“Oh, I new. I lost. Lo siento. Hotel muy grande,” Abuela exclaimed in heavily accented, broken English.
Abuela was old, but she possessed all her faculties, which made this farce even more amusing.
“How did you even get in here?” The guard waved toward the door.
“Open,” Abuela replied.
“Dammit. You all need to make sure the door latches behind you,” the man railed at the other guards in the room. “What were you trying to find?”
Abuela set her stuff on the counter opposite of the monitors, then sat down in one of the office chairs, with a tired sigh.
“I find housekeeping,” she replied.
“Jason, show her to housekeeping.”
“Yes sir.”
“Un momento.” Abuela pretended to catch her breath.
Wolf grinned as the old woman played her part to a tee. After a minute, Abuela stood with the assistance of one of the guards and grabbed her purse, leaving behind the pack of paper with the cell phone hidden inside.
Char’s impromptu surveillance, using burner phones, was inspired genius. They cut out a section of paper and taped the phone camera against a small hole in the pack. Now they could see what Drake’s security could see.
“First part down.” Wolf smiled at his companions in the van.
“Abuela did an awesome job positioning that hidden phone. The view is better than I expected. Let’s see what Iris, Trip and Marisol are doing.” Char leaned in to better see the screen on the iPad.
Ella
Drake brought me to the middle of nowhere to kill me. He knows I tried to get Bastian’s help. Ella white knuckled the armrest.
“Stay here,” Drake insisted as a van pulled up.
Four of Drake’s goons got out of the van dragging another man with them. Ella stared at the struggling man in disbelief.
“No, no, no,” she cried as she scrambled for the handle on the car door. “Wolf!”
What is he doing here? Oh god. What are these animals going to do to him?
Ella rushed toward Wolf, but Drake snatched her up. Ella struggled to get free of his grasp, then froze as the flash and thunderous roar of a dozen shots filled the night.
The first bullet struck Wolf in the chest, and he recoiled from the blast. She reached out as the second shot made him jerk. Ella heard herself scream, as she desperately willed the bullets striking Wolf in rapid succession, to halt. But she was too slow. Her curse had no trouble moving the tiny projectiles, but it couldn’t turn back time, or make her respond fast enough to keep them from ripping into the man she loved. Ella watched the blood spread on Wolf’s chest as he dropped to the ground, and something inside her snapped.
They killed him. In an instant Ella’s whole world exploded.
Oh god. What’s Wolf doing here? No, no, no.
The fiery flash from the muzzle of the gun lit the night. The shots echoed off the surrounding rock. But they weren’t half as loud as the scream that ripped from Ella’s throat, as the bullets struck Wolf, over, and over, and over, as the nightmare replayed again, and again, and again.
“Chase,” Drake barked as he stalked into the room. “Has there been any change?”
Ella jerked awake, then stilled. The vile man’s voice pulled her from one nightmare into another.
“No. She’s still passed out,” Neck tattoo replied. “I’m kinda surprised she hasn’t pissed herself.”
“Well, the bitch better enjoy her little nap, because when she wakes up, we’re going to discuss what she did to my fucking car,” Drake growled.
Ella didn’t know what Drake was complaining about. Considering his tone, and how she felt, she must have wreaked major havoc. Ella wished she could remember the retribution she dished out, but all she could remember was Wolf collapsing as blood covered his chest. Ella repressed a sob at the memory.
Oh, Wolf.
“Speak of the she-devil,” neck tattoo said from nearby.
Ella’s breath froze in her chest.
No sense pretending to sleep.
Ella didn’t have the energy for it anyway. Plus, since Chase had made the comment about the bathroom, Ella had to go. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. She was sore down to her bones. Ella gingerly got up off the sofa.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Drake demanded.
“To the bathroom, unless you want me to ruin your Persian rug,” Ella replied curtly, as she glanced down at the carpet that likely cost a small fortune.
Ella didn’t bother to wait for a reply. She turned and wandered to the bathroom. If Drake had anything to say to her, she didn’t hear it. She was past caring any more.
