The Tinas dragged me through the office and dumped me into the trunk of a car, banging my head on as many hard surfaces as they could find. They laughed and congratulated themselves on the impending end of my life. It took an enormous amount of restraint on my part not to kill them dead. There would be time enough for that very soon.
The ride was short and I knew we hadn’t crossed the bridge back to the main land. The scent of the ocean was in the distance, so we had clearly driven inland. I was surprised and greatly relieved they were keeping the girls in Hung. It occurred to me that there might be more Dragons involved than the three we knew about, but Dragons were an egotistical bunch. I was hedging my bets that whatever they were doing, they wanted full credit for it and they were working rogue.
The car stopped and I was yanked from the trunk. The lovely Tinas dragged my body across a rock-strewn path and I chanced a peek. We were at an old deserted resort. It had been abandoned when I was a child. A cult from out West had owned the place and a drug bust turned shootout had occurred here. About ten local human police officers had died in that raid and most of the cult. No one wanted the place and no one ever came out here.
“Put her in the holding area with the others,” Puck said in a clipped and furious voice. “And if you killed her with an overdose, I will rip your limbs from your body and feed them to you.”
The Tinas were silent and far more careful with my limp body than they had been. I mentally calculated if Hank and the gang were on their way yet. I was sure Junior had followed in his wolf form. A car would have been spotted. I sniffed the air, but couldn’t detect his scent. Where was he? I was good, but I was fairly sure I would have a hard time taking out a Dragon and three wolves alone while trying to rescue the girls.
“Drop her. He can’t see us anymore,” Tina #1 snapped. My body was dumped on the floor and a swift and hard kick to my stomach followed. I swallowed my grunt of pain and took everything they handed out as if I were already dead.
“It was your idea to give her enough to send her into a coma, shit for brains,” Tina #2 growled. “If anyone dies because of this, it’s you.”
“Shut up,” Tina #1 said. “No one dies today except the prisoners and this bitch.”
“How do you know that?” Tina #3 asked.
“Because I just do.”
The clack of their heels on the wooden floor as they exited was music to my ears. I lay still for a moment in case they came back.
“Is she dead?” a frightened voice whispered.
“I don’t know,” another answered.
“Oh god, it’s Essie. Please let her be okay. Please,” a third voice whispered brokenly.
I slowly raised my head and looked around the room to the gasps of the chained women. It had been a kitchen at one point. Remains of a sink and stove were sitting cockeyed against the decaying wall. The girls’ arms and legs were bound with silver and they were chained to old rusty pipes that protruded from the walls. Mottled red skin and dried blood around the shackles proved they were bound with the offending metal. Silver prohibited shifting.
“Essie, it’s me. Sandy Moongie. Are you okay?”
“Sandy?” That couldn’t be Sandy Moongie, or if it was she’d lost half her body weight and turned into a super model. “You look fantastic.”
“Um…thanks.” She blushed and looked down. “Weight Watchers and pole dancing.”
“Amazing.” I grinned and gave her the thumbs up and then remembered we weren’t exactly at a class reunion. Glancing around and listening for footsteps, I slowly got up. I was a little wobbly, but I was functional.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” I told them and was greeted with quiet sobs. “What have they done to you?”
“They’ve injected us with something to make us ovulate at a rapid pace,” Frankie Mac told me as she stifled her crying. Jenny Packer and Debbie Swink nodded in agreement.
What the hell was going on here?
“The main Dragon Puck is a doctor and they harvested our eggs,” Sandy whispered. “They used no painkiller. We were awake the entire time. They plan to do it again today.” She winced and curled in on herself.
This was barbaric and if they were doing what I thought they were doing it was horrifying. Shifters could not cross breed. The results of cross breeding in the past had resulted in tragic and unspeakable deaths for the mothers and babies. Had the Dragons figured out the secret? I almost threw up in my mouth.
“They’re trying to create a super race. It’s not just wolves. They’ve tried this with Panther Shifters and Bear Shifters,” Debbie added, her pretty face as white as a sheet.
