In the kitchen, Jax was up as well. “Hey, let’s go,” he called as he secured the lid on his to go mug of coffee.
Walking into the kitchen, Tierney and Sami shared a look of surprise as they went and set their mugs in the sink. “You’re in a hurry,” Sami remarked.
Jax shrugged. “Just want to get this done.”
“Well, I’m ready.” Tierney pulled on her jacket and headed into the mud room to put on her boots. Sami and Jax followed her.
“Is that—” Sami eyed the dagger sheathed on Jax’s belt, as he pulled on his boots.
“Yeah, Zander gave it to me last year,” Jax looking grave as he glanced at his brother.
“What?” Tierney glanced at the weapon. “Oh.”
“Yeah, are you okay with it?” Jax stared at her.
Tierney frowned, unsure what he meant. Then she understood. “Of course.” She smiled. “I’m glad.” As far as she was concerned, Jax had earned the right to carry that dagger. Although she didn’t say that out loud, as she wasn’t sure how he felt about having killed someone with it.
“Sami?” Jax asked, and Tierney knew he wanted to make sure Sami wasn’t upset that Zander had given it to him.
“Yeah. It should be yours,” Sami said, then turned away.
Tierney tried to sense his emotions, but she got nothing; his shields were up tight.
“You think we’re going to need that?” she asked.
Jax shrugged. “I hope not, just want to be prepared.”
Tierney nodded. She hoped not as well.
“Okay, let’s go find the big bad wolf. Hope he doesn’t make us wait,” Jax said, and they all headed outside to meet up with Soroyan. Something none of them were looking forward to doing.
But the big bad wolf—Soroyan—stood in human form, waiting for them near Jax’s car. Sami grinned at Jax, who just rolled his eyes. Tierney shivered as Soroyan glared at her with hatred. As they all piled in, Soroyan climbed into the back of Jax’s car without a word.
Tierney rode up front with Jax, leaving Sami to suffer in the back as they drove to Spokane in tense silence. The ride was long and they were all glad when they finally entered the city.
“Food?” Jax suggested. Tierney nodded and he pulled into a fast food drive-thru for breakfast.
Soroyan’s irritation was obvious as they ordered and Tierney turned in the seat and surveyed him. She doubted he’d ever eaten fast food in his life. “Are you hungry?”
He just glared at her. With a smirk, Tierney turned to Jax. “Get him the same as us,” Then, at the low growl from the backseat, she glanced back at Soroyan with raised eyebrows, daring him to say yay or nay about eating. He bit back his growl and went back to staring out the side window.
When their order came through, Jax handed it to Tierney. She handed Sami his, put hers up on the dash while leaving Jax’s beside her. Then she turned and leaned over the seat with Soroyan’s food in her hand. “Here.” She tried to hand the brown bag to him, but he just scowled at her.
“I’m not here to waste time eating human food. I’m here to find Toren.”
Yeah, he sure knew how to rub her good mood the wrong way. “Look.” She let out a frustrated huff. “If we wanted to waste time, we’d have gone to a restaurant and had decent food. This is quick, and we need the energy.”
Soroyan glowered darkly so Tierney shook the bag. “Really? It’s just food, already dead, you should be thinking of this as a vacay—no need to hunt. You want it or not?” Soroyan’s lips twitched as he finally reached out and took the bag.
Sami chuckled. “Vacay?” he said telepathically.
“Whatever, he’s being a dick,” she said and choked back a growl of her own. Beside her Jax snorted as he inhaled his breakfast.
“I’m not a dick,” Soroyan’s voice drifted through her mind.
Shit! “Well quit acting like one. Besides, no one invited you into my head.” She glanced back to find him glaring at her as he ate his food.
Sami chuckled again, until Soroyan let out a low growl, and a pulse of power washed through the car.
“Hey, quit. This is my car, asshole,” Jax snarled.
“All right, enough,” Tierney snapped, digging into her own breakfast.
Then, with full bellies, Jax drove them to the address of the local Were-wolf pack, an old dilapidated two-story building.
