Gate

by Ava Benton

  Tommy dragged his feet as he left the room, looking at me one more time before disappearing down the hall.

  Cash’s smile dissolved as he grew serious once the two of us were alone. “You’re ready for this?”

  “I don’t see why not.” I smiled before turning away to finish packing. “I didn’t see you clamoring to volunteer.”

  “You know I would if I…”

  “Didn’t have responsibilities here. I get it. I really do. Miles and I are the only two singles left in the group. It makes sense that we would be the ones to go.”

  “I don’t like it this way. You need to know that.”

  “I do. I’m sure you all feel the same.”

  Once I zipped the bag, stuffed full of warm weather clothing—the fact that we were going to the Caribbean wasn’t lost on me, not for a moment—I turned to him with a shrug.

  “This isn’t a competition. There’s no need for any of us to prove ourselves. We need only do what there is to be done. And this needs to be done.” I grinned. “And I can’t pretend I’m not looking forward to kicking a little ass. It looks as though somebody out there thought they could get away with kidnapping our clan. They need to pay for that.”

  My dragon roared in agreement, straining to be free.

  The gleam in Cash’s eyes told me his dragon felt the same way. “Well, then. By all means. Let’s get you moving.”

  3

  Gate

  Mary clasped my hands. “It’s lovely, seeing you in person again.”

  I looked down at the petite woman standing before me.

  The knot of silver hair at the nape of her neck was the same, as were the sharp blue eyes behind a pair of glasses she kept on a cord around her neck.

  She was smaller than I’d remembered—someone with a network as large as hers, who wielded so much power, naturally seemed larger than life. She barely came up to my chest.

  Even so, her personality was expansive. And the grip on my hand was tight.

  “It’s good to see you, too,” I assured her, taking in the cargo pants and boots she wore.

  Another thing I hadn’t expected. A sweater set and skirt seemed more her style, at least according to the impression I’d developed of her. Perhaps she dressed this way while on a mission.

  I smiled my appreciation for all she did for us. “I have to admit, we hadn’t expected to find you waiting for us.”

  She took Miles’ hands in greeting, addressing me while craning her neck to look up at him. “Did you think I would allow you to do something like this on your own?”

  “You’ll be joining us?” he asked, eyebrows shooting up.

  “No, no. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m no good at fighting—look at me,” she chuckled.

  I wasn’t so certain that it was a good idea to underestimate how valuable she could be in a fight. The smallest dog was often the most vicious.

  She continued, “But there was no way I would wait thousands of miles from here, either. I’ll be waiting here, at our little base, while you sail the rest of the way to the island.”

  “You have a base here? On St. Lucia?” I looked around, taking it all in.

  It was beyond anything I had imagined, another world when compared to what I’d known for the last thousand years.

  Lush, green mountains in the distance, topped with billowy white clouds. The fragrance of flowers and salt air mingling together, intoxicating me. Water the color of the sky. Balmy breezes. I could imagine napping on the beach for hours with the gentle sound of lapping water soothing my subconscious. And Mary had a base of operations there? Where could I sign up for a position in her army?

  “It’s more like a resort,” she clarified, leading us from the car which had picked us up at the airport down to the docks, where a boat waited.

  “A resort? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Miles murmured.

  We exchanged looks.

  “Oh, yes,” she chuckled. “It’s not available for guests, of course. We have to present ourselves as fully booked at all times, just in case anyone wants to book a room. After all, it’s a lovely place. I’d want to stay here, myself.”

  “You’re not alone in that,” I agreed.

  “At any rate, I’ll be here at all times,” she assured us, striding confidently down the gravel path which wound around the resort grounds. “And you can contact me whenever you want, using the boat’s radio. Unfortunately, there’s no cell service on the island we identified as the location where the heartbeat originates. It sits twelve nautical miles off the northern coast of St. Lucia, which is where we’re currently located. From the reconnaissance we’ve performed thus far, the island looks uninhabited. Too small to even appear on GPS. I doubt that it’s a mile wide in any direction.”

  “That makes it easier for us,” Miles observed, sounding hopeful.

  “Indeed—however, it also makes noticing you that much easier for whoever is holding the clan hostage,” Mary pointed out. “We located the most secluded place for you to drop anchor. Surrounded by trees and brush. The boat’s captain already knows the ideal route, which will take you directly to that area without leaving you open to observation.”

  “It sounds as though you’ve thought of everything.”

  She fixed me with a sharp look. “I always think of everything. That’s my job, you know.”

  She took a tone which brought to mind a mother chastising her child, which might have flown if I weren’t many hundreds of years older than she. Appearances were deceptive—I had the feeling she forgot who was far senior to whom. And far more physically powerful.

  My dragon stirred, displeased by her tone.

  Miles broke in. “Thank you for all of this. We never would’ve been able to do this without you.”

  She shrugged. “As I’ve said, it’s the least I can do. I’ve been in your debt for a great many years.”

  The memory of that day was still fresh in my mind. In it, she was still a young woman. Headstrong, beautiful, in need of our help. She would be long dead if it weren’t for us. I got the impression from her abrupt change in demeanor that she remembered and appreciated this.

