by Neva Bell
James shifts in his chair. “That’s a harder sell. I can only assume they will be following us and looking out for you guys.”
“What about the method we used when we went to the funeral? Cars catching up with us on the route…” I stop myself, seeing the problem with this. “But we won’t be able to get cars out ahead of us because we don’t know where we’re going.”
Frank nods. “Exactly, we’ll have to chew on that one for a while.”
Nerves are setting in for all of us. If we can’t figure out a way to have the Guard follow us, James, Whitney and I will be on our own.
We spend the next few hours discussing potential scenarios for our arrival at the pack hideout. What type of weapons will they use? How many werewolves will be there? Will they attack immediately?
The possibilities are endless.
Willa yawns and calls it quits. “It’s been a long day. We’re all tired and need a break. Let’s get some food, try to enjoy the evening, and reconvene in the morning.”
No one dissents.
“I hate that my sister is involved,” James says when we’re back in my room.
“She’s stronger than you think. Give her a chance.”
“I wanted to keep her out of all of this.”
I sit next to him on the bed. “Whitney doesn’t want to be held back, she wants to be involved. She wants to help.”
James picks at his palm, jaw clenched. “We had a rough childhood. I hoped to spare her a rough adulthood.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Keeping her in the dark doesn’t make her happy. Whitney isn’t the kind of girl who wants to be locked away in a tower. She wants to saddle up and ride into battle with us. Let her.”
James leans forward and we touch foreheads.
I stand and extend my hand to him. “Now, let’s go eat some pizza. I’m starving!”
James takes my hand and stands up. “Pizza?”
“Yep. I asked Jessica to order everyone pizza for dinner. No healthy stuff tonight.”
James smiles. “You’re the best.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and give him a kiss. “I know.”
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning I’m in the training center early. James is still sleeping in my bed. A smile crosses my lips when I remember how peaceful he looked wrapped up in my down comforter.
Willa walks into the training center. “Sorry I’m late. I had to deal with an issue from the Boston coven.”
“No problem.”
“When you called this morning, it sounded urgent.”
I bite my lower lip. “I have an idea. I haven’t talked to anybody about it yet. I need to know if you think it’s possible.”
I share my idea with Willa. “Do you think I can do that kind of magic?”
Willa’s brow furrows. “I’ve never tried it myself under those circumstances. Rose, my mentor, knew a lot more about these types of spells than I do and she took a lot of notes. One of her journals may have the answer to our question.”
I nod. “Okay then. Let’s start with the library. We only have a couple days. We need to work fast.”
Willa and I luck out. A few hours later, we find what we need in one of Rose’s notebooks. If Rose is right, my plan should work.
Willa and I return to the training center and work together until I’m completely zapped.
“You need to rest Chloe. We’ll pick it back up again tomorrow.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to do it?”
Willa nods her head. “Yes, I do.”
Tomorrow is Tuesday and we’re supposed to get the location Wednesday. If I don’t have the spell down by tomorrow, I’ll have to come up with something else.
When I get back to my room, James isn’t there. I’m disappointed, but I’m too tired to track him down. I kick off my shoes and climb under the covers. I fall asleep almost immediately. By the time I wake up, the sun is down. I can’t believe I slept all afternoon. I roll over and see James sitting at the desk, flipping through a stack of photographs.
“Whatcha looking at?”
James glances up from the photos and smiles. “It’s aerial photographs of the surrounding area. Frank and I are narrowing down the possible hideout locations.”
“Any luck?”
“A few possibilities.”
I sit up and stretch. “I have a plan, but I need to know about the man in quarantine first.”
James puts the pictures down. “Daniel? Why do you need to know about Daniel?”
“I just do. I promise I’ll explain why.”
James rubs his chin. “Daniel is a problem child, to say the least. Frank asked us to bring a rogue wolf with us, and Daniel was the only one in our possession. I didn’t like traveling with him, but at the same time, I didn’t want to leave him behind either.”
“Frank said Daniel was caught stealing some of Ivan’s documents. Is that his worst crime?”
James grunts. “I wish. I’m sorry to say we didn’t give Frank all the details because we were afraid he wouldn’t let Daniel in the building. But in reality, your quarantine is the most secure place for someone like Daniel.”
Although I don’t like it, I ignore the fact that we weren’t given full disclosure about Daniel upfront. “Tell me. Tell me what he’s done.”
“Daniel was a high ranking member of our security personnel. We had no idea he was affiliated with my father.” James sighs. “Daniel came into headquarters one night and started mowing people down with an automatic machine gun.”
I gasp. “No!”
James grimaces. “He killed five people. We found him in my grandfather’s office trying to steal documents.” James stands and walks over to the bed. “He’s an awful person Chloe.”
I nod. “Good. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”
After I tell James my plan, we call Frank. Frank comes up to my room and I share my idea with him.
“I don’t like it. It’s too dangerous,” Franks says when I’m done.
“It’s risky, but I’ve thought it through. Willa and I discussed all the necessary magic, and we think it can be done.”
“What about the Guard? How are we involved in this?”
