by Layla Nash
She smiled and looked a bit like a wolf herself, squeezing my arm and winking. “Perhaps Dodge will –“
I never found out what she meant to say. A storm of cursing brewed up, something crashed and splintered, and a massive, hairy beast burst out of the broken wooden doors that covered up the entrance to a storm cellar. I stared, my thoughts clicking rather slowly. It looked like a man, but... It was hairy and deformed, lumbering on legs that seemed to bend the wrong way, with long arms that ended in paws. A snout stood out from a mostly-human face, and ears stood out in tufts. I pointed at it, trying to reason through the impossible. “What the –“
Deirdre cursed just as Dodge burst out of the storm cellar, and she strode in the direction of the monster that loped across the empty lots, right at us. Right at me. Its gold eyes flashed and found me and a chill ran through me to my bones. The lizard part of my brain said to flee, but my legs didn’t want to do anything but freeze. So I stood there, like a fucking moron with no sense of self-preservation, and just stared at it.
The dark-haired woman shouted something and raised her hands, and a strong wind kicked up out of nowhere. I couldn’t look away from the monster, bracing for it to tackle and kill me, but it was like he slammed into an invisible wall a few yards away from me. He snarled and growled, a horrible tormented sound, and lashed out as Dodge sprinted up and jumped on him.
I dragged my gaze over to Deirdre, who still held her hands out like... like maybe she’d made the invisible wall that protected me? Her hair moved in a wind that I didn’t see or feel, and something swirled in the air that charged into static and made the hair on my arms stand up. I wobbled back a step.
What. The. Fuck.
Chapter 6
Dodge
Dodge knew he’d made a mistake a heartbeat after it was too late. He hadn’t checked that the doors fully closed behind him and latched. They knew Silas couldn’t work the latches on the cellar doors with his deformed hands, so they relied on that, in part, to keep him contained down below. But the wily bastard was far more observant than they’d given him credit for. The moment Dodge turned his back to retrieve a cigar, Silas leapt.
He slammed into Dodge and knocked him off balance, breaking the chains meant to slow him down, and burst through the cellar doors like the goddamn Kool-Aid man. Dodge snarled and lunged after him, catching the back of the bastard’s tattered pants but missing the tail that raised like a flag.
And then the monster was gone into the midday sun. Just like they’d all feared.
It was all his fault. Dodge muttered under his breath as he charged after Silas, shouting at the prick to listen to him and stop fucking around. His heart jumped to his throat as he caught sight of Deirdre and the architect still standing in the empty lot. His chest tightened as Silas changed direction, toward the human, and her face turned curious, confused, and finally horrified.
Terrified.
Dodge’s wolf nearly burst free. The wolf was better prepared to fight Silas in his monster form, but Dodge doing a full shapeshift in front of a human wouldn’t have improved the situation. He shouted for help and put on some speed, hoping he could reach Silas with his shambling lumber before he got his deformed paws on the architect. Dodge growled in warning to the other wolf. He wasn’t going to touch the girl. She was Dodge’s. That was it.
Which nearly stopped him in his tracks.
Only real fear that Silas would kill her kept Dodge moving, and it was like an out-of-body experience, as if he watched from somewhere high above. Deirdre didn’t freeze, unlike the architect, and whipped up some of the magic that made Dodge queasy to watch. It was unnatural. The wolf hated it, even though he acknowledged that it was a useful weapon to have in the arsenal.
And damn good thing, too, since it saved Lawson.
Silas ran into some invisible fence as Deirdre moved her hands and chanted, and bought Dodge enough time to slam into Silas and knock him down. The wolfman wasn’t strong enough in the half-form to fight Dodge off, though he did his damnedest to worm free. Dodge growled and pinned him, twisting his arms back to restrain him, then snapped in the prick’s ear, “Cut it the fuck out, asshole. That’s a civilian you almost ran down, and a female as well. Leave it alone.”