  A tall, sandy-haired man stood at the boat’s helm—when he saw our approach, he disembarked to meet us on the dock.

  I could sense immediately that he was a shifter, but wasn’t certain which species. A glance at my cousin showed the tightening of his jaw. He sensed it, too, and was on his guard.

  “No need to feel threatened,” Mary assured us in a light voice.

  “Who mentioned feeling threatened?” I asked.

  “You don’t need to. I’ve spent enough time working with shifters to sense changes in your energy, as it were. Shifts, for lack of a better word.” She chuckled at her little joke, which neither of us found amusing. “Klaus is one of my most trusted associates. A lion shifter. He’s been with me from the beginning. I trust no one on a mission such as this more than I trust him.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” I decided.

  When we reached him, standing at the end of the wood-planked dock, I shook his hand and felt him sizing me up. I did the same.

  A quartet of scars ran down the side of his face, as though something with claws had swiped and hit home. It was rare for any of our kind to suffer scars after battle, which meant the wounds must have been deep.

  “Gate,” I said, then nodded to my cousin. “And this is Miles.”

  “It’s good to meet you both.” He turned his attention to Mary next. “Ready to leave at your command.”

  “Thank you, Klaus.” When he was back onboard, she looked at me. “You brought Carissa’s antidote?”

  I patted the bag which was slung over my shoulder. “There’s three dozen doses here.”

  “Do you think that will be enough? We have no idea how many there are.”

  I had given this a lot of thought during the flight. “At the very least, we can inoculate enough that those without the antidote can be freed by those able to shift.”

&nb
sp; “That’s the best we can hope for, I suppose. Now, remember, I’m just a call away. If you need backup, call immediately, and I’ll send it on the double. I only wish sending more than one boat at a time wouldn’t look suspicious.,” she fretted.

  “I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it.” I hoped I wouldn’t have to eat my words later as I handed my suitcase to Klaus before stepping foot on the boat.

  I hadn’t been on the water since we first sailed from Scotland and hoped the seasickness I’d suffered throughout that journey didn’t decide to reappear. At least it would be a short journey.

  Mary waved from the dock as we sailed away, the water smooth and clear. I felt well enough to savor the sea breeze and enjoy the scenery around us. In the far distance perched a number of islands with great, looming mountains looking like they might pierce the sapphire sky.

  “Why couldn’t the Vikings hide their treasure in one of those?” I asked, pointing.

  Miles chuckled. “I was thinking the same thing. What we’ve missed out on, all this time.”

  I hated that he put it that way, but it was the sad truth. When I saw what the rest of the world held, there was no helping the natural question of what else there was to see. Images from the internet, TV, and movies just weren’t the same. I couldn’t smell the salt air when I looked up photos on a computer.

  “Things could be worse,” I decided. “We might be the ones locked up on an uninhabited island, in the middle of nowhere.”

  “A good point.”

  We both fell silent, lost in thought, while the boat slid through the Caribbean Sea.

  It wasn’t long before the engine’s noise lessened. I looked up to where Klaus piloted.

  “We’re coming close,” he announced. “It would be best for the two of you to go below now.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice.

  I ducked down below deck, where two tiny bedrooms sat, along with a galley. They likely weren’t called bedrooms, but I hadn’t had the time to brush up on my nautical jargon. Quarters, perhaps?

  I hadn’t removed the bag containing the antidote yet, and was glad to have its physical and psychological weight off my shoulder when I placed it on the dining table.

  “I suppose we’ll call in for more boats once the threat is taken care of,” I mused, looking around at the cramped space.

  No way could we fit even half the clan in there.

  Miles watched our progress out the forward-facing porthole. “We’re coming up on the island now. You’d think it was paradise if you didn’t know any better. Sand as white as snow.”

  Klaus cut the engines entirely, and the tide brought us the rest of the way in.

  We waited for him to give the all-clear.

  When he did, we ventured back up on-deck and helped him lower a rope ladder to the waist-high water. “I’ve dropped anchor here,” he muttered, looking over his shoulder all the while. Waiting for an ambush?

  I hoped it was only paranoia but knew better. There was no telling what waited for us.

  We were nearly surrounded by trees on three sides, having come to a stop in a little cove.

  Miles was correct; it looked like paradise, or the closest thing to it I could imagine.

  I was just about to ask if Klaus and Mary had come up with a plan for how to proceed when a noise from below froze the three of us.

  “What’s that?” I mouthed, watching Klaus.

  He shrugged, holding a finger to his lips as he withdrew a pistol from the waistband of his cargo shorts and eased himself closer to the open door leading below.

  Another noise, louder this time.

  “I’ll go down,” I offered, already halfway down the stairs.

  Miles followed me.

  I didn’t want to run the risk of Klaus opening fire and drawing attention—besides, if the boat came from the resort, what were the odds of there being an enemy or outsider onboard? He seemed to be a bit of a reactionary, our shifter friend. Something I would have to keep in mind.

  The closet door stood open. It had been closed when we were last down there.

