by Cree Storm
“Yes, this is where Lucinda’s room was. Where they kept me and Briar in our cages, but so many times we could still hear the screams of pain from the other captives, and the laughs of glee from the clients.”
“What did they do, Helio?” Digi asked, in a frightened voice.
“It was a blood brothel. They had many paranormal breeds here. Clients of all walks of life would pay a lot of money to come here and drink the blood of the creatures. Depending on what type of paranormal the client was, and what breed of paranormal they wanted to feed from, decided how much they would have to pay. Sometimes they paid extra to also take those poor souls’ bodies and do with them what they wanted,” Helio explained angrily, through clenched teeth.
“Oh goddess no. Did they… did… you and Briar?” Ringo asked in a horrified whisper.
Helio released a humorless laugh as he replied, “No. Lucinda would never let anyone touch us. Only she and one of her top guards were allowed to even bring us food, or take our blood. She said we were too important for anyone to get their hands on for any reason. So, I guess in a way we were lucky.”
“Goddess, you both must have been so scared,” Arlo said softly. The genuine concern in his voice taking Helio aback for a moment.
“Let’s just get this over with,” he said.
Jael pulled away and opened the door. Helio took a deep breath, then released it before stepping away from Sabien and followed Jael into the room. He stood in the center, frozen to the spot as visions engulfed him. Helio was aware of the others moving around and whispering, but he had no idea what they were saying or doing. The memories were just too much.
Suddenly, Ringo cried out and Helio came back to the moment. His gaze roamed the room searching out his friend. He saw Ringo across the room with Jael and Sabien quickly rushing to him. Helio headed in their direction too, with Digi and Arlo joining him. When they reached Ringo, Helio saw that his friend held a USB stick in his hand.
“What is this? Is it something we’re looking for?” Ringo asked.
Jael smiled as he took the stick from Ringo and slid it in his pocket. “It just may be what we need. Good find, Ringo.”
“Where did you find it?” Sabien asked and Ringo turned, pointing to a spot on the floor a few feet away.
When they all looked Helio was shocked to see a small hole in the floor, like someone had removed one of the wooden planks. Sabien knelt down beside it and slid his hand into the hole and moved it around. A minute later he pulled his hand back and he was holding a book that looked like a ledger.
Sabien opened it, flipping through some of the pages and his eyes lit up as he lifted his head and met his gaze. “It looks like a client list and some other things. Unfortunately a lot of this is written in some kind of code and I have no idea what it means, but at least we’ve found something, right?”
Jael nodded. “Let’s get this stuff back to Orion and Strife and see what they can come up with. I don’t know about all of you, but I am done with Vegas and this place. Mate, why don’t you use the direct route this time and get us the hell out of here?”
Helio raised a hand and a portal appeared.
CHAPTER 14
Jael was about to step into the portal first in case there was danger on the other end. With Heskel’s coven, they had no idea who they could trust or what might be happening. However, as he went to step in, a sound caught his attention. Looking at Sabien, Jael whispered, “Did you hear something?”
Nodding, Sabien whispered, “Yes.”
Jael turned to Digi. “Take Arlo, Ringo and…”
“No! We aren’t going anywhere. We came here hoping to find our friends and that’s what we’re going to do. Sabien, we are magical creatures. We may not know much about this world, but I’m sure a good ass kicking looks and feels the same here as it does in Saturnalia,” Arlo argued softly.
Jael understood their need to find their friends, but allowing them to walk into danger went against everything in Jael’s training and his rank as the general in the Imperial Guard. He wasn’t used to people arguing with his orders and this little shit was starting to get on his last nerve. “We need that USB stick taken to Strife now. It could help Orion figure out what the hell is going on and save a lot of lives in the process. It could also be the key to finding your friends.”
Kilo stepped forward. “I’ll take it to Orion and stay with Kondra. I don’t like it, but you have a point. Just promise me you’ll do all you can to find and save my friends.”
“I give you my word of honor,” Jael replied, giving the ledger and USB stick to Kilo.