I hesitate, then say, “You’re not.”
Frank shakes his head. “No. We can’t send you out on your own.”
“You have to,” I plead. “It’s the only way this will work.”
“What if you end up getting killed? What then?”
I clasp my hands together. “Well, you better hope the next Verhena is as cool as I am.”
Frank scolds me. “I’m not in a joking mood Chloe.”
I sigh. “If you come up with something that allows the Guard to be involved without compromising the plan, let me know.”
Frank stands. “I’ll share this with a few of the guys. We’ll reconvene in the morning.”
---
As agreed, the three of us are together again in the morning. Ivan and Willa are with us as well. I purposely didn’t invite Whitney to the meeting.
“I talked with the guys last night and we’ve come up with a game plan on our end.” Frank pulls over a work board covered in notes and the aerial photographs James was looking at yesterday.
Frank puts his hand on a group of photographs. “Judging by these aerial photographs and information about the rural properties available in a fifty mile radius, one of these six locations is likely Julian’s hideout.”
“Only six?” I ask.
Frank nods. “Yes. We ran all possible locations through a database using searches for recently sold or abandoned properties. We then narrowed the search down based on proximity to the road, available out buildings, etcetera. We also compared photographs of the properties from a year ago to today to see if there has been any recent development on the properties.”
Frank and the Guard are so smart it blows my mind.
“Bottom line is Julian is at one of these properties.”
“Why don�
��t you go raid those properties?” Ivan asks. “Then we can leave my grandkids and Chloe out of this.”
“No,” James says firmly. “We have a way to get inside. The rogue wolves will let me and Chloe on the property, they don’t expect us to attack them. If we send in the Guard, we risk Guard members being harmed.”
“Your plan is based on the assumption that your father is being honest. That’s a risky assumption to make,” Ivan argues back.
“Ivan,” Willa says gently, “you and I are passing the torch to the younger generation. Let them handle it.”
Ivan tears up. “I don’t want to lose my grandchildren. I can’t bear it.”
I reach out my hand and place it on Ivan’s. “You won’t lose them. I promise.”
It takes him a second, but Ivan meets my eyes and nods.
I get back to business. “Okay. You’ve got the possible locations nailed down. What next? We can’t send surveillance teams out there. It will be suspicious.”
“We will have teams set up within two miles of each property. Once Rawley gives James the location, we’ll put the necessary team on high alert.”
This can’t be the entire plan. “What else?” I prompt.
“James will tell Rawley the vehicle isn’t being tracked, but we’ll have a tracker on it anyway. If Rawley calls at some point to change the location, we’ll see the car change direction. We’ll keep a close eye on the route your car is taking the entire time.”
“Anything else?” Willa asks.
“Yes. Our teams will stay back, but we’ll be ready to descend upon the property if we get a distress call.”
“A distress call?” James asks.
Frank holds up a silver watch. “This watch is equipped with a distress button. The wearer simply pushes in one of the side cogs, and we’ll be on our way.”
“So you want me to wear the watch?” I assume.
“No,” Frank says to my surprise. “It’s for Whitney.”
When we all look at him confused, he continues, “They’ll be paying less attention to Whitney. She can hit the distress button more discreetly than you can.”
Makes sense.
“Speaking of Whitney, what are we telling her?” James directs the question to me.
“I say we tell her ninety-five percent of the plan.”
Everyone agrees with me. I feel awful not telling Whitney the entire plan, especially after I lectured James about how he needs to give her more responsibility, but I need an honest and true reaction from her.
I sigh. “Whitney’s going to be mad at me.”
“Sometimes difficult decisions have to be made,” Willa says. “Whitney will forgive you. She loves you.”
I know Willa is right. I just have to live long enough to be forgiven.
---
“How did your training with Willa go?” James asks when I lay in bed next to him.
My hair is still wet from my shower, but I’m too tired to care. “Really well. I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
James leans over and kisses my forehead. “Just think, in twenty-four hours, this will all be over.”
“Or we’ll be dead.”
James strokes my face. “Don’t talk like that.”
“It’s true though,” I whisper. “This isn’t a fairy tale. We’ve already lost good people.”
He hugs me tight. “No more good ones. Only the bad ones.”
His body heat warms me.
“James,” I say as I consider my impending doom, “there is one thing I’d regret if I die tomorrow.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
I tilt my head back and press my mouth against his. As our kisses intensify, James rolls on top of me. I spread my legs so his body can press against mine in all the right places. The energy builds as we explore each other’s bodies.
He breaks our kiss. “I thought you wanted to go slow,” he says with a smirk.
I smile back. “I don’t have time for slow.”
I pull his mouth to mine. His strong hands move up my body. I sigh as his hand cups my breast. I tilt my head back and expose my neck.
James stops. “What are you doing?”
I look in his eyes. “I want you. In every way. I want to be your mate.”
His eyes are on fire. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He leans down and touches his tongue to my collar bone. I moan as he slowly makes his way to my jaw line. He whispers in my ear, “Are you mine?”
In between breaths I whisper, “Yes.”
“Say it,” he commands gently.
“I am yours.”
