Wolf Island by Darren Shan Read Free Book Online

circle the helicopter. James pats it and purrs. “This is my baby now. The Farrier Harrier.
     Bring it on!”
    “Statistically, helicopters are not as reliable as airplanes,” Timas remarks, but I pretend I didn’t hear that.
    We take our seats. James invites Meera to sit up front with him, but to my delight she sniffs airily and gives him the cold
     shoulder.
    “You can sit beside me,” I tell her, and with a warm smile she accepts my offer. James glares at me and I smirk back.
    Timas takes the seat beside James. He’s fascinated by the banks of control panels. He asks a couple of questions, then observes
     silently as James fires up the propellors. I can see Timas’s reflection in the glass. He switches between frowns and smiles
     as he watches the pilot at work.
    “I’ve saved the best for last,” Shark roars as we rise smoothly. There are headsets with microphones but nobody’s bothered
     to put them on. Shark stands, bending to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, and jerks his seat up to reveal a hidden compartment
     crammed with guns.
    The cabin fills with excited “Ooohs!” and “Aaahs!”, audible even over the noise of the blades. Shark passes the weapons around
     to the eager soldiers. I shake my head when he offers me one. I’ve no experience with guns and I don’t want to learn. Magic’s
     cleaner and more effective. Meera doesn’t bother with a gun either.
    “What about rifles?” Pip shouts, having loaded her gun and jammed it into her waistband.
    “And grenades?” Stephen yells.
    “Stacks of them.” Shark grins. “We’ll break them out during the journey. It’ll help pass the time.”
    Meera and I roll our eyes at each other and turn our attention to the scenery beneath. We watch the ground roll away behind
     us, airport hangars giving way to open countryside dotted with farms and the occasional house. After a while the houses multiply,
     becoming small villages and towns, feeding into the suburbs of the city where we’re headed for our showdown with Prae Athim
     and her werewolf-armed Lambs.
    With Timas navigating, we soon locate the building. It looks like any other, lots of glass and steel, nothing special. Luckily
     it has a flat roof, and although it’s not intended for helicopter landings, Timas assures us that it’s structurally sound
     and will support our weight.
    “Headsets!” Shark bellows. When we’re all hooked up, he outlines the plan. “James stays with the helicopter — he’ll hover
     nearby after dropping us off. Once we’re on the roof, we’ll force our way down the staircase to the eleventh floor. Terry
     and Spenser will stay on the staircase to keep it clear. Leo will take out the elevator. There’s another staircase — Marian
     and Liam will head for that. The rest of us will hit Prae Athim’s office.”
    “What if she’s not there?” Meera asks.
    “Then we’ll find out where she is.”
    “Don’t you think that’s a rather heavy-handed approach?” Meera challenges him. “If she’s elsewhere and gets wind of our attack,
     we’ll lose the element of surprise.”
    “You have another idea?”
    “Yes,” Meera says calmly. “We ask them to let us in.”
    Shark laughs, then scowls. “You’re serious?”
    “Absolutely. Politeness often succeeds where brute force fails.”
    “Brute force has always worked pretty well for me,” Shark disagrees.
    Meera flashes him her sweetest smile. “Let’s try it my way. If it doesn’t work, we can hit them hard, but at least we have
     options. If we do it your way, there’s no plan B.”
    “It’s always good to have a plan B,” Terry chips in.
    “It can’t hurt to try her approach,” James says from the front of the helicopter. I’m sure he’s only saying it to score points
     with Meera.
    “OK.” Shark shrugs. “Take us in, Farrier. Meera, it’s your show — for now.”
    As Meera talks us through her simple plan, we drift in over the building, hover closer to the roof, then set down.