by Kali Argent
Rhys stood in the doorway facing them, his head ducked, and his eyes cast down at the floor. At first, he’d tried to give them privacy by turning his back, which had only earned him a vicious shock from his collar, much to the amusement of their captors.
At first, Thea hadn’t known what he’d done to earn his punishment. Furthermore, she couldn’t figure out how the enforcers had even seen him. She’d just happened to glance at the small window set high on the far wall when she’d noticed the flashing red dot in the corner of the room. Glaring at the offensive light, she wondered how many other cameras she’d missed on the way to the showers.
It also occurred to her that Rhys likely wouldn’t try to stop her if she really wanted to leave. He might warn her, or implore her to play by the rules, but he wasn’t put there to play guard. He was there as another form of manipulation, and she understood the threat perfectly. If she stepped out of line, Rhys would pay the price for her infractions.
Thea didn’t normally condone murder, but she’d be willing to make an exception for this particular group of werewolves.
Nudity didn’t bother her, nor Zerrik. Maybe because he’d been in the military before the Purge, but Cade didn’t seem uneasy about it, either. Abby, however, trembled silently under the hot spray, doing her best to cover the most private parts of her body while she bathed. Eventually, she had to choose between her modesty or washing her hair, and in the end, she’d reluctantly chose cleanliness over propriety.
A week ago, Thea would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. They’d been kidnapped, imprisoned, harassed, and tortured with electroshock restraints, and still, Abby worried about someone seeing her naked. Now, she actually felt sorry for the female, and she found herself wishing should could do something to ease Abby’s discomfort.
No one offered them towels when they’d finished showering. Instead, Rhys led them down a different hallway to a large bedroom with huge windows and another fireplace. Big, brown armchairs had been arranged in a semi-circle around the hearth, clothing draped over the back of each one—white, button-down shirts and charcoal slacks for the men, crimson and gold dresses for her and Abby.
“I think this one is yours.” Thea held one of the dresses up to her chest, rolling her eyes when the hem ended at her hips. “Here, Barbie, get dressed.”
“Where are we going?” Abby stepped into the dress and pulled it up quickly, spinning around for Thea to zip it, clearly relieved to be covered.
“Some kind of gathering.” She didn’t want to frighten the female again, so she added, “I think it’s like a party.”
A heartbeat later, Rhys destroyed that lie by clearing his throat and holding up Thea’s collar. “If you think this is bad,” he said when he saw the look of distaste on her face, “I promise the alternative is much worse.” Coming closer, he held it up, his expression beseeching. “Please, angel, be smart.”
“Thea,” she whispered, instinctively checking the doorway as she spoke. “Thea Mendez.”
His gaze raked over her nude body, his eyes devouring every inch of her. “Rhys Lockwood.” Coughing to clear the gravel from his voice, he nodded at the other dress still hanging over the back of the chair. “You should get dressed. We don’t have much time.”
“Right.” Her dress, while longer, fit twice as tight as Abby’s, the crimson fabric hugging her curves and crushing her breasts. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Rhys nodded slowly. “You look beautiful.” Then he grimaced as he held her collar up again. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” Turning, she presented her back and lifted her hair out of the way. “It’s not your fault any more than it’s mine.”
Hating himself for it, Rhys locked the collar around her slender throat, his fingertips lingering across her nape before stepping away. His body still thrummed with energy, his heart racing from the sight of her nude body. She was beautiful beyond words, with flawless caramel skin and long, ebony hair that gleamed wetly in the flickering light from the fireplace. Goddess, she took his breath away.
He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted anything, but he didn’t know how to protect her. They’d only just found each other, and he’d already failed her.
“I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”
Thea arched her neck, grimacing as she pulled futilely against the cold metal collar. “Maybe.” Turning, she crossed her arms, the movement straining the silky fabric of her dress, and considered him, her deep, chocolate-brown eyes narrowed and intense. “You probably wouldn’t have liked me very much before the Purge.” A feral grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, and her canines elongated. “I wasn’t always this nice.”
He couldn’t stop himself. Tangling his fingers in her damp hair, he pulled her to him, urging her up on her toes to slant their mouths together in a deep, hungry kiss. Her fangs pierced his lower lip, a sharp sting of pain that only fueled his desire. Sweet Jesus, she tasted like she smelled, full of heat and spice, and he couldn’t get enough.
A wistful, feminine sigh at his left elbow drew him out of his haze, and he released his hold on Thea, damning himself for his recklessness.
“Sorry,” the petite blonde whispered, her eyes downcast. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She brushed her hands down the front of her dress, then combed her fingers through the ends of her drying hair. “You’re Rhys, right?”
He nodded. “I am.”
“I’m—”
“Leaving,” the silver-haired vampire snapped, jerking toward the doorway. “We’re leaving.”
Rhys heard it as well—muffled footsteps approaching in the hallway. A heartbeat later, one of the enforcers appeared in the doorway, a young wolf with dark, curly hair and sky blue eyes that gave him an innocent, boyish appearance. As the saying went, looks could be deceiving, because Joseph Haymaker was one of the most sadistic bastards Rhys had ever had the misfortune to meet.
