One thing was certain, from this point on Quinn was going to do everything she could to learn how to fight and be a stronger member of the Dragofin Clan. In spite of that huge information dump she’d received during her mating with Lucien, Quinn was still woefully unprepared for this mission.
Things like this left her crippled with lack of experience and know-how. She was at the mercy of the folks who’d taken Wren. She hadn’t the first clue on what to do, depending on Ajax and Hildy to help her get her friend back. With her lack of experience, Quinn was more a liability to a successful mission than anything else.
Why had she thought she could help Lucien on his mission? That’s because she’d been cuckoo and delusional in the safety of the Lair. This field work was the truth. Lucien was right. Quinn wasn’t ready for this, but she would be.
Determined to never be in this predicament again. Quinn was a new woman, one who would contribute to what Lucien and the guys had to do all the time. If folks were going to continue snatching up women associated with the Dragofin Clan or anyone else without their permission, she was going to be able to kick ass, take names and take back what was stolen.
Ajax straightened in his seat and stared off, unfocused. Quinn suspected it was Hildy giving him an update. Time slowed to a stand still as she waited for him to fill her in on what Hildy had said. After what felt like hours, his muscles relaxed a bit, and he looked over to her.
“Hildy thinks this is a transit spot and that someone will show up to take us to the real location. She’s hanging back to see how this plays out but thinks the two vehicles that entered the office park from the back are here for us.” He gave Quinn a faint smile.
In the dimness of the dark car, she couldn’t make out every detail of his facial features, but the fact that he was offering her assurances meant he too was nervous. Pressing her back into the car seat, Quinn wiped away a single tear that ran down her cheek. Come hell or high water she was going to find Wren tonight.
Like Hildy had informed them, two dark SUVs with tinted windows pulled up on either side of them.
“Don’t move or roll your window down. Let me do all the talking,” Ajax instructed her.
“Nothing to worry about on that front. Handle it,” is all she could say.
The vehicle on Ajax’s side rolled down a window. Ajax rolled his down as well. A man Quinn had never seen before peered out and spoke.
“You are to follow us. We know your girlfriend isn’t with you. But, if you want to make sure the girl stays safe, get a message to her to follow us, and no one will get hurt.” Then he looked over at Quinn and said, “Who the fuck is that?”
Ajax motioned for Quinn to keep her cool. He took a beat and said, “She’s the friend of the woman you’re holding. She’s here for emotional support once we make the trade.”
The man looked at her again, curling his lip into a snarl. “Okay, but that’s all she better be doing. Follow us. Keep up and don’t try any funny business to alert the police. That would be bad. This ain’t the scene to be a hero. Follow instructions, and it’ll be all good.” Then the man’s face turned somber as he added, “You don’t want to fuck with these people—trust me.”
Ajax nodded, “Heard and understood. Lead the way.”
He rolled his window up and followed behind the car as the other followed behind them. Quinn couldn’t hold her thoughts and blurted out, “So they don’t know I’m the Dragon’s Eye. That’s got to be something we can use, right?”
“Hold your horses on that Quinn. These guys didn’t know who you were. That doesn’t mean the real players don’t. The most likely scenario is that these guys are hired muscle, given the barest information to carry out their tasks. We wait and see what happens. If they don’t know who you are, then we can use it, but only after they’ve shown their hand.”
Quinn remained silent, pulling on anything to give her a vision, understanding or even a plan to move this along. She could only imagine how Wren must be faring. Her sweet friend had never done anything to anyone, and here she was kidnapped and being used as a pawn in a game she never signed up for. These people were going down.
The front vehicle got on the Interstate traveling north. They followed. Ajax kept the right amount of distance, staying with the SUV as it swerved into the fastest lanes. The city still had enough traffic at this time of night for there to be slow pokes out and in the way. Quinn fought the urge to roll her window down and scream at the other cars to call the police or at least mime 9-1-1.
She stole a side glance at Ajax. His stone-faced resolved gave her the added confidence that they were on the same page and that somehow they’d get Wren back. The SUV in front got onto another highway, still heading north into an affluent area, famous for the old money of Atlanta. Quinn remained quiet, taking in where they went and searched within for some insight or plan.
