Emma (Dark Fire) (8 page)

As if hearing her unspoken words, the jeep slowed to a crawl in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

“It wouldn’t have mattered. People would still drive down it, even knowing it dead ends,” Keith said, nodding to the car in front of him with a bumper sticker supporting a high school band from half a state away. “It’s not every day a lake triples in size, swallowing a road and dam in the process.”

“True,” Emma snorted, “but surely these people knew once they drove down the road, they’d have to come back the same way. I mean, hello, the other end of highway 187 drops into Beaver Lake. There’s no other way out.”

He chuckled, agreeing with her sarcastic tone.

Yesterday, the entire world ground to a screeching halt. Everything from the stock market to ball games stopped when Tuatha appeared on Earth.

She chuckled. It was hard not to stop when the baseball diamond sprouted feathery blue trees or when tiny purple frogs, the size of a dime, covered the floor of the American Stock Exchange.

So far, no part of the world lay untouched.

Anxious to hear anything new, she flipped on the local radio station.

The static cleared and the announcer’s melodious deep voice said, “Our round the clock country music has been interrupted for continuous coverage of The Arrival. For anyone not aware of it, The Arrival, as the media dubbed yesterday, happened all over the world.”

“Entire castles and medieval villages have sprung up across the entire world. So far, dragons appear to be the largest of the creatures, with wingspans estimated up to fifty feet wide.”

“To date, the Ozark Mountains have the largest concentration of dragons. Dragons, winged lions, and winged humans are flocking to this location. With the appearance of angels, televangelists are shouting it’s the End of Time.”

“The western edge of the Ozarks is now home to hundreds of massive stone castles, several are three to four times the size of Windsor Castle.”

“Cavern Springs is the nearest town and we’re feeling the tension, but compared to Mexico City I believe we are mighty lucky. Millions of people are fleeing the sprawling Mexican metropolis as vampires and dragons continue attacking. The attacks are vicious and deadly in nature. Attempts to communicate with the vampires have been unsuccessful.”

“Within southern Mexico and South America, estimates range as high as two million dead and millions more missing. US military units from five states are converging on the U.S. and Mexico border area. We have...”

The words stopped mid-sentence.

“I’ve heard more than enough,” Keith said after flipping the radio off.

“Uncle Keith, we’ve got to do something! They’re trying to talk to vampires.” She shook her head in disbelief. “They think dragons are just mindless animals.”

“I agree. While you were glued to the TV last night, I was making calls and sending out e-mails,” he said, tapping the steering wheel as the line of traffic slowed even more. She watched him frown. He tried to downplay it, but he had serious military connections. His career in the Special Forces had earned him lifelong friends.

“Why do you think dragons are killing people in Mexico? I mean, I totally get why the vampires are killing people. Lester really wanted me or rather my blood. But neither Tyler nor Lydia seemed the type to kill without a good reason.”

“I don’t know, but hopefully they can keep the fighting away from our area. I’m going to do a little recon in town and see who’s in charge of the local reserve units they’ve brought in. Last time I heard, Colonel Hank Murphy was stationed in this area. He’s the type who’ll listen to the facts and do the right thing every time.”

“If Murphy isn’t in charge?”

“Well, if it’s not him, hopefully, it’s someone who’ll listen to our story and be willing to meet with the dragons. We don’t need a repeat of Mexico City. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the two sides talking.”

Emma hid another grin as Keith stifled several curse words. The winding two-lane highway finally came to a complete standstill. The small town of Cavern Springs had never seen so much traffic, not even during a holiday weekend. Still a mile outside of town, Keith pulled to the opposite side of the highway and backed-up under a grove of trees.

At his continued grumble, she grinned and teasingly said, “Exercise is good for the heart.”

He badgered her constantly, insisting she put her book down and go outside for a bit of exercise.

He snorted and finally grinned. “Of course it is. I planned on parking here the entire time,” he said, giving her the lie with a straight face and a wink.

On foot, they headed toward town. The walk to town didn’t take long, actually moving faster than the cars on the road did.

It was wall-to-wall people as too many sightseers packed into the small picturesque town. People parked everywhere. Even the lawn, in front of city hall, lay covered with illegally parked cars. Entire families roamed the streets, posing in front of the unique stone houses with Spanish style roofs and archways. Everyone had a camera or phone, taking pictures. Unfortunately, they weren’t just taking pictures.

