by I. T. Lucas
The place was an industrial park of sorts, with big boxy warehouses occupying large lots, which was a problem. The wide open spaces didn’t provide cover. He could be spotted easily.
That was the bad news.
The good news was that up ahead in the distance, he saw a hillside covered with what he was pretty sure were residences.
Up there he could get clothes and shoes and money to buy a decent weapon or two. Properly equipped, he could come back later and check whether the arrival of that car had anything to do with the woman.
It was possible that the driver had taken a wrong turn while looking for another address. If he left now, Grud might miss a once in a lifetime chance to own an immortal female, and possibly for no good reason.
Once Wonder discovered that he was gone, she would move the other two to a new location and quit her job. The T-shirt she wore most days had the name of the club she worked in. Wonder wasn’t stupid. She would know that she needed to run because he was coming for her.
She would make sure that he could never find her.
It was a difficult decision.
Was the potential risk worth the potential reward?
59
Wonder
It was hard to think with Anandur’s big warm hands on her cheeks. His face was so close Wonder could have leaned just a little bit further and kissed him.
Instead, she looked into his beautiful eyes and said, “One last question.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Do you love your brother?”
“That’s an odd question, but yes. Of course I love my brother. I would give my life for him.”
“What if he hates me?”
“I don’t see why he would, but it’s his problem.”
“What if he wants to hurt me?”
Anandur shook his head. “The only way Brundar would ever hurt you is if you were pointing a gun at my head, or anyone else he’s tasked with defending. If you’re worried about him wanting revenge, don’t be. That’s not the kind of man he is.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive. The only one he’s going to hurt is me, for worrying him needlessly, and I’ll take the pounding because I deserve it. I could’ve gotten free yesterday morning. Except, that would’ve meant hurting you, and I couldn't do it. Brundar will understand.” Anandur smirked. “After he beats the crap out of me.”
Wonder doubted that. Despite his brother’s deadly vibe, Anandur was bigger and looked stronger.
“What about my three prisoners? Would your people kill them?”
“We don’t kill unarmed, defenseless opponents. They will get questioned and then put in stasis.”
“What is stasis?”
“It’s kind of like hibernation but deeper. The body retains only the most minimal of brain functions. Immortals can stay in that state indefinitely.”
“And how is that state achieved?”
“With venom.”
“That venom of yours has many purposes.”
“Indeed.” He waggled his brows. “But there is only one purpose I like to use it for.”
He was such a flirt.
With a hand to his chest, she gave him a little push. “Sit back on the chair.”
“Is it still a yes?” Anandur asked.
There was no way to eradicate all of her doubts. She could keep on asking questions from now until next week, and it wouldn’t guarantee a right decision.
Now or then, in the end, she would need to trust her gut feeling.
Reaching inside her back pocket, Wonder pulled out the keys. “I’m going to release you and give you my phone to call your brother. But I want you to ask him not to hurt my prisoners or me when he gets here, and I want you to make him swear on it.”
She should tell him that she’d met his brother.
Maybe later.
It was better if the guy didn’t know she was the one responsible for all the trouble before he got there. That way there was a chance he wouldn’t arrive foaming at the mouth with rage.
“It’s a deal,” Anandur said.
She handed him the keys. “You know what to do.”
He seemed disappointed.
“You don’t look happy. What’s the matter?”
“I'm sorry for the stench. But there is nothing I can do about it.”
He thought that was the reason she didn’t unlock his restraints herself?
It wasn’t that at all. It was the idea of getting so close to him that bothered her. She couldn’t tell him that, but she couldn’t let him think he repulsed her either.
“You don’t stink. You have a body odor, but it’s not unpleasant.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say.” Anandur grimaced, evidently not believing her.
He unlocked the chain connecting his handcuffs to his leg restraints, and as he removed those as well, they clunked to the floor.
“Could you do the cuffs and save me some acrobatics?” He lifted his hands.
“Sure.” She took the key and was about to insert it in the lock when she heard footsteps coming from above. “Someone is up there,” she whispered.
“I heard it too.” Anandur pushed to his feet and lifted his hands to her. “Quickly, unlock the cuffs.”
She did, holding on to them so they wouldn’t fall and make more noise.
“Stay here,” he said quietly as he headed for the door.
“No way. I have a Taser. You have nothing,” she whispered.
“I can handle whoever is out there. Do me a favor and don’t argue with me. Stay here and hide behind the desk.”
“Not going to happen.” She gave him a shove. “Move. I’m coming with you.”
His lips pressed tight, he nodded. “Can you at least stay behind me?”
“I can do that.” She could, but it didn’t mean that she would.
“Hallelujah. Can you walk without making a sound?”
Wonder pointed to her sneakers.
Anandur peered into the corridor before stepping outside.
Taser in hand, Wonder followed him.
60
Anandur
Whoever was up there, was making an effort not to make any noise. If he and Wonder were human, they wouldn’t have heard a thing.
