Djinn: Cursed (14 page)

Then she nodded and bit her lower lip in consternation and then asked almost hopefully, “She's where now?”  Then she nodded one last time and said, “Ok, thanks, Randy.  Keep me posted?”

Then she stepped a half step to the side and locked eyes with me, her face a mask of concern that made my heart speed up and my fight or flight reflex start sneaking to the forefront.  She glanced at the window then me, “There's nobody on the streets.”

I heard cars on the roads and the sounds of people walking by and talking on their cells as the city churned on.  I almost asked and she shook her head.

“No, I mean people like me.  Homeless.  All the back alleys and flops are empty.  They are seeing vehicles canvassing the area systematically, some men on foot.  They think it is them.  They seem to know we are around here somewhere.”

Then she shut her mouth, her lips pressed together in a thin line, and she hissed out as she face palmed, “It's me.  How could I be so stupid?”

I reached a hand out, my right wing mimicking the motion.  I laid a hand on her arm as my wing draped over her shoulder.  Then I cocked my head at the look on her face.  I knew the look, I wore it often when I was upset at myself for something.  “What is it Dor?”

She shook her head and exhaled, placing a hand over mine.  “They saw me in the alley where they took you.  I looked like what I was, a street rat.  It wouldn't take much for them to ask around and find out about the Mouse.  I help out all the others around here.  They all know I have a hidey hole somewhere around here.  It is just a matter of time before they realize the biggest abandoned building in the area is a prime location for squatting.”

I asked, “Hailey?”

She said, “She's on her bike, ghosting herself in alleys, steering clear of the canvassers to watch the place.  I don't think she wants to chance coming in, or they will see her.  Her dumbass hair sort of gives her away.”

I smiled, even in the weight of the situation and teased, “Hey, I think it's sexy.”

She stared at me like she couldn't believe I had just said that, then she crumbled and gave a smirk and said, “Yeah, whatever, it's hot.”  Then she added quickly, “But don't let her know I said that, I'll deny it.”  Then she took her hand away from mine to gently grab my wing's leading edge to pull it tighter around her shoulders.

I had to grin at that and ask, “You really don't have a problem with me being a bird-girl freak do you?”

Her smirk doubled, and her cheek dimpled as she said, “It's sexier than purple hair and hey...”  She pointed at herself. “Speaks to ghosts.”

I chuckled and then said, “Well Spooky Wan Kenobi, we need to get to Hailey and get out of the city.  These guys aren't going to give up.  Xerxes is power mad.”  I said in a distant tone, “Maybe Santa Cruz like Hai suggested.”

Then a thought snapped me out of the need to flee.  Running was a selfish thing to do when there was a little girl out there somewhere who had the same blue eyes that I saw in the mirror every morning.  I'd be leaving her to the fate I'm trying to escape.  My baby girl.  I know I didn't have any right to claim her as my own, I had given up that right when I put her up for adoption.  But she didn't deserve to live in fear like this, and I'll be damned if I allow Xerxes and his spawn to take her.

She cocked her head, seeing I was working through something in my head.  I looked at her and shook my head.  “No, we're not running.  This has to end now.  I'm not letting future generations of Drakes go through this hell.  Even if I have to use another wish that will put another chain around my soul, or expose myself to the world.”

Her eyes were glittering with a fire inside as she slowly smiled and just gave me a single nod.  I liked what I saw in her expression as she tilted her head to regard me in a fresh light.

We heard the sound of someone kicking in the door in the alley below, they had found us.  My heart leapt in my chest, pounding hard, and I took a deep breath and said as I nudged my chin toward the window, “I'll find Hailey, and we'll bring the fight to them.”

She nodded again then leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips and said, “Ok.  And they can't have you, you're mine.”

I smiled at her warmly.  I could live with that.

She swung the plywood aside, and I said, “Don't get caught.  Be right back.”

Dorian nodded emphatically as I took two running steps at the window and dove through it and over the fire escape railing.  My wings fluttered wide, making that snapping canvas sound as I flapped to gain altitude as I turned down the alley.