“Seems abandoned,” Sami said as Jax parked just past the building, and shut the Impala off. They all got out and headed for the front door, while Soroyan lifted his head and sniffed the air.
“You smell something?” Tierney asked, but he ignored her and continued on down the road.
“Hey, where you going?” Jax asked but Soroyan didn’t answer. “What the hell?” Jax grumbled.
The buzzer hung from a broken wire, so Sami knocked and, of course, no one answered. But when Jax went to pull out a set of lock picks, Sami grabbed the door handle, turned it and then grinned. “Guess you don’t need those.”
“Yeah, well, what are you waiting for?” Jax pushed the door open and walked in past Sami. Tierney followed him in, while Sami scanned around behind them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I sense someone watching us.” Sami frowned, but when he didn’t see anyone, he followed them inside.
“I’m not picking up anyone in here,” Tierney whispered after letting her senses search the building. But they all gasped at the stench of the place.
“You both smell that?” Sami sniffed as they scanned the living room.
“Some bad shit went down here.” Jax let out a low whistle.
Tierney agreed. Bloodstains covered the floor and walls. “Must’ve been some fight.” She gazed around the destroyed room. The couch was shredded, and the coffee and end tables were kindling. Bloody clothing, empty pizza boxes, beer and whiskey bottles littered the room.
“This place reeks, we shoulda brought gas masks,” Jax griped.
“Yeah, breathe through your mouth,” Tierney suggested.
“You smell that?” Sami asked again, as he hunted around for something.
“Ah, smell what exactly? The blood? Wet dog?” Jax asked.
“The unwashed body odor? Alcohol?” Tierney piped up.
“Or you talking about the piss and vomit?” Jax added with a grimace.
Sami ignored them.
“Maybe he means the fear and terror,” Tierney said.
“No, underneath all that.” Sami frowned as he kicked some pizza boxes and shoved a chair out of the way.
“You smell something else besides that?” Jax rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, can’t you?” Sami gave him a perplexed stare, then shook his head. “Forget it,” he said, as he continued to search.
“What the hell are you looking for?” Jax was curious now.
“I smell—” Sami inhaled deeply and held it a second. “Some kind of medication.” Careful to avoid stepping in anything squishy, Sami shoved the makeshift coffee table out of the way, clearing a path. Tierney and Jax both waited while he bent down behind a ratty old armchair, and picked something up.
“What is it?” Tierney asked when Sami put it up to his nose.
“Tranquilizer dart,” Sami said, holding it up for them to see.
“Huh. The Ilyium have been using Tranq’s on the homeless,” Jax said.
“That’s humans. You think a Tranq can take down a Were?” Sami frowned as he took in the room around them again.
“If it’s meant for a horse, or elephant, I guess,” Jax said.
“I guess—” Sami muttered as they searched the place. They checked all the rooms on both floors, surprised they didn’t find any bodies with the amount of blood everywhere.
“What the hell was Dad supposed to be looking for here?” Tierney asked as she and Jax headed to the front door.
“Hey, Tiern, Jax?” Sami called, stopping them. He was in the least-used room in the whole place. The kitchen. “What did you find?” Jax asked as he walked into the narrow room.
/> “Basement.” Sami indicated a door set back beside the refrigerator that they had missed earlier.
“Huh.” Jax snorted, opened the door and started down the dark passage. He searched for a light in the stairwell but didn’t find one. Tierney followed him down, while Sami brought up the rear. At the bottom, Jax reached up and grabbed at a string hanging in front of his face and yanked.
The dim light only illuminated a small portion of the basement, showing a pitted, uneven cement floor, concrete columns, and many years-worth of old broken furniture. Stacks of magazines and newspapers, rotting cardboard boxes, and garbage bags filled with who knew what, were piled everywhere.
“Look at all the junk down here,” Tierney said, and almost bumped into Jax when he stopped. Instead, Sami ran into her, slipping on some newspaper. “Shit!” he hissed under his breath as his arm brushed the stack of girly mags on his left, almost knocking them to the floor.
“Shh,” Jax whispered. “I sense something alive down here.”
“I smell … cat,” Sami whispered having regained his footing.
