The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

  “After we get Sloane, we need to torch this place. Get rid of their plans,” he said in a low voice.

  “Absolutely. We should try to dispossess a few, too.”

  “If there’s time.” He cocked a smile.

  Jess shook her head at him and focused back on the building and what was happening inside. “We should keep going. See if we can see where they’ve got Sloane.”

  “We’re getting closer. I can feel her.” He carefully made his way to the back of the building. He closed his eyes a moment, and Jessie glanced around making sure no one noticed them standing at the back of an old warehouse.

  “She’s on the other side of this wall.” He took a few steps. There are no windows here, so we need to find another way in.” He glanced over. “Shall we?” he indicated the door about ten-twenty feet away from where they stood.

  “You open, I’ll freeze.” She responded and followed behind as he made his way to the door. He looked her in the eyes and nodded once. He reached his hand out to take the door handle. He met her eyes again. He mouthed, “one, two, three,” and pulled the door open. Her hands were up ready to freeze anyone on the other side, but the hallway was empty. She took a tentative step through the door, and Mike followed behind. He took his gun out of his waistband and held his finger ready on the trigger as he pointed it in the direction they walked. Looking behind her every few steps, she continued down the hall. He stopped in front of the solid green door on the left. He jerked his head to the side. They had been lucky so far, but neither of them wanted to attract any attention by talking.

  He reached for the handle and pushed. The door didn’t budge. “Shit,” he whispered.

  Jessie slipped two pins from the back of her hair and inserted them into the keyhole. She twisted just enough to hear a slight click and turned the handle. She opened it slowly, and Mike held the gun in front of him with his back to the door. He was watching her back as she stepped into the room. Sloane was slumped in a chair in the middle of the room. Droplets of blood ran down her wrists behind the chair. Her wrists were twisted at her back and held together with zip ties that were biting into her skin. Jessie could tell that she had tried to pull her hands free but to no avail. Her ankles were secured to the legs with more zip ties. Her face was ashen and pale. Mike dropped down in front of her and cupped her cheek in his hand.

  “Sloane, love. Sloane, can you hear me?” he pleaded in a soft voice. She didn’t move.

  “I’m going to need to carry her out.” Mike reached in his pocket and took out his pocket knife. He cut loose her legs then her wrists. He kissed her palm when he was finished and lifted her into his arms. “Are you ready?”

  “What about the other guy? I thought you said there was someone else.” Jessie studied Mike.

  “There is but can we get her out of here first. As soon as we have her tucked away in the car, we can come back. Come on Jess; we don’t have time for this. What if he’s passed out, too? I can’t carry them both, and you need your hands free to freeze if we have any hope of surviving a run-in with any demons. Be reasonable, please.” His eyes pleaded with her, and she knew he was making sense. It felt wrong to leave someone behind when they were so close. Mike did make some awfully good points, but every part of her knew it was wrong to leave a fellow man behind. She huffed out a breath, “Fine, but we’re coming back for him.”

  “Yes, now let’s go. We’ve been extremely lucky thus far. Let’s not take any more chances.”

  “Fine, but I don’t like it.” She moved to open the door. Her hand reached for the handle, and it flew open, nearly clocking her in the face. She jumped back startled but regained her composure quickly. She raised her hands to freeze him. He didn’t stop. “Shit,” she kicked forward, connecting with his balls. He slumped forward grabbing his crotch.

  “Fucking bitch, you’re going to pay for that.” He raised, hands in fists. She kicked forward again, hitting him a second time. He coughed forward, and she kicked him in the head. He held his hands to his crotch, guarding it against another attack. She kicked him again in the face, and his eyes rolled back and closed.

  She took a deep breath. “You just had to say it, didn’t you?”

  “What?” Mike asked.

  “Now, we have to go. You just jinxed our assess. Come on.” She ran through the hall. She had her gun in her hand, now that she knew the place was warded. She didn’t care if they were possessed, people. She’d kill the next one she saw. She heard running steps behind her. She got to the door and flung it open. Mike ran through it. She turned and saw two tall, burley men following. She pointed the gun and fired. The bullet struck one on the right side of his chest. He slowed on impact but didn’t stop.