Some of the tension ran out of Silas. Maybe the former soldier was still inside enough to know when he’d violated the rules they’d followed their entire careers. Dodge didn’t look up as Evershaw barreled up, Trent on his heels, with more chains. “It was my fault. He saw an opportunity and took it. Make sure the girl – the architect is...”
He looked up when he heard a car door slam, and saw the architect’s shitty car start up and peel out fast enough to leave smoke drifting in the air.
“Well, fuck,” Deirdre said. “I don’t suppose she’ll come back on her own, hmm?”
Dodge shoved to his feet after Trent got the chains on Silas and started dragging the wolfman back toward the storm cellar. “No fucking way.”
Evershaw turned on him, rigid with fury. “The fuck is wrong with you?”
“I told you it was my fault, I made a mistake.” Dodge didn’t back down. He wasn’t scared of Evershaw, and he sure as fuck wasn’t intimidated by some alpha posturing. Dodge was in the pack and a follower because he didn’t want responsibility. He respected Evershaw enough he didn’t mind taking orders from the wolf. But that didn’t mean Dodge would hang around for bullshit brow-beating. “I’ll fix it.”
The alpha’s face stayed red and a growl boiled up in his chest. “My mate was out here. She could have been hurt.”
“She wasn’t,” Dodge snapped. “I wouldn’t have let him hurt them.”
“Perhaps you boys should just whip out your dicks and have a literal pissing contest,” Deirdre said coolly. When both men stared at her in consternation, she arched her dark eyebrows. “No? Okay then. We all knew it was only a matter of time until Silas figured out a way to escape. He’s a smart boy. That’s why we’re building a habitat with much better security than my now-destroyed storm cellar.”
Evershaw grumbled and caught the back of her neck, pulling her against his chest despite Deirdre looking prickly. The witch didn’t acknowledge him and instead leveled a no-nonsense look at Dodge. “We now have a bigger problem to consider. Lawson saw me work magic and got a good eyeful of Silas sprinting for freedom. I could probably talk her through the magic as simply a coincidence or weather phenomena, but there’s no way in hell to explain the wolfman. We still have to try, or at least convince her to keep her mouth shut, but first we have to find her. I assume you’ll take care of that?”
He managed to keep the growl out of his voice, since Evershaw would have killed him with his bare hands, but just barely. “Yeah, I’ll fetch her back.”
“Good.” Deirdre nodded and elbowed her mate away as Evershaw pressed his nose into her hair to smell her. “Would you cut that out? I’m fine. He didn’t even get close to me.”
“Still need to make sure you’re okay,” the alpha muttered, then abruptly picked her up and headed for the house. “All of you.”
Dodge sighed and raked his hands through his hair before going to the back of the house. Probably best to be out of the house for a while, since the two of them made a lot of noise when Evershaw needed to reassure himself that his witchy mate was unharmed. Dodge grumbled and retrieved the architect’s folio from where she’d dropped it. He took a minute to be impressed that she’d run across the entire garden in those high heels and hadn’t lost one or broken her damn ankle. And she’d helpfully aerated the soil in the process.
He snorted and riffled through the papers, breathing in her scent. “All right, Persephone Lawson. Where are you going to hide?”
His heart-rate increased and the wolf perked up. He enjoyed a good hunt, tracking down unwilling prey. It had been a long time since he had a really good run. He doubted that Persephone knew where the hell to hide to avoid him. She probably wouldn’t even expect someone to come after her. She didn’t strike him as the
kind of person who had enemies with trackers and enforcers. She wouldn’t see or hear him coming, which made his job easier. Dodge shrugged. More the pity. She had a fine ass he wouldn’t have minded following around for a few days.
Chapter 7
Percy
I must have lost my mind. Maybe they put something in the iced tea that caused hallucinations. My hands shook so hard I could hardly hold onto the steering wheel. My brain almost refused to remember how to work the gas pedal at the same time, so getting through the city was a bit dicier than I liked. I couldn’t think of anything but that... monster, charging toward me. The intensity in Deirdre’s face and the silver sheen over her eyes as the wind moved and she chanted and then the monster just – stopped.