“I think there’s a room just ahead.” Jax pointed into the dark.
Together, they left the light behind them and stepped into the darkness, careful not to touch or knock anything over. Quietly, they crept up to what looked like a black wall, and Tierney realized that Jax was right. It was a soundproofed room. She tuned out Sami and Jax, and concentrated on letting her senses reach out. “I sense a person or animal—”
“Rats?” Jax said cheekily, switching to telepathy.
Tierney shook her head, then realized they couldn’t see her. “No, not rats. I’m not picking up any thoughts, but I am getting emotions. Definitely not a human.”
“One of the missing Weres?” Sami suggested.
“Dunno, but he or she is aware we’re here, and is scared,” she said.
“Shit,” Jax swore.
Silently they crept closer, and Jax peeked around the corner. “There’s a reinforced steel door with a small window.” He said. “Looks like the door is barred on the outside, I don’t see any light from within the room.” Then Jax pulled out his flashlight and they all eased around the corner.
“You brought a flashlight?” Tierney asked, surprised.
“Of course,” Jax replied.
“And you didn’t use it before why?” She rolled her eyes, but Jax didn’t answer.
Shinning the light through the window, he swore again, turned back around and leaned against the door. His panic was evident as he started to tremble. “Why couldn’t it have been rats?” he mumbled.
“Jax?” She laid her hand on his arm. “What did you see?”
He didn’t answer, but after he managed to get his breathing under control, he turned back and yanked at the bar keeping the door closed with savage strength. Tierney swallowed, nervous about who might be in the room.
“Jax, who’s in there?” Sami asked.
Chapter Sixteen
Whipping Boy
TIERNEY SENSED JAX’S outrage as he opened the door, eased inside and spoke in a soft voice to someone in the room. “Hey, we won’t hurt you.” He found the light switch right by the door. “I’m going to turn on the light,” he cautioned before pulling the cord. A pale glow flooded the room and Tierney caught a quiet whimper that quickly cut off in fear.
“You’re okay. I promise. We won’t hurt you,” Jax repeated, as she and Sami walked in behind him. With a curse, Jax approached the person he spoke to, moving slowly. Tierney stopped beside him and felt like crying. It was a terrified young girl, huddled in a tight ball on a dingy single mattress. She shielded her face from the light with her arm, pressing herself into the corner of the room, away from them. Oh Gods …
The sight tore at Tierney and she fought not to cry, instead glancing around the sparse, cement-walled room. A few feet away, a metal bucket sat underneath a water faucet with a drain close by. Well, at least she had water. Tierney wrinkled her nose, it didn’t take much to figure out the bucket’s purpose.
A large meat hook hung from the ceiling in the center of the room, and between the mattress and the bucket, two chains led from an O ring set into the cement floor, to shackles around the girl’s ankle and neck. Tierney couldn’t believe anyone would leave someone chained up in a dark room like this.
Jax crouched down in front of the girl, and continued to talk in a soothing voice, but the rage seeping out of him, prickled Tierney’s skin.
“W-who are y-you? W-where’s R-Real?” the girl stuttered in a scratchy voice.
“I’m Jax.” More power seeped out of him, making the girl whimper in fear again, so Tierney rested her hand on Jax’s shoulder, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Then she crouched at his side, while Sami stood quiet and still behind them, his emotions sealed up tight.
“Jax, you going to be all right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said and slowly reigned his power under control.
“I’ll go search for some clothes and keys,” Sami said, then turned and left the room.
Tears filled her eyes as Tierney stared at the girl, noting that the chains only allowed her to reach as far as the bucket and tap. Her chest tightened in anger and sorrow. The poor thing, naked and covered in dried blood and grime, hid under matted, waist-length hair and peered at them in terror. Tierney shuddered at the burns marring the girl’s arms, someone had used the poor kid—Tierney took her for about fourteen years old—as an ashtray, at some point.
Jax pulled his hoodie off. “You’re okay now, we’re going to help you.”
“I’m Tierney,” she said, introducing herself. “We want to get you out of here.”