With a sharp nod, Kilo walked through the portal. Helio closed it up and turned to his mates. “Now what?”
“You guys stay with us. I mean it. No fancy shmancy shit. Keep with us and don’t say anything. We have no idea what made that noise and I don’t want anyone getting hurt or worse,” Jael instructed. Looking at Arlo Jael then said, “And if I say jump, you just fucking jump. Don’t ask how high or where, just fucking jump. Do you understand me?”
Arlo rolled his eyes and Jael walked right up to him. Then Arlo gasped and his eyes widened, he must have noticed Jael’s eyes had changed to red which just proved how serious Jael was. “I’m not fucking around here, Arlo. You do something stupid and that puts my mates at risk as well as everyone else here. You do as I say, otherwise you can go the fuck back to Saturnalia, or you can go find your friend you came here to find. I don’t really care. Do I make myself clear?”
The little man didn’t stop staring at Jael’s eyes. He looked a bit nervous, but also offended. Jael couldn’t give a shit. He wasn’t fucking around here. Wrong moves could mean his mates’ lives, and nothing and no one was going to jeopardize his mates.
Finally Arlo nodded. “On my word of honor.”
“Thank you. Now let’s go. I’ll go first and Sabien you take the rear. Helio, stay close to Sabien,” Jael whispered taking the lead.
“Is it wrong that his take charge attitude is turning me on right now?” Helio asked Sabien.
Sabien chortled. “I sure hope not, because if my cock gets any harder it’s going to have zipper prints.”
“Well, we need to hurry up and get this over with, so we can get him to talk like that in the bedroom and fix our zipper issues,” Helio whispered to Sabien.
“Focus, mates, or there may be no getting back to our bedroom at all,” Jael ordered, doing his best to hide the fact that he was just as turned on by the scent his mates were putting off.
Jael was about to turn the corner of the long hall when he heard voices.
“Drink your shot and let’s get moving. You need to hurry up with loading these cages, Vance. We don’t have a lot of time. Laramie called and said they were close. We need to get this show on the road.”
Looking around the corner he saw a truck parked at the loading dock with a few cages inside, two men were there just behind the truck. Jael watched as the two guys stood there, one drinking something from a long vial as he handed another to the guy he had called Vance.
“Then Laramie should have sent us help to gather all these shits up. These cages are fucking heavy,” Vance complained, as he took the small vial from the other man and chugged it down.
Snorting the guy said, “Yeah, and I dare you to tell him that.”
“Fuck you, Marcos. I don’t see you moving any faster. Two guys expected to clear out an entire building and move twenty cages is a bit much and he should know that. I bet he does and is just leaving us behind like this as patsies,” Vance bitched.
Marcos smirked, patting one of the cages. “Well, he better not be, or he’s really going to be screwed. His little prize possession didn’t make it on the other truck with the office supplies.”
“Oh shit, Marcos. You’re gonna get us fucking killed. The driver had me put him on the truck first, how the hell did you get him off?” Vance asked.
“When the asshole went to take a piss, I changed his cage for the little fox shifter guy. I�
��m not as stupid as Laramie thinks. I knew when he demanded this guy first and foremost he was leaving us behind to take the heat. Well, fuck him. Now stop talking and start loading,” Marcos said, in a tough guy tone.
Continuing to peek around the corner, Jael saw the two men lugging a cage each and loading them onto the back end of a semi-truck. Waving the others back, Jael backtracked until they were out of hearing range. “There’s only two, but with all the scents I’m catching from the people in those cages, I can’t tell what they are. That means we’re flying blind. Wait here, I need to call in for reinforcements.”
“We can handle two men, Jael,” Arlo muttered.
Jael turned angrily towards Arlo. “Like I said, we have no idea what we’re dealing with in there, but even if they are easy to take out, we still have twenty fucking cages being loaded with shifters, elves, pixies, and some others I can’t make out. That means we’re going to need some help getting them back to Kaliss.”
Walking outside to make sure the two men didn’t hear him, Jael quickly called Orion.
“Orion here.”
