by Sky Winters
"I'll get them," said Cassius, standing up and trotting over to the doors.
He gave them a push, but found that they didn't budge an inch.
"They're locked," he said. "What's going on here?"
A silence fell over the room.
Grace knew right then and there that something was wrong.
Before another thought could form in her mind, the smaller side double-doors opened, and in flooded a small team of a half-dozen or so men, all dressed in sleek suits and all armed with automatic weapons. The first of the men, a built man with a sweep of oil-black hair, rushed to the altar, shoved the officiant aside, and fired his gun at the back wall.
"Sorry to break up the ceremony," he said, "but we have some business with these two."
"What?" demanded Marlon. "What are you all doing here? This is my commitment ceremony?"
Through her fear, the statement struck Grace as strange.
"Do you know these men?" she asked.
"He knows us very, very well," said the man, a crafty smile forming on his lips. "And you're about to get to know us, too."
"What the hell is going on here, Marlon?" asked Cassius as he strode across the tapestry leading to the stairs.
But before Marlon could say a word, the man raised both his gun and his eyebrows.
"Everyone stay perfectly still," said the man. "Not a word, not a movement, and if any of you even think about shifting and trying anything funny, well, let's just say that won't work out so well for you."
The rest of the men formed up at the man's sides. As far as Grace could tell, they were a professional operation, and looked like they meant business.
"Now, we're here for the lovely couple. We're going to take them with us, and that's the end of that. Once we're ready, we'll be in touch with our terms for their safe return. Think of this as a simple business matter. You pay what we ask, and that'll be the end of that."
"What?" demanded Marlon. "I was never supposed to be a part of this!"
The man gave Marlon a quick slap to the back of the head, causing Marlon to stagger in place.
"'Not a word' goes for you, too, rich boy."
"Now," said the man. "Let's do this all in as orderly a manner as possible."
Grace felt light on her feet. The stress was simply too much for her to bear. Between the pregnancy, the ceremony, and now this, she felt her body begin to shut down. The last thing she remembered before collapsing into a heap was just how light and strangely euphoric the rush of blood to her head had felt.
***
"The princess awakens!"
Grace felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Looking around her through blurred eyes, she saw that she was in an industrial-looking location with tall ceilings and heavy-duty equipment here and there. The men from the ceremony were seated and standing around the room. She attempted to get up out of the chair where she was seated, but found that she couldn't budge an inch. Looking down, she realized that she'd been bound to the chair.
And to her right, tied down to another chair, was Marlon, his face cherry-red and tear-streaked.
"Please let us go," Marlon whined. "My parents will pay you anything. Please!"
The man hopped up to his feet from where he sat on the edge of a metal table.
"That's the plan," he said.
"What's going on?" demanded Grace, feeling the strength to speak. "Marlon – do you know these men?"
An expression of shame and guilt came over Marlon's face. But he said nothing.
"Well, if he won't say anything, I will. To cut right to it, Marlon paid us to kidnap you."
The weight of what the man said didn't even register to Grace. Instead, she simply opened her mouth and let a single word drip out.
"What?"
Then another.
"Why?"
"You know what?" said the man. "I think I'll let the little rich boy explain this one."
Then, with incredible speed, the man rushed to Marlon, placed the gun against his temple and spoke.
"Go on," said the man. "Let her know what you've done."
Marlon burst out into pathetic sobs. After a little bit of this, he composed himself enough to speak.
"I…I just wanted us to be together, that's all. That's the only reason I did this.
"Did what, Marlon?"
"I…paid these men to kidnap you. They promised me –promised me- that you wouldn't be harmed."
The horror of what was happening began to take hold of Grace.
"Why would you do this? Why?"
"The plan," he said, swallowing hard. "Was for you to be kidnapped, then I would negotiate for your release. I'd talk some sense into these men and ‘convince' them to let you go without a fuss. Then you'd understand that I was the sort of man who could take care of you, who could protect you."
