Dangerous Deception (Dangerous Creatures 2)

And he’s standing in the hallway right now.

Ridley caught a glimpse of his expensive dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up carelessly, and his stupid wing tips.

Silas Ravenwood stopped in front of her cell, with a Barbadian cigar balanced between his fingers.

He smiled at her through the bars. “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Duchannes. So pleased you could join us.”

CHAPTER 8: LINK

Winds of Change

Link had more luck Ripping himself and Floyd to Oxford than he had Ripping them back. They ended up on top of a pile of garbage bags behind a Chinese restaurant.

At least they’d missed the Dumpster. Link tried to feel good about that. “Welcome to the good old US of A.” He flopped back into the trash. “Home, stinky home.”

“Thanks.” Floyd pulled a handful of rotten lo mein out of her hair. “I was already trying not to puke. You suck at this.”

Link grabbed a handful of noodles, eggs, and cabbage. “Maybe I felt like Chinese spaghetti.”

“Yeah. And maybe I hitched a ride with the wrong hybrid.”

“Whatever. Rippin’ isn’t as easy as it looks. At least we’re not in China. I hope.” He stared up at the Binding Ring on his hand. “This thing shoulda kept Liv and John close¸ but I don’t see them. Do you?”

“All I know is, you were supposed to be aiming for New Jersey. That’s what Necro said on the phone.” Floyd was getting annoyed.

Laughter interrupted them. “Why didn’t you wait for us to eat? You guys must’ve been really hungry.” John grinned down at them.

Of course, John and Liv weren’t covered in garbage.

“What took you so long?” John asked, pulling Link to his feet. “Still got your training wheels on?” Link punched John in the biceps and John punched him back, which turned into five more punches.

“Right. You’re both wankers,” Liv said.

“Losers,” Floyd added. They finally agreed on something.

By the time Floyd was on her feet, she had already called Necro on her cell phone. “I’ve got the address. It isn’t far. Some girl Sampson used to hook up with let them hang out at her place.”

Link looked around. “Let’s find somewhere with less people, and me and John will Rip us there.”

Floyd cringed. “No thanks. I’m taking the train. I’ve had enough Traveling for a while.”

“But—” Link began.

Floyd held up her hand. “I’m saying this as a friend. You really need more practice.”

“The train’s fine.” Liv pulled out her phone. “It won’t take long to get there. We’re only a few stops away.”

John noticed a snack truck parked by the curb. “Give me a minute. Link, front me some money, until I find somewhere to exchange ours.”

Link took his wallet out of his back pocket, the silver chain dangling from the end to where it attached at his belt loop. “What do you need money for?” he asked, handing John a five.

“Hold that thought.” John jogged over to the truck and returned moments later with a huge bag of Doritos. “I seriously missed these.”

Floyd gave him a strange look. “I thought hybrids don’t eat.”

John shoved a handful of chips in his mouth. “It’s a personal choice, and personally, I like Doritos.”

“Or anything made with disgustingly orange powdered cheese,” Liv added.

“You know you love it,” John said with his mouth full. He pulled her in for a kiss, and she jumped away with a yelp.

She wiped her cheek. “Not a chance.”

Link tried to smile, but he couldn’t. It was hard to watch John and Liv being John and Liv, when Ridley was gone. He noticed that Floyd was unusually quiet, too, as they walked through the station and boarded their train.

“What’s up?” he asked as they sat down. “You haven’t said anythin’ since we came down here.”

Floyd frowned and bit her lip. “Necro sounded weird on the phone.”

“And now your Spidey sense is tinglin’?”

She nodded. “I think something’s wrong.”

“Of course it is.” Liv adjusted the dials on her selenometer and looked up at John. “And you thought things would change while we were gone.”

When they finally made it to the apartment complex, something was more than wrong. Link had barely made it through the introductions before Sam and Necro broke the news about Nox.

“What do you mean, he’s gone?” Link was pacing in the middle of the living room, staring at Sampson, who looked even more out of place than usual on the floral couch. “And who was stupid enough to let him go?”

