“Does the factory have any back hallways into the administrative building?” I peered over my shoulder to ask Stan.
“Two of them. One is the main hallway, where payroll gives checks. I’ve heard others say there is another one, but I haven’t been able to see it. Most likely hidden by them leprechauns. They’re sneaky fuckers, but they pay good.”
With the cash from their pot of gold, of course.
I said, “When I went in earlier today, I could see through their magic.”
“You’ve seen them?” Stan jumped out of the back and leaned on Miles’ window. “I haven’t seen them before. Just smelled ‘em.”
Alex sighed. “This whole place smells like chemicals. I don’t smell a damn thing.”
“You’d have to work here for a while. There are a couple of packs with folks here. When they come round, some of them stink of leprechauns.”
My nose wrinkled. Did people smell goblin on me from my job? Was that smell under my skin? ‘Cause I sure didn’t notice it.
I chimed in—albeit reluctantly. “I’ll go in first as the lead. Maybe I’ll be able to see the hallway.”
Alex gave me a look that reflected the confidence I felt. “You sure about that?”
“Not really, but hey, my deal, my burden.”
He nodded slowly. “At the first sign of trouble, I go in alone. We could also get arrested for this.”
Stan snorted. “Oh, they won’t call the police if they find us.” Everyone gathered outside of the truck to stare at him. He sort of shrugged and tilted his head. “They’ll flat out kill you and hide the bodies.”
I stopped breathing.
“I’m just kidding.” Stan laughed. “They’ll torture your ass, and then they’ll kill you.”
The guys laughed, nervously though. I hoped like hell Stan was kidding. He had to be. Was this factory hiding the bodies of delinquent teenagers who joy rode their way into the basement of doom at the leprechaun factory?
“Just keep drinking, Stan. We’ll be out soon enough,” Miles said.
“I hope so,” I mumbled.
Stan jumped into the back of the truck and pulled out another beer. Apparently, it could be Miller Time from any location.
Our walk up to one of the loading docks was uneventful. Nobody stopped us, and we walked in through one of the open doors. Miles took point. The loading dock led directly to the shipping floor. Stacks of boxes and piles of wood planks, ready to be shipped, waited with labels. My nose to the air, I didn’t smell that anyone had been here recently. Maybe a few hours ago. There were still footprints on the sawdust peppering the floor.
There was minimal lighting here, since the area wasn’t being used, but I could still see into the shadows. Small creatures lurked in the corners, scuttling about to avoid the larger predators that came their way.
A few corners stank of a strange scent. A filth that pushed at me.
“What’s wrong?” Alex asked as we walked past the rows.
“Something here smells off.”
“Stan said the leprechauns had a weird smell.”
“No, it’s weird,” I said. “Like the one you smell on a diseased body. It warns you away. That kind of thing.”
Alex shrugged. We approached two sets of doors. One of them really smelled bad while the other one didn’t.
Miles reached for the stinky one.
“Don’t!” I surged forward and grabbed the back of his shirt to yank him back.
“What the hell is your problem?” he asked.
“Don’t you smell it?”
“Smell what? Other than wood and mice and chemicals?”
“I smell magic. Like something dead.” He tried to move forward again, but I slapped his hand.
Miles growled, and I cowered a bit. A low rung wolf like me was to never strike a higher-ranking wolf, but I refused to let go of him. If I did, he’d get hurt. Or worse. Thorn was never this foolhardy.
When I noticed he stayed still, I backed up a bit.
“Give me a reason to believe you about the magic,” he said.
I searched the dark corridor for something. A broomstick was the nearest thing I could find. The end appeared as if it had been bitten off—by what, I didn’t want to know. I picked up the broom and edged near the door, but didn’t approach it headlong like Miles tried.
The closer I got to the door, the more the scent urged me to back away. To flee. Why couldn’t they smell it? Then the end of the broom, the wooden end, blackened. The green paint over the broomstick began to crack and peel off. As if something ate away at it.
