by Ariel Marie
Alec, the jokester, had Arlina laughing at one of his crazy escapade stories. He just had a way about him that made everyone like him. I scowl at myself in the review mirror. It should be me making her laugh, but I remind myself that I can’t do a relationship. I cannot take a mate. My wolf wants to howl at the thought of not claiming her. My lifestyle just doesn’t have room for a mate. Maybe she and Alec will get together. A growl escapes at that thought. Alec shoots me another look.
Everything alright, brother? he asks through our mental bond.
Yeah, everything’s fine. Just drive. I try not to look at him.
What’s with the growling? He quickly looks at me again before turning his attention back towards the road.
Nothing, I’m fine.
A half hour later we pull up to the five-story apartment complex of Tina O’Brien. Alec parks the truck on the street in front of the apartment building. According to the file, Tina O’Brien is twenty-five years old, works as a bank teller at one of the local banks. She belongs to the same pack as Serah, the Prime Fire Pack. Prime Fire is a neighboring pack to ours. I’ve known their Alpha, Marcus Miller, for a long time. He’s a good Alpha and we have never had issues with each other.
We get out of the truck and walk into the apartment complex. The apartment lobby is empty. We take the elevator up to the top floor and stop outside her apartment. Alec knocks on the door. I put myself in front of Arlina as the door opens slightly, leaving the chain secured. A tall young lady, with pale skin and chestnut-colored hair pulled back into a bun peeks through the small opening.
“Can I help you?” she asks not taking her eyes off Lina who had stepped from behind me off to the side.
“Tina O’Brien?” I ask, even though I know what she looks like from the files. She nods slightly. “My name is Colin MacKenzie, we spoke on the phone yesterday. We wanted to ask you some questions regarding the disappearance of Serah Daniel. May we come in?”
“Who is she? She’s not one of us. ” She still wasn’t taking her eyes off of Lina.
“Hello, Tina, I’m Arlina Waldmar. I represent the Guardians of the Fae. We’re here to investigate the disappearances that are occurring in the human realm,” Arlina says stepping forward in front of me. Tina nods and shuts the door. We hear the chain being removed and she reopens the door and waves us in.
The apartment is small and cozy to say the least. As soon as you walk in, the kitchen is on the left. A few steps forward and it opens into the living room with a hallway to the right that must lead to the bedroom and bathroom. There is a sofa and loveseat facing each other with a coffee table in between them.
“Please have a seat,” she says gesturing to the couch and love seat. She sits on the love seat and Lina sits next to her. Alec and I have a seat on the couch. I introduce Alec to her.
“I’m not sure how I can help?” She wraps her arms around herself.
“Just tell us what you do know?” I ask her gently, trying to make her feel comfortable around us.
“Serah and I had met a few friends at Lush. My memory is a little foggy. I think we were there until about two that night. I think we came back here to my house. We both had a few drinks but I don’t think we were super drunk. Usually, it would take me more than two drinks to get me drunk to where I can’t remember something. I’m having a hard time remembering what happened that night.” She looks confused. Lush is a new nightclub that is popular with the supernaturals.
“Do you remember how you got home?” Alec asks. She shakes her head no.
“It’s sort of fuzzy. I think Serah drove us home. We drove her car to Lush that night. I remember Serah talking to a couple of guys who offered to drive us home. Serah told them that she wasn’t drunk and would be okay driving us home. I don’t even remember the ride home.” A few tears escape her eyes. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I remember?” she exclaims wiping her tears off of her face with her shirt.
“What’s the last thing that you do remember?” I ask. I looked to Lina and she raises her dark eyebrow. She wants to try to retrieve the memory.
“I remember running out to the dance floor with Serah. The next clear thing I remember is waking up on my couch the next morning. I thought maybe I had drunk too much and Serah had just helped me to the couch and went home. It wasn’t until later that day that I found out she was missing. Her sister called me to see if she was still here at my house.” More tears escape her eyes.
Lina shifts towards her. “Tina, we are really trying to get a lead on all of the disappearances. You might me be able to help us more than you think. If you give me your permission, I may be able to access your memories and see what you cannot remember.”
“Will it hurt?” she asks. Arlina shakes her head no. “Are you that Fae Princess?” Arlina smiles softly and nods her head up and down. “You promise to find Serah and bring her home?” She looks away for a second. “Even if she’s not alive, please bring her home so that she can have a proper burial.” The quiver in her lip displaying that it cost her a lot to say that. I would go crazy if Alec or either one of my brothers went missing.
“I promise I will find her and bring her home no matter what,” Lina says softly, grabbing Tina’s hand.
“Okay, what do you need me to do?” Tina asks. Arlina directs her to lie down on the loveseat then stands behind her head and kneels on the floor. Both Alec and I scoot to the edge of the couch and lean forward so that we can watch the whole process. It’s rare to see this performed by the Fae.
“Do you need help with anything?” Alec asks Lina, looking hopeful.
