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Myer marched over to me and grabbed my arm. He picked up a crowbar and yanked me closer to the catwalk. The doctor pressed the pointed end against my throat and glared up at Ben. “You will get down from there or you will see how I treat unwelcome visitors.”
The look of mischief in his eyes was replaced with a cool calm and he stood up straight. “I’ll come down.”
Ben grasped the railing and swung himself over. My heart gave a leap as he dropped the twenty feet to the floor where he landed neatly among the mess.
“Now if you would just hold still for a moment,” Myer recommended.
The doctor caught Beck’s attention and jerked his head toward Ben. The brawn snatched some rope from the mess of tools and marched over to Ben where he proceeded to tie his hands behind his back. The well-practiced job was finished in a moment and Beck pushed Ben forward. Ben stumbled but caught himself and allowed the fiend to lead him over to where he stood beside me.
The doctor eyed us with a sharp look but kept his questioning to Ben. “What is your business with the thunder, and with this woman?”
Ben shrugged. I’m merely an admirer of beauty, and I would hate for men such as you to blemish them in any way.”
Beck guffawed. “The Dragon Thief being interested in anything else besides stealing?” He paused and wagged a finger at Ben. “And don’t try to say you ain’t him cuz I’d know you anywhere. Besides, nobody dresses that stupid except you.”
Ben wrinkled his nose. “That’s uncalled for, especially coming from a man with a slug plastered to the middle of his face.”
Beck curled his lips back in a snarl and marched toward Ben. “I outta show you some manners-”
“That’s enough, Beck,” Myer scolded his lackey.
Beck grabbed a hold of the front of Ben’s shirt with one hand and clamped his other hand around the front of his high collar. “I’ll just tear you apart right now, but first I’m gonna get a good look at ya-”
“Beck, I said that was enough!” Myer snapped.
Beck growled but tossed Ben backward a few feet. The hulking mass of fury turned and sulked off to one of the disassembled thunders where he proceeded to finish the tearing apart job.
Myer scowled at him for a moment before he returned his attention to us. “Now then, what I truly desire to know is how you were able to vanquish the magic barrier that even the emperor’s strongest magicians have been unable to detect.”
Ben shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess.”
Myer’s cheeks reddened with ire and his eyes flickered to me. “Would you rely on your luck to get this woman out of this trouble without her pretty little face made unrecognizable by my uncouth compatriot?”
Ben narrowed his eyes. “Your quibble is with me, Myer. She didn’t find your magical ruse, nor does she know anything about you.”
“She knows far more now than she should,” Myer countered as he clasped his hands behind his back and strolled over to me. He stopped in front of me and looked me up and down. “Perhaps I might be able to use her for some of my experiments.”
I noticed Ben flex his hands behind his back and his fingers lengthened into claws. “What kind of experiments?”
Myer sneered at him. “That is none of your concern. What should concern you is answering my question. How were you able to break my magic barrier?”
Ben swept his eyes over the room. “This is quite the arrangement, doctor. Surely the scrap trade isn’t so lucrative as to fund the purchase of all of these machines. The ingredients for the barrier, too, must have cost quite a bit.”
The doctor grabbed my chin in his hand and kept his eyes on Ben as he squeezed my jaw. I winced as I felt my bones buckle under his surprisingly powerful hold. “Answer the question or I will mar this pretty woman’s face.”
Ben’s next words dripped with venom. “I think not.”
Ben wrenched his arms apart and ripped the cords in twain. The rope pieces hadn’t even hit the ground before he lunged at the doctor. Myer let out a pathetic cry and stumbled back. He tripped over some of the machinery and fell onto his ass where he proceeded to scramble backward like a crab.
Ben cut my bindings as Beck charged toward us swinging a wrench over his head. The crazed mechanic swung the tool downward and Ben pushed me out of the way before he swung up one hand. He easily caught the wrench in his palm and the two found themselves face-to-face. Veins popped out of Beck’s face as he tried to force the tool into Ben’s face.
Ben narrowed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around the thick metal. A loud cracking noise emanated from the tool and a moment later the wrench shattered under the force of Ben’s grip. Beck’s mouth dropped open, but Ben closed it for him with a quick uppercut that sent the hired hand flying. The goon crashed into the cockpit of one of the ruined thunders and his legs dangled out. One of them twitched, but that was all the movement that came from him.
Ben turned to our ‘host’ where Myer had managed to climb onto his feet. The doctor stumbled away from us and reached into his cassock. He drew out a vial which he threw to the floor. The glass shattered and a thick white fog was blasted out. The cold air swept over the entire garage and covered everything in a soft white sheen. Some of it slipped into my mouth and cast a suffocating chill through me. I tried to cough it out, but it was like my whole body was shutting down from the cold. The only warmth came from my left arm and I glimpsed a soft light through the fog that emanated from the canister.
The next moment Ben’s strong arms wrapped around me and I was lifted off my feet. He carried me outside into the warm afternoon air. I choked on the influx of fresh oxygen as he set me down with my back against a crate.
I grasped one of my hands and my shoulder to keep my from keeling over from the coughing fit. “Are you alright?”
