Lion (18 page)

DuSow opened one of my cargo shorts’ large pockets and removed my cell phone and wallet. He flipped through my wallet, then put it back into my pocket.

“I am many things,” DuSow said, “but a common thief is not one of them.”

He placed my phone on a shelf beside a pile of dried pig ears and checked my other cargo pocket. He removed my vial of dragon bone and handed it to the doctor. The doctor opened the vial and smelled the contents.

The doctor smiled, showing brown, crooked teeth. “It’s dragon bone. Very high quality. Where did it come from?”

“The same place as Lin Tan’s,” DuSow said.

“Did someone call me?”

Lin Tan entered the loading bay door with SaYui. They were pushing our bikes, which they leaned against a cluster of mice cages.

SaYui took up a position beside Lucas and Philippe, while Lin Tan walked over to DuSow.

“The coach is in the stronghold,” Lin Tan said. “What’s next?”

“I was about to suggest that the doctor give Ryan a dose of dragon bone,” DuSow replied. “I’d like to see if he snaps out of this condition.”

“No,” I said through clenched teeth. “No more dragon bone.”

“You’re in no position to argue,” DuSow said. “Doctor, give him the team’s usual dosage.”

The doctor placed my vial of dragon bone on the shelf next to my phone and pulled a larger container from another shelf. I watched, helpless, as the doctor scooped four times my normal amount into a test tube. The substance was light gray, like my dragon bone.

“That’s too much!” I said.

“Nonsense,” the doctor replied. “Lin Tan has been taking this same amount for months. So have SaYui, Lucas, and Philippe, though theirs is my manufactured version. My research indicates that this is the optimum quantity. Since you have been taking the pure version, that is what I am giving you.”

He added a small amount of clear liquid to the test tube; then he stoppered it and shook it. Once the dragon bone had dissolved, he removed the stopper and stepped up to me.

“Please!” I begged. “Don’t!” I felt my
dan tien
begin to quiver expectantly, and I wished I could punch myself in the stomach to make it stop.

My mind began to race. “Acupuncture!” I said. “Try that instead. It worked before.”

“Acupuncture?” DuSow said. “Hmmm. I would never have considered that. I don’t have any experience with it, though. Do you, Doctor?”

The doctor shook his head. “Only on mice.”

“Proceed, then,” DuSow said. “Open wide, Ryan.”

“No!” I shouted.

I heard Phoenix, Hú Dié, and Jake begin to shuffle their feet uncomfortably, and I glanced over to see Lucas, Philippe, and SaYui aiming their guns at them. I knew my friends would have helped me if they could.

The doctor pinched my nose closed and pressed the vial to my lips. I kept my mouth closed and held my breath as long as I could, but it was pointless. The instant I opened my mouth to take a breath, the doctor poured the dissolved dragon bone in. With surprising strength, he slammed my jaw closed. I gagged and choked, reflexively swallowing several times before the doctor released his grip on me.

I felt white fire rush from my
dan tien
to every one of my extremities. My body jolted, then went limp.

No one spoke for a moment.

Finally, the doctor asked, “Can you move?”

“I … don’t know,” I said.

My arms and legs felt like spaghetti. My head was a bowling ball at the end of a string. I willed one of my fingers to move, and, surprisingly, it obeyed.

“Very good,” the doctor said. “You’ll be good as new in a few minutes.”

The doctor turned out to be right. I willed my other fingers to move, and then my toes. They all worked fine. Everything came back online like a computer rebooting.

I sat up and felt incredible. My head was clear for the first time in weeks, and my senses were keener than ever. My muscles throbbed expectantly, as if ready for some kind
of action. If I were to race at that very moment, I had no doubt that I would beat anyone—including Phoenix in a sprint.

And I hated it.

DuSow grinned. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

“No,” I said. “It feels … unnatural.”

“You’ll come to love it,” DuSow said, “just like everyone else.”

I glanced at Lucas, Philippe, and SaYui. “But they’re going to
die
.”

“Not necessarily,” DuSow said. “The doctor believes he has found a way to filter out most of the dragon bone impurities. We will see soon enough if his technique works. These men know the risks.”

