Defy Me Read online

  Plus, Jett had said to hide in caverns. The thought of being in an enclosed underground space gave her the heebie jeebies. Being locked up like that would be hell.

  That settled that. The two of them were getting out of this. Trust him? She had no choice now. Either giving that up to him would come back to bite her on the ass or... Wow. Two good kisses with a hot guy totally out of her league and her mind was so far into the gutter she was filthy-licious.

  Jett tried to shove Yvaine behind him but she pulled him in close, wrapping her arms around his neck so she could whisper into his ear. "Listen. I can't explain, but let them come closer. I can get us out of this, but you have to trust me and never let go of my hand."

  She'd only helped someone else escape once before and look how badly that had worked out.

  Jett's brow wrinkled and he shook his head already denying her request. They were rapidly running out of time and if he didn't trust her she wasn't sure what would happen. All she knew was that she was getting out of here and she wanted him to come with her.

  Want wasn't the right word or feeling. There was a strange tug somewhere in the vicinity of the necklace - just over her heart. But it was coming from inside and accompanied by a real sense of need. Not like the need for chocolate croissants and coffee, or even the need to sleep when she was exhausted from running. This was so much stronger, deeper. She needed Jett to come with her. She needed him to trust.

  There was no time to examine why she felt so strongly about him. Later. She'd think about that later. She slid her hand down his arm and slipped her hand into his.

  He gripped her hand tight but was still trying to put himself between her and the monsters. "No way. I won't let them hurt you. I don't want to kill any of them but, I will protect you."

  Of course he didn't believe her. He had no reason to. As long as he didn't let go of her hand her weird little super power would take over anyway and they'd get away safely. What happened after that?

  He wasn't freaked out by these crazy ass monsters, maybe he wouldn't even care that she was a mutant. Not like she was the badass X-men kind that could fight crime. She was no where cool enough to be a villain either. She was just flat out weird. None of what he thought mattered anyway. It wasn't like she was planning on marrying him, having his adorable AF babies, and living happily ever after with him.

  Nope. None of that had even crossed her mind. Not at all. God, she was so lame.

  She'd get them out of here, maybe kiss the bejesus out of him one more time and they could go their separate ways. After they got away, she'd continue her search for her past and he'd, uh, fly away into the sunset in his helicopter or whatever. Yes. Fine. Time to make that happen. Jett probably wasn't going to like how she did it. Big tough guys didn't like being rescued by the damsel in distress.

  Yvaine spun around to face the monsters, put her thumbs in her ears with her fingers splayed like antlers and stuck out her tongue at them. "Nanny, nanny, boo boo. You ca-an't get me."

  The two monsters approaching them looked at her like she was a crazy bitch. Jett probably was too. She'd happily take that tiny moment of surprise and use it to her advantage. She grabbed Jett's hand again, flipped the internal switch in her mind that made her invisible as far as she could tell and ran straight toward the bad guys dragging her new partner in crime along behind her.

  "Holy shit, babe. What the fuck are you doing to us?" Jett squeezed her hand tighter. She needed all her concentration to get them through the mass of scaly black bat-man things, so she couldn't reply or even examine what his tone meant right now. She'd have to file it away for later to see if he was shocked, in awe, humored, or scared.

  She zigged and zagged through the monsters, pulling Jett along behind her. One of the monsters sniffed the air and blew out stinky puffs of smoke right in her face. Step by step they worked their way up the stairs, carefully picking a path through to freedom. Red eyes darted around looking for her and the two that had come for Jett flapped their wings and squawked like some sort of giant evil ostrich-bat hybrids. More squeals sounded from the stairwell behind them and darts of fire shot through the small space.

  Great. Fire spitting evil batstriches. Yeah. If Jett wasn't phased by these creatures he probably wouldn't blink twice about her Houdini act. She'd done her best to guide him out of the danger zone, but enough was enough. No way she was letting either of them go up in flames. She kicked it into high gear and yanked Jett through the door to the roof.

