Our gazes lock.The hurt and uncertainty I see in his eyes rips my heart out of my chest.I caused that pain.I have to fix this.I can’t stand seeing him in pain.I love him and open my mouth to tell him exactly how I feel.“Rygar, I lo?—”?
Boom!?
A thunderous explosion reverberates down the street.Glass shatters and a cascade of bricks and wood thump to the ground on the far end of the street.?
Rygar has me pressed against his body, his hand over my head so I can’t see what’s happening.When he releases me, all I see is chaos.People running.Screaming.??
It’s pandemonium.?
Rygar and I race to my table.Before I can celebrate the fact that no one is hurt, Emily races out the door of our store, takes one look at the debris and screams.?
“No!”She takes off, sprinting down the length of the festival, past booths, tables and people, toward the food stand where her parents are offering beer, sliders and hotdogs.Like us, this is one of theBucking Bronco’sbiggest events for sales.They never miss it.?
Rygar holds me at his side as he scans for threats.Xandor joins us but looks at me.??
“What is Emily doing?”?
“The Bucking Bronco food stand is down there.Her parents are—” Before I’ve finished, Xandor is moving to follow her.“—down there.”I squint, trying to see through the cloud of dust and debris.It’s at least two football field’s distance from where we’re standing.“What happened?”?
My parents appear in front of me as if out of thin air.The scowl on my dad’s face is terrifying.He’s in full warrior mode.“The law office blew up.Looks like it might have been a gas leak.”He settles a large duffel bag at his feet, opens it and hands my mother a shotgun.?
“If it’s a gas leak, why are you—”He brought a ‘go bag’ to the festival??
“I don’t think it was a gas leak.”?
B.I.L.L.:?Danger!Wolven!Two units.?
“Fuck.Where?”Rygar demands scanning the street.?
B.I.L.L.:?Right on top of you.They were shielding, Commander.?
Rygar spins.Two deadly looking guns of some kind extend from the arms of his suit.“Xandor, you copy?”?
I don’t hear Xandor’s reply.Apparently, my dad doesn’t need to.“What are we looking for, son?”?
“Wolven.”?
My father pales.“God help us.How many?”?
“Twelve.”Rygar presses a button, and his suit expands from the shoulders up, locking a very sci-fi looking helmet over his head.“But they aren’t the problem.”?
“Charlotte, Madison, get inside.Lock yourselves in the walk-in cooler and don’t come out until one of us comes for you.You know the drill.”My dad is crouching over his bag.He removes two additional handguns.He gives one to me and places the other in a holster on his hip.Last but not least, he lifts the silver space gun he said he stole from a blue alien when he was still in the military, the one Rygar said disintegrates people at the atomic level.He catches me staring and shouts orders.“Go.Move.Take Julia and anyone else you can.Go!Now!”?
I’ve never seen my dad this scared.“What’s a Wolven?”?
My mom doesn’t wait for an explanation.She shoves her shotgun into my hand and starts gathering the people in front of Rosa’s and herding them toward our store.We have three oversized walk-in coolers.They can probably hold at least forty people.Since one of them is broken, it won’t even be cold inside.
“Go, Maddie.Now.”?
I shift my grip on the shotgun and check the safety on the pistol before shoving it in the waistband of my pants.“No.I’ll fight with you.Just tell me what we’re fighting.”I look from my dad’s frown to Rygar, who is standing over all of us like a sentry.“Rygar?”?
A blood curdling scream lifts the hair on the back of my neck.I look in the direction of the sound as a wolf-like beast, at least nine feet tall, lifts Moonbeam off the ground and tears her body in half.?
Oh my god.?
B.I.L.L.:?The Wolven are bioengineered soldiers used by the Alpha Draconian and other reptilian races to fight their wars and invade worlds.They are generally a wolf-humanoid-reptilian hybrid with superior strength, size and speed.They heal quickly and are difficult to kill.?
The creature throws back its head and howls, holding Moonbeam’s top half over his head so the blood drips down onto its dark fur like water in a hot shower.?
