Caged

by J. A. Belfield

  As I belted up, Sean engaged first gear and followed Dad out the gates. No traffic interrupted our turn onto the road, though I guessed not many folks travelled lanes at two-fifteen in the morning.

  Inside the bag, I found four crusty rolls, a peek beneath the lids revealing thick ham and sliced boiled egg. Under those, lay a two-litre bottle of water with a yellow sticky label attached to it that read: drink me.

  I wedged it on the seat beside my thigh and chose one of the rolls to bite into. “What did I miss?” Crumbs sprayed from my mouth as I chewed. “And who’s in with Dad?”

  “Samuel and Josh. Dan’s been ordered to watch Connor’s back whilst Connor’s watching everyone else’s. Dad thought it best to have reinforcements at the house as the vamps who took you seemed to know so much. So … simple planning is all you missed.” Sean shrugged. “And Dad got Sam to contact his Alpha.”

  I wiped the back of my hand across my lips. “What did Jack say? Is he willing to join forces?”

  “He just found out he lost his son. What do you think he said?”

  “He’s in.” I shoved the remaining chunk of cob into my mouth. “He’d have to be.” Just like I have to be.

  Sean nodded. “Yeah, he’s in. Dad’s given him directions to a spot near the site. We’ll meet them there.”

  “How many?”

  “Four, including Jack.”

  I swallowed the last of the first roll and opened the water before gulping down a swig. “So … plan of action?”

  “We go in. The best points of penetration can be decided once we arrive. Split into two groups—maybe three. Only half of each group changes to detect any vampires by scent and prevent being snuck up on. We take out the threat. Check out any captives still caged and decide what to do with them. Then, we’ll work our way through the list of names you got until we’ve eliminated anyone with knowledge of us.”

  “Working straight through until the entire job’s done?”

  “Yep. No loose ends left untied to go blathering to anyone.”

  That made sense to me. I drew out two rolls and passed one to Sean. “You want one?”

  “Nope.”

  “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

  “Well, in that case.” His fingers wrapped around it and guided the bun straight to his mouth.

  I tore a hunk off my own and waved the remainder toward Sean as I munched. “Dad tell you about the wolfsbane?”

  He stopped chewing for a split second. His gaze met mine, and I didn’t need words to know the answer.

  I could understand his response. Sean had been one of the pack members kidnapped by witches eight months earlier, and he’d been exposed to the plant as a form of torturous control—for days.

  “It’s liquid,” I said. “Vampire who threatened to stick me with it had it in a syringe.”

  “Well … shit,” he mumbled around his mouthful before turning back to the road.

  “Yeah, that was pretty much my thought at the time, too.”

  Quiet settled over us for a mile or two. With our chewing and swallowing and chugging out the way, only the engine or whoosh of displaced air each time we passed a tree or high hedgerow entertained us.

  Sean glanced my way. “You eating that last roll?” When I responded by passing him the bag, he fiddled around inside it until he’d engaged his prize. “Okay, now rest up.”

  “I still haven’t got all the details.”

  “You’ve got as much as I do.” He shoved his roll into his mouth and stretched over, knocking the stereo on. The local rock station blared out, and Sean sent me a grin, his head jerking back and forth to the beat.

  My half-hearted argument arrived as a pathetic growl, and did little to stop Sean in his stupid antics—he sang over the top of me with lyrics that had nothing to do with the song playing and everything to do with ordering me around.

  Realising I wouldn’t win—or that I didn’t have the energy to try—I kicked my feet up onto the dashboard and let nothing but the brain-numbing tunes fill my mind.

  • • •

  Intermittent blinks of light infiltrated my closed lids, flashing a pink Morse code at my aching eyes.

  I had no idea how long I attempted sleep—an hour or so at a guess, but, no matter how much I begged the spiralling thoughts to depart my mind, no reprieve arrived.