  They busted through the exit, leaving the things in the stairwell flapping around looking for them. Except the roof was no safe zone. The sky had gone almost completely black with ominous clouds and if there was a helicopter coming for them, it would have to land on top of, and hopefully squish, about a hundred more monsters. They covered the roof like a summer dance party.

  "Who the hell started a batstrich coup up here?" Crap. She knew this was a bad idea. Where were they supposed to go now? She really didn't want to go back down the stairs.

  Jett halted them in their tracks, out of the path of several batsritches scuffling with each other. "Fuck me. He's sent every god-damned demon dragon after me."

  "After you?" After him? Wait, they were after him? No way. Why?

  "Yeah. We have to get out of here fast. I hope that spell of yours is still working and you aren't afraid of heights."

  The wide open space above them quashed any feelings of claustrophobia. Not exactly a good thing, because without that sense of being closed in and unable to get away, that switch inside she'd flicked earlier, unswitched. Yvaine looked around at the mass of monsters that hadn't yet seen them and tried to hold on to the panic that was integral to her weird power. Until they moved in to capture her again the ability would fade.

  Stupid. She really should have worked on honing her skill a little bit instead of only relying on it during fight or flight situations. Now they needed a new whole new plan. "I will tell you right now we are not jumping off this roof, or climbing down the side of the building, or--"

  Jett's eyes turned to fire like the beasts around her. A black shimmer skated across his skin and she got the distinct impression of teeth and claws and scales trying to burst forth.

  Poopapalooza.

  Was he one of them and had tricked her? Was that even a thing? Men who were also beasts? Only if this was a flipping fairy tale. Which it was not. Man, she hoped she was hallucinating. Or drunk. Yes, drunk would be good right about now.

  He dropped her hand and Yvaine gasped as it transformed into dark black skin and sharp scary looking talons extended. Double poo. She backed away, not like she knew where she was going but she couldn't take her eyes off of him as his body continued to morph. He stretched his neck and a row of black spikes erupted along his spine, and then great big wings burst forth. She was in so, so, so much deep, stinky poo. Like up poop creek and not only did she not have a paddle, she didn't even have a canoe.

  The necklace around her throat glowed with an eery black and red light and sparks that matched the shimmer drifting over the creature Jett was becoming. In another blink, the man was gone and a full on mean-ass black dragon roared like an oncoming freight train filled with freight trains.

  Yvaine sank to her knees and covered her ears at the blast of sound. The batstriches around her turned to Jett and some returned his call with bellows of their own and others jumped around spitting fire and flapping their wings, which were weenie next to Jett's expansive span. The creature, the dragon he'd become resembled the monsters in the way a killer whale resembled a clown fish. There were similarities, but there was no comparison.

  The Jett dragon flapped his wings and lifted into the air. He snatched for her with his claws but missed. Yvaine didn't remember moving three feet to the left.

  Hold still, Yvaine.

  Ack. He was inside her mind. "Stay away, you monster."

  I'm trying to save you, dammit.

  "Get out of my head. I will, uh, resist your mind control." She mentally threw up bri
ck walls covered in concrete and barbed wire in her thoughts.

  The dragon rolled its big black eyes. She didn't realize magical beasts could do that. Wait, what was she saying? She didn't even know dragons or batstriches existed at all. It certainly didn't matter what kind of sarcastic facial expressions they could or could not make. Especially when they were about to kidnap and eat her.

  I'm not controlling your mind. Now get over here so I can grab you and fly us the fuck out of this clusterfucking fuck. Jett blew a strip of fire well past her that sent the nearest batstriches running to avoid the flames. A new wave of them burst from the door leading to the roof and they were closing in on her fast. Crud. If they were after Jett why were they aiming their beady little fire eyes at her now?

  She backed toward the flames, but damn they were hot. She'd be lucky if her favorite Deadpool riding a unicorn shirt wasn't singed. Jett was so buying her a new one if it got ruined.

