Cloaked in Secrecy

by T. F. Walsh

  “Move.” Enre pushed my arm, and I climbed over to the passenger seat.

  Once inside, he revved the van to life and reversed back past the street we’d come down. Enre threw the gear stick into drive, but the vehicle choked and died.

  “Son of a bitch.” He turned the key, the engine only squealing. He tried again and again.

  “Don’t flood the motor.” Every part of me tensed, and my gaze refused to move from the officer several paces away, his flashlight blinding me. His mouth moved, but no words reached me. “Oh, shit.”

  “Come on, come on.” Enre turned the key for the fifth time, and the engine came to life.

  I released a long breath.

  He threw the gear stick into drive and swung the van left down the lane we had come up originally, the policeman still following.

  My heart pounded against my rib cage, resonating in my ears.

  “Change of plan,” Enre said, his voice a bit too cocky for my liking. “We’re doing this my way.”

  Every part of me tensed. This wasn’t how tonight was meant to go down.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ENRE

  “Slow down.” Alena’s voice barely broke through Mila’s howls from the back of the van.

  If the slippery road didn’t kill me, the girl’s fussing, coupled with the wolf’s howling, would do the job.

  “Mila.” My voice climbed.

  The growls silenced.

  Alena clutched the door handle with a death grip, and her other hand pointed right, as if I didn’t know which way to go once we exited the narrow lane.

  A quick glance in the side mirror showed no sign of the police behind us. Good. Emerging from the alley, I swerved the van onto the road. The back tires slid sideways. A thump in the back suggested Mila had lost her footing. Alena scrunched her eyes shut, holding onto the door.

  If Alena and Mila got injured, I’d never forgive myself. Spinning the steering wheel in the direction of the swerve to stop the skidding, we came to a dead stop in the center of the road but facing the wrong way. A truck was heading in our direction, and every hair on my body stood on end.

  “That was stupid!” Alena’s words were close to a scream.

  Taking a deep inhale, I accelerated, did a U-turn, and caught my breath. The transit prison bus was down the road ahead of us, almost concealed by the heavy snowfall.

  “Have you ever driven before?” she continued.

  “I’ve driven in worse weather than … ” I spotted a police car ahead of the bus as they turned left at an intersection. “Shit.”

  “They have an escort?” Alena asked.

  Refusing to lose sight of the prisoners, I trailed behind them, keeping a safe distance away. “We have two options. Return to the circus and forget the rescue mission, or—”

  Alena made a low, gravelly noise, and her brow creased. Was it from my suggestion or my driving?

  “Or we keep to my original plan,” I said. When we took a left onto Borisova Boulevard, the bus came into view once again, along with several others cars. “I suggest the latter.”

  “I don’t think we have a choice.” Alena kept her sights fixed on the road ahead.

  We passed trees peeled bare of leaves. The contrast of dilapidated apartments next to gothic architecture reminded me of Brașov.

  How are we going to deal with the damn police car? I should have seen that coming. But the rescue had to be on the highway. No cars, no streetlights. Just us and them. Think, Enre, think.

  “Are there any deserted roads on the way to Sofia?” I asked.

  Alena didn’t respond right away. “Yeah. Not far out of Ruse, we’ll pass through the national park. There’s nothing but trees either side of the highway.”

  “That’s where we’ll cut them off.”

  The whole scene reeked of danger. Then again, we were dealing with humans, not manipulative alphas who’d feed you to demons the second they got a chance. I tossed away the doubts and glanced at Alena. Her hands were tucked under her thighs, and her knees bounced.

  I promised myself that after this I’d do what it took to take Alena as my mate, keep her close, and protect her. Except … were such dreams foolish?

  Then there was Daciana, who had no idea what was coming, and I had no way of telling her, either. Perhaps I should have given in to her nagging to memorize the new pack house phone number. Dammit.

  Mila stuck her head in between Alena and me.

  Patting her, I said, “Better hold on, little one.”

  She retreated, her claws click-clacking against the metal flooring of the van before quieting down.

