“Liam and I are OK,” Lara said. “I think I’m the only one who can talk right now, Grant.”
“I’m here, Alynna and I are good, she’s just getting dressed,” Meredith choked out. “And next time, can we get a bigger bracelet for this fuckin’ ankle monitor? I had to stop mid-shift or else I would have broken it and then we’d really see some fireworks!”
“Shit,” Grant cursed. “Can you…wait…I need to get off our comms.” In the background, she could hear Grant talking. “Yes, Sebastian? I know. Those bastards were prepared, hiding more men. I don’t know where they came from. I haven’t heard from everyone on my team yet, but as far as I know, they don’t have her.” Grant paused. “They’re headed where? There’s a basement? Dammit, Sebastian, stand down. Let my team get in there first! Fuck!” Then silence.
“Grant, we’re good,” Nick’s voice popped in after a few seconds.
“Sebastian said he saw some of the guys go back inside. They’re headed to a lower level basement, probably a new addition since it wasn’t in the blueprints.”
“She’s down there!” Lara piped in.
“Yeah, that’s the only logical explanation,” Grant said. “Sebastian went in by himself, that bastard! Go and get him, get Jade, and we’ll deal with it later.”
Turning to Liam, she saw that he had changed back and re-dressed. “Lara…I’m…”
She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We’ll talk later, right now we have to go get Jade!”
As they ran down the stairs, more gunshots and shouts rang throughout the warehouse. Alex, Alynna, Meredith, and Nick had already regrouped on the ground floor.
“Follow me,” Nick said as he ran towards the east side of the warehouse. They went down a long hallway, and then a set of metal stairs that led down to the basement level. Four armed men greeted them as they descended the stairs.
“Go in and find them!” Nick barked as he and Alex quickly changed, clothes ripping away as their wolves pounced on the guards.
Meredith, Alynna, Liam and Lara ran through the door across from the stairs. It led to another hallway, and this time six guards were charging towards them.
“Bad guys sure love hallways!” Meredith quipped. She bent her knees and bowed low, like a spring waiting to be released. “You guys go,” she shouted. She ran towards the men, her fists and legs flying as she took them down one by one, clearing a path for them to get through. They ran as fast as they could, and Lara waved her hand to blow away the last remaining door at the end.
Inside, four of Sebastian’s men were surrounding two figures in the center of the room, their guns pointed towards the ten men approaching them.
“Take them down!” Sebastian’s voice rang through the room. His men raised their guns, ready to fire. Just as Lara was about to scream, all ten of the remaining guards dropped on the floor. Sebastian’s men looked at each other, confused.
Lara stumbled back, and Liam caught her before she fell. “Lara, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“The blood magic…it’s just gone…” Lara felt the heaviness of the entire place lift away, like a thick fog receding.
“Blood magic?”
She nodded. “Yes, I could feel it. These men…” She let out a cry as she saw what was behind Sebastian’s men. There was a small form crumpled on the ground.
Jade!
Tearing herself away from Liam, she hopped over the unconscious bad guys, past the four bewildered men, and straight to her friend.
“Jade…” She knelt down, touching the other woman’s face. Her eyes were closed, and a small bruise was healing on her cheek. A rattle off to the side caught her attention, and she saw the chains. Jade was chained down to the floor by her wrists and ankles, probably as a precaution in case she shifted.
“Who the fuck would do this?” Sebastian threw one of the chains aside, the loud clanging making Lara jump in surprise. His eyes were hard like flint, and she could feel the anger rolling off him.
“Zac!” He called to one of his guys. “Go find a key. The rest of you, see if there are any tools around we can use to break these chains.” The men dispersed quickly, eager to follow their boss’ orders.
Lara pulled Jade’s head onto her lap and brushed her hair away from her face. She was so still, and if it wasn’t for her soft breathing, Lara would have thought worse. “You’ll be OK, Jade, don’t worry, I’m here.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Why isn’t she waking up?”
