by Dannika Dark
“They’re probably barking right now,” Shepherd said. “That’s what dogs do. They bark.”
Blue tucked her hair back. “Can you find out if the shelter has a security system? I’ve never seen a shelter or pet store owned by Breed.”
Shepherd cursed under his breath while revving the engine. “I don’t think our suspects own it. That would look suspicious. It’s probably a human who doesn’t know what the hell goes on at night. Betcha they don’t have anything wired up.”
“Hold your ponies.” Something on the video caught Wyatt’s eye. When he maximized the screen, he saw Raven entering a small room no bigger than a coat closet. She turned to face the small man, and he reached for something by the door. Suddenly everything went black.
Gem gasped. “What happened? Is the video broken?”
Wyatt wished he’d equipped her with an audio device, but those weren’t reliable. According to the tracker in her boot, she hadn’t gone anywhere, but her signal was moving in peculiar circles.
Yeah, she’d gone somewhere.
Down.
Blast! He looked at the down arrow on the blueprints. That wasn’t an elevator; it was a slide. Some immortals created them as a quick escape route to the underground sections of the Bricks. Whatever was happening to Raven was now leading them farther underground.
On his document, he looked at the diagram of an oval-shaped room. A tunnel just outside it wound around to a small room, and walls divided the space. If he had to guess, they were cages or cells. Nothing was labeled. He followed the longest tunnel, which led to an unmarked building. The distance was noted, so he compared it to a city map and located the entry point.
“Change of plans,” he announced. “Pay attention. There’s an underground chamber below the basement level. The equivalent of maybe fifteen stories. Shep, take us to the Green Door.”
Shepherd flicked his cigarette butt out the window. “What the hell for?”
“Raven’s not in the basement.” He kept his eyes on the blueprint, memorizing the layout and zooming in to see where it all led. “She’s way underground. Deeper than the specters like to go. And if you’d prefer to take the same route she did, I might as well write up your obituary now.”
He braced his feet when Shepherd hit the gas. Wyatt spun the laptop around so everyone could see. “There’s a secret entrance. See this long tunnel? It leads to the Green Door. It looks like someone built it back in the twenties. There was a period when Breed went underground and they built elaborate tunnels and structures. The earth is stable down there. Lots of caverns and streams.”
“Enough with the geology,” Viktor said. “What is your plan?”
“According to this blueprint, there’s a cellar door in the basement of the club. That’s your way in. There’ll be a lot of steps or staircases, but all you have to do is take the tunnel straight to the end.”
“What’s at the end?” Niko asked with a look of concern.
“It looks like an arena. The main tunnel branches in a few places, but all those were sealed up years ago. Probably to hide what they’ve been doing down there. You’ll have two doors or gates to get through. Probably heavy and probably locked. But who knows? If there’s a fight going on down there, they might have it open for their customers. This might be the main route. Maybe the animal shelter is an emergency exit.”
“Any security cameras down there?” Blue asked.
Wyatt shook his head and spun the laptop back around to look at it again. “It’s hard to say. They don’t usually run electricity that deep since it attracts attention. If they have security cameras, then they might. A couple of you are good at picking locks, so that should get you through the doors.”
Gem finished putting her hair up in two tight buns. “Aren’t you coming along?”
“Negative. I’m going back to the auction house to hack into any security systems. Now that we know they’re not in the basement, it might be easier for me to break in. I need to access their computer files, paper files, and any security footage. And don’t try to guilt-trip me. Remember what happened during the Valencia bust?”
Claude groaned and sat back. “They incinerated all the evidence.”
“Exactly.” Wyatt continued analyzing the image while Shepherd tried to kill them with his sharp turns. “We’re not making that mistake again. If we have any runners, they’ll use the main tunnel. You guys should be able to contain them.”
“Is that the only tunnel?” Blue asked.
“There’s another circling the main room, but all of them dead-end at some point. I’ll probably die breaking into the auction house, but if I don’t, there’ll be a lot of rooms to search.”