“It’s me, Jael. We have a problem.”
“Kilo said you sent him back when you heard something. Strife has the USB and is checking it out now. It’s in that stupid code like the other files, so it’s a waiting game. What can I do for you? No one’s hurt are they?” Orion asked in concern.
This was why Jael had so much respect for his Regal. Orion truly cared for his people. “None of us, sir, but we followed the sound we heard and you are not going to believe this. There are two men loading a semi-truck with twenty paranormals of all kinds. We’re going to need some help with them.”
“Shit! Okay, I have an idea. I’m going to have Jasper gather his men and come to you. I’ll ask Briar to take Kondra to Kaliss and I want you guys to report back there as well. The doc will be spread too thin if we have him bouncing from one coven to the next,” Orion stated.
“Thanks, Orion. I’ll have Arlo come out here and wait for the help,” Jael said.
“Just give me the address.”
Jael looked at the building and gave him the details. Walking back inside, Jael told them what was going on, and then turned to Arlo. “I need you to go outside and wait for Jasper and his men to show up. Bring them to where we stopped.”
“Why me?” Arlo asked in a huff.
Grinding his teeth, Jael hissed, “You just can’t help yourself, can you? I told you no questions, but you just have to be contrary.”
“I said when we go back there I wouldn’t ask questions. We’re not back there right now, so I’m asking. Why do I have to go outside and wait?” Arlo asked.
Jael clenched his fists saying, “Because when we were on the plane, Helio was telling us a bit more about you guys and said that the one thing he knew was you could take care of yourself. When you go out there you will be alone. No backup. No help. I don’t like it, but I need you to be there, so the warriors coming will know where to go.”
Arlo smiled wide. “That’s all I needed to know,” Arlo replied, waving as he walked out the door.
Sabien came rushing back into the room whispering, “We need to hurry. They’re almost finished in there.”
“Jasper will be here in a few minutes,” Jael said.
“We don’t have a few minutes, there are only four cages left to load,” Sabien insisted.
Helio came up to them, asking, “The truck they’re using, is it an older one or a newer one?”
Shrugging, Sabien replied, “It looks newer, but I’m not good with stuff like that.”
“I am and Sabien’s right. It’s a newer model. Why?” Jael asked.
Smiling, Helio pointed at Digi, saying, “Because newer vehicles are computerized and Digi can manipulate electricity. He just needs to touch it and they won’t be taking those prisoners anywhere.”
Jael didn’t like it. He didn’t know what kind of paranormals those two were… hell, they could be human for all he knew, but he highly doubted it.
Sabien gripped Jael’s arm. “If we go in there and keep them busy, we can have the others watch Digi’s back. We have to do something, or those fuckers are going to be gone before help arrives.”
Digi looked at Jael. “I can do this. Please let me help. If there’s a remote chance I can do something to save my friends then I have to at least try.”
When Jael still seemed skeptical, Digi whispered, “One of the missing is my brother, Jael. Please.”
Jael knew Sabien was right and he also knew that if it was his friends or family in there he wouldn’t even be asking to go in, he would just do it. As much as he hated it, they had to go in now and hope for the best. “Okay, but stay down. Helio, you and Ringo stay with him at all times. Watch each other’s backs. Sabien and I will distract the two men. Once you disable the truck, get your asses back to Kaliss.”
Helio lifted to his tippy toes and gave Jael a light kiss. “Be careful.” Turning to Sabien he did the same thing, saying, “That goes for you too.”
“Okay I’ll go first and Sabien will be behind me. Ringo you take up the rear. Let’s go,” Jael ordered.
The five men walked quietly and carefully back to the loading dock where the men were. This time, however, Jael didn’t stop as he made the right and walked in with Sabien by his side.
The two men must have just loaded the last of the cages, because they were coming off the ramp as Marcos said, “Let’s get this closed up and get the fuck out of here before those assholes get here.”
“Oh I’m afraid you’re too late for that,” Jael stated.
