Edge of Instinct: Rabids Book 1 (23 page)

“Raider?” All three of them perked up at this new tidbit, gaining a deeper interest immediately.

“I ain’t got much experience with ‘em myself, just what y’all told me. Never mentioned ‘em to her. In fact, I told her I ain’t never heard of ‘em since news of ‘em is supposed to be on the hush hush. She said her dead brother’s journal mentioned ‘em. Said this Raider showed up at the shop one night when I had to run to town overnight.” They were hanging on his every word now. “Said the thing looked right at the camera, smiled and waved. Scared the bejeebs outta her. Nearly shot my dog, too.” He laughed quietly when the three of them grimaced as though they could understand why. None of them shared a love for animals.

“So a Rabid showed up at the garage and makes a play at being human. So what. Don’t mean it was a Raider, Pop.” Though he was resolute in his statement, Tandy could tell Harley was interested, fishing for more information.

“Maybe. But it weren’t just at the shop. The thing followed us all the way to the outskirts of Dallas. It sent some underling Rabids to attack us twice on the way here. Nearly had us the last time, but the girl held ‘em off till help got there.”

“The girl? Now I know y’all are makin’ that up, Pops,” Harley growled. Charleen’s brow rose, challenging him to his opinion of a girl’s ability to fight off the Rabids. Harley rolled his eyes.

“I’ve seen her, she can’t weight more than a buck ten.”

“And what do I look like, lead?”

“You’re different.” Harley folded his arms, holding firm on the matter. Charleen shook her head, but let it slide.

“She’s tiny, I know. I was afraid I’d be fishin’ her outta Rabid guts not an hour into the trip, honestly. But she’s got a surprisin’ amount of…fight in her.” Tandy smirked, remembering the power behind her punches. Cajun leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“Do tell.” Harley might be unconvinced, but Cajun was obviously interested. Even Charleen’s eyes seemed to hold curiosity.

“Like I said she gets them black outs. Only when she goes down for the count, she pops right back up fightin’ like hell let loose. I only seen y’all fight once, but I seen an awful lot of that reflected in her.” He waited, carefully examining their expressions.

“You’re saying…” Charleen spoke, carefully choosing her words. “You’re saying that you think she may be like us? How is that possible?” Cajun nodded, his face bearing one of his few serious expressions.

“You don’t just become like us, Dad. You have to be made.” Tandy shrugged, running a hand over his mustache.

“Now I ain’t sayin’ she is one way or the other. But what she got sure ain’t natural, I can tell ya that.”

“So we find out.” Harley nodded, expression dark, ready for a fight. Not good. Tandy wanted his son to protect the girl, not kill her.

“No! Y’all ain’t gonna go bustin’ down that lil girl’s door, forcin’ answers outta her that she ain’t got!” Cajun and Charleen shared a glance, but Harley wasn’t having it.

“If she’s a threat, we gotta know, Pops. That’s what we do.”

“She ain’t a threat. At least I don’t think she is.” He grunted, pushing to his feet to stand in front of his son. He didn’t have the inner beast thing going on to contend against his son’s authority, but he did have some parental authority still, and he planned to use every ounce of it.

“Look, first I planned on bringin’ her here, thinkin’ maybe she were a threat to y’all.” he conceded. “The dogs didn’t like her, and y’all know how they is, they like all Cleans. Pathetic watch dogs, really. So obviously it made me suspicious. The fact that she said she wanted to come to Dallas where y’all are made me more suspicious. I figured I’d do what she asked, bring her out this direction and see how she played her cards. Better to look your enemies in the face, than to have ‘em lurkin’ ‘round behind your back. I agreed to teach her to ride the motorcycle, watchin’ her for the truth of her nature. She learned real fast, faster than a lil sprite like her shoulda. She was strong too, but didn’t even seem to notice the lil things she shouldn’t have been able to do. If she was tryin’ to hide what she was, seems to me she woulda been prissin’ ‘round like a princess. The more time I spent around her, the more confused I got. I wasn’t sure if she was lyin’ to me, but I didn’t trust her neither. I even slept locked up in the back office every night,” he admitted with a chagrined smirk.

“On the way over here, she started havin’ them blackouts any time the Rabids got too close. She’d scream like she was dyin’, then come up fightin’ like a whole different person. I never got the impression that she was aimin’ to kill me though, just them Rabids. Took all my strength to hold her down one night so she wouldn’t barbeque herself on the electric fields. When she gets like that…” He shook his head, trying to think how to explain accurately.