Since the vision from earlier, that newfound ability had weakened. She’d tried back at the Lair to see where Wren might be, to no avail. Now, her mind was a jumbled mix of images fueled by low-level panic for her friend’s welfare. Looking ahead, she saw a tower that held luxury homes and knew where they must be headed. When the front SUV made three turns putting them in the gated access garage of the building she rolled down her window and looked up at the surveillance camera. Ajax saw what she did but didn’t say a word.
The SUV led the caravan to the top portion of the parking structure that was exposed. Once they parked, Ajax and Quinn followed. He smiled and winked at Quinn. She hoped this meant Hildy had found a way to turn the tables to their favor. There was no one else in this part of the structure but them. Once the other SUV parked, a man dressed like a throwback to the fifties got out. He looked harmless and approached them as if they were meeting for a normal business interaction and not to barter for the life of her best friend.
When he approached, the man beelined it to Ajax and extended his hand. “Hello Mr. Drake, I’m Mr. Scott, and I’ll be overseeing our business tonight.”
Before Quinn knew how it happened, Ajax slugged the man, knocking him to the ground.
“You shit-faced bastard. Leave my mate alone and me. She’s never coming back with you. Do you hear me?” Ajax stomped over to the man, grabbed him by his suit jacket and yanked him up. Who was still dressed in a suit at one in the morning anyway? “Get your ass up and look me in the face. I want you to understand what I’m about to say with no room for interpretation. My mate, Hildy Newton, soon to be Hildy Drake, will NEVER work for you again. If you try to con her into returning, she’ll hunt you down and make it look like you did it to yourself. Are we clear?”
Quinn felt a sound more than heard it. It floated on the air and was so sweet and lulling she wanted with all her heart to follow it. She was a few steps into her pursuit when Ajax grabbed her with an iron grip.
“Let me go. Don’t you hear it? I need to find out where it’s coming from.” Quinn couldn’t understand how he didn’t want to know where that lovely sound was.
He looked at her and then over to the squirming Mr. Scott. Releasing the man and grabbing her in a bear hug, Ajax picked Quinn up and started walking back toward their SUV. He bent down close to her ear and said, “That sound is coming from Hildy. You are released from its hold and can hear the truth in clarity. By the power of my mating to the Siren and the Dragon’s wisdom of the Dragofin Clan of which you belong, you, Quinn Bradford are free.”
A pressure pop went off in her ears as Hildy’s voice could be heard in its normal tone. Quinn marveled as Hildy spoke, “All who hear, come to me. Find me, and I will give you peace and pleasure. Am I not sweet and welcoming? Come to me now. Come to me.”
Quinn looked up at Ajax as he let out a huge grin. “Told you, she’s a Siren,” and then he shrugged as if this miraculous event was no biggie.
The man who’d introduced himself as Mr. Scott, went to the SUV he’d come from and opened the door.
“Ajax, Mr. Scott’s getting away.”
Ajax looked over
at him with an unhurried air. “No, he’s not. If you listen closely, you can hear Hildy speaking directly to him as well. She’s telling him not to leave his wife in the car, that his family needs to come with him.”
Quinn was confused, “But why? Is his wife in on this?”
“No, but I suspect the real mastermind behind this is. If we can continue to flip the script on the situation, we might be able to locate Wren with no unnecessary violence.”
“I see. Okay—I trust the plan.”
Ajax loosened his grip on Quinn enough for her to see what was unfolding before them. Two men that must have been bodyguards were mere feet from the edge of the building. Mr. Scott tussled with…
“No way! That’s the woman from yesterday. Ajax, that’s my ex, Craig’s, girlfriend. She’s not Mrs. Scott. What the hell is going on?”
“Let’s watch and find out.”
Mr. Scott tussled and tangled with the woman until the sound of Hildy’s voice infiltrated the interior of the SUV. The Siren’s Call was too strong to be denied. A woman released her grip on the door frame to stand and started walking with Mr. Scott. The other side of the SUV opened to reveal another bodyguard, but no Wren. Quinn attempted to run toward the car, but Ajax restrained her in rock hard arms. These Dragon men were strong.
