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The car idled, rumbling underneath me and I refocused on the scene outside my windshield. Leviathan in any realm was horrifying, but here it was like an all you can eat buffet for the beast. The screams now filtering over the trees gave a pretty accurate portrayal of that very idea.
“Ah, shit,” I muttered and did a quick glance at the traffic before gunning the gas pedal. I peeled out onto the main thoroughfare, barely missing an oncoming car. I’m sure my father was cursing just as much as I was, but I didn’t wait for him to explain further or even to catch up. Leviathan was headed toward Mount Dora High School and I couldn’t let him snack on the student body.
“What are you doing?” Julia gasped from the passenger seat.
I didn’t chance a look in her direction, instead, I concentrated on driving through the sporadic traffic. Cars screeched to a halt in front of me and I swerved into oncoming traffic, maneuvering around the frightened idiots and their gaping stares of disbelief.
“I need to stop him,” I said after a particularly hairy miss.
My Mustang lived up to all the performance ads and by the time I skidded to a stop in the student parking lot, I had a trail of cops following me. I was sure my father followed the melee as well, but the minute I hit the brake and cut the engine, I hopped out of the car, issuing a command at both Julia and Noah to stay put.
My gaze locked on the beast lumbering in my direction and I clenched my teeth against the need to express the irritation lining my stomach. The entrails of his latest snack hung from one of his teeth and his eyes shone with lunatic pride at his quarry. The mascot for Mount Dora High stood in all its ridiculousness, and when Leviathan snapped its powerful jaws on the likeness of Dora the Explorer, ripping her cartoon head off, leaving only a headless statue, I had to press my lips together to staunch the grin.
It wasn’t the time to enjoy the irony, instead I yelled, “Stop! You cannot eat people!”
Leviathan’s gaze jumped in my direction and I swear the thing smiled. He lumbered toward me like a puppy who’d found his master in a crowd.
“Nick,” his voice thundered and he stopped in front of me, taking a bow before focusing on the crowd behind me. “I didn’t eat an innocent,” he whispered, his breath hitting me like a gale-force wind and I stepped back, catching myself before I fell on my ass.
I turned and slowly raised my arms, diminutive compared to the beast behind me, but I had no choice but to try to protect Leviathan from the dozen officers now training their weapons on him. I had no idea what a bullet would do to him and did not want to find out.
“Don’t shoot!”
“Son, I suggest you slowly step away from the...” the closest officer started and his gaze jumped from me to the still bowing Leviathan and then back. “...the giant... thing.”
“He won’t hurt you,” I said and received a huff from behind me as a few of the officers cocked the hammers back on their guns. I rolled my eyes and inhaled, concentrating. “Put your guns away,” I said and let the power go with the words, it rolled over the officers like a fog and, collectively, they un-cocked and holstered their guns.
My gaze landed on my father and his open-mouthed gape. I’m sure I had some explaining to do when this was over, but for now, I had to figure out a way to diffuse the situation.
I glanced at Julia and then Noah behind her, both with the same wide-eyed terror I expected, and then an idea burst forth.
“I built this,” I said, honing in on Noah and his obsession with robotics. Turning my gaze back to the police officers, I offered an embarrassed shrug and said, “I guess bringing it to school for show and tell was not the most intelligent moves of the century.”
“It operates on voice activated commands,” I said when the crowd just stared at me. “Or it can be operated with an app on my cell phone.”
“What is it?” the closest officer asked.
“A dragon,” I said because that was about the closest things I could attribute and have it be somewhat believable. “For DragonCon,” I added, not really knowing if there was such a thing, but it sounded cool enough.
“You had that at DragonCon?” someone in the back said.
I nodded, wondering just how deep a hole of lies I was getting into. “I’m supposed to be selling it to Universal Studios but I figured I’d break it out for one last hurrah.”
My father crossed his arms and offered a raised eyebrow at my explanation.
Silence prevailed and they all stared at the monster behind me.
The closest officer dropped his gaze from Leviathan to me. “I’m going to have to take you in for destruction of public property,” he said and pointed toward the headless statue. “And for disrupting the peace,” he added.
Leviathan rose to his full height, emitting a growl that I had heard once before and I stiffened. The officer’s hands dropped to their weapons again.
“Easy, boy,” I whispered over my shoulder, while keeping eye contact with the front officer. His gaze narrowed and he slowly drew his weapon. I knew we were in deep shit.
“Cease and desist,” he said, pointing the gun at me.
“Okay, okay,” I put my hands out in front of me.
“The boy is not controlling me,” Leviathan announced, and the officer nearly dropped his gun. “He is merely trying to protect me. Leave him be.”
“Oh, for the love of God!” I couldn’t help my outburst. All Leviathan had to do was to remain quiet, now all the guns were trained on both of us and I had to think quickly. “It’s just a holograph. Go back to the station,” I commanded, the order soft, but firm enough to roll over the crowd, influencing their perceptions.
Guns were holstered and all the officers got into their vehicles and drove away without a second glance. I waited until the last car rounded the corner before I turned on Leviathan.
“Can’t you be more inconspicuous?” I asked. “Like shrink to a reasonable size, or take on the form of a dog, or something?”
“Which would you prefer?”
“Shrink to a reasonable size first, then we can discuss a more acceptable form,” I said. The transformation took seconds and by the time he was at eye level with me, my father had crossed the distance.
“A little smaller,” I said and irritation creased his brow, but he complied, shrinking to just below my chest. “Do you know what a German Shepherd looks like?”
The air popped and the dog standing before me was more sleek and powerful than anything I had ever seen in person. He looked more deadly than some of the dogs I’ve seen on the silver screen.
“Better?” he asked and I smiled.
“Much,” both my father and I said in unison.
I reached out and scratched him behind the ear. “I need to get you a collar and leash,” I said, studying him. His ears flattened and a growl of derision came from his throat. “Then, go hunting with my father because I can’t just leave you outside the school. They’ll put you in the pound without a collar.”
“The demons are here to destroy you,” Leviathan said, meeting my gaze. “I’m not leaving your side.”
I turned toward my father, my mouth opened in surprise. He had neglected to inform me of this little tidbit and my gaze traveled beyond him to my car. The mustang sat empty. Neither Julia nor Noah were anywhere in sight. My heart dropped, almost bringing me to my knees.
If the demons were out to destroy me, they sure as shit knew the fastest way to achieve their goal.