  Ahead, the bus swerved onto a ramp behind the police car escorting them. They passed a sign listing upcoming cities, including Sofia. We took the ramp, too—no other car did. The curvy road had fewer lights, fewer cars, and fewer homes, and the farther we traveled, the more my muscles tensed.

  Alena shifted in her seat. “We’re at the park.” Her words sounded strangled.

  We’d left the buildings behind, and a small metal railing on either side of the road held back the plush explosion of trees. Aside from the car lights, everything else fell into the night’s grasp.

  “How long do we stay on this road?” I asked.

  “About twenty-five miles. I think once we cut them off, you transform and distract the policeman in the car while I sneak up and knock him out. Then we do the same with the bus drivers. But you’ll have to be fast to avoid getting shot. Cops will be called, so we’ll need to be ultra quick to get Nic out.”

  I glanced over and noticed how pale her cheeks were and her strict focus on the road ahead.

  “We can do this.” Her words quivered, as if she was attempting to convince herself rather than me.

  “We will. We’re doing this for your brother.” And you, I almost said, but I figured that already played on her mind.

  Ten miles deeper into the park, I stared at the taillights in front of me. The windows were boarded up, and there was no rear door. Considering the light spattering of snow and the sludgy, slippery road, the bus was traveling faster than it should have.

  No cars had passed us for a while. It was time. “Hold on. We’re doing this now.”

  Alena’s loud exhale made my own breath hitch in my throat. I sped up, the distance between us closing rapidly, and pulled up alongside them.

  Their wheels were sliding slightly.

  “Get ready.”

  Alena laid her hand on my forearm, her warmth sizzling.

  “Enre, no matter how tonight goes, I’ll do everything to stop Father from challenging you. And … And I do like you more than I should.” Her soft touch vanished, and she gripped her seatbelt tight across her chest. “I’m ready.”

  Too many thoughts bubbled at the front of my mind. Emotions tugged at my heart. This wasn’t what I needed mid-assault. I shoved it aside because I couldn’t do the mushy stuff. Fuck, not now.

  Words slipped out before I could stop myself. “Alena, I want you as my mate.”

  Before she could respond, my foot struck the accelerator. We were thrust back into our seats, and the engine grunted as the van’s rear end fishtailed. The police car’s taillights were dots in the distance as we sped up, starting to overtake the speeding bus.

  I swerved into the bus’s path, and it veered off the road.

  Sparks flew from the opposite side of the prisoner bus as it scraped against the metal railings.

  Reacting quickly, I pulled the steering wheel back to avoid our own van skidding out of control.

  I held our speed alongside them, watching, waiting for them to slow, but they didn’t. Now the police car far ahead had its brake lights on.

  The bus shook and wobbled as the driver obviously struggled to keep it steady. They twisted at an awkward angle as the rear of the vehicle grated the railing, groaning. Then a loud bang resonated, and smoke billowed out from the grill on its rear. The bus slid into an uncontrollable sway, then its nose glided across the road, right into our p
ath.

  Alena screamed.

  I slammed on the brakes. Our van trembled, skidding sideways on the snowy road. My arm shot out across Alena’s stomach as we came to a halt. Mila crashed against the back of my seat and snarled.

  Suddenly, the tires of the prisoner bus lifted off the ground, and the first flicks of golden flames sparked from its engine in the rear.

  Ahead of us, the bus flipped onto its side with a thunderous clap, taking up the width of the road, its undercarriage facing us. White and black smoke swirled upward on the wind along with fire. The pungent stench of gas filled the air.

  “No.” Alena shoved the door open, leapt out, and sprinted toward the overturned vehicle. Before I could get my head on straight, Mila had shoved herself in between our seats to the front, squishing me against my door. Her hind leg kicked me in the ribs. She jumped outside.

  My side pinched. “Mila, get back.”

  In the rearview mirror, tiny yellow headlights were encroaching upon the scene.

  “Fuck.” Rushing out of the van, I bolted after the girls. I contemplated transforming. My wolf was grousing inside me, insisting it come out now. Ahead, the flames were gaining momentum, crackling and licking the breeze. The faint drizzle of snow did little to put it out.

