Slayers: Friends and Traitors (32 page)

What did Dirk know about Jesse that he could use against him?

Well, Dirk knew Jesse cared about Tori. The thought stung. Dirk had already betrayed Jesse in that regard. The image of Tori and Dirk at the Jefferson Memorial sprang into Jesse’s mind: the two standing close together, holding hands, Dirk leaning into Tori while Tori looked at him expectantly. Jesse forced his thoughts away from that subject, made himself think like a captain again.

How long would it take Overdrake’s men to get here and what tactics would they use? Would they follow Ryker and try to catch him unaware like they did to Jesse? Maybe they’d do a home invasion; make it look like a robbery. If they didn’t find Ryker at home, they’d wait. He’d come back sooner or later.

Kody’s voice came over Jesse’s earpiece. “I see movement in the forest behind the house. Someone is heading this way. Make that two someones.”

“Kids?” Jesse asked.

“Kids would have flashlights,” Kody whispered. “These guys are checking around the trees before they advance. They must have night vision goggles.”

Bess’ voice came over the earpiece. “That’s got to be Overdrake’s guys. I’m on my way.” She dropped from the tree, hitting the ground as silently as a cat. She sprinted across the front lawn into the side yard.

“Body armor?” Jesse asked.

“Hard to tell at this distance,” Kody said. “Looks like jeans and jackets. Could be some sort of Kevlar. They’ve got gloves and hats on, but their faces and necks are unprotected. Nothing we can’t hit if we let them get close enough.”

“Weapons?” Jesse asked.

“Handguns. The small kind.”

Not well armed by Overdrake’s standard.

Bess dashed to a tree on the edge of the property, her tranquilizer gun already drawn. “We’ll surprise them before they make it to the house.” She had placed herself on the opposite corner of the lawn as Kody. “Jesse?”

She was waiting for him to confirm the play or call another one. He hesitated—bothered by the thought that Dirk would call the same play if he were with them. Finally Jesse said, “Do it.”

It was their best strategy right now. And besides, even if Overdrake knew their playbook, he didn’t know they were here in Ryker’s yard. “I’ll cover you while I keep an eye on the front street.”

They didn’t want to be surrounded, and it only made sense that Overdrake would send someone to the front of the house. On Halloween, people opened their doors without checking to see who was standing there first. And if the neighbors saw a couple of guys go by wearing masks, or a strange car parked on the street—they wouldn’t think anything of it. Just trick-or-treaters out late.

Now that Jesse thought about it, it seemed strange that Overdrake’s men were coming through the forest at all. It would make more sense for them to come from the front and send a couple of people to the backyard before the invasion.

The street in front of the house remained clear of cars, of people. “I spotted more men,” Kody whispered. “They’re coming up behind the first two. Definitely wearing body armor and they’re carrying guns that look like antiaircraft launchers.”

That’s when Jesse realized the men in the forest were looking for Slayers, not Ryker. Overdrake had known they might be here and he’d made provisions to take them out. The first two men were decoys, meant to draw the Slayers into position. The men behind them weren’t just wearing night vision goggles. They wore infrared ones—which identified people as heat sources. Kody and Bess weren’t hidden at all. And although Jesse couldn’t see them, he was certain that the launcherlike guns the men carried shot out nets. Overdrake had used one on Tori when he’d caught her last summer. “It’s a trap!” Jesse hissed, swooping down from the tree. “Retreat!”

CHAPTER 31

Tori flew fifteen feet before she slammed into the ground. Her head snapped backward and the breath whooshed from her lungs. The guy who had tackled her took hold of her jacket with one hand and pulled off her helmet with the other. She hadn’t heard his footsteps. He must have leapt into her.

He stared down at her. “Start talking. Who are you?”

He had short dark hair that looked black in the dim night light. Even though he wasn’t standing, Tori could tell he was tall and muscular. He was also handsome enough that Bess would consider herself right about her predictions of hotness.

“Hello, Ryker,” Tori said.

He still held her pinned to the ground. “Somehow I doubt your name is Britney. Who are you?”

“Dr. B sent me. We need to—”

“Try again,” Ryker said. “Dr. B and I already talked. He wouldn’t send people. Who did?”

“Look,” Tori said. “I’m happy to answer your questions, but I’d rather do it without you pressing your elbow into my lungs.”

