by Ashlee Sinn
“Huh?” she looked at me in surprise and then followed my gaze down to her shoes. “Oh, a nine.”
“Mind if I borrow those? I mean, if you’re going to be a grizzly and all.” When she appeared confused, I wiggled my foot and the six-inch heels I still had on. “I’ll be more efficient if I’m not wearing these torturous things.”
Julia smiled and immediately unzipped her boots. “Of course. They’re all yours.”
Just as I finished switching shoes, I felt a breeze rush past my head. I stood quickly, looking around to see if anyone else felt it. And that’s when I saw two new faces join our group.
“Viktor Kaska,” Danika purred. “Thank you for coming.”
The tall man with dark hair and pale skin nodded. “I’m just glad we were close enough to get here in time.”
I stared at Viktor, still trying to wrap my brain around the little known fact that vampires existed. Brandt stepped forward and held out his hand. “Viktor, so nice to see you again. And Sophia,” he said to the beautiful woman standing next to him, “you look as lovely as always.”
She giggled and shrugged. “Always a gentleman, Brandt.” Sophia’s eyes quickly flicked to mine and then she cocked her head to the side like a bird. “Viktor?” she asked.
He was watching me too, but then his gaze slid to Danika. “Sutton’s with us,” she said with exasperation, as though I was a child they had to babysit. “She’s human.”
“I’m a state trooper,” I clarified, shifting my holster to make a point.
“Her mate was one of the ones taken,” Julia added.
Mate? What? No time to ponder.
“If she survives,” Danika continued speaking to Viktor, “she won’t tell anyone about you. I’ll see to it myself.”
Okay, I’d had just about enough. Stepping in front of Danika, I nudged her out of the way and noticed the small smile on Sophia’s face while Major groaned in the background. I held out my hand to greet each of the vampires. “Until a few minutes ago, I didn’t know your kind existed. But I’m an ally to all non-humans. You have nothing to worry about.” I shot a glare at Danika with that last statement.
“I don’t doubt that,” Viktor said with a small smile, his fangs peeking out from underneath his top lip.
“It’s good to have the law on our side this time,” Sophia added.
“Okay, can we please move this along?” Brennan asked. I didn’t think he meant to be rude, he was just a person who liked efficiency. I gathered we would become good friends one day.
Viktor spoke first. “Sophia and I scouted the area. The compound is half a mile to the west. It looks small from the outside, but we suspect there are many subterranean levels.”
“We think they are keeping the shifters on the third floor below the main one,” Sophia continued. “You all may be able to sniff it out better, but that’s where we heard most of the electronics.”
“How?” I asked and I swear Danika rumbled again.
“There’s a tunnel entrance on the south side. It looks large enough for a car to get through and that’s where we heard the high-pitched sounds of machines,” Sophia clarified.
“And what do you think would be the best plan of attack?” Brandt asked Viktor.
“I’d suggest stealth go in first, while the rest of you wait around the possible exits.” Viktor explained.
“How many humans?” Major asked.
“We think at least twenty.”
“I’m going in,” I said. When everyone stared at me, I lifted my gun. “I’m not afraid of humans, and Calvin is in there. Don’t even try to argue.”
This time I know Sophia chuckled. “Perfect. Sutton, Viktor, and I will go in first. Perhaps we can chase the humans out to you?” she looked at Brandt for clarification, but Danika cut in.
“Yes. Send the humans to me.”
“Danika…” Major warned. “We have to be careful.”
“Fuck careful,” she roared. But then she rubbed her hands against her head and tucked her hair back into the bun she always wore. “I mean, I know.”
None of us felt comfortable with that answer, if the way the shifters all ducked and cowered at her presence was any indication.
I felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around my waist, and turned to see Sophia and Viktor flanking either side of me. “Hold on, Sutton. We’re going for a run,” Sophia said.
“What—” My words got stuck in my throat as my head was yanked back and wind rushed across my face. A few seconds later, we came to abrupt stop and I instantly fell onto my knees.