Sabien scoffed, “Timing is everything, and I’d say yours sucks, big hairy monkey balls… I think I got that right. I really haven’t spent much time around Jewel to make sure.”
Nodding, Jael said, “That sounds about right, lover.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Vance snarled.
“Your worst nightmare,” Sabien said, with an evil sneer Jael had never seen the man use on anyone since they met. Damn, did he look vicious… sexy as fuck, but vicious none the less. Shit, Helio was right, they needed to hurry this along, so they could get back to a bedroom.
Snorting, Marcos said, “You think so, do you? Well, taking us out isn’t going to be as easy as you think, vampire.”
Jael watched in amazement as Marcos began to grow taller and taller until he was damn near ten feet tall. White hair began to cover his body, as at the same time large platter sized paws with long, thick and sharp claws popped out from the tips. Son of a bitch, the motherfucker’s a polar bear!
“Yeah but what fucking kind? I’ve never seen one that fucking huge,” Sabien said, using their mind link.
“Shit, I forgot all about our link,” Jael muttered, then used it to ask, “Helio, is it done?”
“We’re almost there, Jael. Just another second,” Helio replied anxiously in his mind.
Vance smirked, saying, “Not what you were expecting, is he? Laramie has given us the ability to become even greater shifters than we were before. His blood concoctions are amazing, and soon we will be the greatest army this world has ever seen. We are larger, stronger, and faster than even Kali ever made us and we will be victorious.”
“We did it and we found Lanius,” Helio whispered through their link.
Jael snarled, “You will never win against Re Ezra and our clan.”
Smiling wide, Vance replied, “We will be more successful than you or anyone could predict. In less than fifteen minutes, your precious Re, his consort, and all that live in Kaliss will be no more!”
“Jael, there are only three shifters in here, the other cages are empty!” Helio shouted.
“Son of a bitch, this is a setup!” Sabien shouted.
Vance started laughing, saying, “By now, Orion and many of your army are at Heskel’s coven and even more are here to help take out the prisoners. With Ezra locked inside with Heskel, his consort is ripe for the picking as is the rest of your coven house. There is no way your people wi
ll survive what’s coming to them!” Looking at Sabien, Vance gave a wicked evil smile. “How does it feel knowing your dear brother is about to die?”
Sabien’s eyes opened wide. “I have no brother, you fucking fool.”
“Oh you do, and you call him Re. Too bad you and he won’t live long enough to call each other brother. Maybe in the next life,” Vance tossed his head back, laughing even harder.
“Helio, get to Arlo and tell him what’s going on, then get your ass to Kaliss as fast as possible and warn them all!” Jael shouted in his head as Vance laughed louder and started shifting as well, growing just as tall as Marcos had. However, his skin began to thicken and become grey, wrinkly and leathery. His face stretched as a short, large horn grew in the middle of his lengthened snout. “A fucking rhino?”
“Stay alive?” Sabien snarled, as he pulled his knives from his back holding one in each hand.
Jael opened his palms wide, his large claws sliding from the tips of his fingers as his fangs dropped. Jael’s vision went red and he knew he was in for a tough fight as was his mate. However, he had to trust that Sabien could take care of himself. “I love you, mate.”
“Tell me that later after you finish sucking my cock,” Sabien said, sounding far more confident than Jael felt.
Goddess help us.
CHAPTER 15
Marcos lunged towards Jael as Vance brought his head down and charged Sabien. Waiting until the right second, Sabien leapt into the air high sliding his knives along the back of the rhino as he raced forward, then quickly twisted back around huffing. Sabien couldn’t believe it. There wasn’t one mark on the rhino where Sabien had slashed just moments ago. “What the fuck?”
Hearing Jael grunt, Sabien turned to see Jael in a literal bear hug with Marcos as he used his claws to slash at the polar bear, and like Sabien with his knives, it was as if he hadn’t even touched him.
Jael brought his arms between the bears and used his vampire strength to force the polar bear’s arms open enough, then using his advanced speed, Jael brought his fist up and under the polar bear’s chin, knocking the shit out of the son of a bitch.