Sebastian picked up a syringe nearby. “Drugged, I assumed,” he spat. “Jesus, how much did they put in her system?” There were about four other syringes scattered around them.
“Is she…” Alynna gasped as she looked down at Jade.
Lara nodded weakly. “She’s…alive.”
“I’ll go ahead and get Dr. Faulkner!” Alynna tore out of the room.
“Boss!” Zac barreled towards them. He was a tall, lanky guy with a shaved head and a baby face. “I think I found ‘em!” He raised his hand, jingling a set of keys hanging off a ring. He tossed it to Sebastian, who caught it effortlessly.
Making quick work of the locks, Sebastian released Jade from the shackles and gently lifted her up into his arms. Jade let out a faint moan, murmured something, and rolled her head against Sebastian’s chest.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Lara asked indignantly. She grabbed Sebastian by his arm and tried to pull at it, but the giant remained rooted to the spot, staring down at the tiny woman in his arms.
“Sweetheart,” Liam soothed as he gently pried her hands away. “She’s fine. He’s going to bring her to Dr. Faulkner.”
Lara watched as Sebastian walked away with her best friend. Jade looked so much smaller and so fragile in his arms. She turned around and let Liam pull her close. His citrusy scent enveloped her, making her feel calm and safe.
“What the hell happened?” Grant’s voice boomed throughout the room, but it wasn’t through the speakers. The New York Alpha was standing by the doorway. Nick and Alex followed behind him, dressed in a fresh set of clothes.
“We were coming to get Sebastian and Jade.” Liam cocked his head at the fallen bodies around them. “Then all of a sudden they all dropped like stones.”
Grant leaned down next to one of the unconscious men and ripped his combat gear off. The Alpha lifted the man’s shirt, revealing the same symbols that Marshal Aimes had carved on his chest.
“The blood magic controlling them, it’s gone,” Lara said soberly as she disentangled herself from Liam’s arms. “It was here, surrounding them, then it just disappeared.”
“And look who I found!” Meredith announced from the doorway. She dragged someone by the arm, a figure in a dark robe. Pushing him on his knees, she ripped off his hood.
“Filthy Lycans!” He spat. The man was completely bald, cheeks sunken and face pale. The whites of his eyes were tinged with red, and the pupils were dark pinpoints.
“A mage!” Lara gasped. “You found him?”
Meredith nodded. “There was a secret door off the side of the hallway. Found it when one of the guys tossed me aside. I kicked down the panel and found this asshole.”
“Get your hands off me, you creature!” The mage struggled to get away from Meredith, and instead of pulling him back, she pushed him forward, sending him tumbling to his hands and knees.
“He was back there in this room. There were TV screens everywhere. They must have security cameras all over the place,” Meredith explained. “When I came in, he was in some kind of trance, reciting some mumbo jumbo. He didn’t even know I was in there.”
“He was controlling them,” Lara guessed. “That’s probably how the spell works.” She would have to tell Vivianne about this.
“And when you caught him, he lost control,” Grant finished.
“Looks like we found our puppet master,” Alex said as he grabbed the mage by the arm. The pale man screamed and tried to bite Alex, but the Lycan knocked him out with one sock to the jaw. He went limp. “I s
wear, I fucking hate mages.”
Grant shook his head. “God, what a mess. OK, let’s all get checked out by the medical team. Dr. Cross should be on her way back to New York. I’ll debrief with Sebastian, see if there’s anyone who needs confusion potion. Hopefully not, if anything, the iron-clad NDA he signed should keep his mouth shut.”
***
Dr. Faulkner examined Jade in the van. Lara refused to leave her side, and Liam was right beside her. Though the Lycan scientist remained unconscious, Dr. Faulkner said she seemed to be all right. “Her metabolism will burn away the drugs in a few hours. She shouldn’t need the medivac chopper, but I’d like to keep her in The Enclave’s Medical wing overnight.”
“How could normal drugs work on her, Doctor?” Grant asked. “The mages had to use a special potion to knock me out when they tried to kidnap me.”