“Ooh, sorry,” Sophia said, bending down to help me off the ground. “I always forget how rough the landing can be.”
“Rough?” I coughed. “I don’t know if that’s the word I’d use.”
“Shh,” Viktor said. He pointed to the tunnel and much to my delight, I saw light appear where the doors had started to open. “That’s our in,” he whispered.
Both Sophia and I nodded just before following him into the shadows along the concrete walls that formed the entrance. As a human stepped outside and lit their cigarette, Viktor had him in his grasp in less than a second. The man gagged a few times before Viktor’s choke hold took effect, and he crumpled to the ground. Viktor reached forward and yanked a key card from the man’s scrubs. With a silent gesture, he asked us to follow him inside.
Sophia went first, creeping along beside him. I pulled out my gun and assumed the stance I’d known all of my adult life. The tunnel wasn’t very bright, but the closer we got to the main part of the building, the more the fluorescent lights decorated the ceiling. Viktor held up his hand and we all stopped, pressing ourselves against the wall and waiting to see what he’d heard. Our pathway was about to intercept with another hallway, one that I figured gave us access to the rest of the building. A small group of humans in white lab coats walked past this opening, never even sparing a glance toward us. Once they passed, Viktor flagged us forward until we reached the intersection.
“I think Sophia and I should use our speed to search,” he suggested.
“I’m fine with that, but I’d like to find Calvin.” The vampires exchanged a look, one that I was getting tired of seeing the non-humans give each other. I lifted my gun and sighed. “I’m capable.”
Viktor smiled, and not in a condescending way. “I have no doubt. But where should we meet up?”
Good question. “What about right back here?”
Sophia and Viktor nodded and a split second later I was left wondering how the hell they’d moved so fast. A part of me envied them, but a larger part of me liked that I was alone with my gun. Just the way I liked it.
I skirted around the corner to find an empty hallway. Hugging the wall, I started at a slow jog, thankful for Julia’s boots. Had I had time to think things through, I would have dumped the little black dress too, but at least it was stretchy and not embarrassingly short. The hallway seemed to run in a large circle, which made me wonder how I was supposed to get to another floor. I passed several closed doors before reaching an area that looked like laboratories. With just a few windows on the inner wall, I saw enough to know that this was where they worked, but also knew this is not where they had Calvin. A quick flash of a vision showed me a staircase going down. So that’s what I searched for next.
As I looked for exit doors, I wondered why I wasn’t seeing more people. But just as that thought graced the forefront of my brain, a siren went off and red lights started flashing. So much for stealth.
The siren pounded my ears and I couldn’t find that door quick enough. Finally, a flashing yellow light marked the stairwell, so I rushed inside and bounded down the stairs. I had no idea what floor to stop on but my gut told me to go all the way down. So I did. Five floors into the subterranean. I pushed open the large metal door only to find myself in another circular hallway. But, this one opened up a bit after a hundred yards. And in it I felt the distinct sense of dread.
I didn’t know why, it’s not like I had a vision
of what lay ahead. But something in the air warned me to be prepared. This part of the hallway was straight with walls of windows on both sides. I listened for the presence of any humans, but heard very little over the pounding of my heart. Tiptoeing lightly, with one foot in front of the other, I leaned against the wall as I approached the first set of windows. There was an odor…a smell I knew too well, but didn’t want to think about. And as I tipped my head to look inside, my gut dropped in fear of being right.
“Oh, my god,” I whispered when I saw the pile of dead bodies. Tears instantly assaulted my eyes and I had to swallow every emotion swirling inside and force myself to look for Calvin. None of the bodies were African American and none of the animals looked like a cougar. There was something reddish-tan in there, but from the looks of it, I would have guessed fox before cougar.
These scientists disgusted me. What an incredible waste of life. I had a flashback to the lab we’d busted in Waco, and remembered the look on everyone’s face. They’d thought the shifters deserved it. I had wanted to kill all of them too.
