Dragons Wild

As his heartbeat slowly returned to normal, he found himself wondering at his recent actions. Even though things had eased considerably in Michigan since the late sixties, when the crumbling auto industry inspired frustrated laid-off line workers to retaliate by running imported cars off I-94, it was not unheard of for such incidents to occur even today. Griffen himself had survived three such attempts in the Goblin. In those cases, he had dodged the initial attack, then pulled off at the next exit, shaken and glad to be alive.

He had never felt moved to retaliate…to counterattack the way he had just now. It had been a mistake, a nearly fatal one. Even though he had no way to know just how hostile the truck drivers had been, it had been utterly reckless to give up his lead without a clear plan of action. This sudden shift in his reactions both puzzled and bothered him.

What bothered him even more was not the final attempt, but the quick burst of savage glee he had felt when his initial plan had worked and he saw his first attacker in the ditch.

It wasn’t until he pulled off the expressway to refuel that he noticed his steering wheel was bent slightly out of round.

Seven

Ashe approached his sister’s apartment, Griffen spied her striding down the sidewalk ahead of him, obviously bound for the same destination. He’d know that rump anywhere.

Not that the rest of her was unremarkable. While he had never actually lusted after her, being her brother did not keep him from noticing that Valerie had a stellar bod.

A bit over six feet in height, his sister’s shoulders were a bit too broad and her face a bit too round to be considered a classic pinup beauty. Still, she was short waisted with ample breasts and legs that ran forever so that she had no difficulty drawing male attention whether she wanted to or not. What was more, Valerie moved with the easy, confident grace of a natural athlete, which she was. Whereas Mai always reminded Griffen of a doll, Valerie always made him think of a panther…or a wide receiver after a really good sex-change operation. With her blond hair, it was easy to see why he thought of her as Valkyrie rather than Valerie. Especially when she wore her hair in braids.

Passing her, he pulled his car over to the curb and got out, leaning against the vehicle as he waited for her.

She spotted him a dozen yards out and lengthened her stride to an easy lope.

“Hey, Bro!” she called. “What are you doing here?”

Still moving at speed, she swept him up in a bone-crushing hug and held him aloft.

“Val…I…QUIT!” Griffen managed, prying himself from her grip.

He tried to recompose himself, while not making it too obvious he was trying to get his breath back. His sister’s greetings always left him feeling like he knew what Godzilla was like as a puppy.

“Hey, brat,” he said finally. “Still working out, I see.”

“My God, Grifter. What happened to the Goblin?”

She was staring at the recent damage to his vehicle. He had been avoiding looking at it too closely, himself, and her attention made him uncomfortable.

“A couple guys in pickups decided to contest my right to use their road,” he said quickly. “I’ll tell you about it some other time. Right now, we’ve got to talk.”

“Yeah? What kind of trouble have you got yourself into now, Big Brother?”

Instead of answering immediately, Griffen peered closely at the hand she was waving.

“Speaking of trouble, Val,” he said, “would it be impolite to point out that you’re bleeding?”

Valerie glanced at her hand briefly, then licked the wet and drying blood from her knuckles like an animal before answering.

“No big deal,” she said. “Just some muscle flexer who wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer.”

“Some things never change,” Griffen said, shaking his head.

“Now don’t change the subject,” Valerie pressed. “What’s up that brings you my way…and while the sun’s up, even.”

Griffen glanced up and down the street before answering.

“First, let’s find somewhere we can talk without being interrupted. Someplace other than your apartment, if possible. I have a lot to tell you.”

Over an hour, and several coffees, later at one of the campus hangouts, Griffen finally concluded his narration of what he had heard and experienced since visiting their uncle.

Valerie leaned back in her seat and sipped at her lukewarm beverage.

“Huh,” she said at last. “That’s got to be the weirdest thing I’ve heard in a long time. So what are we going to do?”

“I dunno,” Griffen admitted. “I’m still trying to figure out if I believe it at all.”

“Does it matter?” His sister shrugged.

“What do you mean, ‘Does it matter’?” he said sharply. “Either the world has just been redefined for us, or a lot of people including our uncle have gone round the bend.”