He licks my neck again. Electricity shoots through every nerve in my body. We slowly undress, both of us naked under the blanket.
“Say it again,” he whispers in my ear.
“I am yours.”
He thrusts inside me and my back arches in pleasure.
“And I am yours,” he growls.
Chapter Eighteen
Whitney
My bedside alarm goes off at 7:30 a.m. I want plenty of time to get dressed and ready.
“Whitney!” my grandfather yells from down the hall. “Are you up?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes! I’m up!”
He doesn’t even trust me to get up on time. It won’t surprise me if he demands I stay home at the last minute.
I take a quick shower and blow dry my dark hair. I put on a pair of black leggings, a long silver sweater and my black leather boots. No heels though, they might get stuck in the mud.
Chloe came to see me yesterday and told me the details of our plan. We’ll be leaving promptly at 8:30 a.m. under the ruse that the Guard’s grid is down. We will travel to my dad’s compound and hope to God everything goes okay.
When I asked what my role in the whole ordeal is, Chloe basically told me it’s to stay out of the way.
Oh, and to wear the Inspector Gadget watch Frank gave me.
I meet the group in the Guard conference room at 8:15 a.m. James and Chloe are standing together next to Frank. Chloe looks amazing. Her blonde hair is pulled into a bun and she is wearing skinny jeans with ballet flats and a beautiful white pea coat. I question whether wearing a white coat to a fight is wise, but keep my opinions to myself.
We are anxiously awaiting Rawley’s call. A part of me hopes he won’t give us my dad’s location. I’m in way over my head. I talked a big game about wanting to be involved the other day, but now I wish I had kept my mouth shut.
My nerves increase when Willa brings Daniel into the room. I knew he was coming on the road trip with us, but my stomach still rolls when he walks in. He’s grown a scraggily beard since the last time I saw him. He’s dressed in jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt, the same outfit he was wearing the day we brought him here.
The main difference is the look in his eyes. They are empty and vacant. Nothing at all like the crazy eyes of a wild man. Willa is pulling him along behind her like a zombie. Chloe told me Daniel would be under hypnosis, but seeing him is unsettling. She claims we need to bring Daniel with us as a showing of goodwill. The ruse will seem more believable to my dad if Daniel is with us.
Hypnotized or not, the guy gives me the creeps.
At 8:25, James excuses himself and steps into another room so he can take Rawley’s call. He is wearing a wire, so we all know when the phone rings. We stand around the monitors like statues and listen to the call.
“This is James,” my brother answers.
“Good morning James. What have you got for me?”
James tells Rawley the story about buying off an IT guy.
Rawley falls for it hook, line and sinker. “Ah, greed. One of my favorite deadly sins.”
“I prefer lust myself,” James quips.
Rawley laughs. “I’m sure. You ready for the address?”
“Yes.”
Rawley rattles off an address. Frank writes it down on a piece of paper and heads back to the conference room. Chloe and I follow behind him. Frank walks up to his
work board and pulls off one of the aerial photographs.
He puts it on the table. “This is it. This is the hideout.”
I look at the picture. It’s an old farmhouse set back about half a mile from the main road. The dirt road leading up to the house is completely surrounded by trees. A large red barn sits on the property. Probably where all of the rogue werewolves are hiding.
James walks into the conference room. “Let’s go.” His face shows no sign of nerves. How can he be so cool under pressure?
“I’ll have my men shut off the exterior lights now, that way it looks like our power has gone down,” Frank says. “We’ll turn it back on in thirty-two minutes.”
Chloe nods. “Sounds good.”
Frank gives Chloe a hug. “Good luck girl.”
After she returns Frank’s hug, Chloe grabs my hand. “C’mon. We’ve got this.”
I’m glad she’s confident. I feel like I might pee my pants.
James calls out to Daniel. “Daniel, follow me.”
“Do we have to bring him?” I ask Chloe as we ride in the elevator down to the garage.
“Yes. Willa has him in a trance. The only person he’ll listen to is James.”
“Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
“What if he wakes up?”
Chloe shrugs her shoulders. “I’ll just set him on fire.”
When we get to the garage, James points to a white Cadillac. “That’s our ride for the day.”
We climb in. James and Chloe in the front, Daniel and I in the back. James starts the car and drives out of the garage. I keep my fingers crossed there is no traffic. We don’t have time for it. We’ll be cutting it close to Rawley’s deadline as it is.
Luckily, we cruise through the city with no issues. It’s a crisp March day. Gloomy, but no rain. James and Chloe talk quietly up front. They don’t make an effort to include me in the conversation and I don’t interject. There’s nothing I want to talk about anyway. I’m too stressed out.
I check my cellphone to see if Brandon has texted me. Nope. It’s been two days since I talked to him. He’s probably out on one of his adventures, but he could at least send a text to let me know he’s okay.
He and I are due for a serious talk when I get home. If I ever go back home. I like New York City. I’ve been reading about their different fashion schools online and would love to attend one. The only thing holding me back is Brandon, but I need to be honest with myself about our relationship. I’m not a priority to him, and I need to move on.