Then he turned toward the man.
"But it wasn't supposed to go like this! You were supposed to stop your kidnapping attempts once the ceremony took place! And you weren't supposed to kidnap me!"
The man smiled again, and the rest of his crew chuckled.
"Yeah, sure – that was the original plan. But then the boys and I got to talking, and we figured that there wasn't really a point in doing things how you asked if we could just get the money you paid us, then kidnap her, and get the money for her ransom."
"Then we really got to talking," he continued, "and figured why should we just settle for her? If we crashed your little ceremony, then we could, you know, get two for the price of one. Ransom both of you little rich brats."
"You lied to me!" shouted Marlon, his voice a mix of fear and frustration. "And you'll pay for this! You have no idea who my father is!"
"We know enough to know that he's the only one who's going to be doing any paying. Well, and your pops too, gorgeous."
Then the man turned on his heels and spoke to the rest of the men.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not really in the mood to listen to these brats beg for their lives. What you all think about tossing them in the supply closet and getting drunk as shit?"
The men cheered, a few of them firing their guns into the air.
"No!" shouted Grace. "Let us go!"
But her complaints did no good. Grace and Marlon were untied, yanked to their feet, and led to a small office. Both of them were shoved into the cramped space, the door locked behind them. As soon as Grace regained her footing and took stock of where she was, her eyes narrowed and turned to Marlon, who stood hunched, a shocked expression on his face.
"This is fine," he said. "Just fine. They'll be calling our parents and they'll pay anything they ask. And they won't hurt us – that wouldn't do them any good, right?"
He turned to Grace, his eyes wide with fear.
"Right?"
"Marlon, you little shit!" shouted Grace. "What the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea of what you've done, what you've gotten us into?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but before a single word could come out, he fell into soft sobs. Despite understanding his fear, his weeping struck Grace as pathetic. Here he was, facing the consequences of his choices, and all he could do was sob.
"I…I just wanted us to be together," he said. "There's been so much going on with the wolf clans, I thought I could, you know, take advantage of it. You would be kidnapped, but your safety would be assured. And when you were freed, you'd see that I was the sort of man who could protect you, who could keep you safe. Then you'd fall in love with me like I know you would."
"That’s what this was all about?" asked Grace, her tone one of disbelief. "You wanted to do some extra-dangerous version of paying a bum to pretend to steal my purse so you could fight him off and look like a tough guy? All so I would be impressed?"
"That's…I mean…yes."
Grace couldn't believe that her life was in such danger, and all for a pathetic stunt so that Marlon could look like a big man.
"But it wasn't supposed to go like this," said Marlon, shaking his
head in disbelief. "It wasn't supposed to go like this at all."
"What did you think would happen when you got involved with criminals, huh? That they'd all be on the level? They're backstabbers who look at people like us like big fat targets. Of course, they'd betray you – that's why they're criminals! And you're not just putting us at risk, Marlon – I'm pregnant!"
Grace's voice had raised to a pitched yell, and Marlon responded by falling into another round of wracking sobs. Leaving him to his tears, Grace began to look around the room for some way out. But the room looked tight as a drum – no windows, no vents big enough to crawl through.
Fear gripping her heart, she sat down. And as if by instinct, the image of Corvo appeared in her mind's eye. But she knew the idea of him coming to her rescue was nothing more than a fantasy.
CHAPTER 9
"This the place?" Thorne's voice was deep and clear through the comms.
From his vantage point on top of the abandoned building across the street, Corvo took a look around. He was in a warehouse district in Red Hook, the nearby blocks desolate and empty. He laid his eyes on the target, a large, squat warehouse with blue walls. If his recon held true, in there, he'd find Grace and the men who kidnapped her.
"This is the place," said Corvo.
At least, he hoped.
"We all in position?" asked Thorne. "Check in, everyone."
"I'm here," said Jace.
"Locked and loaded," said Mick.
"Let's do this," said Hoxson. "Haven't had a good wolf hunt in a while."