“Those jerks,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

People were helping themselves to anything that wasn’t latched down, carrying stuff out of the multi-story rock homes by the armload. Emma watched as one couple struggled to carry a large table out of one house, while another man carried a beautiful carved jewelry box.

By the time they reached the school parking lot, she was fuming. The Tuathans wouldn’t have anything left, not with people acting like scavenging rats.

The school and the athletic complex was the only place in the entire area that wasn’t overflowing with tourists. The large park was brand new, sporting a track, a football field, a multi-use gymnasium, and four baseball diamonds. It was the town’s pride and joy.

A soldier and Rottweiler walked past the school’s front entrance. Huge tents, hummers, tanks, and helicopters covered the area. No, the park area wasn’t swarming with tourist, because the entire place crawled with heavily armed military personnel.

“Talk about overkill,” Emma said in a hiss, watching a troop of at least a hundred soldiers spreading outward toward the surrounding forest, while a smaller group marched toward town.

“I’m going to see who’s in charge,” Keith said, nodding toward the tents. “Go on into town and grab some lunch.” He lowered his voice and casually tugged his ear, impressing on Emma their earlier conversation about listening devices. “There are a lot of crazies out there, be careful who you talk with. If you happen to run into Tyler or Lydia, you might invite them over for dinner and a movie. Don’t forget they’re both city people, so warn them about bugs and repellent. Okay?” Keith asked with a small frown.

“Yeah, I will,” Emma agreed. She wasn’t sure how she could explain what a bug was to the stubborn dragons. They seemed to have a blind spot toward technology. Having to explain bugs and cameras to the hardheaded shape shifters might be impossible without showing them.

She watched her uncle for a few minutes, making sure he didn’t look back.

The moment he stopped to speak with a soldier, she spun on her heel and retraced her steps. She quickly caught up with the brown haired man carrying the jewelry box. In addition to the carved box, he had added a knitted shawl and a porcelain doll to his growing pile.

She stomped up to him, forcing him to stop. “You filthy, stealing jerk, you should be shot! Don’t you even care your stealing someone’s prized possessions?”

“Huh, you think those monsters are people? That they can think like we do?” His mouth twitched into a smile, one that shouted, humor the kid.

“They’re not monsters,” Emma said emphatically, glaring at the man. Her temper spiked at the thought of how much it would hurt to lose everything. “They’re people, just like you and me.”

The man’s hazel eyes looked thoughtful, and she wondered if she made a difference. His next words dumped her to rock bottom. “If I don’t take these things, someone else will. Look at them, they’re like birds of prey, snatching and grabbing everything in sight. Take a bit of advice and don’t try stopping anyone else.”

He walked off, leaving Emma speaking to thin air.

With a fuming glance toward the people swarming the houses, she gave up and headed toward town.

People lined the streets.

Northeast of Eureka Springs, the town saw its fair share of tourists, but nothing like this. Edging out of the flow of people, she stepped up onto the flower shop’s cement window casing. Standing a good foot higher than the crowd, she searched for the two dragons. She didn’t know how, but she knew they would risk coming into town.

Like the Romans thousands of years ago, she feared arrogance would be the dragon’s downfall. As overconfident as the dragons seemed to be, half the tourists could be dragons and she had no way of knowing. She blew out a frustrated sigh. She needed to find Tyler and beat some common sense into his stiff barbaric brain.

She hated to admit it, but she also wanted to see him.

Rubbing her hand over her wrist, heat touched her palm. She recognized a tingle of frustration then nothing. She wondered if he might miss her at least a little bit. She had lain in bed half the night dreaming-up scenarios of him showing up on her front door step, anxious to see her. She snorted. That sure didn’t happen.

Nearly an hour later, she glimpsed a tall, dark haired guy as he slipped behind a privacy fence between the video and feed store. Her heart raced. She hadn’t seen his face, but she thought it was Tyler.

Hopping off the flower box, she quickly made her way around the throng of people. A few seconds later, she slipped through the swinging gate.