  “Fuck,” she slammed the door closed and ran toward the car. Mike was a few steps in front of her. She heard shots coming from the building behind her. “Come on; we need to get to the car.” She called, moving to run next to Mike. A bullet lodged in the grass next to her last footfall. “Holy shit, they don’t even care that they are shooting outside, in the middle of the day.”

  “Hate to state the obvious love, but they’re demons,” Mike spoke, out of breath as he ran.

  Jessie ran around to the driver's side and opened the backseat for Mike. Mike flung Sloane and himself into the seat and slammed the door behind him. Jessie jumped in the driver's seat and yelled, “Keys.”

  Mike tossed the keys from his pocket to her lap. She started the car and put it in the drive. She peeled out of the space and headed toward the highway. She glanced into the rearview mirror. “Shit, we’ve got company.” She stepped harder on the gas as two black sedans pulled behind her.

  She looked behind her, and Mike was shifting Sloane over next to him in the seat. “I’m going to shoot at them. Hopefully, I can slow them down or get them off our assess.” He rolled down the window and shifted to look out the back.

  “Hold on.” Jessie took a turn, and Mike dropped the gun to the floor when he hit the side of the door.

  “You think you could give me a little more warning. I dropped the damn gun.”

  “No, I’m going to lose these fuckers.” She took another corner.

  “Can I get in at least one shot, Jess?” Mike pleaded.

  “Fine, fucking do it already.”

  “I would love to, quit taking the damn corners so hard.”

  “Do you even know how a car chase works? I have to take the corners hard. Would you rather I slow down, so they can shoot us?”

  “No, but I’d sure like the chance to shoot them,” Mike said.

  “Fine, whatever, shoot them then. I’ll go straight for a minute, maybe two.”

  “Your sarcasm doesn’t help.”

  “It helps me.” She uttered under her breath. She glanced in the rearview mirror, and Mike was lining up in the window to take a shot. She shook her head; it was taking him forever. “Will you take a shot already?”

  “Jess, I’d like to hit them. No use wasting a bullet.” He fired and hit the front right tire. The sedan began swerving recklessly, finally slamming into the other car. The other car slowed, then slammed them back. Jessie let out a laugh.

  Sparks flew from the right side of the car, and they slowed. “Do you think you can do that again?”

  “I plan on it.” Mike held the gun steady to fire a second shot. Jessie hit a bump, and Mike cursed behind her. “Jess, please. Do you think you could try to help me, here?”

  “No, I like to watch you struggle.” She stressed high-pitched giggle.

  “Seriously Jess, what the hell? I’m trying to save us here.”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll try to be good.” She smirked and took another turn.

  “Jessie!” Mike shouted from the backseat.

  “What? I’m still trying to lose them.”

  “You are going to pay for that, so help me,” he muttered. He fired again. The bullet went wide to the right. “Fuck!” Mike said. He steadied again and fired. This time the bullet went through the windshield. The car
jerked to the side and slammed into a car parked on the side of the road. Jessie breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Well, we lost them. You ready to go back and get the other guy now?”

  “No, are you fucking kidding Jessie? They know we took, Sloane. They’ll be waiting for us. We can’t go back there.”

  “We have to get the other guy, Mike.”

  “Ah, no we don’t. We have to get help. Then, maybe when we have fifteen other people with us, we go back and get him.”

  “How many were in there? You said fifteen. How many do you think followed us in those cars? We have to be down to at least ten maybe less. I think we can go back and get him.”

  “Jessie be reasonable. You can’t freeze them in the building. We barely fought off the one guy when we were in there, and we almost got shot. We absolutely can’t go back. It’s a suicide mission. I thought you were smarter than that.” Mike blew out an exasperated breath.