“Well, Grant, despite her Lycan metabolism, she’s not exactly very strong in her human form. I think they knocked her unconscious, judging from that bruise on her cheek.” He shook his head. “Then they pumped her with drugs every hour or so. It’s crude and takes a lot of effort and medication, but it worked. I think they put in a couple of extra doses when the attack started, but she should be up in a few hours.”
“They chained her up, too,” Lara said softly. The bruises on Jade’s wrists and ankles had been red and angry when they got her out.
Dr. Faulkner sighed sadly. “Yes, hopefully those will fade soon.” He eyed Sebastian Creed warily. The man was standing a few feet away from them, talking to Nick Vrost in hushed tones. “Did he see anything while you were in there? Suspected that Jade or any of you were anything other than normal humans?”
“I don’t think so,” Liam answered. “Why?”
“Hmmm,” the older man said thoughtfully. “He was acting strange. Refusing to let Jade go. He nearly got into an argument with one of our security guys, but when I told him I was a doctor, he finally left her in my care.”
“We’ll keep a close eye on him, Dr. Faulkner,” Grant assured him.
Nick, Grant, Alynna, and Alex stayed behind with Sebastian and his team for the cleanup and debrief. Liam and Lara rode with Dr. Faulkner and Jade in the van all the way back to The Enclave.
After settling her into the Medical wing, Dr. Faulkner urged them to get some sleep. It was almost 5 o’clock in the morning by the time they were done. “There’s nothing more you can do for her. Go and get rest.”
“I’ll take her home,” Liam said.
“But I want to be here when she wakes up,” Lara protested. “She’ll be alone and she might be scared.”
“I’ll be here, dear, I promise,” Dr. Faulkner assured her.
Too tired to protest, Lara allowed Liam to lead her out of the Medical building and to the waiting car. He gave the driver her address and slipped in the back seat with her, tucking her into his side as they drove back to midtown.
Lara must have drifted off because a few minutes later Liam was shaking her awake. “We’re here,” he whispered.
“Oh, right.”
Liam stepped out of the car, swung over to her side and opened the door for her. “I’ll walk you up.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Oh.” He went quiet.
“Don’t just walk me up, Liam.” She stepped closer to him, looking into his eyes. “Stay with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“This is unacceptable!” Stefan raged at his companions. He pointed one bony finger at the figure in front of him, flinching as the master mage hurled insults.
“Forgive me, Master Stefan!” The man held his hands up in surrender.
“Tell us again what happened, Finley,” Daric said to the man.
“Master, we held the woman at the warehouse, as per instructions, keeping her sedated until she was ready for transport back here. She gave us no trouble.”
“Then why did we send all our soldiers there?” Stefan raged. “It took us months to build up our army! Four dozen men gone!”
“Marcus said we needed them all,” Finley cried. “In case the Lycans attacked. Which they did.”
“Marcus was able to control all those men at the same time?” Vivianne asked.
“He was my most advanced student, after Daric,” Stefan said.
“Still, how could they have overpowered our men?” Daric asked.
“They had help, Master Daric,” Finley explained. “From some humans, all highly trained and well-armed.”
“Better than our men?” Vivianne asked.
“Our soldiers are like a swarm of insects,” Daric told Victoria. “We picked the strongest men, and under our control they have no fear or instinct for self preservation. They will do what we tell them but have no independent thought. A small, well-prepared team could easily win against them, unless we had a literal swarm who could overpower them.” He turned to Stefan. “I suspect Marcus wanted Grant Anderson and his Lycans to come to him.”
“He said he wanted to crush the Lycans and show you how powerful he was, Master Stefan,” Finley offered. “He was telling me that he was hoping the Lycans would try to take back their scientist, because he was going to kill them all with his army.”
“Pure ego,” Victoria spat.
“And it is his ego that caused us this loss!” Stefan shouted, sending the walls shaking. “Do we know where they have taken him?”
Finley shook his head.
“Probably at The Enclave or Fenrir,” Daric guessed.