The pup sauntered into the room, arrogance oozing with every step. His eyes went immediately to the human female, caressing her from crown to hips with his predatory gaze. Circling her, he sniffed obscenely, skimming his nose down the side of her throat.
“Mm,” he murmured, “delicious.”
Thea’s hand twitched as if she was imagining backhanding some manners into the little shit, but Rhys grabbed her, pushing her arm back down to her side. He understood her desire to protect her friends, admired it even, but her intervention right then would only make things worse. Thankfully, she seemed to realize this, because she didn’t fight him.
The human male in their group, however, had a harder time controlling his emotions. His upper lip curled over his straight, white teeth, his expression turned thunderous, and only the vampire’s hand on his shoulder held him in place. At least he still had enough presence of mind to keep his damn mouth closed.
“You’re different,” Joseph rasped, his tongue snaking along the vein in her neck. “You smell…exhilarating.” Jerking back, he grabbed the female’s chin roughly, forcing her head up so he could search her face. “Nah,” he scoffed. “Nothing more than a human bitch.”
“My name is Abby,” she stated clearly, “not bitch.”
Beside him, Thea groaned, but before Joseph could do more than blink, Abby grabbed him by his ear, corkscrewing it sharply and sending the wolf to his hands and knees with a yelp. Honestly, Rhys didn’t think the female had it in her. Abby had been a weak, whimpering mess from the moment he’d met her, scared and unable or unwilling to fight to protect herself.
“When you speak to a lady,” Abby said sweetly, “have a little fucking respect.”
Thea’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. The human male smirked, and the vampire appeared dazed. Judging by their reactions, Rhys had been correct to assume this wasn’t typical behavior for the female, and he had to wonder which one of her personalities was real and which one she chose to show to the world. In his experience, people didn’t change overnight, and especially not in t
he hour or so since he’d met her.
As he’d feared, though, her defiance earned her a swift and violent reprimand. Jerking his head away, Joseph rose up to his full and intimidating height, a crazed look in his eyes as he slapped her across the face with an open hand. As bad as it looked, it could have been worse—much worse—and Rhys released the breath he’d been holding when the wolf glared for a moment more before turning and stomping out of the room.
“I want them out front in sixty seconds,” he called over his shoulder, his voice echoing down the hallway.
The human male moved quickly, pulling Abby against him and gently touching the red mark on her cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Thank you, but I’m fine, Cade.” She smiled and stepped out of his embrace. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“What the hell was that?” Thea demanded. “Are you crazy?”
Abby shrugged. “Like I said, I’m tougher than I look, but I do realize that playing the helpless, scared human is to my benefit most of the time.” Her bright, shining blue eyes narrowed when she looked toward the empty doorway. “This wasn’t one of those times.”
Thea pinched the bridge of her nose and snorted. “True, but you shouldn’t have told him your name.”
Abby arched a perfectly manicured brow and echoed Thea’s snort. “What does it matter? They plan to kill us.” The fight drained out of her, and her shoulders rounded as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. “We’re going to die here, and knowing my name isn’t going to change that.”
The one she’d called Cade nodded his agreement. “They were watching us back at the truck stop. I’d guess they already know our names, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew why we were there.” He turned to the other male in the group. “Zerrik?”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” The vampire’s pale blue eyes narrowed. “We should go.” He straightened the collar on his dress shirt and gestured toward the door. “There’s no point in provoking them at this point.”
Thea didn’t move right away, her expression wary. “Fine, but I still don’t like it.”
“No one said you had to.” Leading the way through the cabin, Zerrik stopped on the front porch and motioned the others ahead of him.
From there, they walked in silence, following the wolves at the front of the group down a narrow, cement pathway past tin-roofed pavilions and weathered picnic tables. Trees loomed on either side of them, their dying leaves crackling in the breeze. Eventually, Zerrik mumbled something about speaking with Cade and increased his pace to catch up to the two humans, leaving Rhys alone with Thea once again.
Thea shivered and rubbed at her bare arms, but she didn’t complain about the cold. “Are we still in St. Louis?”
“Forest Park,” he answered with a nod. “More specifically, we’re just outside what used to be the St. Louis Zoo.”
“You’re fucking kidding.” She shuddered, this time clearly not from the weather, and her eyes took on a faraway look. “Tell me there are no playgrounds.”
“Uh, yeah, there are a couple, and one of those spray parks.” He made big motions with his hands, lifting his arms up and down like a symphony conductor as he tried to explain. “You know, where the water sprays up out of the concrete. The pack pups play there sometimes.” Dropping his arms back to his sides, he looked at her and scowled, his eyebrows drawing together. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
“You have something against jungle gyms and swing sets?”
“Something like that.”
Her reaction confused him. “Aren’t playgrounds supposed to be fun?”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t at the last one.”
A tingle rippled down Thea’s spine as she thought back to that night, that awful, macabre scene in the playground of an abandoned elementary school. So many people dead. People she’d known, some she hadn’t, and others, like Gabriel, she’d been proud to call a friend. She tried to remind herself that the Ravagers were as much victims as everyone else, maybe more so, wolves driven mad by the virus that had wiped out most of humanity in the Purge. Then the memories would surface, all the pain and suffering caused at their hands, and she found it a lot harder to feel sorry for them.