Looking up at him, she pleaded, “I have to see if she’s in there. What if she is and can’t get loose? What if they do something to the car or if she isn’t in there and we fail to find out where she is?”
“I know, but please, trust the plan and watch.”
Ajax continued to hold Quinn, giving her little wiggle room. She’d proven that he needed to do this, but everything within her wanted to go over to that vehicle. No one else emerged. Over at the edge of the parking structure, the ones still under Hildy’s Siren Call stood a few feet from the edge looking out into the night sky with expressions of tortured pleasure on their faces. Quinn didn’t ask what was happening, opting to trust the plan as Ajax had instructed.
Mr. Scott, that woman, and four bodyguards stood lined up along the edge like stone soldiers waiting for the next command. The only thing that kept them from plunging to their deaths was a three-foot concrete divider, used as a guard rail for cars. Quinn’s breath released. She hadn’t realized she was holding it until then. Tuning in to hear what Hildy said, Quinn wanted to give her a high five.
Hildy’s Siren voice still sounded sweeter and slightly addictive to her, but Quinn knew it was her friend who spoke and that the words were laced with enchantment.
Hildy said, “As soon as you reveal the way to where the girl is, your reward will be great. Where is she? Where is the girl who stands in the way of your greatest pleasure?”
Freaking brilliant.
Hildy was using her gift to make them tell her where Wren was. There was no fighting or shooting like Quinn thought there’d be. This was like humane magic. Yeah, that’s what it was.
“Mr. Scott, all the goals you’ve been working to achieve will come true with this act. Where is the girl? Speak loud. Speak now,” Hildy commanded him.
Like the magic that it was, Mr. Scott opened his mouth to speak. “She’s on lower-level number four of this building’s basement, accessed by the service and maintenance elevators.”
“You are wise and brave. Is she protected from outsiders?” Hildy asked, voice dripping with sweetness.
“Yes, she’s very well protected.”
“By whom? Tell all so that she might be removed from your path to pleasure.”
Mr. Scott spoke again, “There are others down there with her.”
“Who exactly?”
Quinn still didn’t know where Hildy was or from where she was projecting her voice. It seemed to be all around them and yet concentrated in a spot off the ledge of the parking structure. Mr. Scott opened his mouth to speak again, but this time a loud crash filled the air, breaking the enchantment.
“Now might be a good time to book it out of here.” Ajax caught her attention as he said, “Stay behind me. This is about to get ugly.”
“No duh.”
32
Quinn…
“I’m here, bitches! Come and try to get her if you dare,” a small but bold teenage blond girl shouted through the settling dust and debris.
Her entrance was over the top in a campy way, but when Quinn spotted Wren hovering close behind her, everything about this little girl changed. The mission got serious. A gaping hole stood where the door to the stairwell had been. The little urchin dragged Wren behind her with a strength far more powerful than her delicate frame should allow. Out of the rubble of the blast, they emerged with the girl in charge and control of great power. Instead of the wild bit of crazy Quinn expected to see in the girl’s eyes, she was treated to piercing blue eyes that sparkled with intelligent power and stone cold calm.
Body movement behind her sent a slither of dread up Quinn’s spine. And the party kept getting crashed by more ‘oh fucks.’ Quinn cut her eyes to see where the sound came from. Her dire prediction that the night could bring horrible fighting and bullets unfolded as each of the stone soldiers melted into angry attackers. The tall woman was the worst leaping into the air at an inhuman speed and height. Ajax took in the next actions too, looking up at the tall woman as she leaped over them, clearing yards of distance in a single leap. It was as if watching an action movie in slow motion.
“Get them!” the woman shouted. The heifer was still in mid-leap as she had said this, turning back to instruct the bodyguards. When she landed, it was closer to where the girl was holding Wren.
Uh-oh, neither one of these women were completely human. Quinn was too fit to be tied.
“Well damn, is everyone a supernatural being around here?” She looked at Craig’s girlfriend, and with a boldness that shocked even her, Quinn asked, “Is Craig human or what? And where in the hell is my money, bitch!”