Was it a human thief?
Or had the Doomers somehow located their missing comrades?
The third option was that his brother had figured out Wonder’s involvement and had her followed.
In either case, he needed to get upstairs and check who it was. If he found Doomers, he could pretend that he was one of them, but he couldn’t allow them to get Wonder.
Her Taser would be no good against several attackers who were prepared for a fight, and he was just one unarmed man. Maybe he could sneak her outside and have her hide or make a dash for her car.
At least it would give her a running chance.
He turned around and whispered in her ear, “Is there another way out of here other than the stairs? What about that door?” He pointed at the reinforced door at the end of the corridor.
Wonder nodded. “The key is in the kitchen with the rest of my things.”
“Where is the kitchen?”
“Upstairs. Second door to the left.”
Great, that was no help, and they were running out of time. “Listen, I want you to go back and hide in the office. I’ll try to sneak into the kitchen and get the key. If those are Doomers up there, I’ll pretend I’m one of them and then find a way to open that door for you.”
Wonder started shaking her head when the door at the top of the stairs creaked open. A moment later footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Fuck, they were too late.
Pushing Wonder behind him, Anandur turned around and assumed a fighting stance. But before he knew what had hit him, she pulled on his hand with such unbelievable force that he flew backward and landed on his ass.
He watched with horror as she got in front of him, her Taser clasped in her other hand, a
nd pressed the trigger, shooting at no other than Brundar, who had just enough time to send a knife flying before hitting the stairs and rolling the rest of the way down.
His brother never missed.
Time slowed down to a crawl as Wonder went down, clutching at the knife embedded deep in her chest.
“No!” Anandur yelled as he caught her in his arms.
She wasn’t going to die. She was an immortal. Even a knife to the heart couldn’t kill her.
Or so he hoped as he yanked it out.
Wonder blacked out.
“What the hell?” Magnus yelled as he rushed to Brundar’s side.
“She Tasered him. As long as she lives, he is going to be all right. If she dies, I’m going to kill him.”
Magnus tore the barbs from Brundar’s clothing. “I’m sorry, mate, but a knife to the heart is a deadly wound. She is dead already.”
“She is an immortal.” The bleeding had already stopped, and the terrible gurgling sounds were replaced with shallow breathing.
Thank the merciful Fates.
“What?” Magnus helped Brundar up. “Wonder is an immortal?”
“You know her?”
“Of course I know her. Brundar and I went back to the club and questioned everyone about you, including the lovely bouncer. How come I didn’t feel anything?”
Rubbing his chest, Brundar groaned. “Neither did I. I can’t believe she got me with a Taser. I’ll never live it down.”
Anandur smoothed his hand over Wonder’s hair. “You and me both, brother. Isn’t she magnificent?”
“I still can’t understand how we missed her being an immortal.” Magnus walked over. “We should’ve felt something.” He crouched next to them. “I still don’t feel anything. She smells and feels like a human.”
Anandur could not have been happier to hear that. “There is no way to detect an immortal female. Not unless she is attracted to you. Apparently, she found both of you unattractive.”
“I thought it was an urban legend.”
“Nope. It’s real.” Anandur had smelled Wonder’s arousal, and it was very different than that of a human’s.
Magnus shook his head. “I don’t know about the blond over there, but my feelings are deeply wounded.”
Brundar got up on shaky legs, walked over to where they were sitting on the floor, and plopped down next to Magnus. “What I want to know is what’s going on?”
Anandur waved a hand. “Look away. I want to check her wound.”
As the two did as he asked, he lifted Wonder’s T-shirt and wiped the blood with the hem. The wound closed, with only a narrow white line indicating where the knife had pierced her skin. Hopefully, her heart was doing just as well.
“She is healing remarkably fast.”
“Who is she?” Magnus asked. “Where did she come from?”
“She doesn’t remember. Wonder has suffered a complete memory loss. She doesn't even know her own name. She adopted the name Wonder because some kid thought she looked like the actress who played Wonder Woman.”
“How did you end up here?” Brundar asked.
“Several months ago, during the height of the murders, Wonder caught a Doomer with his fangs in a female’s throat. Assuming he was the killer, she Tasered him, knocked him out with a blow to the back of his head, and brought him here. This used to be some testing facility for big apes, and there is a room filled with cages that even an immortal male can’t escape from. She locked him in one. After that she caught two more. When she saw me in that alley, she thought I was trying to murder the woman I was with and did the same to me.”
“Where are the Doomers?” Magnus asked.
“Through that door. Wonder has the key. Don’t worry, they are not going anywhere.”
“Do I look worried to you?”
Brundar looked Anandur over. “How come you’re out of the cage then?”
“I convinced Wonder that I wasn’t one of them. She released me just as you guys showed up.”
He wasn’t going to tell them about the handcuffs, or that he could’ve gotten away on his own. Eventually, he would, but not right now.
“Only three Doomers in there?” Brundar tilted his head toward the reinforced door.
