They headed back to Lupo’s. The tension was thick as they took the long elevator ride down into the depths. Gabriel grasped Betsy’s hand. Betsy gave Rico a reassuring pat on his arm, and he gave her arm a squeeze back. They exchanged a look as the elevator came to a stop, and stepped out as one into the long, dark passage that led to the caves beyond the main doorway where Lupo’s cavern awaited them.
If they could have, they would have simply kept walking, never entering the cavern to begin with. It would be a simple matter of continuing to move forward, except perhaps for the fact that the Alpha guards would be barring their path somewhere along the way.
“Too bad werewolves don’t have the ability to turn invisible,” Betsy joked humorlessly. “Otherwise, we’d have it made.”
“They’d still smell us,” Rico pointed out.
The other elevator opened, and Gabriel’s six crew members all stepped out. When they saw him, the men came to join him by the door.
“Boss, what’s going on around here?” Vito asked. “Lupo never wants to see all of us together.”
“Just watch your backs, everyone,” Gabriel warned them. “I don’t trust Lupo. I’m sure he’s up to something we’re not going to like.”
The door opened. The man who opened it said, “Lupo is ready for you now.”
They all filed in, and the door shut behind them again with an ominous clang. They were all certain they were stepping forward to their impending doom.
*
“Good evening, Lupo,” said Betsy sweetly as she stepped into the room, leveling her gaze right at him. She made her displeasure in seeing him again apparent with her eyes and the quirk of one brow.
Lupo smirked at her before he turned away to face the men instead. “So, here you all are,” he said. “No doubt, you’re all wondering what this little meeting is about, and I’ll not waste a whole lot of time explaining myself. It has come to my attention, Russo, that your leadership skills are somewhat less than effective.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gabriel wanted to know. He didn’t bother to bow his head or act the part of the supplicant or any of the other expected niceties he knew Lupo was expecting.
Lupo’s brow went up at the slight, but he merely straightened his shoulders and glared at Gabriel for a brief moment. “It means, Russo, that somehow you’ve gotten the impression you can give me whatever money you want just to shut me up. It means that you think you can have your little chauffeur here make tens of thousands of dollars and then only give me the ten thousand you were meant to have earned yourself without even bothering to earn it. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about your little scam? I know everything about every business in New York. I’m God around here, you little shit.”
“Oh really, you found out?” Gabriel sneered. “Forgive me for my presumptuousness, but I thought you might have been too busy trying to steal my wife behind my back to notice.”
“Stop pissing him off, boss,” Rico said in Gabriel’s ear.
“Sound advice, little driver man, but given much too late,” Lupo told him. “As you all may have noticed, I waited for the night of the full moon to call you here. Thought it might give you a fighting chance, not that it will do you much good against my Alphas, mind you. I’ve decided to set you and your crew loose into the labyrinth. And just so you know, no one has ever left the labyrinth once they went in, except inside a body bag. Have a nice night, boys.”
Gabriel’s men began to protest. They didn’t think they should be punished just because Rico and Gabriel had been double dealing, since they hadn’t even been involved. Of course Lupo ignored their protests as a large group of Alphas came in and dragged them all away.
Before they grabbed Betsy, Lupo held up a hand as he gazed at her and she glared at him. “What do you say, sweetheart? It’s me, or the pits. You decide.”
“I belong with my husband,” she told him.
“Your loss, then,” he said coldly. “Enjoy your death.”
As one of the Alphas grabbed her and pulled her along with the others, she shouted back, “I will!”
“Maybe you should have taken the deal,” Rico told her as she landed beside him in a dung heap inside a very deep hole. Betsy rolled her eyes at him and moved aside as a few more bodies fell in after her. Gabriel was the last one thrown in, and as soon as he landed Betsy joined him.
“I have a feeling we should probably not linger here for long,” she told him. “Something had to make this lovely crap pile, and whatever it was it can’t have been something pretty.”
“She’s right, boss,” Rico told him. “I have heard of the labyrinth. It’s occupied by the Alphas’ pet hell-hounds. If we stay by the entrance long, they’re sure to find us. Especially if the Alphas are told we’re in here.”
“Which I’m certain they will be,” Gabriel agreed. “Everyone up, let’s go.”
“Boss, I think I broke my leg,” said one of the men.
“We can’t carry you, Ormando,” Gabriel told him. “I’m sorry, you’ll just have to stay here. Hopefully you’ll manage to buy the rest of us some time.”
The man sucked back a few tears and nodded. “I understand, boss,” he said stoically. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good man,” Gabriel told him, clapping him on the shoulder. “Go with God.”
Betsy looked back over her shoulder as the group began to run, wondering how long the man would have, but she soon turned her attention back to navigating her way through the small gap that allowed only one person at a time to pass through. Desmond went in first, followed by most of the others, but Gabriel insisted that Betsy enter before he did in case any trouble showed up from behind them.
It was a wise choice, for even as Betsy made it through to the other side, the shrieks of the man they’d left behind met her ears. Something was tearing him apart, and the fact that he was a werewolf didn’t seem to make any difference. The hell-hounds must have discovered their prize.