I felt that elation I had experienced when I flew before.  It was a feeling of freedom I can't properly convey.  It felt like I wasn't just physically flying, but that my very soul was soaring as the wind of my passing curled behind me while I sliced through the air.

I heard a man shout and looked down, four or five of them were streaming into the old Regency building.  He started speaking into his cuff and ran down the alley after me.  Shit, the others didn't come out of the building to follow.  I growled at Kanton and Xerxes propensity for using those I cared for, against me.  They'd take anyone they found inside for leverage.

I hissed out another epitaph and gained some more altitude, clearing the roof of the five-story building and the surrounding structures, gaining speed with each flap of my wings.  They felt strong, even with my injuries, and that filled me with confidence.

Pigeons, seagulls, and even a hawk who had chosen to nest in the urban jungle started circling around me.  I almost chuckled at that as I said, “Shoo... I'm not one of you.”

I could hear people below blurting out surprised exclamations but couldn't quite make out the words.  I saw people pointing up at me, and a couple cell phones pointed my way.  Well shit, I didn't really think this through now did I?  I just hoped that my face wouldn't be recognizable at that distance.

I scanned the streets as I banked first north, then east.  My eyes watering with the passage of air at the high speeds I was attaining.  If I survived this and wasn't dissected by some government types, I needed some eye protection for when I flew.

I started circling to try to identify the vehicles of Xerxes' men.  I saw four vehicles changing direction and converging on the Regency.  I growled to myself and scanned the alleyways for any sign of Hailey.  She couldn't have been far if Dorian's ghosts said she was keeping tabs on the building.

I wiped my eyes for the tenth time or more, as the tears caused by the wind streaked my cheeks.  More and more people were running along the sidewalks, pointing their cellphones skyward.  All the motion was distracting with my blurry vision.  I needed to land, so I could focus better.

I tucked one wing in tight, causing a steeply banked dive to my left, and then cupped my wings to slow my rate of speed.  I was purposefully singing a song in my head, trying my damnedest not to think about how instinctive flying was.  All I needed to do now was to wonder how I was doing it and lose control and crash, or worse.

I streaked toward a ledge on a tall building overlooking the Regency and with three powerful backstrokes I brought my speed to almost nothing and swooped to land my feet lightly on the parapet of the roof.  I smiled in elation as I crouched to look down, tucking my wings back behind me.  I had made my first successful landing that wasn't an abysmal crash landing.  I fought away the smile that was threatening.  I shouldn't be enjoying myself, it was a life or death situation I found myself in.

No sooner had I relaxed to scan the area, then a dozen pigeons landed beside me to look down.  Why weren't they scared of me?  I was a huge winged creature.  I muttered to them, “I'm not one of you.”

Then I bit back a scream when something big and winged landed on my shoulder.  I swallowed and bit back my panic, trying to get my breathing under control as my heart felt as if it were about to tear out of my chest.

I had to blink.  There was a hawk on my shoulder.  And honest to goodness bird of prey.  And it didn't seem concerned about the hyperventilating bird-girl it was perched on. Instead it was staring intently in the direction I had been before the feathered mafia showed up beside me.

I smiled nervously at her, “Hi there.”

It cocked its head at a severe angle to regard me for a moment before looking back down.  Right.  Back on task.  I smiled to myself and looked down trying to think like a special forces woman on a motorcycle.

I noted the birds all tracked my gaze as I searched.  Then I realized that they were hunting with me, I must have seemed the bigger, badder hunter to them, so anything I was hunting must have been a tasty treat.

I snickered to myself and made a mental note not to tell Hailey that she was a tasty treat.  True as it may have been.  Then I broke into a grin as I imagined Dorian's reaction if I said it in her earshot.