  In one giant leap, Mila bounded atop the front of the bus, her bronze fur burning golden from the fire’s reflection. Halfway along the vehicle, she scratched at the metal as if digging a hole. She must have located Nicolai. Alena rounded the front of the vehicle and tugged at the corner of the front windshield, which had come loose from the warped frame of the bus.

  Sprinting closer, I yelled, “Mila, get back to the van!”

  When I reached Alena, her alarmed voice elicited my own toxic fear in the form of shudders. “The bus is lying on its side door. We have to get Nicolai out before the fire engulfs everything.”

  The night had turned into one great pile of crap, and until I got the prisoners out, I couldn’t release my wolf. I needed my hands to get everyone out of the bus. The plan was to rescue Nicolai, not murder them all.

  The accident must have twisted the side of the bus since part of the window lay pulled away from the shell. Alongside Alena, I grasped the window and yanked with all my strength. It gave slightly, peeling away further. We’d get this open in no time.

  Beyond the bullet-resistant glass, the driver and policeman were bleeding and unconscious. Farther behind the plastic barrier separating the inmates from the driver, a roar of panicked screams resonated. It was too dark to see faces or bodies, let alone identify Nicolai.

  Then movement at my side drew my attention. I stepped back for a better view.

  The escorting police car was parked about twenty yards away, and someone was climbing out. Over the person’s arm was a crossbow. I squinted, panic lurking at the back of my mind. Then I saw her face—Kalina, the Interpol agent from the circus. What was she doing here?

  Dressed in black leather pants and jacket, her hair pulled off her face, and her eyes locked onto me, she approached. Retrieving a bolt from the satchel dangling from her hip, Kalina set the crossbow up. Had she spotted Mila? When I looked up, Mila was nowhere to be seen, and yet Kalina wasn’t taking her sights off me.

  She aimed and fired.

  I threw myself sideways, out of her reach, but not before the crossbow bolt grazed my arm, tearing through my jacket. When I touched the wound, blood stained my fingers. Bitch.

  Sliding in front of Alena, I shoved her around the front of the bus, toward the undercarriage and out of range of Kalina.

  “Enre, stop it,” Alena said. “Get out of my way.”

  Turning to face her, I said, “Leave now. Something’s wrong here.”

  Her head shook, and the growing flames behind me danced in her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere without Nic.”

  My heart bounced against my chest, the beat thumping in my ears, and a faint moment of dizziness took hold. I shook it off. Something about this situation seemed set up—all of it, actually. Down the road, the flash of lights drew closer. Mila had run off somewhere. The fire was growing in size, and soon it’d engulf the bus with Nicolai inside.

  Kalina reappeared, from around the front of the vehicle, wearing the widest open-mouthed grin I’d ever seen. The kind that gave shivers the creeps. Her crossbow was again aimed in our direction.

  Alena gasped. I blocked her with my body and faced a blurry Kalina. Rubbing my eyes, I shook my head again. What was happening to me? Was there poison on the tip of the arrow that grazed me?

  “You better lower that. I’m only warning you once.” Were my words slurring?

  “Goddamn werewolves,” Kalina said. “I should kill the lot of you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  ALENA

  I lunged after Enre, who reeled backward. I seized his arm to keep him upright. It was Kalina’s arrow. Since it had scratched Enre, he’d been stumbling all over the place. She must have poisoned or drugged him.

  Enre’s gaze remained fixed on Kalina. “Psst … Put it down.” His words slurred, his arms flailing outward for balance.

  Kalina’s armed crossbow remained aimed at Enre’s chest from several paces away.

  Ripping my gloves off, I funneled healing energy through my body, down my arms, and into Enre. I had no idea if it would work, but I wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing. I had to try. On the bright side, Kalina had no idea what I was doing.

  I glanced at her, meeting her stoic stare. “What did you do to him?” My voice rose above the distant crackle of the fire. The ferocious winds blew snow sideways, pelting against me, my body leaning with it.