I shuddered and hunkered lower in my seat. Thank God none of them followed me. Thank God I hadn’t lost a shoe, although my ankles objected strenuously to the run across the dirt. I might have twisted one or both, but the adrenaline carried me to the car. I’d pay for it later. I’d think about it later.
After a glass of wine. Maybe a bottle of wine. Maybe a bottle of bourbon.
I gulped for air and shook my head as I stared at the red light in front of me. What the fuck just happened? There couldn’t have been some weird hybrid monster in their basement. It just wasn’t possible. It had to have been something else. A bear, maybe, with a terrible case of mange. A deranged and very hairy man locked below. I wasn’t sure which was more disturbing, though. Neither possibility seemed like a good one.
Someone beeped their horn and I moved my foot to the gas pedal. I needed to get somewhere safe and normal, maybe eat something to deal with whatever might have ended up in my drink. I damn well wasn’t going back to get my folio. It would have been smarter to go to the hospital to see if they’d actually dosed me with something. If I’d had the money, I definitely would have.
But I didn’t have money, so I put the thought out of my mind. At least I escaped unharmed. There was no telling how many other people or things those people kept in their basement. Maybe I needed to call the police?
I pulled the car over and covered my face with my hands, shaking too hard to do anything but cry as I sat there. I gulped air and it still wasn’t enough; I hyperventilated and my vision darkened around the edges and I knew I was going to pass out. Knew I was going to just pass the fuck right out in my car on the side of a busy city street. I at least managed to take the keys out of the ignition, so a cop couldn’t ticket me for some stupid reason, and struggled to hold onto sanity and consciousness.
There had to be a reasonable explanation. Had to be. Things like that didn’t just – happen. Hallucinations made the most sense. It wasn’t like werewolves and witches existed in the real world.
Maybe they were movie people and were practicing special effects?
I shook my head and gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles ached. I needed to get my shit together. Obviously something had gone wrong. Just as obviously, I was never going back or speaking with any of them again. I could figure out whether to report them to the police or... something, later. Once my mind was right and I stopped shaking and feeling hysterical.
My phone rang and I jumped, banging my knees against the steering wheel. I fished it out of my bag, fumbling around as my fingers refused to cooperate, and stared at the number on the screen. I tried desperately to remember what area code Evershaw had called from. My vision blurred as tears surfaced. I really didn’t want to talk to anyone. I didn’t. I wanted to go hide in my closet, like I had when I was younger and there was too much noise and chaos in the house.
I steeled myself to answer, though. I couldn’t afford to alienate a real client, and chances were it wasn’t the Evershaws. My voice still wobbled as I answered. “Hello?”
“Where are you? You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago to receive some deliveries and start directing where they drop off the plants.” Geordie, one of the managers at the sanctuary, snapped at me like I’d deliberately fucked up his day. “What the hell am I paying you for?”
“I told you I had another client appointment this morning,” I said as calmly as I could. I wanted to turn the car around and head straight to my apartment so I could pack a bag and flee the city. Maybe starting over on the West coast would be a good option. Or Canada. Maybe I could emigrate to Canada. Surely they needed habitat specialists, with all the animals running around up there. The whole place was practically a habitat. “I can head your direction later this afternoon to evaluate what was delivered. Your construction foreman has the schematics and notes I provided yesterday, though, so there certainly shouldn’t have been any confusion on where the plants were going. Surely he was prepared?”
A rather laden silence answered, and I resisted the urge to smirk to myself. Of course not. It was easier for Geordie to blame me than actually talk to the foreman. The foreman was just as likely to lie about it, though, since he didn’t like having to take orders from a girl architect. I liked the other owners of the sanctuary far better, but they were primarily financial backers, while Geordie was in charge of the day-to-day operations. Ms. Bridger was reasonable and personable, and much easier to talk to.
Geordie didn’t strike me as someone who actually liked animals even a little bit.