“We need to get rid of him, before he tells the Lycans everything!” He looked at Victoria. “How about our other mages? How is their training coming along?”
The redheaded witch gave a snort. “Not progressing as fast as we’d like. It’s a shame we lost Marcus. Not all our mages are adept at being puppeteers. We have one or two who might be good candidates.”
“Accelerate their training!” he ordered, then turned to Daric. “And start finding us more men!”
“Yes, Master,” Daric said with a bow.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She was falling.
The air whipped around her, and gravity was pulling her down as she plummeted closer to Earth. But that wasn’t what scared her or made her scream.
As she opened her eyes, she saw Liam underneath her. Falling much faster, his hands reaching out to her, their fingers touching.
“Lara! Lara!”
Lara’s eyes flew open, and she choked on a sob. Her body was covered in sweat, and she was sitting upright in bed. Liam’s arms folded around her, drawing her close.
“Jesus, Lara, what’s the matter?” he said, soothing her back with his hand. “You were screaming.”
“I…a bad dream. Nightmare,” she managed to choke out.
“That’s all it was, then, just a dream.”
Lara bolted from the bed, freeing herself from Liam’s grasp. She ran to the bathroom, closed the door behind her and retched into the toilet. When her stomach was empty, she stood up and wiped her mouth with a towel. She turned on the tap, washing her hands with hot water, trying to ward the chill away. Looking up slowly, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Get a grip, Lara.
It was a dream. She was having some sort of PTSD episode because of seeing Jade chained up and on the floor and fighting against those mage-controlled humans. That was all, right? She bit her lip and closed her eyes. Memories flooded back into her brain, of Jonathan and the dreams. The truck hitting him. Blood.
A soft knock jolted her out of her thoughts. “Lara, sweetheart,” Liam called. “I have some water here for you.”
“I need a second,” she called out weakly. Lara splashed water on her face, rubbed some moisturizer on her cheeks and took a deep breath. It was all going to be all right. With one last final deep breath, she opened the door.
Liam stood in front her, a glass of water in his hand. “Are you OK?”
She nodded and took the glass from him. “Like I said, just a bad dream.” She t
ook a sip and handed him back the glass.
He gave her a smile. “I know something that will cheer you up, sweetheart.”
“What?”
“Jade’s awake.”
***
“For the last time, Lara, I’m fine,” Jade grumbled. Lara opened her mouth to speak, but the Lycan held a finger up. “And if you ask me again if I’m sure, I’m going to…to…” She looked around her. “Maim you with this neck pillow!” She hoisted the said pillow in the air, waving it around.
“Yeah, I think she’s fine,” Meredith quipped. She was lying on the couch in the corner, flicking through a gossip magazine.
“Is she supposed to be here?” Jade asked Lara in a low voice. She was lying in the hospital bed inside her room at The Enclave’s Medical wing, while Lara sat in the chair next to her.
“I can hear you,” Meredith called out. “And yes, I’m here. Apparently, I’m going to stick to you 24/7 from now on.”
“Meet your new bodyguard, Jade,” Alynna said as she entered the room. “Meredith here has been assigned to guard you, at least while you’re here in the lab. Once we work out some details, she’ll also be escorting to and from your apartment.”
“For how long?” Jade whined.
“I’m sentenced to ten years of servitude to the New York clan to pay for my crimes,” Meredith swung her long legs of the couch and walked up to the bed. “So you and I are gonna be good friends!” She put an arm around Jade, which the other Lycan shrugged off.
Alynna rolled her eyes. “Just until we know you’re safe and no one’s trying to take you.”
“You get kidnapped one time,” Jade said in an exasperated voice. Her eyes narrowed at Meredith. “You tried to steal my work.”
“And your witch friend gave me a goose egg on the noggin’, so I’d say we’re even.”
“C’mon, Meredith,” Alynna took the blonde by the arm. “We need to sort out a couple of things before you start your new job.”
“You mean, I get paid for this?”
“No.” With that, the two women left.
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