“Here, you can, ah—” Jax began to hand the girl his hoodie and hesitated, the girl couldn’t pull the hoodie over her head, until they got the chain off her neck. “You can put this on when we unchain you.” Jax said instead and held out his hoodie, but the girl didn’t move.
“You’re going to be okay,” Tierney said, pleased when the girl lowered her arm at least. She peered at them through her hair with captivating pale-blue eyes. Tierney blinked in shock as she realized they were looking at a young man, likely around eighteen or so. A young man with haunted eyes, that revealed so much. That, combined with his fear, awoke something inside of Tierney, bringing forth a fierce need to help—to protect—this young man.
“W-where’s Real?” he asked again.
“I’m sorry, we don’t know Real. We came here looking for someone else, but you’re the only one we found.,” she said and the thought of how they almost left without checking the basement scared her. Now she hated to disappoint him. “What’s your name?”
“Thaniel,” he said quietly after a second.
“Thaniel, I’m guessing you’re a Were—” She started to say wolf, but stopped when his pale-blue eyes widened and fear permeated the room. Also, there wasn’t the slightest scent of wolf. “Shh, it’s okay,” she said, trying to soothe him. “We all have secrets. We only want to help you get out of here, honest.” Thaniel seemed skeptical, and Tierney couldn’t blame him for being afraid to trust a stranger. “We need to get these chains off you.”
Jax set the hoodie down beside Thaniel, but he didn’t touch it. “No, if they come back and I’m not here they’ll find me—hurt me,” Thaniel whispered.
Tierney’s anger rushed to the surface. No way in hell will I let anyone hurt him!
“No one is going to hurt you, I promise,” Jax said, speaking the words she had just thought. Tierney nodded, feeling Jax’s rage simmering.
“Who did this to you? And why?” she asked.
Thaniel hesitated. “A-Arlow, and Raymund, he’s Arlow’s Second, and some of the others.”
“Who is Arlow?” Jax’s voice was suddenly gruff.
“Arlow is the Alpha of the wolves,” Thaniel said with hatred in his voice.
“I thought Justin was Alpha?” Tierney was confused. At least that was what Kyrian had said.
Thaniel shook his
head. “He used to be, but Arlow’s friends killed him.”
“Huh. And, why are you down here?”
“Real brought me here after I was attacked.” Thaniel lowered his head in shame.
“This Real, he’s a Were-wolf?” Jax asked, tying to understand, but Thaniel shook his head. “No, Real’s something different. He’s my friend.”
“So, Real’s not the one who attacked you?” Tierney clarified.
Thaniel shook his head again. “No, someone else did.”
“Why did Real bring you here?” she asked. What kind of friend would put someone he cared about here?
“Justin agreed to help me. But then Arlow came in with these men and … they put me down here. Arlow’s a really bad guy,” Thaniel said, staring down at his hands and Tierney was happy his friend hadn’t betrayed him at least.
“No shit,” Jax grumbled. Tierney sensed his tenuous tether on his rage as he stood up.
“You okay?” she asked, worried about him.
“I’m going to go find something to get these off.” Jax nodded at Thaniel’s chains.
Tierney figured he likely needed to get away for a minute as well. Then she wondered what memories this must be stirring up for him. She turned back to Thaniel. “So why would they do this?” she asked, meaning the room and obvious torture, after Jax had left and they were alone.
Thaniel lifted pain filled, pale-blue eyes to hers. “I’m new. I can’t control my beast. This way I can’t hurt anyone.” He licked his cracked lips before lowering his head in shame. “And I’m also their … whipping boy,” he whispered so quietly, it took a moment for his words to register.
“Whipping boy?” Her voice rose with horror.
“The weakest becomes the whipping boy,” he mumbled.
Oh, hell no! Tierney raged at the sick shit that people did. “That’s awful.” The need to hurt Arlow and Raymund suddenly consumed her. “I’m sorry Thaniel, no one should be treated like this. I don’t care why they did this, it isn’t right,” Her voice held so much vehemence Thaniel peered up at her stunned. Tierney counted to ten in her head to calm down. “How long have you been down here?” she finally asked, afraid of the answer.
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