by Celeste Raye
He moved faster to get there in time. Jack rolled under the gate, and he wasn’t the only one that had felt a burst of energy, because several people were right along with him.
Chris was smiling next to him. “Let’s get this open so that we can get the rest of them in here. This Organization is going down tonight. We can’t let it stand any longer.”
Jack agreed on all counts, and the seven shifters that had made it under the gate took down the security guards that were running towards them. It wasn’t that hard, considering that Jack was back to his dragon form. The gate wouldn’t have stopped him for long; nothing would.
They managed to get the gate back open, and the rest of the shifters were able to enter the compound. They flowed through all the parts of the compound, realizing the extent of the place. It was then that Jack realized how many people were involved. How much bigger than them it all was.
Then, he got deeper into the labyrinth of rooms and locked corridors. While they had a preliminary blueprint of the compound, it was quite clear that whoever had built it had added some extra rooms, and even some floors that were not in the original building inspection.
They were going in blind, more ways than one. At one point, he found someone that looked to be a scientist and made him show him where all of the shifters were.
What he saw made him sick, and the smell knocked him back. As soon as the shiny, stainless steel doors opened from the elevator, it was nothing but stench coming towards his nostrils. It was a smell of unwashed, healing masses and a lot of other smells, including rotting flesh and infection.
“Oh, my God. What is this place?” he asked the short a scientist with glasses in a lab coat next to him.
The man was so nervous to be standing next to the same creatures that he had been experimenting on, and it showed. Jack was almost going to let him go because of the fear that he saw in his eyes. Jack had a feeling that he was never going to work in such a place again. It may never have been a choice.
But apparently, it wasn't Jack's decision to make. Chris stepped in and broke his neck without thinking about it twice. Jack gave him a look, kind of asking him what he was doing, and Chris waved them off.
“There is no sense in letting any of them live. They didn't let any of us live. You see this shit. Have no mercy.”
Jack wanted to disagree, but it wasn't the time for it. They had gone in together, and they needed to finish up together. He still hadn’t found Mona, so he wasn’t done yet.
He followed Chris in. That was the only way that they're going to get all the people out of there before the rest of the Organization came down on their heads. It was like a ticking clock, and it was echoing in his mind. He had no idea how long he had, just that it wasn’t long enough.
They moved forward, and Chris and several others started to take down the hanging shifters. They were detached from IVs and other machinery doing God only knows what to them. Some of them were even being drained of their blood, and they were too weak to walk. The ones that had a little bit more strength in them were helping the weak ones out. It was a group effort all the way around.
As much as Jack was happy that so many people had been found safe, there was still a glaring question in his mind that he couldn't get away from. Where the hell was Mona?
That was the whole reason he was there, and he wasn’t going to be able to leave until he found her. She was obviously not in with the rest of the captured. She had most likely been found out, and now she was somewhere else. Jack needed to know where the hell she was.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Are you Mona?
She had just woken up, and there was some strange person standing over her. She could tell immediately that he was a shifter and it didn't take much to figure out that he was one of the captured. The guy was disheveled, and it looked like he severely needed a bath.
It all made her so angry, but none of it had helped. She had not been able to control herself and the real fear that she had about getting caught was realized. Now she was in a tiny room with no idea how she was going to leave it.
“Yes, I am. Who are you?”
She wanted to hope, but it was too easy to do that and lose sight of what was really going on. As much as she wanted to think that she could get out of the situation, it wasn’t very realistic. It was easier to accept her fate. Mona had seen what the Franklin Organization was capable of.
She accepted that she was most likely going to pay the ultimate price and decided to take a nap. Instead of worrying about what was going to happen next, playing out all of the scenarios in her mind, it was easier for Mona if she just got some sleep. Whatever was going to happen was not going to be affected by her state of mind. It certainly wasn't the best idea, but it was the only one that she had.
Now there was a shifter standing over her, and when she flicked her gaze to the door, she realized that it was open. It was also then that other sounds started to work their way towards her. Bad sounds. Sounds of pain and suffering, noises that she wanted to put out of her mind. It was sensory overload.
Mona could see guards and people moving. She saw one of the security guards passing by. He was running, though, not worried about her. He was holding his face like it was bleeding. She should have had more sympathy for the man, but Mona found herself unable to feel anything for the people of the Organization.
They were treating supernatural beings like animals, and it was hard for her to watch everything that she had seen. It had been so hard that she hadn’t been able to, thus why she was caught in the act of trying to leave.
“How do you know my name?”
Looking down at her like she might have lost all of her marbles, she tried to show him that she was still there mentally.
“We were set free and sent to come look for you. Jack is looking for you. He wasn’t going to stop until you were found. I'm glad that I found you. Now we can get the hell out of here.”