The doctor glanced at Phoenix, Jake, and Hú Dié. “New test subjects?”

I shoved the old man. “You are
not
going to give this stuff to my friends!”

DuSow grabbed my upper arms, gripping me like a vice. His gloved fingers sank into my biceps, hitting some sort of pressure points. Pain shot all the way up to my armpits.

“I strongly suggest you keep your hands to yourself,” DuSow said.

I nodded, and DuSow’s grip relaxed, stopping the pain. However, his hands remained on my upper arms.

“I will not be administering dragon bone to teenagers,” DuSow said. “For what it’s worth, I despise the fact that your uncle gave some to you.”

“You knew him?” I asked.

“Indirectly,” DuSow said. “I sold fossils to Lin Tan, who
in turn sold them to your uncle. It may have been my best business transaction in decades. His initial queries, coupled with my own dragon bone use and my questions concerning techniques and equipment, inspired me to manufacture the substance myself. Our research has revealed a potential use for dragon bone beyond your uncle’s sole focus of performance enhancement and the legendary use for lengthening one’s life expectancy.”

“Peter,” I said.

“Yes, Peter. Imagine the headlines when the world-famous para-cyclist walks again. I could have picked any number of people in his condition, but a celebrity endorsement is so much better. There are tens of millions of people like Peter, and many will pay a fortune to be able to walk once more. True, they may not be able to run marathons or race bicycles because of concerns about overexertion, but it’s a worthy trade-off.”

“Don’t give it to Peter,” I said. “I don’t think he’d want it.”

“He doesn’t,” Lin Tan said. “When I offered it to him in that alley, he said that he’d rather drink gasoline and swallow a match.”

“He’ll thank us for it later,” DuSow said.

“No!” I felt my face turn red with rage. I glared at DuSow, and Lin Tan raised his pistol to my forehead.

“Put the gun down,” DuSow said. “The boy isn’t going to do anything. Are you?”

I ground my teeth and shook my head. I thought about trying one of my new kung fu moves, but there were too many guns in the room. Also, DuSow’s hands were too close for comfort.

“Did you give Peter dragon bone from your supply?” DuSow asked Lin Tan.

“Of course not,” Lin Tan said. “I gave him some of the doctor’s manufactured version.”

“In that case,” the doctor said, “I don’t expect we’ll see any results for at least a couple days.”

The lights flickered again, and DuSow glanced at the doctor. The doctor shrugged.

In the darkness beyond the open loading bay door, I thought I heard a faint clicking on the pavement.

“Do you hear that?” DuSow asked.

“Yeah,” Lin Tan said. “I’ll go check it out.”

He was halfway to the door when all the lights cut out and the room went black.

In the sudden
darkness, someone shouted, “Run!”

It was Jake’s voice.

A bright light flashed on just outside the open door, and a powerful beam played around the room. The beam stopped on Lin Tan, who froze like a deer in headlights.

CRACK! CRACK!

Two quick shots echoed through the research center, Lin Tan’s body jolting with each one. He fell to the ground.

I stared at the light source and saw that it was mounted to a rifle.

Bo held the rifle.

Beside him stood Bones.

BOOM!
One of the shotguns fired, and Bo cried out. He flipped off the light, and I heard Bones attack. In the darkness, someone began to scream in French.

People started to scramble, and I reached for the shelves
beside me. I found my phone and turned on the display just long enough to locate my dragon bone vial, then pocketed both items.

Bo’s light flicked on again, and the beam passed over Phoenix and Jake, who were running toward the loading bay door. The beam settled on SaYui, who was scanning the room with his pistol.

The muzzle of Bo’s rifle flashed.

CRACK!

SaYui went down.

The beam shifted over to Bones, who was on top of Lucas. One of Lucas’s arms was between Bones’s jaws. I saw a glint of metal, and Bo shifted the beam beyond Bones a few feet. Philippe was shouldering his shotgun.

SMACK!

Hú Dié’s fist appeared out of the darkness, knocking Philippe out cold. Bones glared at Hú Dié, but the dog didn’t release its grip on the struggling Lucas. Hú Dié kicked Lucas’s head, putting him to sleep, but Bones still didn’t let go.

