20.
Lex
He finally returned to the shop, wet, bedraggled, and bone-weary tired.
That was what happened when he spent hours running through the hills to the east of town at top speed, trying to track down what he’d finally come to accept was out there.
But his search had come up empty, leaving Lex to consider whether he was just being paranoid. All the signs pointed to his suspicions being correct. The freakishly powerful storms. The way they were tethered to Surrey somehow, localizing on the town and ignoring the surrounding areas. The fact that there had been three of increasing power within a week, with absolutely no buildup before they descended on the hapless town. Missing people.
There was just no way it was a coincidence. It was impossible; too many factors lined up to support his conclusion. But no matter how hard he’d hunted in the hills, he hadn’t discovered one solitary piece of evidence that backed him up. Now he was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sit down with Petal and recharge.
Pushing open the door, he half-stumbled into the vehicle maintenance area. He needed food, and badly.
“Lex?”
He looked up to see David approaching. “Hey, Dave,” he said, waving at Vince’s number two. He was a good person, and in Lex’s estimation, should have been running the joint a long time ago. But corporate politics were what they were, and David just refused to play them, so he stayed where he was.
“Lex, what’s wrong?”
“Food. Need food.” He slid to the ground bonelessly, lungs heaving. Somehow he’d remembered to dress himself before reappearing amongst humans. That was a bonus. Besides, the concrete floor was cold enough as it was. It would have been worse if his bare ass had been pressed down on it.
“Are you okay?”
“Food. Meat. Bring me something. I’ll be better, I promise.” His vision was going unfocused. He’d used up too much of his energy stores in his search. As a werewolf he could build up massive amounts of energy and store it within him for months on end before it started to drain. But his run through the woods had occurred at speeds far beyond what any wolf could manage, and he’d burnt through those reserves in a matter of hours.
All of that energy used…for nothing! No sign of her at all. She had to be there somewhere. But I couldn’t find a single hint of her.
David returned with a plate full of office-quality sandwiches. Lex winced, but he started wolfing them down. By the time he was done with the fourth half-sandwich he could feel his body starting to recover, energy flooding into his exhausted muscles. His eyes stopped feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds each, and he could sit up straighter. By the sixth he felt recovered enough to stand if necessary.
“Thank you,” he said, taking a breather while his stomach digested the food. There were still two more half-sandwiches on the plate, but he suspected David might say something if he were to eat them all.
“What the hell happened to you? Where have you been? Petal said you came back to town with her, but then you disappeared.”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s a long story.” Pushing himself to his feet, he snagged half the remaining food on the plate and started chomping down on it. His brain was starting to fire again, the neurons connecting one thought to another.
She was out there. There was absolutely no way around it. He wished it weren’t true, but the facts all said it was. The only question that remained was where was she? An idea started to percolate in his mind. When it didn’t immediately jump out at him he took the last sandwich and started chomping down on it while he slid past David and headed toward the command pit. He needed to see the map.
“What, where are we going? Lex, should I get you to the hospital?”
He shook off the question. “No, I’m fine. Was just hungry and exhausted. Good to go now.”
“Go where?! What is going on?”
“David,” he said, still walking. “Think about the storms, and where they’ve hit town. Has anywhere been spared? Have they seemingly purposefully missed any part of town?”
“What? What kind of question is that?”
“Just think about it.”
“Umm.” David fell silent as they reached the pit. “Yeah, actually. I guess they’ve left the north part of town alone. Especially the outskirts and such. They’re basically untouched.”
He nodded. She was there, then. Trying to play distraction. Interesting. Why though?
“Okay, I need to head out there then.”
“But Lex, we don’t have any lines down out there. Just some funky reports. Petal’s already out there checking up on it.”
“What did you just say?” His voice was icy cold.
“The readings are weird, but everything looks to be okay. Petal went to check it out. She wanted to help, but she really wasn’t needed here. I can handle all this. I told her she didn’t have to, but she knew it would help us out. I told her to stay on Highway 2, Lex. There was no need for her to take anything else. The highway will be in okay shape. She’ll be fine!”
“I need to go.” He looked around, spied the table full of sandwiches that a low-level staffer had procured from somewhere, and walked over to it. Half the remaining ones went into a plastic bag, the contents all jumbling together. It wouldn’t be the best eating, but right then he needed sustenance more than taste if he was going to go up against what he thought was out there.
“Where are you going?” David asked, though he made no move to stop Lex.
“To bring Petal back.”
With that he was gone, leaving the befuddled David behind as he raced out to the garage, only to find it empty. Of course, they’d yet to replace the truck that had been destroyed the last time he and Petal went out. Which meant he was taking his own personal vehicle. The big quad-cab beauty roared to life as he double-tapped the remote start.
Sliding in, he tossed the bag of jumbled sandwiches to the side, giving it a long look. Lex desperately wished now that he hadn’t used up so much of his energy on his search. What he’d packed would be enough. It had to be. What he was about to do would have been daunting enough with a full set of reserves. But on an empty stomach? That was suicide.
Unless he’d missed his guess though, the Banshee had returned, and Petal was heading right into her clutches. The food might look unappetizing, but he was going to need every bit of it before this was over.
The truck rumbled up the gravel driveway to the street. The instant tires touched pavement he stomped the accelerator down. Rubber squealed and the rear wheels slid sideways for a moment before getting a grip. He shot off at a breakneck pace.
Please let me be in time…