Then I straightened up a little as I squinted at an alley just a block away.  Was that the front tire of a motorcycle by that news-stand poking out?  I glanced down, and there were people congregating below me on the street.  I looked back at my feathered posse.  “Here goes nothing.”  Then I looked to my companion on my shoulder.  “Sorry.”

I started to stand and the hawk just gracefully took wing.  I turned to run along the parapet, scattering the pigeons, amazed at the fact that I didn't have a fear of falling.  I had never been afraid of heights, but I had never been stupid either and respected the falling to your death stigma before.  But now it felt no different than standing on the curb of a street.

The hawk paced me from a few yards out, and when I reached the corner, I just dove off the edge of the roof, cocking my tucked wings slightly to cause me to twist in the air in a barrel roll as I plummeted toward the street below.  I had fallen only two or three stories from the ten story height before I spread my wings and caught the wind.

I whooped as I angled down the road and swooped and spun in the air playfully once.  Then soared over toward the alley where I suspected Hailey to be.  I had to get there before she moved again.  I looked down to see people running to keep track of me.  I shook my head and just flew over the building to my left, my hawk shadow right on my tail.  I muttered, “Try following me now people.”  I smirked.

Then I swooped down into the alley from behind and glided toward a familiar purple haired badass who was standing near her bike, staring at the Regency.  She seemed tense and fidgety.  From this angle, she wouldn't have known that Kanton and Xerxes had found us there.

I back winged and landed behind Hailey, and a moment later I saw stars as I was slammed against the alley wall with an arm across my chest for the second time in two days, pinning me there.  My eyes bugged out at the sight of her other fist just inches away from my throat.  Note to self, do not ever sneak up behind Hailey Frost.

I gave an apologetic smile as she shook her head once then released me but pinned my wings to the wall with her hands as she smirked while she held me there, our faces inches apart.  Good lord.  I was heating up.  Focus Angelina, you've got a hottie waiting for you back at the Regency.

Then she smirked and released me, “Hey darlin', you don't want to be sneaking up on me like that.”

I felt the heat recede, and a new heat from a blush replace it.  I said with a touch of sarcasm, “I sort of got that from the body slam.”

Then with a screech and a furious barrage of wings and talons, the hawk had swooped in to... to what?  To protect me?  Hailey was swatting at it but having no luck, it was quick, and the flurry of wings made it hard to hit.

I blurted, “Hey, don't hurt it!”

I stepped up, talking to the bird, “It's ok, she's with me.”  I reached out with an arm and the hawk just dodged another swipe of Hailey's hand and landed on my shoulder and looked at the club owner with birdlike disdain.

I looked at the bird and absently lifted my hand to stroke its head as I checked it for injuries.  I glanced at a disheveled looking Hai.  She looked almost embarrassed, her hair messed up and sporting a couple shallow cuts on her cheek.

I gave her a squinty-eyed look of apology and said, “Sorry, I think she thought you were hurting me.”  Then I said, “Hailey, this is my...  I don't know.  My new friend?”

She took a couple calming breaths, centering herself, then she ran her hands through her hair, smoothing it back out and then she smirked and said, “Just don't tell the street rat.”

I grinned toothily and asked with wry humor coloring my voice, “What that you got your butt kicked by a bird?”

Then she looked at the hawk, reached her hand up then yanked it back quickly when the hawk snapped at her fingers. “What, you can talk to birds now?”

I blushed and blurted, “No.  She's just... sort of following me around.”

I heard a commotion approaching down the street.  Speaking of following me around.  “We need to get out of here fast.  People saw me and that's them heading this way.”

She nodded, and we hopped quickly onto her bike, my hawk taking wing.  With a solid kick, she started the iron beast, the throaty growl of it rising as she spun us around and headed the other way like a bat out of hell.  I yelled into her ear, “We need to get back to Dori.  Baldy found us, she needs our help.”

She nodded then accelerated.  We could hear sirens in the distance getting closer.  Just what we needed, the police again.  Some concerned citizens must have phoned in about the winged freak flying around threatening to eat them all.  I pulled my wings tight to my back self-consciously as we rode.