“No, I’m good. It might look a little weird. If I pass out, just make sure you grab me before I fall,” she says with a crooked grin at Alec. Neither one of us smile back. Alec looks freaked out and a curse escapes my lips. There’s no way I’m going to let her fall. I lean up against the wall near Arlina so I can be close enough in case she passes out.
Arlina takes her pointer finger and middle finger from each hand and presses them to Tina’s temples. Tina’s eyes are closed. Her chest is rising in a soft gentle rhythm. Arlina chants something in the Fae language softly as her eyes drift close and about a minute later her eyes open. No longer are they emerald green but completely stark white.
* * *
~Lina~
Accessing a person’s memory is not my favorite activity. It’s like watching a bad horror movie. Depending on the person, you can come across some disturbing recollections. I have to dig deep in the person’s psyche to be able to reach certain memories. I’m not conscious of anything going on around me once I’ve made a connection in the target’s mind. Safety is top priority when I’m connected to a person’s mind, since I am not aware of my surroundings. Usually I have at least one other Guardian with me when I perform memory extractions.
When I’m connected to the person’s memories, I experience everything as if I am there. I re-live everything that happened to the person. I experience all of their emotions such as joy, fear and pain. It is an emotional link, whatever happened to the person that was painful, I may share the emotional side of the pain but once I’m out of the memory there are no physical side effects. So if I’m in a memory and the person gets their arm cut off, I may share their emotions and feel their pain but in reality my arm will still be there and will be fine.
I locate Tina’s memories and shuffle through them until I find the last memory of her and Serah. I start the memory where they are arriving at the club. They get out of Serah’s black Audi A6 and walk towards the line for Lush. It’s about 10:30 at night. Serah has on black leather leggings, with a white off the shoulder shirt and pink pumps. They are standing in line for Lush and Serah is laughing at something Tina is saying.
They finally get in the club and head to the bar. They both get their drinks and spot their friends, two girls and two guys. I can tell that they are all werewolves. They sit at the table with their friends laughing, drinking and having a good time. The DJ plays a song that has Serah jumpi
ng up and down with excitement. She drags Tina out to the crowded dance floor. They begin dancing with each other but then two guys come up to them to join in. The dance floor is packed with people drinking and grinding to the heavy music that’s playing. There are groups of girls dancing together on the dance floor and guys standing on the outskirts trying to look cool.
Tina is dancing with a guy that is average looking except for the really dark eyes with golden swirls. Tina asks him a question and he shakes his head. She looks over at Serah who is dancing with a guy who is built like a tank. He has to be about six foot two inches and has a thick neck. He has a short militant haircut and golden eyes. He grabs Serah’s arm and whispers something in Serah’s ear. An uneasy feeling takes hold of Tina as Serah begins struggling with her dance partner.
Tina tries to get away from the guy she’s dancing with but he grabs her. There is a slight prick on Tina’s neck and Tina slaps her neck with her hand turning to look at the guy in shock. He smiles a deadly smile. Small fangs can be seen from under his lip and his eyes turn red with golden swirls. He whispers something in Tina’s ear and starts pulling her to the back door. At the same time, Serah is struggling with her dance partner and he is dragging her to the back door too.
No one on the dance floor seems to notice anything is going on. It is like they are oblivious to two women getting dragged out of a club. Tina is absolutely terrified. Her heart is pounding, she is shaking and crying, she is trying to fight to get loose from the guy. No matter how much she screams no one in the club seems to hear her as she is led out of the back door.
They exit the back door and are in the alley behind the club. The two girls try to fight the guys off. Serah attempts to shift to be able to fight the guys but she starts stumbling and falls against the building. Her eyes are glossy as she leans against the brick wall. Tina turns looking at both the guys and they no longer resemble men. They both have extremely dark skin, with small horns in the middle of their foreheads. They each have leathery black wings that slice through their shirts. Their fingers are longer with sharp talon-like fingernails.
Demons.
Serah tries to fight the demon holding her but he punches her in the face. Serah crumples to the ground unconscious. Tina screams again, her hands shifting to her wolf claws as she tries to claw her way to Serah. She is no match for the demons. She claws the rest of his shirt to shreds digging her claws into his chest. His chest drips with blood but he does not show any pain. The other demon picks up Serah and takes off in the air with her limp body cradled in his arms. Tina feels something slam into the back of her head, she stumbles and everything goes black.
My connection to Tina breaks. I open my eyes gasping for air. Colin is kneeling on the floor cradling me in his lap. Looking up into his beautiful mismatched eyes, they are filled with concern and panic. I must have been screaming along with Tina through the memory because my throat feels raw and gritty. This is the first time he has really looked at me or showed any kind of emotion my way. Usually he has a scowl on his face or keeps his face devoid of all emotions. My heartbeat speeds up at the thought that maybe he does like me.
“Are you okay?” he asks softly, brushing my hair out of my face.
I nod my head, trying to control my breathing. Retrieving memories can be taxing on my body. Feeling the warmth from his body and his strong arms surrounding me, makes me feel protected, comforted and I am just speechless. His natural scent makes me want to bury my nose in the crook of his neck and breathe in deeply. He tightens his arms around me and helps me sit up. He releases me and I immediately miss the warmth that his body offered as cold air surrounds me.