  Duck, Yvaine. Now.

  Instinct had her dropping to the deck and even with her eyes closed tight she knew he was shooting a new burst of flames at the monsters coming at her. When she got the courage to peak one eye open she was surrounded with the fire. Everywhere she looked flames were licking up into the sky from the rooftop.

  Oh no. Oh no. Oh. No. He'd surrounded her in a ring of fire. And now she had that song stuck in her head. For the second time in as many minutes she was trapped. Which meant she could use her Houdini-ism and get away. Except invisibility wasn't going to keep her from getting burned to a Kentucky fried crisp.

  Panic clawed at her skin from the inside out, fear peeled off what little bits of courage she had left in debilitating layers. Dog gone it. Now she really was the damsel in distress and in need of rescuing. As soon as the thought that she couldn't get out on her own and she was in serious danger something really weird happened. She didn't move, she didn't flip her internal switch, she barely even took a breath, but one second she was in the circle of flames closing in on her, and the next she wasn't.

  Yvaine. Yvaine, where are you? Answer me, dammit.

  She looked to the left, then to the right. Both ways all she saw was wide open sky with more rooftops all around. "I don't know."

  She spun around and saw the batsriches, the fire, and Jett flying above them about a hundred yards away on the next building over. Huh. One more mark in the ways she was a mutant checklist. She had no idea of she'd been transported ala Star Trek, run across the rooftop super fast like the Flash, or now had the ability to apperate like Harry Potter.

  Those all sounded better than she was actually shit-faced drunk or completely cray-cray. Again, something to think about later. Now was not the time to squander the chance to get away from the fray. This roof didn't have the same access door as the other one. Of course it couldn't be easy. Yvaine searched the area for anyway to get back inside the building. Over on one ledge the metal curves of a ladder down the side clung to some crumbling a stone.

  No way. There had to be a trap door or something.

  Except there wasn't. The only other structure on the whole roof was some sort of ventilation shaft and there was no way her butt was fitting through those slats. Okay, then. Over the side of the roof it was. But she was going to be really pissed if she fell and died. She would haunt the shit out of the building inspectors.

  She peeked over the side to see where the ladder went and came this close to hurling last night's dinner down to the street really, really far below. Holy crow, she hated heights. The metal of the ladder was scorching hot under her hands and the whole structure shook with the slightest movement. Great. She tentatively placed one foot on the top rung. It held.

  The faster she got this over with, the faster it would be over. Yvaine very carefully turned her body so she was facing the building and could grip the rungs with both hands. One step, two, three. Only four billion and seven more to go.

  She took a breath to steady herself, but that didn't work even a little bit because she wasn't the one shaking. The building was. Only three rungs down the ladder, she could still see over the top and what she saw sucked balls. The batstriches had found her and were jumping from their roof to hers. There was no dragon's fire to protect her this time. All of the flames Jett had blown were surrounding a blank bit of roof on the opposite side of the building. Not useful at all.

  Yvaine. Hold on. I'm coming to get you.

  The clouds that had darkened the sky overhead went completely black, like a thick smoke, casting a dark shadow over the entire city. Two of the monsters bounded toward her flapping their wings, and another one sprung up in the nearest corner of the roof. All three had her directly in their sites and the closest one spit shots of fire at her. Hey, weren't they supposed to be after Jett and not her?

  She needed to get out of here right now. People in the movies went down ladders super fast by placing their hands and feet along the outside of the rails and sliding down like a fireman. She gripped the sides, one in each fist, and then put one foot along the outside edge. A dozen more batstriches jumped from the burning rooftop to hers and the building shook again. Yvaine's heart just about fell out of her chest and down the five stories to the street below. Her arms hugged the ladder of their own accord, her body taking over since her brain was obviously not doing a good job of keeping them safe.