Looking down the dimly lit alley, a trickle of unease tightened inside of her. There was no one in sight. Trying to ignore the feeling of uncertainty, she trotted down the passageway, avoiding a pile of bricks and a pool of dirty water. Hurrying down a narrow flight of stairs, she arrived in the feed store’s back lot.

The hardware/feed store kept big equipment, mulch, and potting soil in the high fenced area. A dozen or so bright red feeding bins gleamed in the sun.

The crowded yard was empty of people.

“Hello? Tyler?” Emma called out.

Silence greeted her.

Frustrated, she stomped into the yard and snapped at him. “I saw you come back here. Just because you’re too stubborn to listen to me, doesn’t mean I don’t need to talk to you.”

Her words must have made an impression, because a dark-haired young man stepped from behind one of the tall pallets and slowly walked toward her. He was easily six feet tall with jet-black hair, but that’s where the similarity to Tyler ended. Glancing at his ragged jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes, she groaned.

Why she hadn’t looked closer at what he was wearing?

“Sorry, wrong person,” Emma said, shaking her head, she started backing up only to thump against a rock hard chest.

The guy behind her chuckled and every muscle in her body clenched in concern.

“We might be willing to help. Who are you looking for again?” he asked.

Before his hands had time to wrap around her arms, she jerked away from him.

The boys crowded closer and she quickly found herself hemmed in. It certainly wasn’t the most brilliant thing she had ever done.

Talk about stupid, she knew better than to get caught in a situation like that. If Uncle Keith found out, he’d ream her. Silently, she hoped he’d get the opportunity to holler at her.

The town was flooded with strangers. It’d be the perfect opportunity for a couple of creeps to kidnap a girl. They’d never get caught, not with everything else going on at the moment.

Little by little, they backed her farther into the rear corner of the lot. The black-haired one resembled Tyler in build, but his eyes were hazel and his face was rounder, boyishly soft when he grinned. The other one was a hunk, looking like next year’s mega movie star. With dark golden-brown hair and odd amber colored eyes, he seemed more approachable than the dope who kept grinning at her. His question had been curious, not mocking.

He smiled and her brief feeling of hope disappeared. The teen’s sharp canines were a little longer than Tyler’s teeth, but at least they didn’t look like vampire fangs.

She tried shoving her fear and frustration to the back of her mind, hoping the boys would listen to reason. She gave them another once over. It would help if she knew whether they were friendly or more along the Mexico City variety.

“I’m looking for Tyler. He’s a black dragon,” she said in the dragon language. “Do you know him?”

“Tyler’s my cousin. Surely, now that you’ve met me, you’d rather talk with me than him,” the ebony-haired baby face said with a cocky smirk.

“Humph!” she said, snorting her disbelief. “You can’t honestly mean what I think you do.”

He answered her with a smug smile. “You can either talk to me - who happens to be one of the most eligible and handsome young man of the Alliance - or you can keep searching.”

The brown-haired teen rolled his eyes, appearing annoyed at his companion’s obvious egotistical attitude. “Just ignore Andrew. My name’s Kyle.”

“I’m Emma.” She smiled at Kyle, trying to be polite, but not wanting to encourage the other boy. “I really need to talk with Tyler.”

At her words, Kyle shook his head. “Tyler is one of my best friends but trust me, you don’t want to talk with him right now. If you’ve met Tyler, you’ve seen how, um, unapproachable he can be. This morning he was in a blacker mood than I’ve ever seen him in. He was as surly and grouchy as a hungry bask lizard.”

“Moody or not, I need to talk to him.”

With a shrug, the movie star look-alike said, “Sweetheart, one look at his scowling face and he’ll have you in tears.” He switched topics before she could reply. “You’re obviously from this world. How did you meet Tyler?”

The arrogant baby face ignored his friend. “I, on the other hand, know exactly how to treat you.” Acting like a puffed-up peacock, he smiled and reached for her. “Perhaps, I simply need to persuade you.”

She hastily stepped away from him. “I can’t believe either of you pretty boys think you can compare to Tyler, even if he is in a rotten mood. The idea that I’d pick either of you over him is beyond me,” she said with a slight sniff. “It’s like comparing a mighty war stallion with a couple of ribbon-bedecked prancing ponies. Surely, your medieval brains can figure out that comparison.”