“Just give me a second,” I say, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Controlling all the emotions that are running wild inside me sometimes takes a few minutes. Alec helps Tina sit up on the couch and hands her a glass of water. He hands me one as well.
“Thanks. What happened?” I take a big gulp and Colin takes the glass from me when I’m done and sets it down on the coffee table.
“You were whimpering and moaning. A minute or two later your legs gave out and I was able to catch you before you fell.” He gets up off of the floor.
“Did you see anything that will help?” Tina asks as Colin helps me off the floor. I take a seat next to Tina on the love seat. Colin continues to stand while Alec sits back down on the couch.
“Well first, you were drugged. That’s why you cannot really remember what happened. You did only have a few drinks when you were at the table with your friends. It wasn’t until you got to the dance floor that you ran into trouble.” I continue with the story and explain everything that I saw. At the end of the story, Alec and Tina’s faces register their shock. Colin‘s face is a mask of fury.
“Why didn’t anyone help us?” Tina cries out, wiping tears from her eyes. Alec grabs a box of tissue off her coffee table and hands it to her.
“Those guys were demons. When they first came to you they used glamour so that you wouldn’t suspect what they were. They were able to create a cloak around you where no one could see or hear you cry out. Almost making you invisible. So basically, no one even knew you were still on the dance floor. They probably erased your friends’ memory of you being there so no one would know you were missing. I’m sure your friends don’t even remember you being there,” I explain as gently as I could.
“Why was her car found near here?” Tina questions.
“I’m not sure. Once your eyes closed, there is nothing else that I can witness. I see everything in first person, meaning that I was seeing everything that you saw that night. So when your eyes closed, the connection broke.”
“Are you sure they were demons?” Colin asks with his arms crossed across his chest. His infamous scowl has returned to his face.
“I didn’t think that demons were allowed in the human realm,” Alec comments looking confused.
“I know what I saw and they were definitely demons! We need to go to my grandmother and tell her everything. Something is definitely going on and she will know how to find the answers. Tina, is there anyone who you can stay with? I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here. They’ve seen you and I’m not sure if they will come back for you.”
She nods. “I can go stay on the pack’s compound. I’ll text Marcus and let him know I need a place to crash.” She grabs her cell phone and sends a quick text.
“That would be best and safest.” Colin grabs his cell phone and starts texting someone.
“Do you need someone to stay with you and take you?” I ask her.
“I just texted Devyn, he’s going to send Reed and Dante to escort Tina to her pack’s compound. They will be here in about fifteen minutes. They aren’t that far from here.” Colin puts his phone back in his pocket.
“Tina we can stay with you until the other guys get here—” She cuts me off with a small wave.
“No, I’ll be fine. It’s been months since she was taken, so I think I should be fine for another fifteen minutes. If they were going to get me, I think that they would have done so by now. I’ll go to the pack’s compound for a few days, if you guys really think I might be in danger. If the guys who are going to escort me are close by, that should be fine. I don’t want to hold you up. I need to make a few phone calls.” She stands up and brushes her hands on her pants.
“Are you sure, Tina?” I stand next to her with Colin behind me.
“I’m sure,” she says with a small smile. We make sure that she has all of our contact numbers and Colin agrees to call her Alpha, Marcus, to let him know what is going on.
Chapter Nine
~Lina~
The elevator door opens on the first floor and immediately the three of us pause before getting out of the elevator. Something is not right. Colin and Alec’s bodies are tense and they try to sense what’s wrong. It’s too quiet in the lobby. Colin sniffs the air, looking out the elevator. Colin gets off first pushing me behind him. Alec steps in front of me and ste
ps out with me following. They both sniff the air again.
They don’t say a word and Colin uses hand signals, gesturing for Alec to check out the front of the building while he heads towards the back. They motion for me to stay where I am. Really? They must have forgot who I am. No way am I missing out on anything. Alec heads towards the front door of the lobby and Colin heads towards the back door of the apartment building. I take a big deep breath and barely catch the faint smell of sulfur.
Demons!
I pull Dawn’s Light from her sheath that is strapped to my back. I hold her in my right hand with the blade pointing at the ground. I quietly follow Colin out the back door. He stops to glare at me but doesn’t say anything. We walk out the back door into the parking lot that is behind the building. It’s a small parking lot that the apartment must offer for off street parking. There are a few cars parked there. The sun is high in the sky shining brightly. Since it’s the middle of the day, most people are at work.
We turn to go back in the building but the sounds of beating wings causes us both to pause. Something lands softly behind us.
“Princess,” a hoarse voice strains to get the word out.
I turn and standing before me is a large dark-skinned creature. He has a loincloth covering his genitals but other than that he is quite naked. He has dark leathery skin with matching black wings. He has a flat nose with slits and golden eyes that stare at us in contempt. He has no hair and a gold hoop in each ear. His hands are wide with claw-like fingers. His chest is sculpted with muscles and he is breathing fast and hard as if ready to attack. The smell of sulfur is extremely strong now.