“She don’t act infected any other time, only starts actin’ crazy when she blacks out. We spent the first twenty-four hours in Dallas in quarantine because the gate guards marked her yellow.”

“Why?” Cajun asked, eyes wide like a little kid hearing a scary bedtime story.

“She got a double beep, then a single on the second draw. They didn’t know what to make of it, so they marked her and sent us to quarantine. The mark went away just like it shoulda done for a Clean. She ain’t infected, but somethin’s off for sure. When she goes exorcist her eyes get real goofy lookin’, and she don’t listen to a thing I say. She moves all fluid and graceful like, killin’ left and right. Watchin’ the girl walk ‘round normal days she’s as clumsy as a newborn foal. Maybe that’s an act, but it’s a real good one if it is. When the Rabids were gone, she’d pass out and wake up not rememberin’ a thing. Scared her spitless, the not rememberin’. Scared me too, and that ain’t an easy thing to do. She took down at least five Rabids on her own, half of ‘em with just her helmet for pete’s sake.” Tandy strode back to his chair, sinking down into it, feeling tired again just from retelling it.

“Point bein’, she needs help. When she’s in her lil exorcist mode, she kicks butt well enough. But the rest of the time she’s just a lil girl tossin’ herself into a big world she ain’t prepared for. And this black out thing don’t feel on the up and up neither. One of the soldiers that helped us outside of Dallas knew her and her brother. He said her brother did the same thing, although he said it had somethin’ to do with the dog tags she wears. I don’t know what to make of that. But despite all the unanswered questions and confusion, somewhere along the line that lil girl grew on me.” Tandy looked up, meeting Harley’s eyes.

“I need ya to look after her, boy. I called ya to the bar so y’all could see her, without her knowin’ you’d be involved. I knew if I asked ya to meet her, you’d run the other way before ya even gave me a chance to explain. I can’t leave her here knowin’ she’s all alone. I promised her I’d find her some help when we got here. I’d love her to have a friend, but I won’t ask that of ya. Y’all can keep an eye on her from a distance, and only help out if she needs ya to. She won’t even have to see your face, much less talk to ya.” Harley stood unmoving, arms crossed over his chest and face as serious as if he were going to the gallows. Finally Harley shared a significant look with Cajun, which resulted in his shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Alright, Pops. If it means that much to ya, I’ll do it. From a distance.” He added the last disclaimer to reaffirm the grounds of their agreement.

“Good enough for me,” Tandy acknowledged, relieved and thankful of the sacrifice he knew his son was making out of love for his father.

“We’re making progress with him, Tandy. This will be the closest we’ve ever gotten him to a girl, even if it is just to stalk her,” Cajun supplied, eager to play devil’s advocate. His smile disappeared behind the throw pillow that slammed into his face. Harley had always had a good arm, Tandy mused, trying to hide the grin behind his mustache. Cajun instantly shifted to hide behind Charleen’s form, who growled in protest.

“Cajun, don’t you dare use me as your human shield!”

“Don’t worry, baby, he wouldn’t dare try to get me if there’s a girl in the way. You might give him cooties.”

“I’ve been caught in the middle of enough immature fights between the two of you to know that isn’t true,” she fired back, struggling to get out of Cajun’s grasp, but he just laughed and held her tighter. Eventually a smile broke through on her lips, and she giggled when Cajun started fighting dirty with tickling. Harley rolled his eyes at their display, but Tandy thought he saw a moment of envy in those cold blue eyes. Harley turned his attention back to Tandy, shutting down the emotion before it could surface.

“Need me to take her motorcycle to the train for shippin’ back to your place, Pops?”

“Nope, it’s hers. Bought it fair and square. Fits her like I made it for her, too.”

“Just how rich is this kid?” Harley grumbled, knowing full well how much Tandy’s ferrying services and bikes cost. Tandy didn’t bother mentioning the fact that he’d basically given her the bike for free. Neither Harley nor Amiel needed to know that. Cajun stopped wrestling Charleen long enough to join back in the conversation.

“Sounds like someone’s never gotten over their Tall Poppy Syndrome.” Harley looked heavenward as though praying for patience.

“As usual, I have no idea what the hell you’re talkin’ about, Caj.”