Ella finished and washed up. She stood with her hands braced on the sink staring in the mirror. Her dress was dirty and tattered. Her hair was a mess. Dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, made it look like she hadn’t slept ever. Ella didn’t recognize the reflection looking back at her. She felt empty.
They killed him.
A tear slipped down her cheek, followed by another. She hadn’t known Wolf long, but she’d fallen for him hard. Try as she might to resist the force that drew them together, Ella found herself hopelessly in love with the man. He was the only one, beside her sister, who knew who she truly was. And now he was gone. Ella hung her head as the terrible realization washed over her.
“I’m getting out of here. Dead or alive.” Sadly, Ella was having a hard time caring if it went one way or the other.
Ella walked out of the bathroom to find Drake scowling at her.
“You ever again pull a stunt like you did in the desert, I’ll wring your neck and leave your body for the vultures.” Drake tapped on his phone, but the sadistic shock collar did nothing.
Apparently, I broke more than his precious car.
Ella grinned a broad smile that hurt her cheeks. She imagined she looked slightly insane. She was. Ella reached out with her curse and snapped the clasp on the choker, then yanked it off and threw it at Drake, striking him in the chest.
“Maybe you should have considered the repercussions of keeping someone who’s cursed,” Ella informed the bastard.
In the blink of an eye, Drake had Ella in his grasp, with his fingers wrapped around her neck.
“Don’t,” he warned, as Ella geared up to do some serious damage to his precious penthouse.
Drake’s grip tightened to the point Ella found it hard to breathe. He was so livid, the freakish animal he harbored, shifted across his face. His claws and fangs elongating.
“Drake, I just got a call from security. We have a problem in the casino,” neck tattoo interrupted.
Ella gasped, when the jackal released her throat. The dim edges of her vision cleared, but she still felt numb.
“Walk,” Drake snarled in frustration as he led Ella toward the elevator by the back of her neck.
Ella’s mind was a blank as the cubicle descended. They exited the elevator when it stopped, and went to a room with a wall of monitors showing the Casino.
“Sit there and don’t fucking move,” Drake snarled as he shoved her toward an office chair. “What the hell is going on?”
“What’s not going on,” the lead guard said in frustration. “Sorry sir,” he apologized for being snippy with his boss. “We have cameras going out all over the place. Electricity is shutting off sporadically in the shops and restaurants, and the pool has somehow been drained.”
Ella perked up hearing the security guard’s abysmal report. She didn’t know how you drained a massive pool, but someone obviously screwed up.
“Excuse me?” Drake snarled, his face turning red. “What the fuck are you talking about? Chase said there’s a problem in the casino.”
“The slots are all paying out jackpots. We tried to shut them down, but the electricity keeps turning back on. We’d have to cut the main trunk.” The guard ran a nervous hand through his hair as he explained the situation. “We have at least a hundred guests complaining that the tables are rigged. From what our dea
lers say, some woman is going from table to table, telling the players exactly what hand the dealer has. We tried to locate her, but she’s one step ahead of security.”
Good for her, Ella smirked. From the sounds of everything, Drake was getting just what he deserved. Karma’s a bitch.
“Chase, get all of our people down there,” Drake growled, the vein in his neck standing out.
“Yes sir,” neck tattoo quickly exited the security room.
“Repeat that?” The guard touched his earpiece. “Bring up camera 73.”
“That sector is down,” one of the men in front of the monitors replied.
“Sir, I’m not sure if I’m hearing this correctly. We have a new situation,” the first guard reported, looking like he was ready to soil himself. “People are starting to flee the hotel.”
Ella looked at the working monitors. Sure enough, people were in chaos, rapidly heading toward the exits.
If you’re going to get out, now’s the time.
“Just spit it out,” Drake demanded. “I can’t believe the level of incompetence…”
Ella stood while Drake was yelling at the guard, and headed for the door. She wasn’t concerned if he followed or not.
Wolf
“Abuela’s a genius,” Char giggled. “How in the hell did she empty that entire pool?”