Gabriel’s hand touched Betsy’s as he rushed into the gap behind her. She moved as fast as she could to ensure both of them would get through, but the creatures arrived before Gabriel could pull in his left hand. One of them clamped onto it with their jaws, and Gabriel screamed in pain. He managed to pull free, leaving the larger animal behind. Thankfully, the hounds were much too big to fit through the gap, so they would be able to move on in relative safety.
“Gabe, are you okay?” Rico asked worriedly, as he tore off a piece of his shirt to bind the bleeding wound.
“I just got bit by a hell-hound, of course I’m not okay,” he pointed out irritably. “Is their saliva toxic to wolves?”
“I don’t think so,” Rico told him. “Once the moon rises and we transform, the wound should heal. Or at least I hope.”
“How very reassuring,” Gabriel told him. “Let’s go. We have no idea who—or what—else is down here with us, but with all the sounds of the dogs somebody is sure to come looking.”
“I’ve been looking at my map, boss,” Rico told him. “Trying to figure out where to go based on my knowledge of the passages above us. If we can manage to stay near the south walls and follow them, we may get out of here in one piece.”
“Assuming something doesn’t eat us first,” Vito interjected.
“That’s a lovely thought,” said Betsy with a biting tone.
“This way, then,” said Gabriel, indicating the wall Rico had designated. “Rico, you lead the way. And whatever you do, don’t get yourself killed. Vito and Desmond, you guard him with your lives. It just might be those lives he manages to save. You three take up the back. If anything moves in here besides us I want to know about it.”
“Yes, boss,” the other men agreed.
“This is so much more fun than a day at the mall,” Betsy told Gabriel as he took her hand in his. “At least down here we don’t have to wait in the cashier line.”
“And you don’t have to call yourself Mrs. Lupo,” Gabriel added, and chuckled when she gave a
little shudder at the thought. “Now maybe the list you were working on might come in handy.”
“How so?”
“To remind you why we want to survive, my bella,” he said as he slid a hand over her belly. “What else?”
CHAPTER FIFTHTEEN
“We must have been down here over an hour by now,” Betsy pointed out later on. “The moon is sure to have risen. Why haven’t any of us changed to werewolves yet?”
“It is odd,” Gabriel agreed. “I don’t even feel the little tingles I normally get when I could become a wolf but choose not to. Perhaps we are too far beneath the surface to feel the moon’s effects.”
“But that can’t be it, boss,” Rico told him. “The moon influences the entire planet with its gravitational force. Being at the core itself would still allow for that pull. There must be some sort of way they are keeping us from transforming—some energy or specific type of metal or something.”
“You know, I still don’t know quite how this whole werewolf deal actually works,” Betsy mentioned. “So you’re saying it’s the magnetic force of the moon that somehow transforms us? I thought it was some kind of magic or something.”
“No, no, it’s all very scientific,” Rico assured her. “Just a science that we as humans haven’t quite grasped yet. In the werewolf blood there are large concentrations of certain elements that react with the moon, like we have magnets in a way. Only when these particular magnets interact with the moon’s magnets, it sets off signals in our DNA that tells it to change.”
“Magic,” Betsy repeated with a smirk.
“Yeah, magic,” he conceded, shaking his head. “Anyway, somehow that magic doesn’t seem to be happening. But the real question is, do the Alphas have immunity to the dampening field, or are we all going to fight as humans?”
“That’s an interesting point,” Gabriel said. The two looked over at him and saw that he was examining the wall closely and he had begun to scrape something free from the dirt.
“What are you doing, Gabriel?” Betsy wanted to know.
“Investigating,” he said, then handed a chunk of rock to Rico. “What is that?”
“It looks like metal ore of some kind,” he confirmed.
“The place is loaded with the stuff,” Gabriel said. “Do you think it may be the culprit?”
“Even if it is, there’s very little we can do about it except to get through the area it’s in,” Rico pointed out. “And the sooner the better, all things considered.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Betsy. “There’s something really creepy about this place.”
“Creepier than hell-hounds and traveling with a pack of werewolves while anticipating the arrival of other werewolves who want to eat us for dinner?” Gabriel asked. “Ma bella, don’t you find that creepy enough?”
“Does anyone else smell that?” she persisted. “It smells like sulfur or something. Like maybe there’s lava around here somewhere.”
“Considering the fact that we have no idea how deep in the ground we are, you might not be far off,” Rico told her.
“You are not making me feel any better,” Betsy complained. “Speaking of which, where are we supposed to go to the bathroom around here?”
“Go inside that little cave,” Gabriel suggested.
Betsy turned and saw a small opening in the rock wall. She cautiously stepped inside and took care of business, then tore a small portion of material of the bottom of her t-shirt to wipe with. A strange clanking sound reached her ears, and she turned to look further down the tunnel to see what it might be.
“You guys, come in here,” she called out to them. “I think I may have found another way through.”
The men filed into the small cave, and Betsy pointed down the tunnel she’d just been examining.
“That sounds like some sort of machinery,” said Rico.
“It sounds like a printing press,” Gabriel said. “I’ve worked with one before.”
“Do you think Lupo’s got people down here counterfeiting money?” Vito wanted to know.
