Chapter Seven

"I'm innocent!"

Any prisoner, any jail, at any time.

Aahz

It was easier than even I expected to be thrown in jail. All we had to do was talk wrong to one policeman and bam, there we were. It reminded me of home. The only problem was, they separated us. I had thought they'd throw us all in one cell. That's what they do everywhere else, but here, for some reason, the women and men had to be separated. Now, I was back to my full scaly and green glory. If the Earth people saw me, they'd either do what they had before or . . . who knows? These people were very unpredictable.

It wasn't likely they'd see me, unfortunately, as they had just ignored me ever since throwing me in this room, and then the disguise spell had failed. Now, I was debating whether to just break out and try breaking the law again or see if Skeeve was here. This place was huge, though, so it would take some time. Once again, I cursed inside my head. If I had my abilities, it'd be easy to find Skeeve's aura, but now I'd either have to wait for Tanda to do it or Bunny to come for me.

This wasn't the way I had always operated, you know. I was, minus the small parts of time I was with Garkin and Tanda stopping Isstvan, a solo operator. Then I found out it wasn't so bad being part of a team, but sometimes I wonder what exactly I brought to it. My brains, sure, I was the most sneaky and underhanded, but . . . what else? I wanted my powers back! Suddenly, I wished I had hit Garkin harder than I had.

Would Pookie and Massha be able to help me? A small hope was burrowing into my head. If I had my powers back, I could help Skeeve easily—maybe I could teach him again, instead of him teaching me. Life would be good. I tried hard to squash that back down: there was no proof my cure was here. Besides, there was a more important thing to be done, and wishing for things wasn't my forte. I am a man of action.

"Alright, sir, you've had the time to stew for a while," a voice came, as the door opened. "As long as you leave here, and sign this, stating you will leave on your own recognizance, you are free to go. Just don't annoy any more officers, okay." The man hadn't looked up as of yet, too busy signing a piece of paper. Great, even when arrested there was paperwork here.

Then his eyes fell on me, and finally I got the reaction I had expected. "What the hell did you do to yourself?" he asked, horrified. "Is this a reaction to some drug you're on?"

"Nope. This is what I look like. I am a demon from Perv, and the last sight you'll see unless you tell me everything I want to know."

"A demon? From hell? You associated with the devil or something?" He seemed amused, not afraid. Maybe I should show my smile. That did it. He quailed and backed up.

"Yes, I know quite a lot of Deveels, thank-you." It was time to use what I usually did to scare locals. I grabbed him by the neck, and brought his face right next to my grinning teeth, which has made people faint. This guy was stronger than that, and he just gulped a few times. "Where is Skeeve? He was arrested earlier, and I want him back, got me? I don't want to eat your throat out, even though it'd be fun, so work with me, okay?"

"Skeeve? That lunatic that broke into the White House?"

"The what?" But I was thrilled. This guy knew where Skeeve was!

"It's all over the news. Let me go, and I'll show you."

I knew that tone. What he meant was, "Come with me out to where I'll have a lot of backup, and you'll be thrown right back into this little room." I was a lot smarter than that. "No, how about, I hold onto you, and you tell me where to go."

"This way," he said, shaking, and pointed me out to the outer room, where his friends saw me.

"Back!" I said. "Don't make me break your friend's face." Though a lot were getting ready to jump me, they listened, and the guy in my chokehold showed me to a black box that had images in it. A woman was talking, and showed the face I most wanted to see. Skeeve!

"He was taken to the hospital, and is in critical condition. The question of how he broke in is still unanswered, and the secret service have said no comment to any statement."

"Critical condition? Hospital? What does that mean?"

"Well, this Skeeve tried to escape and got shot."

My heart went into my shoes. "By an arrow?"

"No, what the hell gave you that idea?" The guy seemed to think I was an idiot. "He got shot by a bullet. He's not expected to live."

I don't know when I started running, but I still had the guy in tow, and I threw him in the same thing that had brought me here, and said, "Take me to this hospital, now! My threats were fake before, but now I mean every one. If he's dead when I get there, you will be, too."

That gave him enough fear to go quickly, putting those sirens on. My heart wasn't beating any longer, I don't think. Could Skeeve already be dead?

We pulled up to what could only be the hospital, and I ran inside, ignoring the police officer now, and a bunch of those wailing cars that had followed us. I was quick enough to lose anyone. This place was as big as the other, so I just listened to all the sounds in the hospital, the beeps and speech, crying and whimpering. I finally heard the word Skeeve, so I ran towards that spot. There was a guard, and he saw me coming, but his reception wasn't the same as the people's that had gotten out of my way as I barreled in here. His was . . . recognition?

"I don't believe it," he said. "What, um, what is your name?"

"Aahz, idiot. Get out of my way. Skeeve is in there, isn't he?"

"He was telling the truth. This is unreal . . . oh, sorry. Look, my name is Barry," he said. "And the doctors are in there."

"So what? I've got a lot of police on my tail. I don't care whether there are more inside."

"Doctors aren't . . . never mind. If you're in trouble, you . . . look, just hide in here, okay? Trust me. You don't want to get shot as well. Here." I didn't have any other recourse but to listen, as he shoved me into a closet. Besides, I . . . trusted him. He was looking at me like I was his best friend, so a friend wouldn't lie. And, sure enough, when the police who chased me came around the corner (I saw it through a crack in the door), this guy, Barry, ordered—that's right ordered—the police away, saying I was in his custody now. Then the men in blue left, and Barry opened the door.

"The doctors have gone, too. Skeeve's in here, but he doesn't look good." Then I went into the room, to see a horrible sight, something a friend should never see: Skeeve was covered with tubes and looking pale; his eyes were shut tightly. "I, um, shot him when he was flying overhead. I'm afraid I was trained to shoot to kill."

"You shot him?" I asked, too horrified of Skeeve's condition to even feel the anger I normally would have.

"I didn't know! I didn't know he was who he was, or who would come after him. I loved your books. I grew up with them. The whole Myth gang, you know?"

That explained his reverence. It seemed that when the people here saw our lives, they fell in love with us. "Is there . . . I mean, can he recover?"

"They're not sure. He needs blood, but they can't find a match."

Once again I cursed mentally, but this time not because of my own selfish reasons, but because if I had my full skills I'd be able to run some magic back into him, like blood, and that would keep him alive long enough for his real blood to be restored. But now . . . I needed Pookie. Maybe she could help.

But, I wouldn't leave Skeeve's side. I guess I should have told the others where I was going. "I could heal him, if I could just find Pookie." Then an idea came to me. "Barry, you have a lot of clout here, right?"

"Yeah, a fair bit."

"Can you get people out of prison for me? And tell them where I am and to contact the other team to get them here as well?"

"That'd be pretty easy. I'll go right now, and . . . Aahz, it is really nice to meet you for real." He gave me a childish smile, and then looked professional again. "I'll get it done quickly. I'll also tell the doctors to leave Skeeve alone for awhile." Then he was gone, and I pulled up a chair next to my friend, hoping that Barry would hurry.