  When the truck slowed and bumped to the crunch of gravel, I rubbed at my face. “We there?” Even my voice sounded exhausted, as though it hadn’t the strength to arrive louder than a mumble.

  Sean’s seat creaked beneath the shift of his weight, and the thumping beat from the radio died away. “You say something? You awake?”

  Was never asleep to begin. “I said, are we there?”

  “What are you—a damn Sat-Nav?”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Opening my eyes, I straightened in my seat and peered through the windscreen at the dark expanse of shadow beyond. The only illumination came from our headlights and the red taillights on Dad’s truck in front.

  Dad veered to the left, and his high beam cut through the night, exposing a BMW.

  “Jack’s here, already,” Sean said, following Dad round in a wide arc. He braked, sliding the gears into reverse. As he tucked us beside Dad’s truck, the doors on Jack’s Beemer opened and spilled an additional hazy glow across the dirt trail.

  Taking Dad’s lead, Sean and I climbed from the pickup, and all three parties stood illuminated by their vehicles. The slam of nine doors in quick succession boomed over the wind, followed by the quiet slop of wet soil beneath feet as Jack Brosen strode our way.

  He rounded Dad’s truck, passed Sean and me, and pointed toward Samuel. “Tell me what happened to him.”

  Samuel took a step back, palms up. “I don’t know.”

  Jack grabbed Samuel’s shirt front, his hands fisting in the fabric. With a spin to the left, he yanked Samuel from the ground and body slammed him into Dad’s truck before letting loose a snarl. “Tell me!”

  “I swear I don’t know.” Samuel rapid blinked, as though dazed from the impact. “He wasn’t there by the time they took me.” His words tumbled over each other as Jack pushed into his face with his teeth bared. “I never even saw him. Believe me, I’d have done what I could if I had.”

  A deep growl drew my attention to the left. “Just words,” said the one I’d presumed to be Jack’s son at the Battleground.

  Jack continued to glare at the younger wolf, his bunched shoulder muscles visible even through his polo shirt as frustration and fury pumped from him in a palpable heat.

  “You know I’d never have come back without him.” Voice dropped to a gravelly murmur, Samuel’s own grief surfaced in his tightening jaw. “When have I ever been unfaithful to the pack? Dead or alive, I wouldn’t have left him behind.”

  An aura of tension seemed to charge the surrounding air. Samuel just hung there like he’d been rendered mute, before Jack’s shoulders drooped a little, and he blew out a breath. “I believe you.” With the lowering of his arms, Jack slid Samuel’s body down the vehicle until his feet hit the ground, shifting his hold to grip Sam’s face. “Are you hurt?”

  Samuel shook his head.

  “Okay.” With a tight smile, Jack turned to Dad. “Are we ready to clear this mess up?”

  Dad nodded. “But let’s walk and talk; we’re wasting time.” He set off, leaving Jack to catch up.

  Nothing could quite set the tone for the night like the dismissal of one Alpha to another in a display of superiority. Either Jack didn’t notice the intention of Dad’s body language, or he figured we all had bigger issues at hand, but his long strides took him to Dad’s side in ten steps, which left the rest of us to decide who’d shadow whom.

  • • •

  Like some weird homing pigeon, Dad walked u
s over mounds, into dips, across a stream that relieved the night quiet of its eeriness. The thick dark clouds obscured the moon until only a suffocating blackness surrounded us, yet no stumbles arrived from Dad’s direction, only the steady pad of his footsteps led the way.

  Rain continued to fall and had spread a slow saturation across my shoulders and hair by the time we rounded a craggy corner about a half hour later.

  “Does that look right to you, Son?” Dad asked, slowing to a stop.

  I stared beyond his vague outline to the only distinguishable shape ahead—the points of turrets, linked by solid blocks of what I guessed to be walls, and three windows glowing out their rooms’ engagement. “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “Sammy?” Jack’s rumble carried from beside Dad.

  “For sure, that’s the hellhole.”

