Our journey took us around the outskirts of the city and past the crossroads where we’d had our confrontation with Death the night before. The sun disappeared below the horizon as we drove up the gentle slope that led to the posh neighborhoods of the wealthy and well-to-do. Blocks of housing were replaced by vast swaths of yards that surrounded plantation and Georgian style homes. Trees peeked out from above tall stone walls and wrought-iron gates protected the curvy driveways that meandered their way through the false forests.
The good doctor’s home was not so artificial. His house was set aways from the road so that his driveway was nearly as long as Eric’s own drive. A large iron gate barred our path, and on either side were tall bars topped with spikes that only teased the curiosity. The rest of the view was blocked by a thick, natural overgrowth of bushes and crowded trees, so that it was impossible to tell if there was even a house at the end of the driveway. The road itself was a bumpy consortium of ruts, rocks, and a few fallen trees, the heads of which peeked over into the drive.
Eric stopped us at the gate and pressed a button on the old-fashioned comms system. A faint tingling ring echoed back, and in a minute a crackle broke the silence that otherwise surrounded us.
“Yes?” came a brisk male voice.
“I would like to see Mr. Jones,” Eric informed them.
“You, or you and the lady?”
A sudden flash of light in front of us caught my attention. I looked up and noticed that the trees hid a few high-tech cameras that were well-camouflaged. Eric cast a quick, indifferent look at the cameras before he nodded at one of them. “Both of us.”
“Your name?”
Eric pursed his lips. “Haldor, and guest.”
“One moment, please.” The crackling noise ceased.
The return of the silence made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I didn’t know they had this much security. Miss Spendt and I always just found the gate opened when we arrived.”
Eric leaned forward and studied the rest of the forest limbs. “Apparently unwelcome company is frowned upon. I see at least a dozen cameras, and a few lasers.”
My eyes widened and I whipped my head to him. “Killer lasers?”
He shook his head. “No, more like the kind that are meant to blind you. The good doctor apparently wants to take his intruders in alive.”
I looked at him with my mouth agape. “He’s not insane!”
Eric fell back against his seat and folded his arms over his chest. He narrowed his eyes and stared hard at the gates. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we found him quite different than the face he showed to your Miss Spendt.”
The crackle of the intercom interrupted our conversation, and the voice spoke again. “You may enter. Mr. Jones is expecting you.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t help but glance at Eric as the silence returned. The interlude was brief, and the next moment the gates creaked open. I winced at the sound of un-oiled metal on metal.
“Nice touch…” I muttered as we drove through the wrought-iron.
A quick look over my shoulder and I watched the gates close behind us with far more swiftness than they had opened. I eased myself back into my seat as my heart sank.
“Steady,” Eric whispered to me as he flashed me a smile. “We’re Fangs, after all, and you held your own against those lizards.”
I snorted and tapped a finger against my right shoulder. “I think my cloak held its own.”
He cast a quick look at me, and his eyes sparkled. “The cloak is an extension of yourself. It responds to your desires even when you’re paralyzed by your emotions.”
I yelped and grabbed the dashboard as we hit one of the hard bumps a little too fast. Eric slowed the car, and we eased over a rather large hump that would have high-centered us, and definitely would have stranded a sports car.
Eric curled his lips up in a snarl at the road. “Why is the road so terrible?”
“Jones doesn’t want anyone speeding to their appointment,” I told him as I planted my feet firmly on the floor and my butt safely in my seat. “I guess some of them have been a little too eager to see him, and one of them almost crashed into his house before he put what he called his ‘slow-downers.’”
We traveled over a rough patch in the road where the potholes tried to outmatch the small hills. My feet were firmly planted on the floorboard, and on a particularly large pothole the car dropped into the gutter. The vehicle hit the solid earth and a strange vibration made my blood run cold. Frantic thoughts that bordered on panic flew through my mind, but I took a quick, easy breath and rolled my eyes over to Eric.
I tried to keep my voice as even and natural as I could. “Could we pull over?”
Eric kept his eyes on the bumpy road. “Right now isn’t the best time.”
I leaned toward him to catch his eye and pointed at my feet that were firmly planted on the floorboard. “I could really stretch my feet.”
He lifted an eyebrow at me as I stabbed my silent finger at the floor. “It is a little bumpy, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I agreed as I jerked a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the trunk of the car. “And my butt’s killing me, too.”
A dark shadow settled on his brow as he nodded. “Alright, but let’s make this quick.”
Eric slowed the car to a stop, and I noticed a familiar corner ahead of us. That was the last one until we were given our first view of Villa de Jones. I couldn’t think about that right then, though, as both Eric and I stepped out. He let the car idle so that the headlights still illuminated the road ahead of us.
I sauntered a few feet into the woods and pressed my palm against a tree. “That feels better,” I mused as I stretched a leg, hoping that would keep my voice realistic.
Eric himself strolled to the rear of the vehicle and leaned against the strip just behind the back driver side door. He kept a calm, even voice even as his eyes zeroed in on the trunk. “How far are we from Jones’ house?”
“It’s just around the corner,” I told him as I watched him creep a little closer to the rear.
Eric lunged at the trunk and flung open the lid. A shadow lunged out at him with a sharp hiss, but he grabbed the outstretched clawed hands and grappled with them as the momentum drove him backward. The red taillights cast an eerie glow on the two combatants and gave me ample light to recognize the slithery form of Miss Zaza.
The Fang of Gandra gnashed her long teeth at Eric, who dodged the pointed blows. Zaza drew her tail around to ensnare Eric. I gave a shout and leapt onto the long rump. The tail whipped about, but I wrapped myself around the thick appendage and my body weight pinned the heavy piece to the ground.
Eric managed to free one of his hands from the grappling long enough to swing. His fist connected with her cheek and her eyes rolled back. She dropped like a rock onto the ground and the thrashing tail collapsed with her, and on top of me. A slight ‘oomph’ escaped me as the heavy tail landed on my gut.
Eric was there by my side in a second and tossed the tail off me. He offered me a hand and helped me stand on my slightly shaky feet. I rubbed the back of my head as he looked me over. “Are you-”
I pressed a finger of my other hand on his lips and smiled. “I’m fine. She, however…” I cast my eyes down at the unconscious serpent.
My eyes widened as I watched her slithery form shrink, and in a moment a normal, albeit quite beautiful, woman lay in front of us.