“What part of Aztec Rain God didn’t you understand?” Wolf asked.
“Iris, finish screwing with the people at the blackjack table, and head toward Marisol. You’ve got a suspicious character, not in uniform, who’s following you,” Cain instructed his old lady through the phone.
“Good eye.” Wolf nodded to his friend.
“Is Marisol still by the slot machines?” Iris asked.
Iris was psychic, but she didn’t see everything. She also couldn’t defend herself against the shady character on her tail. Marisol and Abuela, on the other hand, could drop the bastard in a heartbeat.
“Yes, just look for the jackpot siren.”
“I’m heading her way.”
“Babe, it looks like Trip is about to do his thing,” Cain informed Iris. “It’s time for us to switch places. You ladies come back to the van and hang with Wolf.”
Cain grabbed his gear and got ready to exit the van, along with Vick, Tony, Mark and Jericho.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Wolf asked Char, when she started to follow the guys.
“Ella’s my friend. We don’t know what’s happened to her. She needs a girlfriend,” Char said with glossy eyes.
It’s my woman in there. She needs me.
“Go,” Wolf replied, even though he wanted to be the first familiar face Ella saw.
Wolf started to snarl in frustration, until the shooting pain in his chest reminded him why he was forced to sit on the side lines. He was lucky to be alive, but it didn’t feel that way. Thinking about what the fucking jackals might have done to Ella was driving him insane. Wolf prayed it wasn’t as bad as he imagined.
“Check it out. Trip was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Cain chuckled as he hopped out of the van.
Unlike most Shifters, who’s beast ghosted their human form, Trip could shift completely into his inner beast. Wolf wanted to smile when he saw the black jaguar calmly wandering through the casino, like the big ass predator he was. Panicked guests were quickly starting to fill the parking garage all around the van.
“Be safe. I’ll make sure nothing happens to the van,” Wolf grumbled, as everyone abandoned him.
He watched his sister, cousins and friends wade through the crowd, like fish going upstream, to get into the hotel. Wolf froze when he glanced back at the iPad in his lap. There was Ella, standing in front of the camera, planted in security.
“When did she get in there?”
Wolf listened to the jackal alpha yell at some guard, as Ella casually exited the room. His fists clenched, hoping Drake didn’t turn on Ella.
Hurry out of there, Princess.
“Everyone, I’ve got eyes on Ella. She’s exiting the security room,” Wolf reported.
Wolf hated that he no longer had eyes on Ella. Everyone was heading toward the control room, but they couldn’t move fast enough for his liking.
“Son of a bitch. Where’d the girl go?” Wolf heard Drake snarl at the guard he was berating a moment before. “Chase, Miss Roulant is somewhere on the main level. Find her,” the jackal alpha yelled as he stalked out of security.
“Shit,” Wolf cursed.
Ella didn’t have nearly a long enough head start. Wolf got out of the van. He wasn’t in top shape, but there was no way he could stay put.
Ella
Ella saw Drake’s men at the casino exits. They were assisting the evacuating guests, but she had a feeling they were looking for her too. Ella turned and headed deeper into the hotel.
They weren’t going to let her go. Even if she made it out of the hotel, they’d pluck her from amidst the fleeing crowd. They’d sniff her out with those animal senses. Drake even knew where she lived. He had her purse. There was no place she could hide.
I can’t lead these people back to Sabine and Char. It was time to finish this.
Ella glanced up as the sprinklers erupted, drenching her already tattered dress. She noticed the sign for the theater and headed that way. As she reached the set of theater doors a man stepped out blocking her path.
“Ma’am, you need to evacuate,” the polo wearing employee insisted, as he pointed to the exit. The man placed his hand to his ear and listened intently. “I’ve got her right here,” he said, looking Ella up and down.
Ella threw out her hand, shoving the man back with her curse. She barely flinched, or felt remorse, as he flew into the far wall. Ella didn’t know if the guard was like Drake, but she didn’t wait to find out. She ran into the empty theater, past all the chairs, down toward the dais. Ella climbed the stage, then turned and stared at the crowd of vacant seats.