“Who are you?” A man’s voice shouted down the hallway.
I raised my gun and took aim. “Police. Don’t move!”
He ran. Only he didn’t run away, he ran right at me. With something shiny in his hand, he lifted his arm and let out a banshee-like scream. I warned him again and steeled my arms. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”
As though possessed with something supernatural, he increased his speed. I fired a shot at his shoulder. It hit but it barely slowed him down. His left side jerked backward, and he continued running after me.
What the hell? “Stop!”
He didn’t and I fired again.
This time, I hit his head and he fell to the ground instantly, sliding to a stop just before hitting my feet. My hands shook with adrenaline as I kicked the knife away from him. With my gun still pointed at his head, I nudged his side to make sure he was dead. Grabbing his key card, I also snatched up the knife and slid it into my boot. After getting no response, I continued moving further down the hallway.
I didn’t hear any more footsteps, so I picked up my pace and held my breath each time I approached another set of windows, unsure of what I might find. The first two rooms were empty, but then I had a sense that I was about to find what I’d been looking for.
On my right, I watched a large red-haired man twitch as he hung from the ceiling. With his feet chained to the floor, I froze when I recognized who it was. “Zane?” I whispered. Fumbling with the key card I’d swiped, I looked for some kind of key pad to let me inside. Finally, on the concreate beam separating two rooms, I found what I needed. With a chirp, the glass door swung open and I rushed inside.
Zane’s arm and leg were contorted as though it had been broken and then healed wrong. His body was covered in dried blood from the chunks of skin missing from his torso. I swallowed down the bile and looked for any way to cut down the iron chains.
But as I walked behind him, my eyes caught a glimpse of something else…and I could barely breath.
There, across the hall, lying in a heap on the floor, was Calvin.
“Calvin!”
I heard the scream but realized I must be in a dream. Or in the afterlife. The sound was way too muffled for it to be real.
“Calvin!”
There it was again. Such a sweet, sweet sound.
Something chirped but I couldn’t lift my head to see. Although the drugs were now wearing off, my side and back hurt like a son of a bitch and I was sure I smelled fresh blood.
“Calvin! No!”
An angel knelt down beside me and picked up my head.
“Calvin, what happened to you?”
I looked up and forced myself to focus on familiar eyes. “Sutton?”
“Shh,” she said, rocking us back and forth, “Shh, I’ve got you.” Her body suddenly tensed and I heard the scrape of metal on the concrete floor. “I’ve got a gun!” she yelled.
“Sutton? It’s us. Me and Viktor,” a woman said.
Sutton let out a breath. “I’m in here!”
Two sets of footsteps rushed into my room faster than humanly possible. A man said something in a foreign language while the female swore. Sutton, though, quickly took charge.
“I need help with Zane. I couldn’t…” Her voice trailed off as one pair of feet ran across the hall. Something loud crashed to the floor a moment before I heard the sweet sound of chains ripping apart.
“I’ve got him,” the man said.
I opened my eyes long enough to focus on those around me. And there, standing in my doorway with a giant shifter grizzly swung over his shoulder, was a very old friend of mine. “Viktor?” I whispered, my voice scratchy and weak.
“Good to see you mon ami à quatre pattes.”
I tried to lift my hand in a small wave, acknowledging the vampire’s old nickname for me, but my arm simply wouldn’t listen.
“Here, let me help you,” the other vampire said to Sutton.
Together, the women got me to my feet and threw my arms over their shoulders. “Calvin,” Sutton said, “I need you to try and walk too. Okay?”
My side ached, my body wouldn’t listen to me, but I’d been through worse. I leaned over and kissed Sutton on the cheek. “Thank you for coming for me.”
She smiled, tears falling down her face. “We’re not out of the woods yet, buddy. Come on, we need you to help.”
“Okay,” I whispered, doing my best to comply.
The girls dragged me out of my cell and half way down the hall before I had feeling in my feet again. “They…they drugged me,” I said.