  “I know that if it were any of us in there, you’d go in. Come on, Mike. We just went in blind to get Sloane, and we made it out. We can’t just leave him there.” Jess pleaded.

  “No, Jessie. We need to get Sloane some medical attention. Then we need to call Erik and find out what they learned. We can’t go back, right now. We will save him, but we can’t do it without help. Go to Magnus’ house. He’ll get us help. We can go save the guy but only if we have some more people, okay.” Mike’s voice was soft, and she knew he was probably right. Jessie didn’t like the idea of leaving the other guy there. She wanted to turn around and get him. For now, she would head to Magnus’ to get help. Then she would go back and get the other guy. She wanted to call Erik. He would come to help her if she asked. He’d go back with her right now if she were with him. She blew out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  “Fine, I’ll go to Magnus’ house, but I’m going back as soon as I can. I don’t care, Mike. We need to save that guy. He’s Shikari, and we don’t leave one of our behind, ever.” She took a sharp turn and exited onto the highway. She wanted to get to Magnus’ as fast as possible. She also wanted to get her hands on a phone.

  She pulled into the driveway and parked. Mike opened the door and lifted Sloane out. Jessie knocked on the door, and Jolene answered. “Oh my, what happened?” she asked.

  “Sloane was kidnapped. We got her out, but she’s lost some blood from the cuts on her wrists. I think she got hit in the head pretty bad, too. There’s blood in her hair. Can we get a medic here, immediately?” Mike asked.

  “No need, I’m a nurse. I can get her all patched up in a jiffy. Bring her on into the house. I’ll get my supplies.” Mike walked into the living room and laid her gently on the sofa. Jolene hurried in with a black leather medical bag in her hand.

  “Do you mind if I use your phone? Ours are both dead, and I’d like to let Erik know what’s going on.” Jessie asked as she watched Jolene open the bag for supplies.

  “Of course, dear, go on into the kitchen. My phone is sitting on the counter. We have chargers in there as well if you’d like to plug yours in.” She continued to kneel in front of Sloane. “Mike would you mind going and fetching Penelope for me. Ask her to bring some wet cloths. We need to clean up all this blood on her before I patch her up.”

  “Sure, no problem.” Mike headed for the kitchen.

  Jessie turned and walked back out to the car to get their phones. She wanted to call, Erik, but she’d rather call from her phone. He was probably worried about her, and she wasn’t sure if he’d answer an unfamiliar number. She retrieved the phones and plugged hers into the charger in the kitchen. She tapped her foot as she waited for it to turn on. She was dying to talk to Erik. The adrenaline from the chase had left her system, and she needed reassurance.

  When the screen was finally on the startup page, she hit the phone icon. She scrolled to find Erik and hit the send button. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his voice on the other end.

  “Jessie? Hello, Jess are you okay?” Erik’s voice was frantic.

  “Yes, babe. I’m okay. We got Sloane out,” she said.

  “Oh, thank god you’re okay. It was a trap. They knew you were coming. They were trying to get you, Jess. I was so worried they would.” Erik’s voice was full of concern, and her heart swelled. She wanted to feel him in her arms.

  She dropped her voice low, “Erik, we have to go back. There’s another guy in there. We had to leave him because we were being chased, but we have to go back and get him. We just have to.” She pleaded.

  “Jess, it was a trap. They wanted to get you. You can’t go back there. Do you know how bad it would’ve been if they got you?” He sighed into the phone.

  “I know, Erik. But we can’t just leave him there. He’s one of us. We have to save him.”

  “Jess, you don’t even know this guy.”

  “It doesn’t matter if I know him. We have an oath or have you forgotten? I’d think you of all people would support me, Erik.” She spat his name. She couldn’t believe after everything; he wasn’t supporting her in this. He left her because of his damn sense of duty. Why wouldn’t he agree with her? Jessie slumped against the counter. She’d never felt so lonely, at this moment. She took a deep breath.

  “I know the oath, Jess. But I love you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “What did you say?” She was surprised. She wasn’t expecting him to say I love you.