He didn’t move. “Then talk quickly. I’m still waiting to hear who you are and what you want.”

“I’m a Slayer like you.”

His expression didn’t change. “Prove it.”

“I can see in the dark like you,” she said. “I could show you some of my extra strength by throwing you into a tree, but it doesn’t seem polite.”

He still didn’t move. “Dragon lords do both those things. Can you prove you’re not one of them?”

She hadn’t expected Ryker to know those details about dragon lords, and chided herself for not realizing it sooner. Dr. B had put a warning about dragon lord powers on Ryker’s website after the fight with Overdrake.

Tori didn’t answer. According to Dirk, she was a dragon lord–Slayer hybrid. All of her powers were dragon lord powers, too—extra strength, night vision, flight, and hearing what the dragons heard. Tori had no powers that were distinctly Slayer. Suddenly she realized she couldn’t prove to her teammates, let alone to Ryker, that she wasn’t a dragon lord.

Maybe she was.

Tori pushed the thought away and levitated off the ground, bringing Ryker into the air with her. After all, Ryker didn’t know that dragon lords flew, too. And she wasn’t about to mention it.

Ryker handled the shift in location calmly enough. When Jesse had first swept Tori off her feet and into the sky, she had screamed. Ryker watched the ground grow farther away and only said, “Point taken. You’re a flyer.”

Tori casually draped her hands around Ryker’s neck. He had asked her to prove she was a Slayer, she was going to oblige. Still lying on her back, she shot upward until they reached the top of the trees. The stars blazed bright and clear above them, a million scattered lights staring down.

Ryker held on to her tighter. Didn’t speak. She finally had his attention. “I know you told Dr. B that you wouldn’t train with us until you were eighteen, but we can’t wait that long. The eggs hatched back in the beginning of September. We have less than a year until they’re full grown. You need to come and train with the rest of us.”

He kept an eye on the trees below them. “I’ve been training fine without you.”

“Have you? What’s your extra power?”

He smiled. “Want to see?” Without waiting for her reaction, he sat up. The sudden movement jostled Tori. Ryker slid, tumbling into the night air.

Tori’s heart lurched into her throat. She dived after him, straining to grab hold of him. He was going to die. And it was her fault. She would have to tell the other Slayers that she’d found Ryker and then accidentally killed him. She reached out and caught hold of his sleeve. He laughed and took off sideways, breaking her grip and gliding effortlessly through the air.

He was a flyer. She let out a long breath of relief.

Ryker wound his way through a few trees and landed on a branch not far away.

She flew over, hands on her hips, and hovered in front of him. “You just scared me to death.”

“As you can see, I’m practicing fine without your help.” He leaned against the tree trunk and surveyed her with dark eyes. “When it’s time, I’ll carry my weight. Until then, I’ll stay here. That way my parents won’t have every policeman from here to D.C. looking for me.” He smiled condescendingly. “But it’s been nice meeting you, Britney. Maybe we can be soul mates another time.”

“You can’t stay here anymore,” Tori said. “Overdrake knows where you live. He’ll come for you. It isn’t safe for you or your parents.”

Ryker cocked his head. “How did Overdrake find out where I live?” Ryker leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. “For that matter, how did you find me?”

“Um…” She hadn’t expected to tell him this. She had supposed that Dr. B would break the news to him in a diplomatic sort of way. She felt for her neck mike, realizing that it had been on the whole time. She had turned it on to report right before Ryker tackled her. Dr. B, Rosa, and Lilly undoubtedly heard her entire conversation with Ryker. “You should talk to Dr. B about that,” she said and flipped on her earpiece.

“Tori,” Dr. B said as soon as the sound came on. “Bring Ryker to his truck immediately. There’s trouble at his house.”

CHAPTER 32

Jesse only had a split second to make the kind of decision he hated most. Did he rescue Bess or Kody?

He swooped from his tree and headed toward Bess. She was closest to Overdrake’s men, which meant she had a greater chance of being surrounded and captured. Besides, she had the power to throw force fields up. It was a skill the Slayers couldn’t lose.

As he flew, Jesse swung his rifle forward and shot off a round, not at Overdrake’s men—they were too well protected—but at Ryker’s roof. The bullets wouldn’t strike anyone up there, and the noise should alert the family that something wrong was happening. Hopefully they would call the police.