“Jack is here?”
He agreed and she got the biggest smile on her face that was possible. That was all she needed to hear. It could have all turn out horribly, but Jack was there, so it didn't matter. He was there to save her, just like she hoped he would.
“What's your name?”
He was helping her stand up and getting her righted on her feet. It wasn't the best time to start asking for introductions, but it gave her something substantial to hold on to.
It all felt so surreal, and her worst fear was that it wasn’t reality. She was worried that it was a dream and that she wasn’t awake. Mona decided rather quickly, that if it all wasn’t real and she was making it all up, she really didn’t want to have her bubble burst.
“Jesse. My name is Jesse Ruiz. I'm glad that I was able to find you. Jack is going mad looking for you. I can't imagine what it was like, coming here undercover, but I'm glad you came. Maybe we wouldn't have been found.”
Mona didn't know how to react to that. She certainly didn't feel like she had done anything but fail. She was supposed to get information to find a way to take down the Franklin Organization. She wasn’t supposed to get caught and have to be rescued. This wasn’t a success, and it certainly wasn’t anything that she should have been celebrated for. Mona had failed rather miserably.
“Thank you for helping me, Jesse. You are a lifesaver.”
“It's good for all of us to get out of here. I will get you back to Jack.”
“Deal.”
He grinned at her, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Mona was able to smile a genuine smile. Not only was she going to be safe, but it was all because of Jack, and maybe they would be able to take down a small branch of the Franklin Organization as well.
Mona was shocked at the chaos that she witnessed, but it didn't slow her down at all. She could taste freedom just ahead of her.
Getting away from the Organization was a good feeling, it was nothing compared to how she felt when she saw Jack. It was like the whole world was finally starting to make sens
e again, and even though there were people all around and chaos and blood, all she could think about was being held in his arms.
She never wanted him to let her go, and for several moments, she refused to do so herself. He smelled the same, and she breathed him in deep, like she wanted to remember him over everything else that she had seen, heard, and smelled that day.
“You can't imagine how badly I've been wanting to do that. I'm afraid that I am never going to be able to let you go anywhere again. I will lock you in the closet or basement if I have to. I am up for anything at this point, because I am never letting you go.
As sweet as it was, she did not want to think about leaving him either. There was no need for him to say or do anything. Mona wasn't going anywhere. She never wanted to leave the only man that made her feel safe, loved and wanted.
“I have missed you.”
“I had missed you as well. Thank you for coming to get me. I was really starting to think that I wasn't going to ever get out of here.”
“You know that could not happen. I love you, and I could never just leave you.”
“Did you get everybody?”
“I did. It's time to go home.”
“We have a lot to talk about. I was trying to get free when they got a hold of me. This is...”
Jack cut her off and told her that it wasn’t the time for it. As much as he needed to learn everything about his enemy, at the same time, there were more important things to deal with. Namely, getting her to safety.
The way home was nothing like she had experienced before. The last time had turned her on to no end, but this time, there was a different feel between them. Whatever was going on with them, she knew that it was going to come out soon. She also knew that he was going to have his say about her going to begin with. There was anxiety and anticipation weaved in with relief.
When she asked him why he was being so quiet, they had landed and were outside of his house. “I have not been quiet. I just still can't believe you're here. I have been thinking of nothing else but seeing you since you left. I’m just glad you’re back. There was also a lot to take in at the compound. I had no idea they were so large and organized.”
“I have thought about you as well. I was trying to leave when they caught me. I knew that you guys would have to know about what was going on there. Then you would be prepared. How did you do it?”
“A lot of help. The Franklin Organization has many enemies that they’ve never even met. They have ruined a lot of lives.”
Mona was silent for a moment. “I know. I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again. I hated the idea of that far more than what they would do to me.”
“You’re safe now.”
“I know. When I’m with you, I always feel like nothing could possibly go wrong. How could it, when you’re next to me?”
“It’s not enough.”
“We are safe enough. Let’s not forget that. We are safe, and that is all that matters.”
“What about what you were telling me earlier?”
She waved him off and told him that it was going to be fine. She wasn’t very convincing, but Jack could tell that she wasn’t interested in convincing him.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because for tonight we are. I can't worry about this anymore tonight. We’re home, I’m safe, and I just want to sleep. We will discuss this tomorrow, okay?”
“If you don't want to talk, what else do you have in mind?”
That made her smile. He was always trying to get into her pants, and it was quickly realized that this was no different. He was messing with her head, and he knew it. Moreover, he actually enjoyed it.