The Darkborn slid his thumb under the bike chain around his throat, fidgeting with the links. “Nox gave us the slip. He said he was going for a walk and never came back.”

“We’re pretty sure Nox went after Ridley on his own,” Necro said. “We were about to go after him when Floyd called.”

“Of course he did.” Link was furious. “Because all Nox thinks about is himself. How he wants to get there first and be the big hero.” Lucille threaded her way between Link’s ankles, as if she knew he was upset.

“Calm down, Link.” Liv picked up the cat and scratched behind her ears. “I thought the reason you needed John’s help was because no one knew how to find the labs.”

Necro ran her hands through her blue faux-hawk. “Either Nox lied to us, or he came up with some crazy idea to try to figure out where the house is himself. It’s hard to know. He’s not exactly predictable, and he isn’t really into the whole trust thing.” Nox and Necro had known each other longer than any of them.

“He’s not exactly a whole lotta things,” Link said.

Sampson stood up from his seat on the couch. “Enough with the chitchat. So where are these labs, and how do we get there?”

“Slow down, big guy. It’s not that simple.” John automatically squared his shoulders like he was trying to look bigger, but Sampson still towered over him, his huge arms making John’s look scrawny—which wasn’t an easy thing to do. Finally, John gave up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know how much Link told you, but I grew up in those labs. Abraham did things to my head. For a while, I couldn’t even remember some of the things I did. The things he made me do.”

Liv looped her arm through John’s and leaned her head against his shoulder. “None of that was your fault.”

“Maybe not,” John said. Link could tell he was working the hard way around to bad news. “My point is, there are things I should know that I can’t remember, like the location of the labs. Abraham created a lot of fail-safes when he screwed with my head. I think this is one of them.”

Link felt like someone had hurled a rock at his head. He stared at John. “Wait. You don’t know where to find them? Are you messin’ with me?”

“Relax,” John said. “I don’t know the exact location, but I do know someone who does.”

Necro turned to Link. “You know a guy who knows a guy? That’s your brilliant idea?” She shook her head. “Why didn’t I think of that? Oh, wait, because it’s a stupid idea. In fact, it’s not even an idea.”

Floyd leaned against the wall, arms crossed, glaring at John. “You mean we went all the way to Oxford, and you don’t even know where we’re going? Didn’t you think that was worth mentioning?”

Floyd took a step closer to John—and walked right into Liv, who had her arms crossed in front of her. “Right. Let’s all take a breather.”

“Your boyfriend’s lucky he’s still breathing,” Sam said, without a hint of a smile.

“It’s not optimal. But considering you don’t know where to go, I hardly think you’re in any position to comment.” Liv turned to Link. “Which makes me wonder if we shouldn’t go after Ridley on our own. You and me and John. It’s clear that not everyone here actually cares about her.”

“Hold on. That’s not true, Keeper,” Necro said. “Ridley’s my friend, and so is Nox. If he went after her lik

e an idiot—which I’m sure he did, since he acts totally crazy when it comes to Ridley—we have to make sure nothing happens to him.”

“And save Rid,” Link added.

“That, too,” Sampson agreed.

Floyd didn’t say anything. Necro shoved her. “Oh, come on.”

“Come on, what?” Floyd asked.

Necro wouldn’t let it drop this time. “You may not like Ridley, but she’s one of us. We’re not going to let Silas Ravenwood have her. She’s practically in the band.”

Floyd sighed.

Link wanted to hug Necro, but he knew she’d rather have him slug her in the right eye. “Pound it,” he said, grinning.

“Glad we ironed all that out,” Sampson said. “You gonna make us hug now? Or can we go after Nox? Even though we don’t actually know where we’re going.” John started to protest, but Sam waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. You know a guy. I heard.” He eyed the flowered couch. “Anything has to be better than sitting around here.”

John’s eyes were on Link, and Link could feel the questions coming. Who is this Nox guy and why does Rid make him act crazy? And what does the Illusionist chick have against Rid?

Get in line, Link thought.

John took Liv’s hand and nodded at Sampson. “The big guy has a point. Why don’t we get out of here and stop wasting time?”