Bess and Kody abandoned their hiding spots. As Bess ran, she looked over her shoulder at the men. The decoys had dropped to the ground to avoid fire. The men behind them had rifles, but weren’t using them yet. One of Overdrake’s men dropped to his knee, pointed his shoulder launcher at Kody, and fired. A gray mass flew through the air toward him. The net opened in the air like a grabbing hand, stopped midair, made a crashing sound, and slid to the ground. Bess had thrown a force field up to protect him.

Jesse reached Bess, grabbed her, and darted upward. He didn’t notice the net flying toward them until it was nearly on them. Its graying mouth opened wide to swallow them. Jesse dodged to the right. He wasn’t fast enough.

Bess hadn’t had time to slide the force field away from Kody to protect them. The net slammed into them, knocking Jesse backward in the air. He kept hold of Bess.

Tori had told the Slayers about the net Overdrake used on her last summer. The metal links were so strong she was barely able to rip them apart—wasn’t able to make a hole in the net big enough to get through before Overdrake reached her. Superstrength magnets on the net had pinned Tori to the metal roof.

Jesse understood why Overdrake invented the metal-net launcher. His men needed it in case one of the hatchlings escaped when Overdrake wasn’t around to control it. But the magnets always puzzled Jesse. Were the dragons kept in metal surroundings? What was the point of having magnets on the net otherwise?

Now it made sense. When the net curled around Jesse and Bess, the magnets connected both sides together, closing the net and trapping them. Still carrying Bess, Jesse righted himself and saw that a chain connected the net to the launcher. Two of Overdrake’s men hung on to the launcher, skidding across the grass as they kept hold of Bess and Jesse. He was like the kite on the end of a string.

Bess yelled, “No!” The frustration in her voice told Jesse what had happened even before his gaze swung over to Kody.

When Bess moved the force field away from Kody to try to keep the net off Jesse and herself, one of Overdrake’s men shot another net at Kody. He was down on the ground, the net tangled around him.

That was another thing Dirk knew about their strategy. Despite Dr. B’s instructions otherwise, instead of sacrificing one member of the group, the Slayers tried to save everyone. This time, instead of Bess saving either Kody or Jesse, they’d all been caught.

The only advantage the Slayers had was that so far Overdrake’s men were only trying to capture, not kill, them.

Either Dirk’s wishes still had some sway with his father, or Overdrake didn’t want to have to deal with murders that would send the law snooping around in his direction.

Back when Tori had been caught by a net, the holes were big enough for her to put her fingers through. Apparently Overdrake had made improvements to his design. The holes were smaller now. Jesse wouldn’t be able to rip his way free.

The gunmen who had acted as decoys stood up and jogged toward Ryker’s house. Jesse didn’t see where they ended up. He was watching the men who held on to his chain.

Jesse flew backward, pushing against the back of the net in an attempt to rip the launcher out of their hands. His anger gave him extra strength. He wasn’t going to let himself be caught by Overdrake’s men. He’d worked too hard to be knocked out of the battle before the real war even started.

Overdrake’s men slid inch by inch across the lawn, tearing up the grass with the heels of their boots. Then a third man threw himself on the chain and stopped Jesse’s progress.

Only one man had hold of Kody’s chain. Kody couldn’t fly, so he had no way to pull himself away from the launcher. The remaining two men in the yard ran toward Kody’s trapped form. One man held a tranquilizer gun. The other held a rifle. A dart wouldn’t go through Kody’s body armor, but with Kody on the ground and trapped, it wouldn’t be long before the men managed to take off his helmet, boots, or gloves.

Kody’s arm wound back like he was pitching a baseball. The air shimmered with frost, and a freezing blast slammed into the man with the rifle. His head snapped back, his feet flew out in front of him, and he crashed to the ground. The rifle tumbled from his hands onto the lawn. The second man stopped advancing. Kody wound back his other arm and sent a fireball at him. For a moment, the man’s head was illuminated, and his goggles reflected the light like holes in a jack-o’-lantern. The man stumbled backward, dropping his tranquilizer gun as he swatted at the fire.

“Hold on to my back.” Jesse helped Bess get into position so his hands were free. He pushed his panic and anger away, relying on the years of training he’d had. Strategies and priorities clicked through his mind. He automatically evaluated each one. “Keep your shield between us and the guys holding on to that launcher.” First priority: Jesse had to get Kody off the ground before Overdrake’s men surrounded him.