“Did it work?” I asked trying to hold back my fury.
“No. They think the mistake was they actually impregnated the other women and had them try to carry the babies. They all died. Violently,” Jenny said sadly.
“How do you know all this?” I asked as I silently made my way to them.
“The Dragons like to talk,” Sandy spat with disgust. “Now they’re going to try to incubate eggs and sperm outside of the body and grow a baby. They’re convinced the failure stemmed from the mothers.”
“They’ll have a difficult time doing that if they’re dead.” I pulled on Sandy’s chain and winced. Silver burned our skin, but that was just too damned bad at the moment. Time was of the essence and I had no clue where my back up was. Wait, part of the story was missing…
“Why are they doing this?”
“They want to cause an upheaval with the Council—destroy it. Introduce a new breed that wouldn’t be accepted and then petition for a new leadership,” Debbie said. “They want to rule the world.”
I shuddered at the thought and examined the chains.
“You can’t break them,” Sandy said. “We’ve tried.”
“So little confidence,” I muttered as I shook my head and sighed dramatically. “Who pulled the fire alarm six times in one day in the tenth grade?”
“You did.” Jenny giggled.
“That’s right. Who slipped a fake speech to that turdwaffle, Ted Head, at graduation?” I asked.
“You did,” Sandy gasped and laughed. “I about died when he dropped the F bomb three times during his speech.”
“So did the principal,” Frankie added with glee.
“Who spiked the punch at prom?” I was getting into this.
“Actually, that was me,” Debbie said.
“Oh, right. I forgot. Are you sure that wasn’t me?”
“Quite sure.” Debbie grinned happily. “I got suspended for it, but it was worth it.”
“Okay fine, I regretfully can’t take credit for that one, but I did do all that other stuff. Right?”
They nodded and looked at me like I was crazy. They were right and they were wrong. I was nuts, but I could also break the chains thanks to Dwayne.
“Hold tight, ladies. This may hurt since your skin is so raw, but if you can shift when I’m done, you’ll heal.”
Quickly and efficiently I yanked the chains from the wall much to their delighted shock. Removing the shackles was more difficult and I blanched at the pain I caused them, but their stoic bravery awed me. They made small grunts and whimpers, but no one cried out.
“You need to shift and run. I want you out of here quickly.” I helped them to their feet and herded them towards the door.
“Essie, what about you? We’re not leaving you here alone,” Frankie Mac insisted as she came to an abrupt halt. The girls agreed and refused to move. Why in the world had I ever left this place? Loyalty like this was virtually impossible to find…
“Guys, while I was gone I trained and became an agent for WTF. I work for the Council. I was sent down to find and rescue you.”
“Are you back home to stay or are you leaving again?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted and blushed. “But, um…”
“You mated with Hank!” Sandy squealed and gave me a hug. “I can smell it and I’m so happy. But even more impo
rtant than that, you’re our new female alpha,” she added reverently and got down on her knees followed by my other friends. The air in the room swirled with magic and my skin heated. I froze and watched them. My inner wolf chuffed with pride, but my human side was torn. I didn’t deserve this kind of worship. I hadn’t earned it, but I could change that in the next hour…and I would.
“Get up,” I whispered frantically. “I’m just Essie, the goof ball from high school. Don’t bow to me.”
The girls stood slowly but kept their heads bowed in respect.
“I’ll bend you over and kiss your butt for saving my life,” Frankie said as she lifted her grateful eyes to mine. “But the timing is wrong. Essie, you’re right about us shifting to heal, but wrong about us leaving. We stay and fight. I don’t care if you’re WTF or WTH or WWW…you’re pack and pack sticks together. Period.”
I wanted to cry, but didn’t have time. I knew no amount of begging or threatening would make them leave, so I had to formulate a plan.
“Okay, fine,” I mumbled as I paced the room. “I’m armed and you’re not. I also drank Vampyre blood, so I have super strength for a while.”