  “What information do we have on the interior?” Jack asked.

  “Nothing,” Samuel said.

  I turned to him. “They didn’t pit you?”

  “Your friend took my turn. Apparently, he had more to offer them.” Samuel’s tone arrived as blend of disappointment and relief.

  “You should count your blessings,” I said before pushing forward to stand beside Dad. “I’m unclear on specifics. But from what little I saw, there appears to be some kind of central hub—that’s where the fighting takes place. Circling that is a corridor. Whether that’s one singular corridor or there are others leading off it, I don’t know. But all ground level rooms seem to be accessible from there—maybe the entrance hall or foyer, too. The place is built like a miniature castle.”

  A brief cloud break lent moonlight for a half second, beneath which I caught the intensity in Dad’s pale eyes, telling me how closely he listened. “The turret I went in had a spiral staircase to an office on what one of the vampire’s described as the mezzanine level,” I continued, “so I’d place bets the rooms on that level are somehow linked, too. I only saw the one, though, so it’s another guess.”

  “And you left which way?” Dad asked. “Front or back?”

  “Not front.” I gave a small headshake as I ran a mental inventory of the side of the building we’d exited from. “Definitely not through the front. But other than that, not a clue.”

  He slapped a hand against my shoulder and turned as though to include everyone in what he had to say. “We should start at the main entrance, and split into two to work our way around the outside until we find a way in or at least a weakness. You agree with that, Jack?”

  “Sounds logical.”

  “Good. Then once inside, we do the same circling in separate groups again. Now … as for the groups—”

  “Two packs—the split is an easy one,” Jack’s son barked.

  My lips vibrated beneath my warning snarl. For me to cut in over Dad was one thing. For an outsider to have the audacity to do so was an outright affront I couldn’t accept.

  “Manners, Darrell,” Jack said, his tone hard. “What kind of division did you have in mind, Nathan?”

  “I agree that remaining with our own would work best. We each know the strengths and weakness of those in our packs, and if we stick with our own wolves, we won’t have to second guess anyone’s potential.”

  Jack nodded. “You happy with the number you have?”

  “Yes, I am.” No hesitation—Dad always trusted in our abilities and teamwork.

  • • •

  After crossing the moat bridge to the front entrance, we found it locked as anticipated. Staying in the shadow of the building, we took the clockwise route, Jack’s team anti-clockwise.

  We passed the first, second, third window—all of them secured too well to be opened.

  Dad had Josh hoisted high over his shoulders to check for spots to pry the fourth window open when running footsteps squelched the wet grass toward us from the left.

  Sean and I pressed into the stone wall at the same time as Dad swung Josh down to the ground, and they joined us.

  The footsteps halted. Deep inhalations followed. “It’s me,” Samuel whispered before appearing.

  “Find a way in?” asked Dad.

  “There’s a window open.” He sent a smile my way. “And as it smells familiar, I’d guess it’s the one we used to get out.”

  “Lead the way,” Dad said, though I couldn’t help but frown. As we all went to march forward after Samuel, Dad reached out and grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong?” he asked when I looked back to him.

  “Something’s off,” I murmured. “But maybe I’m just being paranoid.”

  “What’s your instinct telling you, Son?”

  “It’s a trap.”

  “You’re basing that on what?”

  My sigh came out heavier than intended. “No way could we have been missing this long without them noticing. I already told you they’re smart, so I’m one hundred percent certain they’d have scoured the damn place to figure out the how and where of our vanishing act. If that window’s still open, it’s because they want it to be—not out of negligence. They’re too focused for that.”

  “Do you think we shouldn’t go in?”

  “I think we have to go in.” I brushed both hands over my hair, stretching out my shoulders muscles in the same action. “But we can’t go in blind, thinking we got lucky because we haven’t.”

  “Okay then.” He started off in the direction Samuel had led Josh and Sean. “Let’s go give the others the heads up.”