“Where are we going anyway?” She saw trees. Lots of goddamn trees, and very little else. “What was that cabin? Why is there a cabin at a zoo? This is insane. You know that, right?”
Rhys’ laughter was quiet and hesitant, as if he didn’t quite remember how to use it. “Technically, the cabin isn’t in the zoo. This used to be a nature preserve, and I’m not sure if the cabin was there before the Purge or not.” He pointed ahead of them toward a paved road beyond the thinning forest. “That’s where we’re headed now. Past the parking lot and through the north entrance.”
“This is insane,” she repeated, rubbing at the ache building in the tense muscles of her shoulders.
Growing up, her summer vacations had been spent at amusement parks, camping trips, and the occasional tourist trap. For the most part, she’d had a normal, uneventful childhood, as much as a shifter could anyway. As an only child, her parents had doted on her, and they rarely told her no, but her father had drawn the line when it came to animals in cages. So, she’d never been to a zoo, a circus, an aquarium, or even a pet store.
Older now, she understood why her father had banned such places, but as a child, she’d viewed his decision as the height of unfairness.
Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t immediately notice that Rhys had fallen silent, his head down and his hands tucked into the pockets of his tattered khaki cargo shorts. Belatedly, it dawned on her that he’d probably been through this same routine with other groups, traversed the same narrow walkway dozens of times in the dark. Over and over, he’d had to answer the same questions, listened to the same pleas, all the while knowing he could do nothing to save any of them.
Slowing, she touched his forearm, just below the elbow. “How long have you been here, Rhys?”
“A while,” he said, echoing his earlier response.
Maybe because of the mating bond growing between them, or maybe just because he sounded so damn broken, but her heart hurt for him. Sliding her hand down his arm, she urged his hand from his pocket and linked their fingers together, squeezing in comfort.
“Okay,” she whispered, knowing avoidance when she heard it. “I’m always willing to listen if you change your mind and want to talk about it.”
She didn’t push, falling quiet as they exited the tree line and stepped off a cracked curb into a mostly deserted parking lot. Once, she tried to pull away to give him space, but he gripped her hand tightly, like a drowning man clinging to his only lifeline. Thea didn’t resist.
His palm was warm against hers, chasing away some of the chill from the night, and the simple touch gave her courage. When she’d set out from Pittsburgh, she hadn’t been searching for her mate, hadn’t even wanted one, and she damn sure hadn’t expected to find her missing half in a werewolf. Fate couldn’t have picked a more inopportune time or place to throw her and Rhys into each other’s paths, but she saw no point in fighting it.
Once, just after her grandmother had passed, her mother had told her that fate didn’t make mistakes, and that everything happened for a reason, even if those reasons weren’t always clear. Thea had been seventeen at the time, and to her, it had sounded like a pretty bedtime story, a pacification parents told their children to help them accept that bad things happened in life. As she matured, however, she’d begun to think that maybe her mother had been right all along.
Thea had seen things she couldn’t explain, walked different paths that always seemed to lead her back to the same destination. She’d watched fate throw together couples who made no sense together, then awed at the depth of their love and devotion. Her parents had been the prime example of such a pairing.
They’d both been puma shifters, but beyond that, they’d had very little in common. Her mother had never once raised
her voice in anger. She’d been beautiful, kind, giving, and she’d enjoyed baking. Before the Purge, she’d owned a small sweets shop outside of Philadelphia, but it had been common knowledge that Raina Mendez had given away more pastries and chocolates than she’d actually sold.
Thea’s father, on the other hand, had been a stockbroker. Handsome but intimidating, with a million-watt smile that made women weak in the knees. He’d hated social gatherings, and he’d been near-obsessive about order and control. The only thing he’d ever been able to cook without burning it was a microwaved dinner.
And no one had ever loved anyone more than Luis Mendez loved his wife.
Rhys tightened his grip on her hand, bringing her back to the present as they approached the entrance of the zoo. Several SUVs and pickups had been parked in a neat row near the curb, and she gritted her teeth when she recognized the dark blue vehicle that had brought her to St. Louis in the first place. A few other sedans littered the parking lot, probably left over from before the Purge, and a lone, rusted RV gleamed dully in the light from the lamp posts, covered in months of dirt and pollen.
The weeds had taken over the landscape beds, sprouting through the dried mulch, and the once blue tiles that adorned the face of the building had faded to the color of sea foam. Cracked bricks, broken windows, vines that seemed to crawl over everything—no outsider would guess the place doubled as headquarters for a vicious pack of werewolves.
Before entering the visitors’ center, Rhys released her and edged half a step to the side, creating distance between them. Thea let him go, aware of the endless problems their involvement could cause, and focused instead on her surroundings. The broken cash registers and empty service counters created an unnerving scene in the single fluorescent light. Vacant, glassy stares from numerous stuffed animals followed her progress from the shelves in the gift shop, sending an eerie shiver down her back.