“Well, it makes sense,” Betsy said. “He’s had me out depositing the bills all over the place. They have to come from somewhere. And there’s no way the Feds would come all the way down here looking for the evidence. It’s the perfect place for it if you think about it.”
They walked slowly through the long tunnel and entered a larger cavern on the other side. Sure enough, they found a battery-operated press running at the other end. Gabriel eyed it suspiciously. “Don’t touch anything. It may be a trap. Why would Lupo have this press down here unguarded, running off copies right when he knows we’ll be in the area?”
“You’ve got a point there, boss,” Rico agreed. “Still, all that money sure does look tempting.”
“There’s another tunnel off this way, boss,” Vito informed him then.
“Andare, we must go from this place,” Gabriel decided. “It is much too convenient for my liking.”
Rico sighed as he walked away, but he knew that Gabriel must be right. “Just the sort of thing Lupo would do, boss. Setting bait for his little lab rats.”
“Just so,” Gabriel agreed. One of the men accidentally ran into one of the boxes with money in it with the side of his foot, and four long, silver blades sliced through the air, nearly cleaving the hapless man in half. They all turned away from his shocked expression. “Quickly, get out of the room,” said Gabriel then. As they ran, another set of blades sliced, and then another. One of them nicked Desmond in the arm, making him yelp with the pain of it.
“Damn it, that’s going to fester big time,” he complained as they all reached the opening to the next tunnel.
“Duck!” Gabriel shouted, and they all fell to the floor and crawled through as one last set of blades sliced past above their heads.
“He must have had a lot of time to plan this trap,” Betsy muttered.
“About a century, give or take,” Gabriel said with a grimace. “Everyone, you must be much more careful where you step from now on. The last thing we need is to leave a trail of bodies for the Alphas to follow straight to our position.”
“Yes, Signore Gabriel,” the remaining men chimed in unison.
“Can you see anything, Rico?” he asked as the man crouched and moved slowly forward, examining the walls closely.
“I think that may have been the last of them,” he said. “At least for now.”
“How very reassuring,” Gabriel smirked. He motioned the men forward, preferring to bring up the rear with Betsy instead. At her look, he explained, “Whatever he has in store for us next, it’s certain to be somewhere up ahead.”
“Wonderful,” Betsy said dryly. “I can’t wait.”
*
Gabriel was certain there must be an ambush up ahead. There could be no other possible explanation for the lack of enemies all through these caves. Perhaps they were waiting for the group to become tired from walking so far, and then pounce upon them when they reached some far off, designated area.
The others were beginning to become complacent, the longer they walked, but he was still as alert as ever. He knew the Alphas were out there, knew that they were watching and waiting for them. It was only a matter of time before the battle commenced.
“Are we still fairly close to following your map, Rico?” he asked.
“That’s difficult to say, boss,” said Rico with a little shake of the paper. “When we found the counterfeiting machine, we went off course. I tried my best to compensate for that, of course, but still one never knows.”
“We need to know for certain,” Gabriel told him. “At some point we’re going to come up out of this maze, and when we do we’ll have to decide upon a direction to take. While I trust your guesses more than some men’s absolutes, that’s not going to find the amulet for us.”
“He must have moved it by now,” Rico insisted. “He’s not going to just leave it where he knows we’re headed. The thing is much too valuable for that. It isn�
�t going to matter what my map said at all if the thing isn’t even there.”
“I’m going to bank on the notion that he didn’t bother to move the amulet because he doesn’t think we’ll be able to get out of this labyrinth,” said Gabriel. “I think he knows exactly where we are, and so do the Alphas we have yet to encounter.”
“Yes, I expect them to attack any time as well,” Rico agreed. “The only problem is, what can we do to be ready for them? We can’t even turn to wolves to defend ourselves down here.”
“I can’t help thinking there’s some way to get past that dampening field,” Gabriel insisted. “Something we’ve missed somehow.”
“Short of digging out all the stones and putting them somewhere else, not likely,” Rico told him.
“Desmond, how is that arm?” asked Vito when they heard the man groan.
“Terrible, of course,” he answered.
“I wonder,” said Gabriel thoughtfully, and he went to the wall to dig out yet another piece of the strange ore. He walked over and rubbed it on Desmond’s wound, and within seconds it disappeared completely. “I thought as much. The Alphas aren’t coming after us because of this ore, not because of any plan Lupo may have set up. Perhaps if it can heal us, it might just as easily be used to harm them.”
“That’s a long shot, boss, but it might just work,” said Rico.
“Men, I know you’re all getting tired, and we would all love to sit a while, but we aren’t going to rest just yet,” Gabriel told them. “First we’re going to gather up a bunch of this ore and bring it along. When those Alphas attack, we’ll try using the stuff on them.”
“I wonder if that metal is easy to smelt,” commented Desmond, then. “We might be able to make some sort of crude weapons from it. I used to make my own bullets. Making a blade can’t be much more difficult. We can dig out molds in the dirt and put melted metal into them.”
“How are we supposed to cool it down?” asked Betsy unthinkingly.
The Real Italian Alphas Page 11
