I stood at the counter in Michael's loft and flipped through the police radio. I had my collar off and I was trying to practice a new ability. I concentrated on the radio and tried to summon my electric power to interfere with the radio but it was draining my energy fast. I sighed. My phone rang and I leapt onto the bed to get it and answered it.
"Dawn." Michael's voice sounded on the other line. He sounded tired, exhausted.
"Michael? You all right?" I asked.
"More or less."
"Your helicopter ride was not as long as I expected. How'd it go?"
"It was, uh, interesting. It looks like the people who burned me are gonna leave me alone for now anyway. Thanks for saving my life, Dawn."
"It's always a treat to get you out of trouble, Michael."
"Well, I appreciate it."
"I checked the police radio for news of our adventure. There was a call about a mystery man washing up on the beach. Little going away present from your helicopter friends?"
"How bad are we talking?"
"You wouldn't happen to be at the Groudon Hotel, would you? The police think you're armed and dangerous."
"Guess I'll have to find another way out of here."
"But now is not the time to blast your way out of a building. Talk to the cops now, or get ready for a citywide manhunt."
"Fine. Can you call Sam so he can figure out about my situation?"
"Of course." I let out a heavy breath of air and laid back onto the bed. "And, Michael?"
"Yeah, Dawn?"
"I'm glad you're alive. Try to keep it that way." I snapped my phone shut.
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
An old friend of Michael got him out of jail because he had a gig for Michael. Sam pulled the car into a storage container facility and killed the engine and we got out. Michael groaned as he pressed an ice bag to his right shoulder. I exhaled sharply. I hated seeing Michael in pain.
"Shirt off." I said. Michael stared at me. "You heard me." Michael reluctantly pulled his shirt off and I helped him get his right arm out of the sleeve. I looked at his right shoulder blade, trying hard not to let my eyes wander south. I gingerly touched his back and he grimaced in pain. "Bruising is starting. The bone isn't properly in place. You just let him dislocate your shoulder?"
"Is was either that or lose my cover ID." Michael said.
"Couldn't you know, accidently snapped his neck? Make it look innocent?" Harlan chuckled.
"I like her." Harlan said. "You should listen to her more." I examined the front of Michael's shoulder and saw another line of bruising.
"The bone just isn't in there all the way. It's like on the edge of the socket."
"Okay, let's do this." Sam said. "This guy knows what he's doing. I couldn't have picked a better meeting location myself. I think they'll come in from there. It's the best visibility. I think our only play is to create a distraction over there."
"How distracting?" Fiona asked.
"More than a firecracker less than a neutron bomb." I took the ice pack from Michael and gripped it with both hands, sucking the coldness into my fingers. I placed my left hand on the back on Michael's shoulder and my right on the front. "Anyway, they'll fall back to there. Now, they're probably going to have shifters with them so, Dawn, I think it's best if you stay behind…" I glared at him. "So that they won't smell you and Michael won't get hurt."
"We'll go in as a heavy son of a bitch and shoot their car to pieces." Harlan said. "Gurdurr's security holds us off so the VIP's…can escape behind those storage containers."
"Where I'll handle Happiny and grab—" Michael didn't finish his sentence. I slammed the heel of my right palm into his shoulder to push the bone back into the right spot. He cried out in pain and doubled over, gripping his shoulder.
"No more pain? Si?" I asked.
"I think I'm in too much pain to feel any pain." Michael groaned.
"Excellent."
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I stood at the counter beside Fiona and watched as Harlan poured some beer into his yogurt. I looked at it with disgust, Fiona and Sam sharing the look with me.
"Oh, that's a nice combo." Sam said.
"What?" Harlan questioned us, mouth full. "It's good this way."
"You get the pickup location, Mikey?" Michael joined us at the counter.
"Train tracks on 10th street." Michael said. "Looks like the meeting is going to be on the move…so no one can hit it."
"Have to hit it on the move then. Mikey goes to the meeting. I be lookout. Fiona stops car. Harlan grabs the guy and scram."
"You're forgetting one thing." I said. Sam silently went over his plan again.
"No, I don't think I am."
"You're forgetting about me, you idiot!" Sam silently went over his plan again.
"No, I don't think I am." I held up my index finger and ignited it.
"Cool." Harlan breathed.
"Dawnna, Dear, I think you should sit this one out too. We got it under control." I sighed and extinguished the flame.
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"Yeah, hey, Mikey." Sam said to Michael's voice mail. "It's Sam, uh, again. It's been a while. We're just worried about you. Call me when you get this." I paced back and forth in front of the table, head and tail low, looking out at the street, waiting for Michael to pull up in his black charger any minute. I let out a whine.
"I don't like this." I said. "I thought you said he was supposed to meet you here."
"He was. Look, Dawn, I'm sure Mikey's just caught up in traffic our something."
"Don't you think he would have called if he was, Sam?" Sam just sipped his beer nervously as I let out another low whine.
"Think we should order him another couple of drinks?" I looked at the untouched drinks in Michael's place.
"You've ordered four beers and two cups of coffee. You stop ordering when someone doesn't show up after three hours."
"Right, but I mean, he was so specific. We ditch the truck, they ship off the guy, we meet 'em here. They should have at least checked in by now." I stopped pacing and froze as a thought came to mind. "What?"
"How well did you know Harlan?"
"I don't know. We did four or five missions. Always had your back." Sam was quiet for a minute as he tried to figure out what I was thinking. "You think?"
"I think sometimes people change."
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After some convincing from Sam and Fiona, I managed to stay put at Madeline's and wait for Michael. I wanted to go after Harlan. Track him down. I wanted to jump him and sink my claws into his flesh, the taste of blood on my lips. Sam convinced me that Michael can take care of himself and that he will find a way out of there. And Sam was right. Michael appeared at Madeline's house, left hand bleeding, wrapped up in a rag. Madeline insisted on it getting stitches but Michael refused. Lied about the cuts being shallow. I sat on the left of Michael and Fiona sat across from me with Sam behind me. I kept my hands cupped near Michael's hand, feeling the heat radiate from the bleeding cuts. I stared at it as if I could stitch the cuts up by just staring at them.
"Mike, this is not good." Sam said. "You've been swimming away from bad guys a little too often these days."
"I know." Michael grunted.
"Look, I'm not saying you're not popular, but you're a guy who's had, uh, a lot of disagreements over the years. I mean, if you can't even trust your buddies—"
"It's nothing we can't handle." Fiona said.
"Michael, you really need stitches." Madeline said, coming into the room. I let my inner wolf whine in agreement. I smelt the disgusting smell of salt now.
"I'm fine." Michael protested. "The cuts are shallow." Madeline muttered. "I know. I made them."
"Fine. You know, I never liked that Harlan. Do you remember, Michael? I told you—"
"You told me that I was going to get him killed."
"No, I—You know, you misunderstood. That's not what I meant. It doesn't matter. The point is, you four…" She pointed to each one of us. "need to stick together." She left the room.
"I got to go." Sam said. "I got a date with, Miss Reynolds. I see you later, Mikey. Dawn. Fi." He left.
"I got to go too." Fiona said. "I got to go break up with Marcus." She left too. It was just me and Michael.
"Michael," I whispered his name, still staring at his left hand. He handed it to me, already knowing what I was going to ask. I took it gingerly in both hands and began to undo the rags. "Thank you."
"No, thank you." Michael said.