Without hesitation, the woman said, “No, Craig is boringly human and that money—it’s already spent. It was mere pennies anyway. It’s a shame I didn’t make him stick around longer. If I’d known you were a latent Sibyl, I could have gotten top dollar for you on the flesh market. That is after I’ve starved you of quite a few meals to decrease that unflattering girth you’ve got going on. Ever heard the word diet, dear?”
Red was the color that flashed before Quinn. “That’s it you thieving-assed bitch! I’m gonna show you how girth won the game called whup-ass.”
Before Quinn could take off running toward the woman, Ajax was in front of her fighting the two bodyguards she’d failed to notice coming at them. She clung to the side of Ajax’s SUV as he proceeded to beat and kick the shit out of them. Spinning around to locate Hildy, Quinn finally looked up about twenty feet above where the girl stood to see Hildy still clad in black with her beautiful black angel wings gracefully suspending her in air.
When Hildy spotted her looking, she made the gesture not to give her location away. Quinn closed her gaping mouth and looked back down to the scene playing out in front of her. Craig’s Pimp, that’s what she now thought of this hateful woman, was still laughing as if she was the queen of the world and Quinn wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
“Keep on laughing. I see you,” Quinn whispered taking in how the woman’s laughter was filled with mock and snobbery.
Quinn knew a law of the Earth, and it was that pride came before the fall. Whoever this woman was, she was going down soon. She must have a short memory as well, acting as if nothing could harm her when Hildy already had her about to jump off the building if she’d wanted to.
Out the corner of her eye, Quinn could see Wren moving. Wren kept tugging at the girl’s steel-trap grip to get free with no success.
“Hold on Wren. We’re coming for you. Help is here,” Quinn yelled across the parking deck.
Maybe she could get Hildy to transport her over to where the other women were. When she looked over at Hildy flying about, still in stealth mode, the lights from the parking gar
age glinted off the shiny blackness of her razor sharp talons.
On second thought never mind. As God was her witness, Quinn would get in better shape and learn to be stealthy too. Right now, Wren was hundreds of yards away, and Quinn knew she’d be too slow to outrun the distance of any of these folks, save that tired-looking Mr. Scott.
She looked around to spot him. He inched along the concrete barrier, making his way to where the young girl stood with Wren. Quinn also saw Hildy tracking him like a bird of prey above. Yeah, he was all Hildy’s. That woman, Craig’s Pimp, closed the distance between the cars and the stairwell opening. She came close to stand before the girl who had blasted it to smithereens.
The woman yelled at the girl, “What are you doing up here with her?”
“I saw what was happening and came to help. You’re welcome by the way, you ungrateful greedy old hag.”
“We don’t have time for the arguing, I’m warning you. Get back downstairs. The Siren, Hildy, is loose. Cover your ears and run!”
Well-well, maybe the woman did have some memory. Yeah, Hildy was on the rampage—a silent and scary one, ask Mr. Scott. What Quinn wouldn’t give right now for a recording of Hildy’s Siren voice and some amped up speakers. Can you say dance, heifer, dance? Yes, that would be too much like right.
Looking like a defiant teen in full-on rebellion, the girl said, “No way. Her big ass is mine! Where is she? I’m immune to her voice.”
Ajax finished decimating all the bodyguards, leaving Mr. Scott and these two women before them. He motioned for Quinn to start moving toward the women on the other side of the structure. As they walked, Quinn noticed the girl watched every move Ajax made as if in a school-girl crush stupor.
Nothing and no one interfered with her drool session watching Ajax come toward her. Yeah, he was fine and cute, but he was taken and not interested. Not once had she bothered to look up. Hildy was practically on top of them now that Mr. Scott had made it over to where they all stood.
It was Mr. Scott who finally looked up and located Hildy. Turning around to face her, he spoke as talking to a temperamental child. The effect was demeaning and grating on the nerves. Obviously, he had the social intelligence of a man locked in a time when man-splaining was a welcomed and accepted practice.
Lucien: Dragofin Mated: Book 2 (Dragonfin Clan Mated) Page 26