“What the hell?” Miles hissed.
“Leprechaun wards.” So that’s what I smelled. I should’ve known since my goblin employer, Bill, had told me about them. A deadly ward was much more effective than paying security guards. This wasn’t the olden days when you had to keep thieves away from your treasure. They could’ve spent money on a camera system and guards. But why not just melt off the hands of the curious?
I silently thanked Bill for charming me with his magic. (This gratitude wouldn’t last long when I got to work on Monday.)
“I think we should take the other door,” Alex said quietly.
I tossed what was left of the broom to the floor. “It’s clear. But we need to be careful from now on.”
The doors led us into another storage area. The guys now followed me, completely dependent on my nose. We bypassed two more leprechaun traps: a pathway with some kind of guillotine and a random puddle in the floor that led…somewhere. We didn’t speculate where the wood block we dropped into it went.
“What are they protecting in here?” Miles asked.
“Profits.” If Bill could’ve had these kinds of safeguards for The Bends, he’d have done it in a heartbeat.
Finally, we reached what appeared to be the locker room for staff. Two werewolves left, and we were safe to amble inside.
“Where do we go from here?” Miles asked.
“I saw an emergency exit map right before we came in,” Alex said. “There should be another doorway from here that goes to the administration building.”
“Through payroll?” Miles asked.
“No, one of the paths just cuts off. I think that’s what Nat meant by a hidden doorway.”
“Wouldn’t it be guarded?”
“Not necessarily,” I told Miles. “Especially if it’s protected by magic.”
This whole trip felt...too easy. We’d stumbled across a few traps, but why hadn’t any of those alerted the leprechauns? They’d guarded their money viciously for centuries. Why would they let us stroll in?
“But wouldn’t they put another trap on the hallway?” Alex asked.
“Then how would the employees get through?” I said. “You can’t kill off the janitors.”
“You do have a point there.” Alex started going through the lockers without padlocks. He found three work shirts and gave one to Miles, but he stopped when he came to me.
That was someone else’s shirt. And it didn’t smell clean, either.
“Sorry,” he blurted. “I sometimes forget.”
“Forget what?” Miles tossed off his shirt and threw on the grimy one from the plant. It buttoned up nicely over his torso, but nothing in the world could get me to touch him now. Someone had worked a full shift and had thrown that thing into their locker without laundering it first. That was just wrong on many levels.
Alex took the lead as we left the locker room and headed down the hallway. This area was well-lit, but we didn’t see anyone. Still, we moved quietly. It was a lot easier to hear footsteps since we kept a steady pace.
The scent of leprechauns grew stronger as we approached the administrative building. The roar of machines grew louder, too. We quickly walked past two doorways that lead to the cutting floor. Humans and supernatural creatures toiled the graveyard shift to cut products from the trees. Once in a while, the chemicals used to treat the wood filled my nostrils and blocked out almost every other scent. We’d be
past this area soon enough.
The whole place seemed innocent. There were safety signs. A locked bulletin board with company announcements, the standard Occupation Safety and Health Administration signs that we used at The Bends. But it was what the others couldn’t see that made this place weird. The leprechauns had peppered all sorts of propaganda for themselves on the walls.
In large print, a few said: PROFIT IS LIFE. Another said: PRODUCE OR WITHER AWAY. It was rather strange and made me think of the propaganda in that book 1984 by George Orwell. Leprechauns used brainwashing?
Thank goodness, the visible ones for the humans were much friendlier.
Alex eventually led us down a hallway that appeared to end in darkness. Almost as if someone had turned off the lights. The darkness tried to suck me in. It prickled every one of my wolf senses.
“This should be a dead-end,” Alex said.
“It looks that way,” Miles said behind me. “What do you see, Nat?”
“It’s weird. I feel like the path keeps going, but it’s so dark that it looks like the inside of a cave.”
“I only see a wall with some plants,” Miles said.
“Me, too,” Alex added.