“I know, but you have to keep moving,” Sutton replied.
By the time we got to the stairs, Sutton and I were both breathing hard and I wasn’t sure if I could really make it out of here. “Let me take him,” the female vampire said.
“No, I want to—”
I leaned my head against Sutton and cut her off. “It’s okay. Let her help. You can make fun of me later.”
Sutton huffed but I saw the small smile. “Fine,” she said to me and to the woman she added, “Don’t drop him.”
“I won’t.” The vampire took all of my weight and hefted me over her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “By the way, I’m Sophia.”
“Hi…Sophia,” I said as I bounced up and down. I heard Sutton following behind us until finally we’d reached whatever floor they wanted. Sophia lowered me to the ground and let Sutton help again.
“Where is everyone?” Sutton asked.
“I was just wondering the same thing,” Viktor mumbled. “But let’s not think about it too much.”
We continued running, or hobbling, down another white hallway that seemed to bend to the left in a circle. It wasn’t until we reached an intersection with a pathway off to the right that we finally slowed.
“Clear,” Viktor said, not even huffing after carrying Zane all this way.
“The tunnel up ahead will lead us outside,” Sutton explained. “Just a little bit longer, Calvin.”
I looked over to my brave and fearless woman and brushed my cheek against hers. “I love you.”
“That’s so sweet,” Sophia cooed.
“I love you too, cougar. Now let’s get you away from here, okay.”
Her voice helped me ignore the searing pain and constant throbbing that I was now starting to feel again where Arthur had cut off my toe. In just a few steps, we reached a door that Viktor opened with a key card. The fresh, night air hit me like a wake-up call, immediately bringing my cougar back from the depths where he’d been hiding. Yet while he was still alive in me somewhere, he was in no shape to take over.
“Something’s wrong,” Sophia said, stopping us all from moving forward.
“I feel it too,” Viktor agreed.
“Feel what?” Sutton asked. She shifted more of my weight to her side and pulled out her gun. “Where is everyone?”
“That’s what’s strange,” Viktor whispered.
> Moving slowly, we climbed up the small grassy hill that led out of the tunnel, being careful not to make too much noise. My military training had me instantly recognizing the weakness of this position—trapped on three side and sitting beneath several areas around us. It was never a good idea to be stuck in a low point.
The night seemed to stay silent as we ascended. Viktor was the first to crest the top of the hill, but when he dropped Zane from his shoulder and lifted his hands, I knew we’d just been ambushed. From every side, humans stepped out of the shadows with semi-automatic weapons pointed at our heads. Sophia and Sutton stopped moving as well, but they stayed right next to me.
“Hands up! All of you!” someone yelled.
Sophia and Sutton shared a look and didn’t comply. But when the blast of a bullet leaving a gun slammed into my hamstring, I went down. Sutton screamed and lifted her gun at the same time she dropped to her knees beside me.
“Put it down!”
“No!” she shouted back.
But now wasn’t the time to make a final stand. I whispered her name, asking her, in that one word, to please comply. I would recover from my injuries eventually. But if I lost Sutton, my mate, my partner, I wouldn’t survive.
She tossed her gun to the side and then looked up toward Sophia. “Can’t you two do something? You’re super fast, right?”
Viktor slowly shook his head. “They’d have ten bullets in you guys before we got them all.”
“Are you sure?” Sophia asked, a glimmer of evil sparkling through her tone.
“I’m sure,” Viktor replied sharply.
“Fine,” she grumbled.
“Well, now what?” she asked the air.
I grabbed my leg, the gun shot burning just as bad as whatever they’d done to my side, and my lost toe feeling like a hangnail compared to them. “Where’s the rest of them?”
“What?” Sutton asked me, my words barely above a whisper.
“The rest of the Alaska shifters. I know you didn’t come here alone.” I tried to smile, hoping that I was right.
“I…I don’t know where they are,” Sutton whispered, looking into the woods surrounding this place.