"Well there is that." Ethon shrugged. "Fine. Take all the fun out of my dreams. You bastard."
Sam summoned enough birds for all of them. Once they were mounted, she took flight. Something that wasn't that intuitive to the men. Fang was the first to slide off. Then Scorpio.
Dev kept his seat....
Barely.
Ethon held on, but only because he was low and had his legs locked like he was a terrified toddler.
Laughing, Sam circled back.
"Do these things have training wheels?" Fang asked.
"Unfortunately not. Just do what Ethon's doing. Wrap yourself around them and they'll fly on their own."
Fang's expression was filled with doubt. "What if it gets spooked?"
"You would be screwed," Sam said in a dry tone. "Royally. Pray that doesn't happen."
Fang hissed at her before he pulled himself back up onto the back of the bird. Before he mounted, Scorpio used his whip to make a bridle. His bird fought it for several minutes, then settled down to take it.
He flashed a cocky fanged grin at her.
"Show-off," Ethon sneered.
Laughing, Sam headed south with the men following behind her. It didn't take too long to get to the border. There was a red haze around it that was so thin she could see the spot in New Orleans where they'd been.
Darker now on the human side of the veil, the haze made it look like infrared.
Sam urged her bird down so that she could dismount. The men quickly joined her as she fastened her grandmother's sword belt around her waist.
Ethon tapped his fingers impatiently against his thigh. "Why is it when you want the ground to swallow you whole, it decides to stop trying?"
Fang sighed. "Watched Pot Syndrome."
"Yeah."
Sam ignored them as she heard something odd in the background. The birds chittered and danced, then flew off abruptly.
Dev met her gaze. "That can't be a good sign."
No, it couldn't.
Sam glanced around as she tried to find the source of the sound...a sound that was steadily getting closer.
"Oh. My. God."
She looked over at Ethon who was staring up at the sky to his right. Following his gaze, she gasped.
"It's the attack of the flying monkeys."
Only these weren't the cute little bluish-gray monkeys from The Wizard of Oz that were dressed in adorable hats and jackets. These were huge with fangs that made hers look like plastic Halloween wear. With dark-gray leathery skin, their eyes were yellow and their tails were razor sharp.
They all drew weapons as the fire-breathing monkeys attacked.
Ethon dodged one that tried to blast him, then whirled and slashed at its wing. "You know, there are just some things you never expect to face even on this job. A flying primate that shoots fire out its nose is one of them."
Scorpio snorted. "Yes but are they cercopithecoid or platyrrhine primates?"