So bizarre. Almost as if I was high on something. Maybe I had been slipped a beer or two.
I slowly crept toward the blackness.
Suddenly, Alex turned around the way we came. His head whipped back in my direction, and he growled. I froze and listened. Footsteps. And they were quickly coming from around the corner. My ears told me a good thirty feet or so.
“Go!” Miles pushed me toward the hallway while Alex followed.
Miles left us, took a drink from the nearby drinking fountain, and then walked down the hall in the opposite direction.
A voice yelled, “Can I help you?”
Dread hit my stomach. Miles couldn’t see the traps in here. This wasn’t the time for us to separate.
Alex grabbed my arm and urged us forward. By the time we stepped over the dark threshold into the administration building, we only heard the sounds of thundering footsteps, then a struggle.
The leprechauns had Miles. And damn it all to hell, I had only wanted to take some pictures.
CHAPTER FOUR
The blackened path was an illusion, of course. The hallway was a mask for the entryway into the administration building. I took several tentative steps forward, waiting for our pursuers to come down the secret passage. But no one came for us. From where we stood, everything was recognizable. If we continued this way, we’d eventually reach the lobby where I’d been stopped before. The place looked like any other office building. Nice mahogany doors with names on signs. Human resources, the vice president’s office. Even the break room for the staff. Just another work place. But the complete silence crept along my arms and made me want to scratch them. The ordinariness of it and what magic lurked underneath made me so very afraid we’d be attacked by leprechauns. The hints of fear snatched at my breath, but I tried to keep it at bay. This wasn’t the place for a panic attack. Not now. Not here.
I tried to lighten my mood. “You sure you don’t want to stop in the copy room and make copies of your ass?”
Alex snorted. “As tempting as that sounds, I just want you to take those pictures and get out of here.”
I nodded, and we walked faster. My destination came into view, a glass display case with a few items inside. The hallway was dimly lit, but the light from the case shone brightly. The compass appeared to be made from polished brass with ornate carvings for the declination markings. It even had a movable sundial built into the device. As an antiquarian, I could appreciate such a beautiful piece. But now wasn’t the time to admire it. All I had to do was finish the job.
“Take your pictures.” Alex looked around. “I’m gonna double back and see if I can find Miles.”
I sucked in a sour breath. “You’re going to leave me alone? Are you nuts?”
“Then hurry up! What if he’s hurt?”
I opened my purse and took out the camera the dragon had given me. It was a newer one. Magic tingled on my fingers as I held it. Most likely the film had been touched to record anything hidden by a spellcaster.
The camera turned on easily enough, and I took pictures of the antique compass. I got in as closely as possible and took shots from multiple angles. Then I remembered my blood-sealed deal with the water spirit. I took another memory card, the one we’d purchased right before we came here, and used it to take more pictures. My hands shook the whole time.
“That’s good enough,” I said. “Let’s find Miles.”
The path back from where we’d come was deserted. Alex and I crept down the hall, barely making a sound with each tentative step. My brother’s heartbeat was loud in my ears—almost like a frightened rabbit. Miles’ scent led around the corner he’d went. That led further into the factory.
At the end of the hall, we spotted some shoes.
“This isn’t good,” Alex muttered.
“Are you sure about that?” I pointed farther down the hall. A trail of clothing had been left on the floor. It was a pair of superman underwear and Miles’ jeans.
Superman underwear, huh? Superman usually left his undies on.
My nose drew me to the floor. “I smell humans. A guard maybe.”
Alex gathered his friend’s clothes, and we continued down the hallway at a faster pace.
The strong scent of wolf pulled me forward. How far had he gotten in wolf-form?
At the end of the hallway, we came to a set of doors with an eye-level window. Alex peered inside, then shrank back against the wall. I did the same and thought I’d pass out right then and there.
The snapshot in my mind was crystal clear. Two leprechauns, dressed lumber mill workwear, held Miles, in human form, by the arms while a single human guard stood there cowering. A third leprechaun, wearing a business suit, interrogated Miles. He snapped at our friend, his curse-laden shouts reaching the hallway. With a thick cane, the leprechaun struck Miles’ in the face.