“I’ll go with you,” Viktor said. “Brief everyone on the layout.”
Wyatt blew out a breath. Admittedly, he got a natural high whenever he cracked a code or got his hands on secret information. He’d put out a request on the black market for the complete blueprints, but who was this User 24267? Haggling for fair trade was part of the dance. Viktor even set aside money for just these occasions, but this person hadn’t asked for anything. That was a twist he didn’t see coming.
He studied the layout closely and then spun the laptop around. “Once you’re past the two doors or gates, you’ll reach a crossing at a dead end.”
Claude squinted at the screen. “Which way do we go?”
“A staircase to the right leads to an open viewing area on the second level. Going left will eventually lead to what looks like a holding room or dungeon. I wouldn’t go that way.”
“I wonder if anyone else is down there,” Shepherd said. “Do you think they’re running a fight, or is this just a tour?”
“This is no longer a sneak attack,” Wyatt said, making air quotes. “If this is more than a tour, Raven’s in the middle of it. You might as well go in assuming the worst-case scenario. The redhead will be somewhere in the crowd. I doubt she’s in the room to the left. If there’s no electricity, she won’t have a view. Go right. The upstairs area circles almost all the way around the arena, so you’ll be able to trap them. The only way out is down the stairs and through the tunnel.”
The van slowed to a stop, and Shepherd turned it off before shifting in his seat. “Suit up, everyone. I brought an extra bag of weapons. Stunners, stakes, and a few guns.”
Gem wrung her hands. “If we trap those people, they’ll have to cooperate.”
Wyatt found another network connection. “Ever tried to corner a feral cat?”
“I don’t want to hear your cat story again,” Shepherd bit out. “If there are people down there, we can’t let them know how many of us there are. Make them think we got Regulators topside.”
Blue got up and joined Niko. “Looks like we’ve got a lot of stairs, amigo. You wanna just follow my light trail? Once we’re inside, the layout is simple.”
Niko drew a black hood over his head. “Hand me three stunners and two stakes.”
Blue opened the duffel bag and began passing out weapons like candy. They were all sheathed and attached to harnesses or clips. Since Green Door was a Breed club, weapons were permissible, but everyone still did their best to conceal them beneath their cloaks. Shepherd had an arsenal inside his modified leather jacket.
Wyatt pulled up screenshots of Audrey and Pablo. Then he held up the laptop like a teacher showing his students a picture book. “Take a good look. These are your primary targets. Audrey’s a Sensor, so that shouldn’t be hard. The short guy’s a Mage. If any of you turn into ghosties, don’t you dare follow my ass home. I don’t have time to deal with your afterlife drama.”
Shepherd opened his door. “Let’s roll.”
Everyone piled out of the van except Viktor, who hopped behind the wheel. Wyatt climbed into the passenger seat, and they sped away from the club.
He looked at the video and saw Raven standing in front of a cage. Inside, Wyatt could make out the shape of a man, but the image was grainy and dark. Inventors in the Breed world had made hug
e advances in technology, allowing Wyatt to get his hands on a video camera that worked virtually anywhere. Now that they had enough evidence, they could take down this organization. All Keystone had to do was capture the ringleaders and stay alive.
Wyatt closed the lid on his laptop to preserve the battery. “They’re holding people against their will. Do you realize how long I’ve been trying to crack this case? I’ve been hearing rumors about organized death matches for years, but I’ve never been able to get a scrap of evidence. This is it, Viktor. The big one.”
“They shouldn’t have left bodies in the open.”
“Even so, leaving a few corpses lying around wouldn’t guarantee we would have found out about their secret death matches. Pure luck. This stuff is so covert that I’ve heard about people who went missing after asking too many questions.”
Viktor reached in his pocket and handed over his phone. “Call Christian. I want him here. Give him the address to the gallery.”
“Isn’t he on a job?”
“Not anymore.”