“Language,” Tandy gruffly reminded Harley of his manners in front of women. He didn’t mention the fact that he’d likely forgotten that fact a few times in the last few years himself. He was out of practice. Harley sent a semi apologetic glance Charleen’s way, and she quirked a humorous brow but said nothing.

“You’re jealous of the richies,” Cajun continued taunting, wiggling his brows.

“And you’re jealous of clowns. Pretty sure that makes y’all the most screwed up, of the two of us.” Harley fired back. Cajun shrugged.

“They can make those cool little balloon animals.” Harley’s brow rose, showing he clearly found nothing to be jealous of there. Tandy took the moment of silence to get back to the topic at hand.

“Money ain’t got nothin’ to do with who she is. She’s a good girl. Y’all gonna figure that out after you’ve watched her long enough.” Cajun’s face lit up mischievously.

“Dante the stalker. I’m going to enjoy watching this play out.”

“It’s Harley, jerk face!” Harley growled menacingly. Cajun tensed, but held up apologetic hands in deference. Tandy frowned sadly, and Cajun shrugged helplessly. Clearly he was still having difficulty with occasionally slipping up and using Harley’s original name; a slip that Harley didn’t take lightly. Thankfully Harley simply shook out his muscles, locking back down on his emotions. “How am I supposed to find this kid anyways?”

“I set her up over in Kingston apartments.”

“Good location.” His tone made it clear he was again assessing her obvious wealth.

“Good location, but creepy neighbors and paper thin walls.” Harley’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Tandy’s heart lightened at the sight. Despite their genetic differences, Tandy’s position as father put him in an authoritative role. And accepting a task from someone above him in the line of authority made that task all but law for Harley’s DNA. His barely discernible reaction to a possible threat to his new charge was already implanted by his instincts. Whether Harley liked it or not, he was now on board, and Tandy felt relief that he wouldn’t have to doubt Amiel’s safety.

“Good to know,” Harley said, glowering. Tandy had the feeling it wouldn’t be long before Darwheevil, or whatever his name was, would be getting a very unpleasant visit. The thought brought a smile to his face.

“Or you could just follow her scent.” Cajun carefully watched his little brother’s reaction. Tandy sighed over his oldest sons antics. He enjoyed poking at his little brother, getting reactions out of him. Thankfully it would seem Harley had gotten much better at ignoring most of those attempts. Harley’s jaw clenched, but he made no other sign of having heard the statement. Despite his silence, whatever Cajun had been looking for, he had apparently found it because his Cheshire grin was back in full glory. Harley ignored that, too.

“I didn’t smell anythin’ different about her,” Tandy pointed out, curiously wondering exactly what it was about this girl’s scent that had the boy in knots. He also knew it was a bit taboo among their kind to outright talk about their differences, so he left it at that. Harley shrugged uncomfortably, moving toward the door quickly.

“Probably didn’t notice because
you
stink too much to smell anythin’ but that, Pops.” Tandy laughed at Harley’s wry joke, and moved to stand at his side. “Don’t worry, Pops, I’ll keep an eye on your pet. Just worry ‘bout gettin’ yourself home safe. We gotta head out for patrol,” he muttered, opening the door. Charleen and Cajun followed. Tandy gently patted Charleen’s hand as she paused before him.

“It was a pleasure meetin’ ya, darlin’. Make sure y’all tell me the weddin’ date, and I’ll be there.”

“Of course. It was nice meeting you, too.” She smiled shyly walking out the door.

“See ya, Daddy-o!” Cajun graced his father with a quick headlock and noogie before running out the door after Charleen.

“Harley,” Tandy called out, stopping his youngest son on his way out the door. Tandy could see just how much the situation he’d placed on Harley’s shoulders was throwing him off balance. Harley had spent a huge portion of his life looking after himself, and his brother. He’d grown up with only vague early memories of his mother, and the last clearest memories of her had wrecked the poor little guy’s heart. Fighting, that was something Harley understood all too well, even relished it.
Protecting
Amiel wouldn’t be the problem. The fact that she was a
girl
, would be. Girls were entirely out of his realm of the known, and Harley didn’t do well in situations he didn’t have charted out in black and white in front of him. As much as it hurt Tandy to say it, Harley’s mother had ruined his perception of women. He had aunts, cousins, and a granny, and they were better examples of the female world. But Harley rarely let his guard down long enough to see them as anything beyond family members in need of his protection. Tandy doubted he even allowed himself to think of them as women. He distanced himself, protected himself. Tandy’s hand came down on his shoulder, gently squeezing.