"This is your op, Corvo," said Thorne. "You make the call."
Corvo stood up, feeling his heart beating steadily in his chest. He knew the stakes of what he was about to do; he knew he could very well lose the woman he loved, again, if the assault didn't go off without a hitch. But he didn't have a choice in the matter – Grace was in danger, and all he could do was get her back.
Part of him couldn't believe how sloppy these wolves had been. After going through Marlon's phone records, he managed to trace them down to this warehouse, where they'd evidently been operating for the last few weeks. And Marlon was hardly a criminal mastermind – it was only due to his carelessness than Corvo had been able to piece together just what had happened. And when he heard through his sources that a commitment ceremony between two wealthy wolves on the Upper West Side had been crashed by a team of kidnappers, he knew the time for planning was over.
"Alright," said Corvo. "I'm going in. Move in on my mark."
"Good luck, buddy," said Thorne.
Corvo climbed down from the roof and strode toward the warehouse, his hands clenched into tight fists. When he reached tall, steel side door, he pounded it hard.
"Who the fuck-?" came a voice from within.
The door opened abruptly, revealing a man that Corvo instantly recognized as one of the men, Clyde, from the bar.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm here to negotiate."
"We get in touch with the parents yet?" Clyde shouted over his shoulder.
"Not yet."
"I'm the girl's bodyguard," said Corvo. "Tracking you assholes down is part of my job."
Clyde furrowed his brow in thought.
"Wait a minute," he said. "I recognize you from the bar. You're the prick who made Leonard take a dive."
"I didn't make him do shit," said Corvo. "But I'm here now to offer you assholes terms."
"Whatever," said Clyde. "Come in."
As soon as Corvo stepped into the warehouse, a pair of men rushed to his sides and restrained him.
"So," said Clyde, taking a seat on the edge of a nearby desk. "The Holidays sent you to negotiate, huh?"
"That's right," said Corvo. "But first, you need to show me the girl. I need to see that she's okay."
Clyde raised an eyebrow.
"You know we got two of them, right?"
Corvo had forgotten all about Marlon. As much as he wanted the little prick to suffer, Corvo realized that he couldn't just leave the brat to the wolves, so to speak.
"Bring ‘em both out."
Clyde stared down Corvo for several long seconds before turning to a pair of his men and nodding for them to do what Corvo had asked. Minutes later, the men returned, Grace and Marlon in their grips.
"Corvo!" shouted Grace.
Corvo's heart skipped a beat as he laid eyes on Grace. Looking her up and down, he confirmed that she hadn't been harmed. Marlon, on the other hand, looked like he was a moment or two away from shattering like dropped china.
"There," said Clyde. "As pretty and blemish-free as she was when we snatched her up. Now, let's talk about terms. We were thinking that twenty-five mil for both. But we'd be open to negotiation if the families had any, you know, houseboats or sports cars they wanted to get rid of. I bet they could make them tax write-offs or something."
The men chuckled.
"Here're the terms," said Corvo. "You give me the girl and that little weasel, and I don't murder each and every last one of you with my bare hands. How about that?"
Clyde raised a single eyebrow, as if trying to make sure he'd heard Corvo correctly.
"Is, uh, this some kind of joke?" asked Clyde. "Because you ain't exactly in a position to be making threats like that, buddy."
"Last chance," said Corvo. "Let them go, or I kill every last one of you."
Clyde stood up and placed his hands on the gun that hung by a strap from his body.
"You've just made the mistake of your life, asshole," he said, raising his gun.
"Now!" Corvo shouted into his comms. "Grace, get down!"
Grace nodded, breaking free from the grasp of the man holding her and ducking behind cover just as the first rattle of gunfire sounded out. The rest of the men pulled up their guns and began firing at Corvo, the wild shots going wide.
Corvo wasn't in a mood to screw around. Taking cover, he closed his eyes and began to shift. His form grew in size, scales sprouted from his body, and he felt the first bubbling of fire tingle the back of his throat.