  I looked at Miles and pointed at it, to which he nodded in response.

  Somebody had stowed away inside. But who?

  I reached out for the open door and swung it shut—which revealed our stowaway, who had been hiding behind it.

  A petite little body lunged forward, but we were quicker.

  I took one arm while Miles took the other, and a female voice cried out in protest.

  “Let me go! Damn you, get your hands off me!”

  “It’s okay!” I called out to Klaus, who made it halfway down the short set of stairs before ducking down to see who we’d captured.

  He was still holding the pistol, which made our captive cry out in surprise.

  “Put that thing away, Klaus!”

  She knew him?

  She was small, all right, but feisty.

  Thick, unruly brown hair flew around her head as she twisted and fought.

  My dragon stirred to wakefulness, observing all of this through my eyes. Interesting, he decided. She has spirit. She is special. I didn’t care to hear his thoughts at that moment.

  “Who are you?” I asked her, then looked up at Klaus for an explanation.

  His face fell before his head rolled back on his shoulders and he stared up at the sky. “You have got to be kidding! This is a big joke! What did I do to deserve this?”

  “What are we missing?” Miles asked, looking to me for an answer.

  As if I knew.

  “Klaus, just be cool for once. Okay?” The girl pleaded with him, wringing her hands. So they knew each other.

  “Who is she?” Miles demanded.

  His fingers tightened around her bicep, digging into the soft flesh.

  I stopped short of asking him to ease up on her—after all, we didn’t know who she was.

  “Klaus, please.” Her eyes were wide, but hardly innocent.

  And somehow familiar, in a way I couldn’t put my finger on.

  Not until Klaus said, “Martina. She’s Mary’s daughter.”

  4

  Martina

  Everything was going so well, too. For a little while. I should’ve known better than to leave the closet when I did. Idiot. But they had to find me sometime, didn’t they?

  “Mary’s daughter?” The one still holding me gripped me even harder than before, until I winced.

  “Hey. You wanna ease up a little?” I pried at his fingers to loosen them. “I bruise easily, you know.”

  “Let her go,” the other one said.

  They looked a lot alike with their dark hair and ridiculous builds, big enough to make me wonder exactly how much of their lives were spent in the gym. I had no time for men like them. Brainless, thick-necked bros.

  It didn’t surprise me that my mother had hooked up with them somehow. They could do whatever dirty work she had in mind.

  I should’ve learned more about the mission before I snuck into it. Too late for that by now, with three burly men glaring at me.

  Mr. Rough Stuff released my arm, and I rubbed it briskly just to get the blood flowing again. “Thanks a lot,” I muttered.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Klaus asked, charging at me.

  I couldn’t help but cringe a little, even though I didn’t want him to see how he intimidated me. He would’ve done the same to anybody. He was huge, and he snarled like a wild animal. He practically salivated.

  “I wanted to come along with you, is all.” I hated the way I sounded.

  Like a kid about to burst into tears. I was a grown woman, for God’s sake.

  “You wanted to come along? Like we were going out for a weekend on the beach?” Klaus burst out laughing. “Oh, man, you beat everything. Your mother’s going to have my hide for this.”

  “She doesn’t have to!”

  “Doesn’t she? What do you think she’ll say when she finds out you’re here? That you came along on a mission like this?” He stopped
just short of saying exactly what the mission involved.

  That annoyed me. I didn’t know anything about why we were here and would’ve liked to find out. It wasn’t like Mom would ever tell me the specifics of what she did.

  “You’re really Mary’s daughter?” The dark-haired one who hadn’t grabbed me stared through squinted eyes.

  “Yes. We’d look more alike if she wasn’t so old.”

  He surprised me by blurting out a short, sharp laugh. So he wasn’t as uptight as his friend, who had definitely left a bruise.

  “And she knows better than to pull a move like this,” Klaus snarled.

  “Could you please not talk about me as though I’m not here?” I asked.

  “For somebody who shanghaied this mission, you certainly demand an awful lot. As though you even have a say.”

  “I wanted to see what was happening. Why is that such a crime? I don’t get it.”

  “No. You don’t get it.” He looked at the other two. “She’s not part of anything. She doesn’t know why we’re here.”

  “Don’t tell me what I know,” I warned. “I’ve overheard enough. You’re out here to rescue somebody.”

  “And you came anyway?” The nicer of the two strangers shook his head. “When you had the chance to stay back at the resort? Do you have a death wish?”

  His choice of words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “What do you mean?”

  Klaus gestured toward the pistol he still held, which he then slid into the back of his shorts. “Do you think that’s a toy?” he demanded. “This isn’t a joke, Martina. There’s a reason your mother keeps you in the dark when it comes to missions. It’s all in an effort to keep you safe.”

  “And all I wanted was the chance to do something for once. I’m tired of hanging around. She won’t let me live on my own, she won’t let me be part of what she does.”

  “What a terrible life,” the grabby one snorted.

  “Shut up.”

  “Watch it,” he snarled. “You’re getting in the way here, and this isn’t a game for bored little girls to play.”