“Yes.”
His brother pulled out his phone and dialed. “Onegus, cancel the alert. We got Anandur, and he is fine. There are three Doomers in here who need to be transported to the catacombs, and one injured immortal female who should be waking up any moment.” He looked at Anandur. “I guess we are taking her too?”
“Naturally.”
“I’m sending two teams to take care of the Doomers.” Onegus sounded as excited as if he was talking about placing an order for office supplies.
Weird guy. But maybe that was why he was the chief Guardian. Nothing ever rattled him.
61
Brundar
“Can you get the key to that room from her?” Magnus asked. “I should go check on the Doomers.”
“My apologies,” Anandur murmured as he reached inside Wonder’s front pocket and pulled out the key.
“They are each locked in a separate cage.” He pulled out another one. “This is the master key that opens all of them.”
“Got it.” Magnus took the keys and headed for the locked door.
Brundar was still woozy from the electric shock to his system, but he would be damned if he let it show. As it was, he felt shamed enough to have gotten hit by a bouncer with a Taser.
“She must’ve been well trained. Otherwise, I don’t see how she could’ve hit me so fast and with such accuracy.”
Anandur beamed with pride as if Wonder was his star student and not his abductor. “She is very strong too. She had me flying backward and landing on my ass with one pull. And I’m a heavy bastard.”
“Is she interested in becoming a Guardian? She seems to have a natural aptitude for it.”
Anandur shook his head. “Wonder doesn’t know yet what she wants to do. She’s been out of her coma for only nine months or so. I don’t think she is ready for any major life decisions.”
“Hey, guys?” Magnus stepped out of the cage room. “We have a problem. There are only two Doomers in there, and there is a big hole in the back wall where the third one was.”
“Grud,” Anandur hissed. “I bet he is the one missing.”
“Don’t you want to come in and question your jail mates?” Magnus asked.
Anandur looked down at the woman in his arms. “I don’t want to leave her.”
“I can keep an eye on her,” Brundar offered.
“Right. As if she wants to see your scary puss when she first opens her eyes. I think the girl has been traumatized enough.”
“You’re joking, right? She got you locked in a cage. She got me going out of my mind with worry for you, and you think she has been traumatized?”
His brother was obviously delusional.
Anandur tightened his arms around the girl, lifted her to his chest, and pushed up. “She is just a kid who was trying to do the right thing and has gotten in over her head. Of course she’s traumatized.” He headed toward the cage room with the girl in his arms.
Brundar shook his head, got up, and followed Anandur. His brother wasn’t thinking right, but then spending time locked in a cage could mess with a guy’s head. He needed time to recuperate.
“What happened to Wonder?” one of the Doomers asked.
Anandur ignored the question. “Where is Grud?”
“As you can see, he escaped,” the other Doomer said. “He was supposed to come back for us, but I guess you and your friends interrupted his plans. What did you do to the woman?”
Brundar wondered if the Doomer’s concern for the girl was genuine.
“She is okay. Nothing irreversible. Do you know where he might have gone?”
The Doomer shrugged. “I don’t know. Are you going to let us out, Dur?”
Dur? There was a story there, and for once Brundar couldn’t wait to hear A
nandur tell it, even if his brother was going to make a big production out of it and exaggerate lavishly to make it more interesting.
“Yes, Shaveh, I’m going to let you out. But I have bad news for you. I’m a Guardian and so are my friends here. We are taking you with us.”
The Doomer named Shaveh sat on the floor and put his head in his hands.
“Are you going to kill us?” the other Doomer asked.
“No. We are not going to kill you, Mordan. We don’t execute prisoners. But I don’t know yet what will be done to you. I guess it depends on your level of cooperation.”
“I will cooperate,” Mordan said.
The other one seemed in too deep a despair to comprehend what was being said.
Anandur turned to Brundar. “Grud couldn’t have gone far. He is on foot, and he was still here about an hour ago when Wonder got me out of the cage.”
Brundar pulled out his phone and dialed Onegus. “Chief, change of plans. One of the Doomers escaped an hour ago at the max. He is on foot, unless he’s already commandeered a vehicle.”
“Get me a description. I’m sending all the Guardians back to your location.”
“Will do.”
The woman in Anandur's arm moved, tucking herself against his chest.
“Shh, everything is okay, sweetheart,” Anandur said, in the most tender tone Brundar had ever heard him use. “Rest and get better.”
“I need his description,” Brundar said quietly.
“About six feet tall, one hundred sixty to one hundred seventy pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, and a short beard.”
That general description could apply to too many males.
“What was he wearing?”
“No shoes, nylon training pants, black with a white stripe on the sides, and a faded yellow T-shirt.”
Brundar group-texted the description to all the Guardians. “Anything else you can think of?”
“Just that his name is Grud and that he is a mean son of a bitch. If he offers any resistance, I suggest to take him out. This apple is too rotten even for stasis.”