She skirted one block and brought us around to the alley of the Regency building, but parked at the curb instead of turning into it.  She pulled something out of her saddle bag with a towel draped over it.  She said. “Stay here,” as I started to follow.

I hissed out, “No, I'm not hiding anymore.  This ends now.”

She looked frustrated with her mouth drawn in a tight line and her brow furrowed slightly.  She looked tense, then she exhaled loudly and reached into the saddlebag again and slid a radio onto her belt and handed one to me.

She said in a clipped tone, “I need eyes on the building, someplace up high, telling me who is coming and going in the structure.  Be my eyes.  I can travel quicker alone, and I'll find the street rat.  She's annoyingly good at hiding.”

It was my turn to exhale in exasperation, she was just getting me out of harm's way, and I found it a little patronizing.  She read that in my face and said, “This is important, darlin'.  I don't have anyone else to spot for me.”

I shot back in my own clipped tone, “Fine, I'll do it.  But you don’t get to call me darlin', I'm mad at you right now.  My girl is in there.”  My girl?  Hmmm... I grinned, I guess Dori sort of was now.

The violet haired terror winked and said, “Sure thing, gorgeous.”

I couldn't stop the damn smile as I rolled my eyes at her and said, “I hate you.”

She wiggled her fingers at me and said, “Now flutter off or whatever it is you do and report any movement you see.”  She put an earpiece in her ear and plugged the little black wire attached to it to the radio and turned the unit on.

I swung a wing at her, and she ducked under it as it whooshed over her head as she chuckled.  Then she started jogging down the alley, holding whatever was under the towel like a gun.  I took two running steps and winced at the gunshots in the alley as my wings took their first great downstroke, my feet leaving the sidewalk.

I cringed as the gunshots drew attention to me.  Again I had people on the street who weren’t running from the gunshots, turning their cellphone cameras to me as I swooped along the block, gaining altitude to clear the rooftops, I tucked into a barrel roll to change direction and skimmed the rooftop of the neighboring building, kicking up dust and debris in my passing.

I tried not to smile as I saw my shadow racing along the rooftop with a smaller shadow over my shoulder.  I glanced back and up at the hawk.  “Hey girl, it's not safe being around me.”  She ignored me.

Police were just a couple blocks away.  I angled my wings, swung my feet forward, adjusting my momentum and angle of attack of my wings and went into a pirouetting corkscrew rapidly upward before snapping my wings wide to soar over the Regency building.

I looked around and saw some news vans approaching as well.  Shit.  Just what I need is to be plastered all over the six o'clock news... again.  If the vans were here, the choppers weren't going to be far behind once the reporters confirm the sightings of a bird-girl in the skies of San Fran.

I scanned the area and pulled the walkie talkie off my belt and made sure it was on then pushed the button and said as I studied the area while I drifted on the breeze coming off the Bay.  “I see two men in the alley by another man who looks down.”  I didn't want to say body, though I knew that was most likely all that was left of the man.

Then I continued, “The roof is clear, and I can't see anything in the boarded up windows.”  I released the button and held the unit to my ear to hear above the rushing wind.  I heard two clicks of static less than a second apart.  I take it the message was received.

There were a few pops carried on the wind, gunshots.  I asked into the radio, “Hailey?”  There were two bursts of static in reply, and I sighed in relief.

The police had arrived, and I relayed that as they circled the building as I spiraled even higher up.  Some officers found the man in the alley and then men were rushing to their location, and I warned Hai that they were going into the building.

Then my heart started racing as the roof access door slammed open and Dorian came running out, looking frantically around then hiding behind a slowly turning roof vent.  I started to say, “She's on the roof, I'm...”

I paused as I prepared to swoop when four men stepped out of the access door.  Three with assault rifles and one with a pistol.  Xerxes!  And Baldy was next to him as they scanned the roof.  I said, “Hailey?  They're on the roof, four of them, they're going to find her!  Hurry!”  Two bursts of static.