“Oh my god,” Sandy gasped, totally impressed. “Can you fly?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I wish. I want all of you to stay here and go back to where you were chained. Keep the chains near you, but don’t let them touch your skin. You need to be able to shift at a moment’s notice. It’s dark enough in here that they won’t notice you’ve been freed immediately.”
“What are you going to do?” Jenny asked fearfully.
“What I’ve been trained to do,” I answered her honestly without spelling everything out. “Will you gals be able to kill the Tinas if they come back?”
They stared at me like I’d grown an extra nose.
“Let me rephrase that. If the Tinas try to kill you, which I guarantee they will, will you defend yourselves?”
“Do we actually have to kill them?” Debbie asked.
“Well, if you want to come out of here alive…I’d say yes.” Maybe I should make them run. This was looking like a bloodbath in the making.
“I’ll kill them dead and then I’ll kill them again,” Sandy said. “They’ve beaten the hell out of us on a daily basis for two weeks.”
God, I liked Sandy.
“Wouldn’t it be better if we held them and had them shunned?” Frankie suggested.
We all contemplated that silently. Shunning was the most horrific thing that could happen to a Shifter. It was a fate worse than death. I mulled it over. Frankie did have a good point.
“I don’t know.” I hesitated. “I suppose if you can restrain them and get them chained up, we can leave their punishment to the Pack.”
“I do vote for roughing them up a bit—maybe knocking out a few teeth,” Jenny added hopefully.
“I’m good with that as long as you kick them in the stomach. Preferably till they vomit. Now, I have to go and see what’s happening. Backup is on the way and we’ll get you out of here soon.”
“Essie, be careful,” Sandy said. “We’ve missed you and it would just suck if you died today.”
I grinned and gave her the thumbs up sign. “I have no plans to die today. I have too much to live for.”
Chapter 13
Where in the world was my backup? I was actually going to try to do this one by the books, but the longer I waited the more danger the girls were in. If it was discovered they were out of their chains all hell would break lose. I sniffed the air and caught no sign of Hank, Junior, Granny or Dwayne. Not good.
Staying low and close to the dilapidated buildings, I made my way toward the sound of voices.
“We have what we need,” Puck said. “I have no more use for the ones in chains, but I want Essie to go with us.”
Awesome, that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life…be the egg slave to a smarmy Dragon. Not happening.
“Absolutely not,” Tina #3 screeched. The two others voiced their displeasure quite vocally as well.
Puck Flare’s roar was no small thing, and from the sound of it, the Tinas concurred. I could feel the heat and I was outside of the building. The sound of screams and slapping followed. Had he set them on fire? If they stop, drop and roll they’d live, but…
“You have almost outlived your usefulness,” he hissed as the women moaned and whimpered. “What happened to Peter and Paul? You told me to plan a bogus meeting to throw the Sheriff off and now they’re not here when I need them,” he roared.
“They’ll be here,” Tina #2 assured him, sobbing.
“Peter has the formula on him and I need it now,” he said coldly. “This operation will go up in flames, pun intended, if I don’t have their assistance. If something has happened I will burn this town to ashes and use you three as kindling.”
“Well, that would suck the big one,” Junior whispered in my ear as he slid his hand over my mouth and thankfully trapped the scream that was on its way out.
“Why can’t I smell you?” I whispered as I punched him in the chest.
“Ouch.” He rubbed his pecs and I rolled my eyes. “I added a new compound to the tanner. Completely erases scent. Vamps can’t even detect it.”
He was brilliant, but he was alone.
“Where are the others?”
“We had a little situation at the station.” He grinned and chuckled. His calm amazed me.
“Spill,” I said as I pulled him to a safer spot behind another broken down building.
“Your buddy Dwayne did the mind meld thing and it went a bit awry.”
“Oh god, is he okay?” The thought of losing Dwayne was incomprehensible to me.
“He’s fine. So is Hank and your granny,” he added quickly. “But the Dragons…” He winced and gagged.
“What?”
“They’re not so fine.”
“Define not so fine,” I said.