Chapter 28
The moment Audrey shut the door, locking me in the arena, I knew I was screwed. How would Keystone find me all the way down here? I’d told Wyatt everything about the facility, but neither Pablo nor Audrey had hinted to a secret chamber. I’d thought that slide was taking me straight to hell. And as I stared up at the masked faces looking down at me, I began to wonder if I’d gone there after all.
The spectators stood shoulder to shoulder in black robes. Some of the masks were solid white and looked like a mold of someone’s face. Others were silver, gold, and a few shaped like animal faces. It was unclear if this group knew each other, but they definitely wanted to hide their identities from the fighters.
Despite the cool air, sweat trickled down the back of my neck. I noticed things I hadn’t earlier, like the blunt end of the club on the wall had bloodstains from those it had bludgeoned. And a white tooth was wedged inside a crack in the floor. The crowd murmured as they got their first look at me. Had they been there all along, hiding in the shadows, and I hadn’t noticed? Probably. I remembered how the air felt charged when I first came in, like the pulsing electricity I often felt in Breed clubs. But I had so much adrenaline going through me that I’d dismissed it.
Instead of a grand introduction, the iron gate lifted with a clang, clang, clang. I stepped back apprehensively and tossed my bag aside. Once the gate reached the top, two men came into view. Rafferty stood behind the nude man with a knife in one hand and a device in the other. The man I’d just seen in the cell had dirty feet, unkempt hair, and his hands were tied. After Rafferty cut the rope that bound the man’s hands, he kicked him inside the ring, and the gate slammed shut.
I approached the stranger as his eyes darted up at our audience. The spectators were high enough to be out of earshot.
“Hey, I’m here to help,” I said quietly.
He glared at me with dull blue eyes. “Help what? Kill me? I know what this is.”
“I’m not part of this.”
“Sure you’re not.”
Did they expect me to fight the Shifter in human form first? “Choose a weapon,” I whispered. “Stall for as long as you can. Trust me.”
I let my fingers graze over each weapon I passed. It tantalized the crowd, whose murmurs grew louder when I admired a shiny sickle. By the annoyed look on Rafferty’s face, who stood inside the closed gate, I guessed that everyone had expected us to get right to fighting.
I settled on a small club, deciding not to take any chances of hurting the man with a blade. When I approached the center of the ring, he was striding toward me with a pointy spear. I tried to get close to talk out a plan, but he aimed it at me.
“Feet don’t fail me now.” I flashed out of the way when he lunged, and that garnered weak applause.
The second time, I ducked and swung my club at his spear, almost knocking it from his grip. He stumbled backward and then used his right arm to anchor the wood against his body. The guy wasn’t an experienced fighter, but the desperate look in his eyes revealed how this situation could spiral out of control.
The second time he tried to gut me, I grabbed the end of his spear and we grappled for the weapon. My club hit the ground, and it took every muscle I had not to lose my grip.
The crowd hissed, and a few gave us a thumbs-down.
“Stop trying to kill me,” I ground out, inching closer. “Let’s come up with a plan.”
“You’re a liar. You’re all liars!”
The Shifter jerked the weapon back and then headbutted me. Seconds before he impaled me, I spun out of reach. My father used to make me watch the Matrix movies, and I remembered how much he enjoyed the fight scenes. Everything was in slow motion, and every movement defied gravity.
That was me. I let all my training and instinct take over as the Shifter repeatedly thrust his spear at me. I bent backward and spun out of reach. I flashed across the ring. But it hadn’t escaped my attention that the crowd was growing restless, eager to see blood spilled.
A bright flash flickered at the gate, one so blinding that I shielded my eyes. Rafferty held a strobe light up to the bars. It flickered at an erratic rhythm, and it dawned on me that this was one of those rare devices used to trigger a Shifter to transform.
I knocked the man to the ground as if to attack. “Shut your eyes!”
But it was too late. He’d looked. His engorged pupils stared blankly as his body trembled beneath me. I’d never felt anything like it before. Seconds before transformation, it was as if his skin wobbled like jelly. Ebony fur replaced his brown hair, and a mouthful of fangs snapped at me.