  She only needed to slide the ten feet to the next landing and then she could climb back inside the building. She could do that. She absolutely could. As soon as she swallowed the giant knot of fear in her throat. Yep. Okay. Ready? No. Go anyway. She closed her eyes, huffed out a quick breath and moved her hands and feet to the outside of the railing.

  She slid past one rung, her foot snagged on some sort of bump in the metal, causing that foot to twist at a hard right angle. Her leg shot out into the air throwing her entire body off balance. The rungs of the ladder were butter through her fingers and in an instant her life was flashing before her eyes along with the side of the building.

  Yvaine was going to die. Right here right now. Why hadn't she been a little more naughty in her life? Only the good die young. She screamed the only thing her scared mind could come up with that might possibly save her at this dire moment.

  It wasn't for help, it wasn't a prayer, it wasn't even for ice cream. "Jett!"

  Poof the Magic Dragon

  That marked one kind of being off Jett's list of what kind of supernatural being Yvaine might be. Anything with wings was definitely out. If he had to guess right this second, he'd say she was some king of stone fairy, because she was falling like a rock. Jett tucked in his wings and dove for the ground hoping to grab her before she splatted all over the street.

  Hold on. I'm coming for you.

  "Hold on to what? Thin air? Help me." Her voice was tinged with real fear and the sound of it grated on Jett's psyche. He did not like that she was scared. Dammit. He'd been less than a meter away from nabbing her off that ladder when one of his brethren had reached out of a shadow on the wall and grabbed her foot. Little fuckers. Couldn't they see he was doing everything in his power not to hurt them?

  Of course they could. That's why they were after the girl. They were using her as bait. But who had made that split second decision? The cursed or was the Black Dragon calling the shots. Jett knew his father was close, but hadn't yet made an appearance. They yellow-bellied lizard had sent every minion of hell to this tiny German town.

  If he didn't lead them away, Glückstadt would be demolished. He should have already fucking left. But, no. He decided to screw around finding a piece of ass. Then saving her ass. Dumb ass. What the hell had he signed up for with this chick? He was invested now.

  Yvaine screamed out his name again and the sound went straight down his spine. She couldn't see him yet. The demon dragons were manifesting and smoking up the place. She probably thought he was trying to kill her too. What kind of paranormal being hadn't seen a dragon before?

  One millimeter before she hit the cobblestones he snatched her out of the air, wrapp
ing his talons around her and swooping down the street hugging the shadows. He stayed low to the ground using the darkness to hide them just long enough to get out of sight and then took a sharp turn straight up into the sky. Someone else would have to deal with the fall out of the people here seeing a dragon flapping its wings over the town.

  "What the chuck, dude? My life was flashing in front of my eyes. I thought you were going to let me die." Her shout was shaky and her body trembled in his claws.

  Of course not.

  Yvaine clung tightly to his leg and he liked the feeling of her grip on him. If he was smart he'd drop her somewhere outside of town or even better, just drop her right into the water. Except she'd probably freeze to death. Why did he even fucking care if she died? He shouldn't be caring about anything but finding the cure for his brethren's curse so they could escape the clutches of the Black Dragon.

  But what fun would that be, my recalicrant son? The Black Dragon rose up into the sky directly in Jett's flight path.

  Holy fuckballs.

  Jett closed his talon's tight around Yvaine and twisted, turning in as tight a spiral as he could to avoid colliding with the Black Dragon's wings. The bastard didn't make that easy. He flapped his wings together and blew a hot stream of fire creating a vortex of flames that were coming straight for them.

  Neat trick. He'd have to remember that one. But Jett had been avoiding his father's punishments for hundreds of years. This one wasn't going to catch him off guard. He may not be as big as the Black Dragon, but he was much smarter. What he needed was a god-damned blue dragon to put out the flames. Since he didn't have that, he headed straight for the river. There may not be a blue dragon around, but he knew for a fact there were mermen.

  "Holy forking shirt. Who was that? Like the king dragon or something. He was flipping huge."

  Good guess. You're close. That was the King of Hell.

  He'd leave the part out about it also being his father.