Those bastards. This wasn’t good. At all.
Alex paced for a moment, and then the back of his hand grew hairy. A grumble rose in his throat, soft, yet menacing. He looked over his shoulder at me.
It was do-or-die time. Was I ready to play with the big kids now?
I nodded and removed my shirt. When it came to being a werewolf, there was no room for modesty. You stripped in front of your werewolf neighbors or even the local supermarket clerk. It was a part of my life, and I accepted it despite the hang-ups I otherwise had.
Naked, I succumbed to the change. Alex wasn’t far behind me. This was a quick one, and it was painful. My knee cracked, and my spine snapped to accommodate my new body. The wolf writhed under my skin, joyous to burst forth. Finally, my hair grew along my body and my snout extended. I collapsed on the ground, momentarily exhausted for pushing the transformation so quickly.
Alex nudged me with his nose. My claws scraped against the floors as I tried to find my footing. It was time to fight.
He stormed through the double doors, and I was right by his side. All of them looked at us—except for the human. A lovely welcome wagon for their guests.
Shit.
Alex twitched, and then he surged forward. I raced behind him, already hungry for the hunt. They released Miles, and he dropped to the floor with a thud. My targets blossomed in front of me like beacons. Two leprechauns to the left. They held bats. Their positions shifted like scattering dice.
The leprechaun to the right, who hit Miles came at us as well, mouth contorted in a sneer. His magic filled the air with an acrid stench. “C’mon, little doggies. Come for your supper.”
Alex crossed the floor. He leapt through the air, tackling the two leprechauns. They tumbled into a heap of boxes and tossed-over equipment. The third leprechaun with the iron cane goaded me on, and I ran faster. My mouth opened, ready and eager to snap at him.
There was no aiming for me. No thinking. Only the driving ne
ed to take him down. If I let my human side intercede in any way, I’d be in a heap of trouble.
The leprechaun appeared to be as tall as a man, yet the form I hit was short and wide. But my trajectory was true. I slammed into him, and he barreled over me into a long table. The flesh, which was covered in wool, filled my mouth.
My momentum was too fast, too forceful. We stumbled over the table, his meaty hands clutching fistfuls of my fur, and my mouth locked on his pudgy gut. As we tumbled over the other side and fell to the floor, I took the brunt of it, landing on my back. The leprechaun landed on top of me, his eyes blazing.
“You little bitch!” His fist hit my side, and with it, came a spark of heat. Leprechaun magic singed my skin. I yelped, but refused to let go of him. For good measure, I bit deeper, shaking my head until I found skin and cut through.
Take that, you little bastard. Let’s see how you like pain.
His screech of pain sliced through my eardrums. We rolled again, this time with me on top. In situations like these, there was only instinct. This leprechaun would kill me if he had the chance. I surged forward, switching from his gut to his neck. He’d pay for what he did to Miles, but then something grabbed me at the scruff of my neck and yanked hard.
“Back down!” Miles barked.
Alex, in human form, pulled at me when I didn’t budge.
“That’s enough,” he snapped at me, driving me back.
I scampered backward, hitting a support pole in the middle of the room.
The leprechaun laid in front of me, bleeding, but his chest moved nonetheless.
“We didn’t come here to kill,” Alex said.
The other leprechauns lay crumpled on the floor. The guard was long gone.
Inwardly, I cursed at my lack of control. There was a reason why I hunted alone. Moments like these were reminders of such.
Alex and Miles left the room, with me racing behind them. At least my brother picked up my clothes and bag as he ran back the way we came. Even with the darkened hallways, our path by scent was clear.
The parking lot was a welcome sight, along with Alex’s truck. I darted ahead of them and jumped into the back. Good ole’ Stan greeted me with a snort and offered me an opened can of beer.
Collected: A Coveted Novella Page 4