  “I knew he was a werewolf the first time I met him. It was in his eyes, and his name Ulf confirmed it. I killed one of your kind a few years ago, and he’d gone on about some Ulf family targeting me for revenge.” Beneath the words, her tone was dead.

  The idea that she knew what we were thrashed in my head. I only wanted to get Nicolai and drive us the hell away from this freaky woman. But if Kalina knew of our existence and maybe even hunted us, that spelled disaster for wulfkin everywhere.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, thankful my voice didn’t quiver. “Are you even an Interpol agent? And why aren’t you helping the prisoners?”

  “I don’t give a shit about the prisoners, and yes, I am an agent.” Her chin lifted high.

  The screams from inside the bus clawed at my guilt. Nicolai. I wouldn’t let us die.

  “Then what do you want?” I shouted the words over the fire.

  “Revenge for my father’s death.” Her lips warped in an awkward downward turn.

  And reality struck. A werewolf killed her father? Was that how she knew werewolves existed?

  “Weeks ago, a woman was attacked. At the last full moon.” Her voice dipped. “I found her torn and dead body several blocks from your circus. And I saw the demon werewolf flee the scene. If I’d had my knife, I’d have skinned the beast.” Her expression turned grim, packed with hatred. She spat on the ground. “He had a silver streak that ran from the tip of his tail to his muzzle. The rest of the fur was black.”

  My insides iced over, and my knees wobbled. I’d only ever seen one wulfkin with that pelt pattern—Nicolai.

  One of her eyebrows arched, and she offered me a knowing nod.

  “No, y-you’re wrong,” I stammered.

  “The same butcher has been killing humans at full moons for years and slaughtered my father two years ago in Serbia. I recognize his coloring. I know it’s him. I saw him transform back into a human behind the circus at the last full moon. But when I went to search for him, he’d vanished.”

  “You’re lying.” The words shot from my mouth, but I couldn’t deny parts of her story. We had been in Serbia two years ago, and the police had hounded us about a dead human there, too. Could she be telling the truth?

  Too many questions and doubts spun in my head. I recalled the metallic odor reeking from Nicolai the morning after the last full
moon. I’d put it down to him gorging on too much meat. And the new locks on the cages. It wasn’t the first time, either. Father changed them regularly. He always insisted on being the one who released Nicolai from the cage each morning after a full moon, saying it was a male bonding ritual. Hell!

  My next breath hitched. Father. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t hide such a crime. And I still refused to believe Nicolai had been responsible for so many deaths all these years. That wasn’t the brother I knew.

  Enre shook himself, bumping into me, as if trying to clear his head. “Sss … Stop spinning shit.”

  “Shut up, foul beast. Did you have to watch your father being ripped to shreds? See these?” Kalina pulled the collar of her leather jacket down to reveal scars scoring her collarbone and lower neck. “That’s her brother’s handiwork, from when I tried to save my father. It reminds me every day of what was taken from me.” For a smidgen of a second, something flickered behind her eyes. The raw pain of losing a loved one. Then she shook her head. “Dead bodies have been left behind in most cities you’ve visited. It all points to him.” She nodded toward the bus. “His last kill confirmed it for me. I also witnessed one of your crew transforming into a werewolf at the back of the circus in Serbia. It wasn’t the one who killed my dad, but that’s when I knew I was dealing with a pack of demons.”

  “If it was Nic, he’s caught now. You’ve got your justice, what more do you want?” My body quivered. This couldn’t be happening.

  The idea of releasing my wolf tapped at the back of my head, but while I changed, she could easily shoot Enre or me.

  Kalina’s lips opened in a silent snarl, and she broke into laughter that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. “I haven’t even started with my justice. He’ll suffer as much as my father did when Nicolai ripped him to shreds. And all of you will die tonight. Maybe I’ll keep one of you alive and have you arrested for this escape attempt. The police are on their way.”

  My voice faltered, and despite all the defenses, excuses, and negotiations spinning around in my head, it was Enre who responded.