there, grinning.

“Move, you fool!” I yelled.

“Good thinking!” he shouted back, wheeling around so he could pace the group for the fraction of a second it would take to claim his prize.

I watched him reach for a male the size of a giraffe. And then another roo veered into him, sending him rolling like a skater who’s just missed his board.

Raoul and I ran up to him together, but before either of us could reach him he’d bounced back to his feet. “Did you see that? Was that not the most awesome moment ever? Tell me you saw that!”

“Yeah, yeah. You do know you’re lucky to be alive, right?” I asked.

Cole dusted off his jeans, which had developed holes in both knees. “What’s your point?”

“I…” I looked at Raoul, who was wearing the same this-kicks-ass expression on his face that I saw on Cole’s. “I’m just saying, you missed.”

“I know. That means we’ve got the whole thing to do over again.” Cole held up his fist and Raoul, who was apparently a close observer of modern gestures, gave it an enthusiastic bump with his own. Which was why I dropped the protest.

I don’t get guys half the time. But
—I smiled to myself as we turned back for the house—
they can be
awful damn fun.

When we got back to the house, the Wheezer was parked in the drive beside Ruvin’s Jeep. Cole raced to the front door and threw it open. Vayl and Ruvin, who’d been sitting on the couch, talking quietly, jerked their heads toward him.

“Cassandra! You’ll never guess… Oh yeah.” By the time we’d crowded in behind him he’d decided his high-tops needed a polish and was rubbing one on the back of his pants leg. He glanced back at us. “I, uh”—he stuck his finger in his ear, wiggled it a few times.—“I need to pee.” He nodded to Ruvin as he strode from the room.

I looked up at Raoul. “What was that all about?” I asked.

“Maybe he’s worried.”

“Cassandra can take care of herself.” I didn’t buy a word of it and I’d just said it.

I swallowed my concern, told myself Cassandra wasn’t back yet because the exits were probably guarded, which meant we’d have to go get her as soon as we finished the mission. But that otherwise she was probably just fine. Really. Then I settled on the chair next to Raoul’s. Jack, reacting to the mood, dropped to his belly and laid his chin on my shoe. He began to chew at my laces.

Bergman left his post in the hallway to come hover behind us. I’d never seen him so grim. Which would’ve been enough to concern me. But I could almost see the gears turning as he stared toward Kyphas’s room.

“Where’s Astral?” I asked.

“She’s watching the demon,” Bergman said. My eyebrows lifted. “She may be… different now. But she still works.” He cleared his throat. “Unlike my bug,” he added, half under his breath.

I said, “Just because we haven’t heard from the Odeam team doesn’t mean your bug’s failed. It could be—” I stopped, mostly because he wasn’t listening. His eyes hadn’t budged from the demon’s doorway. Judging by the gleam in them, he was imagining some complex, devious revenge. Hopefully it would require an invention that would keep him out of trouble until we’d found the Rocenz and sent Kyphas out of range.

When we were settled Vayl said, “Ruvin’s wife was retaken at the airport. Fortunately she was able to distract her kidnappers long enough for Laal and Pajo to escape to the plane, which is well on its way to New Zealand by now.”

Ruvin dropped his face into his hands.

“What the f—?”

Vayl stopped me with a look. “We should be able to free her as before, but now we must wait until after we have accomplished our mission.”

“This isn’t right!” I said. I shoved my hands into my hair and pulled, but it didn’t stop Brude from giggling like a first-grader who’s just been visited by Santa Claus. With Tabitha back in gnome clutches the chances for a high body count—and thus an increase to his army’s numbers—had just multiplied.

Because Ruvin would do anything the Ufranites said now. Which meant when the larvae hatched, he’d be there waiting, a walking breakfast buffet, instead of following our plan, saving his hide and NASA’s goodies as well.

As Brude danced around his throne room, which was quickly gaining form and color, Granny May murmured,
No, Jazzy, something about this isn’t right at all.