There was nothing else to think about, and she fell into bed with him, like she had several times in the past. And just like every time in the past, being with him awakened parts of her that she did not even know existed. He had always done that to her, and it was a relief to know that he still had the power to. She did say that she couldn’t live any other way. Not since she had figured out how good it felt to live with him.
There was tension between the two lovers as soon as their eyes opened. Mona had a lot on her mind and then Jack told her that he had a lot to tell her as well.
They’d fixed hot chocolate when the kids got up from the noise and then went back to bed. They had followed suit, but Mona had been dreading the next morning. That’s when the conversation was going to happen, the one that was going to change everything.
He was looking at her in that way that told her that he didn’t want to mention what came next.
“Out with it. I wanted to get some coffee in me first, but you look like you are ready to burst. Tell me what it is that has you looking this way, Jack. You make me nervous.”
He apologized, but it felt hollow. He didn’t have a choice, and she understood.
“Well, you are probably going to need some coffee for this, so let’s grab it on the back deck before the boys get up. They are going to hear about it later, but you need the unadulterated version.”
She nodded her head but still didn’t move very fast.
“It’s not good news, Mona, but it is in a way.”
Mona didn’t tell him about her news. Not yet. There wasn’t anything good that she could see that was going to come from telling him that the Franklin Organization was far more established and powerful than they ever would have imagined.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Well, I am always up for some good news.”
“Okay, maybe not good news, but information is going to help us take them down, so I guess it’s good news. You wouldn’t believe how many shifters we saved last night.”
“I am glad for that.”
“You don’t look too happy.”
“I just, I don’t know. Was that your news, that a lot of people were saved?”
Jack didn’t know what was going on with her. She had mentioned something about the Organization the night before and what she had gleaned, but now he was starting to think that she was leaving out something important.
“That and the witches are running it. The Jackie woman is still alive, somehow, and I found an address for her in one of the offices. We’re hoping that we can find her and take her out, taking down the whole thing.”
“Uh huh.”
Jack frowned. He had imagined her acting a bit differently than she was. Mona didn’t look excited about it at all.
“I thought you wanted to take them down?”
“I do. Or course I do, but I just think it’s going to be more complicated than you imagine.”
She leaned back in the chair and tried to settle her nerves. The coffee wasn’t helping. She needed wine or something stronger than that. Where was whiskey when she needed it?
“Why do I feel like you’re holding something back from me?”
“I am not holding anything back. I am just trying to figure out a way to tell you. I think all of you guys need to know about it, Chris and everyone who helped you.”
“What is it that we should know?”
“The Franklin Organization is huge.”
“You said that before. We knew that it was big. Look at the compound.”
“Yes, and then imagine that there are another hundred or so, all run the same way, all over the world. Then you will start to understand the breadth and scope of it all.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. He had considered five or six more, maybe. He hadn’t thought that it would be that big. Was it that big?
“How do you know that?”
“Because I went in to find out, remember? The witch they paired me up with, Madeline, was rather chatty.”
“No one made it out of there, you know. That was something else I was going to tell you.”
“That was probably for the best.”
He looked surprised. “Trust me, Jack. They were all under spells that couldn’t be lifted unless you killed the witch who made it. The witches are spread out everywhere. They would just
do what they were spelled to do anyway. There is nothing we can do about it.”
“I know, but… I don’t know. I thought you would be more bothered by it.”
“After seeing what they can do to people, I don’t have any sympathy for them.”
“So, what are we going to do?”
Jack asked because it was the same question that was running through his mind. It was the answer that was eluding him, and he was sure that she would have a better take on it. After everything they had been through, Mona was the one that kept herself and her emotions under wraps the best.
“I don’t know. I know that getting to the head witch will help; maybe she has spells that can be undone, but I don’t think it’s all about that. The witches I saw and spoke to enjoyed what they were doing. I don’t know why they are that way, but they took pleasure in it and even bet against them when they made them fight. It was a complete disaster there.”
Jack looked off for a time. He didn’t like to imagine what all had happened to the people that he loved. His kids and Mona had been in the hands of the Franklin Organization. He had snatched them back, been lucky, but there was so much more to do to make the world safer for all of his kind.
“Are you okay? That’s why I didn’t want to tell you last night. I thought it would hurt the celebration.”
Jack’s mind went to their little celebration, and he smiled at her. That was about all he needed to get his mind off of what she had just said. It was amazing how it happened like that. Mona had a control over him that he didn’t understand. Just a smile or thought of her was all he needed.
“Well, we aren’t just going to let them go. It is going to take some time, longer than I’d hoped, but it will be done.”
“If anyone can do it, Jack, it’s you. With all of the help you got, all of the people affected, I know that you will be able to take them out. It’s just going to take time, one by one.”