“Get here fast,” he muttered. “I can’t have all these plants sitting around. We’re getting more deliveries tomorrow and if these aren’t moved...”
“I’m hardly in a position to move all of them by myself,” I said, still struggling to sound reasonable and calm. “Perhaps –“
“There’s a hand-truck,” he said. “You’ll be fine. But be quick about it. I’ve got a business meeting here at four that I have to prepare for; I don’t have time to babysit you and double-check your work.”
I checked my watch and swallowed a scream of frustration. Only the fact that I believed in the sanctuary’s goals and needed the money kept me from hanging up and walking away without another word. I damn well couldn’t move plants around in my suit, which meant driving to the apartment to change and splash some water on my face. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Leave the loading dock open and I’ll –“
“Good,” he interrupted, and the call ended before I could even finish talking.
I clenched my jaw until a headache ignited behind my eyes. My hands still shook, though not quite as much as before, as I started the car and checked my mirrors to make sure no monsters had followed me from that beautiful Victorian house with the massive garden and a monster in the basement. I exhaled and pushed those worries aside. I could deal with that later. Maybe some manual labor would help me work through the adrenaline and panic.
At least I knew the predators at the sanctuary weren’t going to open their cages and start walking on their hind legs to chase after me. I shuddered at the thought and focused on getting to my apartment. It would all make sense later. I just had to think it through. Monsters like that didn’t exist. It was just a mistake. Just a stupid, crazy mistake – my mind playing tricks on me. That’s all it was.
I just wished I believed myself.
Chapter 8
Dodge
He found her apartment easily. It took a couple of calls and some basic Internet research, and he had multiple home addresses for Persephone Lawson. Dodge figured it was another reason she could be pissed her parents gave her such a unique name: made it damn easy to track her down. He lingered across the street from the shady apartment building and tried to enjoy a bit of the cigar he’d meant to smoke in the cellar with Silas.
Dodge knew he trespassed on the BloodMoon pack’s territory, and knew it wouldn’t be long until the O’Sheas noticed his presence and decided to do something about it. He kept his eyes on the apartment building. Persephone’s perfume drifted in the air, though it was faint enough he knew she’d been there after the little incident with Silas, but not so recently that he could have used it for tracking purposes. She had to return to her den at some point. It was just a matter of whether
he wanted to loiter in the street like some love-struck schmuck or chase her down somewhere else.
He didn’t look up as Rafe O’Shea, one of the alphas of BloodMoon pack, strode up with a dark look on his face. “What is SilverLine doing on my territory?”
“Evershaw was going to call you,” Dodge said, not looking away from the apartments. It was sort of true. He’d told his alpha that the architect’s apartment was on BloodMoon territory, and Evershaw had grunted in response. Dodge took that as sufficient coordination on his part. “We had a slight incident. Human was involved. She lives over there.” He gestured in the general direction of the apartment buildings. “We need to talk to her, so I’m here to track her down.”
“We can retrieve her and deliver her to you,” Rafe said. His jaw clenched and his dark eyes glinted in the afternoon sun. “Evershaw knows better.”
Dodge shrugged and checked the coal on his cigar. “Look, man, I’m just here following orders. I’m supposed to bring the girl back so the witch can talk to her.”
The other wolf’s eyes narrowed, like most people’s did when Deirdre came up in conversation. Dodge didn’t know the specifics, but apparently Deirdre had helped out Rafe’s mate at one point. If she called instead of Evershaw, they were much more likely to get help instead of a hard time. After a long silence, Rafe scowled at the apartment building instead of Dodge, which Dodge took as positive progress. “What happened?”
“You heard about that problem with the sorcerer?” Dodge waited for Rafe’s nod; he figured the story had made the rounds after Henry’s mate, a witch, ran afoul of some evil sorcerer and got the pack embroiled in magical trouble. The shifters in that city were all a nosy bunch of pricks, too, who gossiped more than anyone else Dodge had met. “Sorcerer took Silas and fucked him up, so we’ve got a wolfman in our basement. Deirdre is fixing him but it’s slow going.”