Standing there, Ella was reminded of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A delirious laugh spilled out, echoing in the quiet theater. How many times had she spoken the phrase, ‘Out, damn spot,’ as she looked at her hands? Now, they were stained with the blood of the man she loved. But she wasn’t the only one to blame.
The curtain was falling on her hour to strut and fret. Drake would arrive any minute now. However, she would not gently give way, like a candle simply snuffed out. No, this finale would be full of sound and fury.
Ella cried out for Wolf, though outwardly she stood frozen like a statue. A fierce swirling torrent of anguish and anger consumed her. The doors on the theater flew open, but Drake’s men had arrived too late.
Spotlights and speakers rattled loose, crashing to the floor, as Ella’s curse surged forth. Row after row of seats ripped free from the floor and flew outward. They whipped around the theater, striking her pursuers.
“Enough,” Drake snarled menacingly as he fought his way through the chaotic debris, a determined sneer twisting his face.
Ella stared at him stoically as she rose off the floor. The walls began to shake when the final floodgate on her curse fell. The violent tremors grew, knocking the men to the floor. The plaster and stone veneer on the walls came crashing down, only to be swept up in the swirling maelstrom.
Drake’s eyes widened as he suddenly understood the error of his ways. The jackal made a futile attempt to back down the aisle, but he was pinned by the unseen hand of vengeance.
Wolf
“The jackals followed Ella into the theater,” Cain reported to everyone. “But we’ve got a problem, the casino’s starting to shake like it’s having a seizure.”
“Ella!” Wolf heard Char cry in distress. “I’m going in there.”
“His men are trying to get out of there, but you want to go in?” Cain yelled through the earpiece.
Wolf ignored the pain in his chest and stomach as he ran into the hotel lobby.
“She might calm down if she sees me,” Char said.
“We’ve got
your back then,” Vick replied.
“Get out of my way,” Tony snarled.
Wolf heard the scuffle in his ear, as the jackals attempted to prevent his pack from reaching Ella.
“It’s your funeral,” one of the guards yelled, giving up the fight.
Wolf grunted as he made his way through the casino. The last of the guests and employees didn’t care if they knocked into him as they fled. Wolf forced open the rattling theater doors. He briefly glanced at Char and the guys. They were tucked against the back wall, attempting to avoid the churning chaos.
Wolf’s eyes swung to the stage, and he was instantly riveted to the sight of Ella. She was a vision unlike any he’d ever seen. Ella hovered twenty feet in the air. Her long auburn hair was swept back, suspended in a wild halo, as all around her whipped a vortex of debris.
Her hands were outstretched, palms up, in a gesture of supplication. Ella’s head tilted to the side, her expression placid as she gazed upon the doomed soul standing at her feet. She was an angel, beautiful and pure, awesome and terrifying.
The power radiating from Ella, pressed against Wolf, crushing the breath from his lungs. Still he fought to reach her, ducking the debris careening through the air. Wolf wasn’t the only one attempting to get to Ella. The fucking jackal alpha stood in the eye of the storm. But he wasn’t going anywhere.
Wolf watched in smug satisfaction as Drake dropped to his knees under the weight of Ella’s immense power. The bastard bellowed, and shook with impotent rage, his fangs gnashing. But the invisible force tore at the jackal without mercy or reprieve.
Wolf stared in horror and awe as the skin began to rip from the jackal’s body, starting at his outstretched hand and working up his arm. Muscle and sinew were revealed, layer by agonizing layer, followed by bone, which crumbled to nothing as Ella laid waste to her tormentor.
“Wolf, no,” Char screamed in horror, when she looked away from the nightmare, to see Wolf’s struggling forward.
“She needs me,” he snarled.
“You can’t. Look what she’s doing.”
“I know, Sis.” Wolf calmly smiled back at Char, despite the chaos.
Beautiful Moves: A Motorcycle Club, Shifter, Romance (Shifting Steel Book 3) Page 17