  33

  The rain had lessened into a light drizzle that weighed down my clothing and invaded every layer of my skin, even though I squatted against the protection of the looming stone structure.

  Beside me, Sean peered out toward the dark. Neither of us spoke. Focus always came easier with a clear mind. I only hoped the vampires wouldn’t be expecting the numbers we’d brought—optimism had to be in my thoughts somewhere.

  A few metres to our right, back and forth mumbles mingled with the wind as Samuel filled in Odder—another from the battleground—and his Alpha as to what he’d witnessed whilst inside and on the difficulties of killing vampires.

  The rest of each team had disappeared into a shadowed alcove to prepare for infiltration, and after waiting for almost ten minutes—during which my calm exterior threatened to crack and reveal my true anxiety—four wolves rounded the corner.

  They snorted into the dark, breath fogging the air in front of their faces. Dark brown, dark blond, nondescript brown, and chestnut—the colours of the fur coats bristled by the breeze.

  When Dad stepped forward and huffed my way, jerking his chin to the left, I pushed up from my hunched position and walked across to the window. The second I pried it open, Dad hopped through and into the dim space, halting just inside.

  A chestnut blur flew past my shoulder, and Odd, of the Odd and Odder duo, landed on the other side of the huge window, taking Dad’s example in his cautious advance. Josh followed suit, with Darrel the last to bound through.

  At Dad’s low snorted command, the rest of us climbed inside to join them.

  Uncertainty showed in the high set of everyone’s shoulders as the party split in two. Brosen went to the left, Holloway to the right.

  Protectiveness and possessiveness warred with each other as we slunk our separate way. Watch Dad’s back or Sean’s, which would let me also keep an eye on Josh? My promise to Jem winning out, I nudged my brother in front of me, letting Josh, with his wolf senses, fall in line at my rear. Besides, I already knew Dad had even better fighting capabilities than me; he’d taught me to fight.

  From hugging the inner stone wall like a lost lover, I crossed the corridor at the first door. As I placed my ear to the thick wood, Dad dropped his nose to the sliver of air seeping out from below. Only sounds I’d heard by then had come from our invasion. Even opening the door and checking withi
n bore no discovery.

  Three more doors encountered, and we found little else, other than the stale odour of old blood within the second room.

  The fifth door led to the spiral staircase to Catherine’s office. As we’d no intention of venturing up until assured the ground floor was clear, we continued past.

  After checking out more empty, useless rooms, we finally stumbled across one that held something of substance. On a row of industrial storage shelves, supplies beckoned us. Not anti-venom—nothing quite as useful as that—just fresh darts, syringes, and a handful of guns.

  “Why the hell would they leave these lying around?” I muttered.

  Sean peeked round my shoulder as I grabbed a dart gun and begun loading it. “Maybe they’ve forgotten they’re in here?”

  I grunted. “Maybe.” Or maybe it’s all just part of some sick game.

  Still, I couldn’t ignore the potential of having weapons. The time for fair fighting and following our usual ethics of ‘our bodies are our weapons’ had long passed. I no longer gave a shit how we took them out, just so long as we did.

  Sean frowned down at the gun like I handed him a live grenade before looking back to me. “Must we?”

  “If I’m telling you these bastards are meaner and stronger than us, you know it’s the truth, yes?”

  He rubbed a hand across his lower stomach as he nodded.

  I studied the grimace lining his face. “Problem?”

  “Just indigestion or something.”

  Though he still looked unhappy about it, he tucked his gun in tight to his side as I grabbed one of my own, and we headed for the door where Dad and Josh stood sentry.

  • • •

  It didn’t take long to hit the main entrance and the huge chandelier-lit foyer I’d spied through the doors after my fight with Brook—the point from where we’d planned to double back.

  “Still nobody about,” Sean murmured from ahead of me as we re-trod our route.

  Probably hiding from us and waiting to jump out.