I recoiled and stumbled away from the large black wolf. With only seconds to spare, I genuflected and bowed my head to appear as submissive as possible. The wolf approached at alarming speed and skidded to a stop. I held my breath, my body rigid as he growled. I’d never put myself in a more vulnerable position.
What the hell am I doing? Getting myself killed, that’s what.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered, glimpsing the pink gums that surrounded all those sharp teeth. “I know you’re still in there. Tell your wolf I don’t mean him any harm. I want to get us both out of here, and I need you to help me. Please tell him before you fade out.”
Some Shifters remembered the first few seconds while others held on for several minutes. I had no idea about this guy. While he pondered killing me, I scanned the room. Staying in the ring was suicide. I needed to get to the second level.
Spectators gripped the ledge and watched on. To them, it looked as if we were facing off. My knuckles pressed against the ground, the tension palpable. Even I couldn’t guess what would transpire in the next few seconds. I peered over my shoulder to see what weapons were within reach. The only thing that caught my eye was an axe.
My hair stood on end when the wolf snarled, and before I could look back, warm liquid splashed all over me. I quickly flipped my wet hair back. Someone had dumped a bucket of blood on us, and it was dripping off the wolf’s snout. Now he had blood in his mouth.
Disastrous.
“Don’t do it,” I whispered, watching him closely. “Don’t do it.”
The wolf’s long tongue stuck out and lapped up the blood on his snout.
“Shit.” I flashed across the room just as he lunged, and the chase was on.
I ran from one side of the room to the next like a metal ball in a pinball machine getting knocked around by the flippers. When he sank his teeth into my arm, I blasted him with energy.
The crowd never cheered. No one chanted for blood or death. Instead, they applauded like civilized people. Was it to conceal their voices, or had they attended these fights so many times that the thrill was gone? I was quickly burning through my energy, searching for a way out. The gate was in a recessed wall, so I couldn’t use it to climb. The torches were at a decent height, but they were all blazing with fire. I could throw up a chain, but what would it attach to?
&n
bsp; Not a shred of humanity remained inside the wolf. He didn’t comprehend the watchers above. We danced like two predators in a battle of survival, only my goal was to keep both of us alive. He ripped the bottom of my tank top, trying to get at my belly. I punched him before flashing to the far wall. While he shook his head, I took a second to look around. The chopping block wasn’t tall enough to use as a launching pad. Then I spotted the plastic bag with my clothes. The chain on the wall just behind it birthed an idea. Blasting the wolf repeatedly would bring this fight to a grinding halt. My core light was growing weak from all the flashing, so prolonging the fight was not an option.
I flashed to the bag and dumped out the contents. The wolf pivoted, wrinkles deepening on his snout as he snarled at me. With blinding speed, he used his hind legs to propel forward and take off like a bullet.
There was a collective gasp just seconds before he crashed into me. I wrapped the bag over his head, jumped to my feet, and pulled the chain off the wall. The wolf backed up, unable to see with his eyes covered.
I yanked the chain free and looped it around the wolf’s neck. When I began to tie a knot, I realized there was no way to secure this thing. No hook or latch. But at least I had time to think.
“Calm down, you mangy little mutt. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I caught sight of Audrey by the gate. Instead of disappointment, she flashed a heartfelt smile. It dawned on me why. The other fighters would’ve wanted to win, so the fights probably didn’t last long. The audience expected my victory, but drawing it out heightened the anticipation. To them, I was toying with my opponent, which pleased them. It was obvious by the way their energy pulsed and quavered.
Straddling the wolf, I wrapped my arms around the beast, the chains still firmly in my grasp. Remembering what Audrey had said, I sent a sharp current of energy through the chain. The wolf yelped, but I had to let him know who was in charge. I was the alpha here, and he needed to know that.
“This is hopeless,” I whispered against his fur.