“They exploded.” He turned a greenish hue and I backed away just in case he felt the need to hurl.
“How in the heck did they explode? Are they dead?” Was this some kind of Dragon trick?
“Oh, they’re dead alright. Dwayne mumbled some Vampyre voodoo and the Dragons’ skin started bubbling and before you could say, Dolly Parton’s built like a brick shit house, they blew up like a freakin’ bomb. Their guts are spread all the way from Main Street to Hangman’s Trail.”
That was a full six blocks. Impossible. I actually felt the need to hurl. I settled for a small gag and attempted to compartmentalize the visual. Also impossible.
“Dwayne did that?”
“Yep. Yep, he did.” Junior shook his head in wonder. “No clue how we’re gonna explain that one to the humans. Lots of community activities coming up; the Watermelon Festival, the Treasure Hunt, the Potato Sack Olympics…It’s a damn mess and smells like hell.”
“Septic,” I muttered. “Tell them city septic exploded.”
“Might work.” He nodded. “Saw the girls. They told me what was happening. Crazy shit. I wanted them to run, but they were having none of it.”
“I know.” I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. “Apparently the Dragons in town had the formula. I do believe it’s a three Dragon job. If they don’t come back, and clearly that’s not happening, Puck will incinerate the town.”
“Caught that part,” he said as he carefully handed me a squirt gun. As I examined it, wondering if he’d lost his mind, he grabbed my wrist and immobilized me. “Shit’s dangerous, Essie.”
“It’s a squirt gun.”
“Yes, Einstein. It’s a squirt gun. A squirt gun that has a liquid in it that will inhibit a shift—stop it completely. The one thing we can’t let happen is to allow that Dragon to shift. None of us stands a chance against a pissed off psychotic flying reptile the size of a football stadium.”
He was correct. Wolves were deadly but Dragons beat us on size alone…not to mention the fire thing.
“Did we happen to get the formula?”
I asked.
Junior rolled his eyes and grunted. I took that as a no. Did it matter? Dragons were notoriously selfish and greedy—at least that’s what I’d always heard. There was a very good chance that each of them had played a specific role and didn’t show their hand even to each other. That would certainly ensure they needed each other. Or to be more precise, wouldn’t kill each other and it would explain why Puck was so furious they weren’t back yet. Holy hell, I didn’t want to be around when he found out they’d been turned to goop.
“I need to go in there and douse the Dragon,” I said.
“You’re almost correct,” Hank said from behind me. Junior slapped his hand over my mouth and stifled my scream again for the second time in five minutes. Hank had definitely used the self tanner too. “But I’m sure you meant we. We need to go douse the Dragon and then tear him to shreds.”
I glanced over at the man who made my world right and I grinned. “Yes, I’m sure I meant to say that.”
“What about the she-wolves?” Junior asked.
Hank put his finger to his lips and pointed. The Tinas were making their way back to the holding room where the girls were. Their hair and clothing were singed and they appeared shell shocked and pissed. Crap.
“Junior, go around this building, come up on the rear and protect the girls. I’d like the Tinas alive, but you have my blessing to use deadly force.”
“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more. Where’s Granny?”
“She stayed in town. Go, go, go.”
Junior quickly shifted and left.
“Dwayne?” I inquired.
“He’s also in town doing crowd control, seeing as he was the one that caused the massive disaster.”
“You left a vampire and my granny in charge?” I was shocked and impressed.
“Not just any Vampyre…A three hundred year old gay drag queen Vampyre who can blow up Dragons.” Hank put his hand over his mouth, closed his eyes and gathered himself for a moment. I was becoming increasingly more relieved that I’d missed Dwayne’s new party trick. “Your buddy is apparently the hit of Hung. The crowds started chanting ‘Gaga’ as soon as they saw him. They were listening to him more than they were listening to me, so I told him that he and Granny were running the show and to clean up his mess. Then I left.” He shrugged and grimaced.
Three Southern Beaches: A Summer Beach Read Box Set Page 29