I headed for the loading bay door and heard a loud click near me.

“Bo!” I shouted. “Gun!”

The beam of light swung in my direction to illuminate the doctor fumbling with Lin Tan’s pistol.

CRACK!

The doctor fell to the ground, dropping the pistol. I picked it up on the way past.

A door opened across the room, and Bo shined the light
toward it. DuSow was heading through the door we’d used to enter.

CRACK!

The door frame splintered from Bo’s shot as DuSow disappeared back into the warehouse corridor.

“Damn,” Bo said. He shined his light back on Lucas and said, “Bones! Release!”

Bones released the unconscious man’s arm and trotted toward Bo. Beyond Bones, Hú Dié rounded up the two shotguns and SaYui’s pistol.

I kept the doctor’s pistol pointed in a safe direction and hurried to Bo’s side. He was wearing a tool belt with a huge buckle that read
TEXAS ELECTRIC
. “Are you going into the warehouse after that guy?”

“Naw,” Bo said. “That’s DuSow. I’d rather climb into a rattlesnake nest than go after him. If he wants to come chase me back home on my turf, he’s more than welcome to try. I got what I came for.” He moved the beam until it rested on Lin Tan’s still figure.

I shivered.

Hú Dié walked over to us. She held the two shotguns in the crook of one arm but gripped SaYui’s pistol as if ready to use it. Bones growled but didn’t attack.

“I think he appreciates what you done, Ms. Hú Dié,” Bo said. “You don’t have to worry about him no more.”

Hú Dié shrugged and looked at Bo’s leg. “Are you going to be okay?”

I noticed for the first time that Bo’s leg was bleeding.

“I’ll be fine,” Bo said. “Good thing that Frenchman
didn’t have very good aim. I hardly notice it. That’s the leg Phoenix slammed in the car door.” He grinned.

“Sorry,” Phoenix said, hurrying over with Jake. “Kind of. What are you doing here?”

“Jake called me,” Bo said.

“Huh?” I said. “How did he get your number?”

Jake grinned. “I remembered it! I was standing next to you when he gave you his number back at Point Lobos. I called him when you three were fighting DuSow’s guys.”

“
You’re
the mutant, Jake,” I said. “Nobody else could have remembered that.”

Jake chuckled.

“You’re lucky I was close by,” Bo said. “I had followed you all from Peter’s to Chinatown.”

“Peter!” I said. “We have to find him. They said he was in the stronghold.”

“Uh-oh,” Bo said, shaking his head. “He’s probably on that boat that left.”

“What boat?”

Bo pointed toward the bay. “As I was coming up, I noticed a boat pulling out. The name on the back was
The Strong Hold
.”

“I am sorry, Ryan,” Hú Dié said, “but we need to leave. DuSow is still here.”

“She’s right,” Bo said. “But I don’t have room for you all plus Bones in my truck. The bed is full.”

“No sweat,” Jake said. “We’ll ride.”

“Your bike is at the bottom of the bay,” Phoenix said.

“I’ll borrow one,” Jake said. “Remember, these guys race.” He pointed to a flashlight clipped to Bo’s belt, and Bo
handed it to him. Jake disappeared into the back corner of the room, behind the maze of shelves.

I glanced at the pistol in my hand. “I need to get rid of this.”

“I have a few to get rid of, too,” Hú Dié said. “Come on.”

We threw the guns into the bay and retrieved our bikes with the aid of Bo’s rifle-mounted light. Phoenix grabbed his bike, too.

Jake called out, “Hú Dié! Can you come help me?”

Hú Dié shook her head. “Pick out one road bike for him, and I become his personal mechanic.”

She disappeared behind the shelves and soon came out with Jake. They were wearing helmets and Jake was pushing one of the three road bikes I’d seen earlier. Hú Dié tossed helmets to me and Phoenix.

“Nice knowing you—now get lost,” Bo said, and he limped toward a line of moonlit trees with Bones at his side.

We raced around the building, onto the road. I half expected DuSow to come barreling after us in the van, but he didn’t.