"He's a fucking dragon!" shouted Clyde. "Kill him now!"
Clyde raised his gun toward Corvo and opened up with a chatter of bullets. But he was too late – the gunfire bounced harmlessly off of Corvo's scales. He watched as the men shifted into their wolf forms and moved to attack. Corvo turned his head, opened his mouth, and let out a blast of superhot flame, incinerating the nearest wolf where he stood.
And right at that moment, the rest of the crew, all shifted into their dragon forms, smashed through the warehouse walls, all letting out booming roars as they entered. The wolves turned their attention to the dragons, panic gripping their canine faces.
Corvo smirked – he had them right where he wanted them.
The crew entered, rampaging through the warehouse and taking out the wolves one by one. The wolves attempted to fight back, but a half-dozen wolves against a squad of dragons was simply no match at all. Corvo and the rest attacked the wolves with jets of flame, scorching the wolves one-by-one, leaving nothing but smoking corpses in their wake.
Finally, the only wolf that remained was the one who Corvo recognized as Clyde. Realizing that he was done for, he made a last-ditch move toward Grace, his jaws snapping in the air as he went for her throat. A pang of fear gripped Corvo, but he was too quick for Clyde. Corvo reached down with incredible speed, snatching Clyde out of the air, the wolf struggling in his grasp. Corvo then brought the wolf up to his face, and the two beasts regarded each other for a brief moment before Corvo whipped Clyde into the nearest wall, his body slamming into the steel with a thud and a whimper before dropping lifelessly to the floor.
Once the wolves had been dispatched, Corvo shifted back to his human form along with the rest of the crew. Grace looked around her, seeming unable to believe what she'd seen. Corvo rushed up to her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked her up and down.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his tone stern.
"I'm…I'm…I think I'm fine," she sa
id, nodding slowly.
"Thank you, thank you!" shouted Marlon, throwing his arms around Corvo and squeezing him tight. "You've saved us! You'll be rewarded, I'm sure!"
Corvo shoved Marlon away from him.
"We'll deal with you later, you little prick," said Corvo, his eyes narrowed in anger.
He turned his attention back Grace, the two of them looking each other over with wide eyes.
"You came for me," said Grace.
"Of course, I did," said Corvo.
No more words were needed. He pulled her close, planting his lips on hers and kissing her hard. The rest of the crew sized up the scene, making sure the wolves were done for.
"You two are a cute couple and all, but wolf-slaying always gives me a powerful thirst."
Small smiles formed on Corvo’s and Grace's mouths. Corvo's heart was heavy with both relief and love. Grace was safe and in his arms, and he knew right at that moment that's where he wanted her to be for the rest of his life.
CHAPTER 10
Grace sighed as Corvo entered her. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his solid, warm body and held him close. She focused on the feeling of him inside of her, that feeling of fullness that only he could give her. She breathed in deep, taking in his musky, intoxicating scent, letting it flood her senses. Dragging the back of her fingernails against his flesh, she let the feel of contentment take hold of her as the pleasure began to build as he held fast inside of her.
"I love you, baby," said Corvo, his grass-green eyes glittering in the morning sunlight, his voice low and sensual.
"I love you too," said Grace, her words coming out in a soft moan.
Corvo leaned in and kissed her lightly along the subtle curve of her neck, just in the way that never failed to drive Grace wild with delight. He kissed her more and more, moving along her shoulders, then her collarbone, then to her breasts. She smiled as he licked and sucked her nipples, enjoying the way he moved over her body, as if each square inch of it was its own secret treasure that contained a world of sensual delights. The feeling of being desired by a man like Corvo was its own thrill, and he knew just how to prepare her for lovemaking.
Once he was done moving his lips over her body, Corvo lifted himself up onto his elbows, his muscles taut and strong from supporting the weight of his solid, muscular body. Grace moved her hands along his colorful array of tattoos as Corvo plunged himself deeper into her.