  “Jess, I said I love you. Now, will you please wait until I get there? Caroline and I are on our way. We’re only about ten minutes from Denver. Please, just stay put until I get there.” He pleaded.

  “Fine, I’ll stay. But this conversation isn’t over. We are going to save that guy.”

  “Okay, okay, just stay there. I’ll be there soon.”

  “Okay, bye.” She hung up the phone before she could hear him say anything else. She would wait, but she didn’t like it. The longer they waited, the more demons could show up at the warehouse. She knew if they’d gone back right away, they wouldn’t be expecting it. They would have had a better chance against ten; now they would have to go against however many they would call in for reinforcement. Which meant it would be even harder to get Erik to let her go. She wasn’t sure there was even enough Shikari in Denver to scale a full-on attack. Demons had possessed many of them. Jessie cursed and walked back into the living room to find Mike and check on Sloane. Sloane would be willing to go back. She was sure of it.

  Chapter 15

  “Have you woken her up, yet?” Jessie asked as she walked up to the sofa.

  “Not yet, why?” Mike asked.

  “Just asking.” Jessie studied Sloane’s still form.

  “You’re never just asking, Jessie. What’s up?” Mike held Sloane’s hand in his as he studied Jessie. She felt his eyes bore into her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Fine, I want to go back and get the guy we left behind. I know Sloane will side with me on this one. She’ll want payback for those assholes taking her. She can’t side with me while she’s passed out.” Jessie bit her lip and studied Sloane. Her face was ashen and pale. Jessie could see the blood around her wrists from the restraints. Jessie looked to the ground. She knew she was selfish. Sloane shouldn’t be going to battle in her current state. She just wanted one person to agree with her.

  “Jessie, you think Sloane is going to be ready to fight? She lost a lot of blood and had a pretty bad concussion. I’m not even sure she’s going to wake up easily. She’s got a bad head injury from when they knocked her out at the school. I think they may have knocked her out twice based on the size of the bump. She’s in no shape to fight.” Mike traced a finger along her cheekbone, admiring.

  “I know, but it’d be nice to have at least one person on my side.” She stood rigid.

  The door opened, and Erik strode through, “I’m always on your side, babe.” He reached his hand out and laced his fingers with hers. “Unless it’s going to put you in extreme danger.
” He gazed down at Jessie knowing why she was asking.

  “We can’t just leave one of our own. It’s not right.” Jessie dropped her head. She let go of Erik’s hand, crossed her arms, and walked back to the kitchen.

  A moment later, Erik walked through the door behind her. “Jess, we will go back for him, but we need help. It was a trap. They were trying to get you. Did your powers even work when you got in there?” He placed his hand on Jessie’s shoulder and squeezed lightly.

  She turned around, head still down. “No, my powers didn’t work at the warehouse.” Her voice was small.

  “I know. We found out from the kid; it was a trap meant for you. You’re damn lucky they didn’t get you. Jess, I was so scared when I couldn’t get a hold of you.” Erik stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She dropped her hands to her sides and let him hug her.

  “I don’t like it. We need to get back there. The longer we wait, the more time they have to plan for us. Then we could have an even harder time. They could also speed up having him possessed because we were there. We need to save him.” She pleaded, gripping Erik’s shirt in her hand and looking up into his eyes.

  “I know, babe. We need to save him, but we also need to be smart about it. We can’t go charging in there without a plan. They want you, and I absolutely will not let them have you. Jessie, I love you. I can’t let anything happen to you.” He placed a hand under her chin and raised her head to meet his eyes. He bent and kissed her. His kiss was filled with worry and relief. She responded instantly, wrapping her arms around him, and pulling him closer. She needed him, his comfort. She always felt safe with Erik. She kissed him for several minutes before breaking away.

  “Okay, so let’s make a plan. The sooner we get on with it the better.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the living room. “Okay, Mike we need to make a plan to go get the guy. We’re going to need help — any idea where Magnus is?” she asked.