by Milly Taiden
“There you go. She’s all yours. Have fun.” She smiled and stepped away. The man led Bryon toward the exit. She watched as the new owner’s hand slipped behind Bryon and rested on his butt cheek. She barely held the laugh in when Bryon batted it away. She quickly melted into the group heading out.
CHAPTER 27
Bryon couldn’t believe his mate had sold him for a million dollars. He would’ve held out for at least two million. And when the man put grubby paws on his ass, it jumped to three mil.
As they approached the guards at the exit, he kept his eyes to the ground. It would be a miracle if this worked. His temporary owner thought nothing of the security and continued without even looking at the guns the men held. Then Bryon felt the hand on his arm.
His new owner went ballistic cussing at the guard in at least three languages. That drew the attention of others with guns. He wanted to tell the guy to chill the fuck out, but he couldn’t do anything without being made.
Bryon looked back to find his mate, making sure she was okay. He noted the crowd gathering to see what was going on. Kari was among the mass. Just as he turned back, a large hand grabbed her arm and jerked her out of his sight.
His wolf jumped forward wanting to kill everyone between them and her. Fuck his disguise, he would give his life to save her. He should’ve known not to let her walk around with a briefcase holding money. Why did he go along with this insane idea?
Kari’s angry voice came from the middle of a gathering. He shoved his way through to find an olive-skinned man cowering on the ground while his mate beat him with the case. Bryon grasped the briefcase on its swing down and dragged his mate from the crowd.
Right behind him was his owner pulling on him. And on his owner’s arm was a guard yanking him. What a lovely train they made. Kari smacked the case into his owner’s chest.
“I reneg,” she said. “You keep the money. He belongs to me.” A warmth filled him. His mate wanted him. He took her hand and headed toward the exit, but of course, it wasn’t that easy. Mr. Moneybags latched on to the back of Bryon’s robe, jerking it halfway off. Bryon punched the guy in the face, knocking him into others. The briefcase hit the ground and spilled open, dollar bills scattering.
The orderly mass quickly became chaos with people pushing and shoving to get their hands on the money. Bryon fought his way through, his mate with him—her disguise mostly ripped away in the bustle. When they reached the point to break free, the prince stepped through the exit.
Bryon locked eyes with the bastard. The red glowed to life then died back. Goddard was possessed by a demon, just like the hieroglyphics said. He didn’t want to think about the implications. He just wanted his mate out of here.
The prince yelled and guards surrounded them. Kari was torn from his side. His wolf had enough of her being taken from him. His shift was fast. In a heartbeat, his teeth sank into the thick arm holding his woman. Blood splattered on his muzzle.
High-pitched screams erupted along with more chaos as people scrambled to get away from a monster killer. He nosed Kari to get her up and going. His wolf growled as men with guns narrowed their escape route. A sting hit his hind quarters and he yipped. A dart like the one that hit the lady who passed out earlier stuck up from his rump. Fuck.
His mate’s voice faded in his mind. He was going down.
* * *
• • •
“Bryon!” Kari yelled. She saw the dart come from the pistol one of the guards held. She was thankful it wasn’t a bullet. Struggling to get to Bryon, she ripped her arms from grasping hands. “Bryon!” She stumbled to her knees by his side. His chest rose and fell. He was alive.
Fancy shoes stopped beside the wolf’s head. She looked up into red eyes.
“I’m impressed you two made it this far. After the water chamber, I could no longer track you.” His eyes scanned the wolf’s body. “I’ve been waiting for another of these for so long.”
“Another what?” she asked.
His eyes never left the animal. “Shifter. I knew he was.” He snapped his fingers. “Take them both to the castle—now. I will be there shortly.” He twirled around and hands lifted her off the ground. She struggled as a natural reaction, though it did no good.
Two of the men tried to lift the wolf’s dead weight. In the end, four guards carried/dragged Bryon.
The other side of the exit wasn’t outside but inside a large warehouse with several cargo vans and limos with blacked-out windows. Men in expensive suits, some with, some without women on leashes, got in and out of the cars.
A white van with a business logo on the side was packed with bodies. One of the women caught her eye. She had dark draping hair and big fear-filled eyes. The two back doors of the van slammed shut and a man walked around to the driver’s side. A long garage door in front of the van slid up letting bright sun into the space. The first sun she’d seen in a while.
The buildings she could see outside the door weren’t familiar. Gone were the quaint houses and brick roads. Instead more metal warehouses and industrial structures. They were far from where they’d started yesterday.
The van drove out and away. Sadness and anger overwhelmed Kari. She had no idea what those women would endure, but their lives wouldn’t be happy. They wouldn’t fall in love, have a caring relationship with a man who respected them. If she got out of this, she would rededicate her life to stopping this inhumane crime.
One of the two men holding her arms jiggled her, bringing her attention back to her own situation. They stopped at the side of a van. Her escort opened the double doors and shoved her in followed by the guys with her mate.
Kari scooted around in the back to cradle her love’s furry head in her lap. Her hand rubbed down the side of his snout and neck, again and again. She wondered how long he would be out. After the handful of men had settled inside the van, they exited through another lifted door and drove into the sunlight.
She had to cover her eyes from the sudden brightness, but was quickly able to see a bit of the world around them. They drove out of the industrial park and onto asphalt roads barely wide enough for two vehicles.
The steep hills were covered in green, either trees or fields. They passed the occasional townsfolk walking bicycles along the side of the road. One was walking a cow. She had watched the movie The Sound of Music several times as a kid. Much of the landscape reminded her of that movie. The huge sweeping hills of grass and countryside begged for picnickers and dogs chasing balls.
In the far distance, she saw the old castle the taxi driver had pointed out what seemed like weeks ago. From this angle, the structure looked huge. Several stories high with turrets and ramparts and pointed towers. In its day, she imagined the place was spectacular. But as with almost everything, its time had come and gone, giving way to the new and improved.
The men spoke the local language she didn’t understand. The way they glanced back at her and the wolf didn’t bring her comfort. Sometimes their faces reflected fear, other times anger. What did it mean that they were going to the old castle? If the prince wanted to hold them, the dungeon cells under the palace would be fine without the added problem of transportation.
What if the castle had old torture devices like the rack and all those other things she always saw in movies about time? Was the prince going to torture them to get information on who they were? Then she remembered how the prince reacted to realizing Bryon was a shifter. The man had said he’d waited a long time for another shifter. That meant he had a plan for them. Whatever it was couldn’t be good. She needed to come up with an escape plan that included getting past five guards and moving a wolf that was probably twice her weight. No problem.
CHAPTER 28
Sitting in the back of the van, Kari lost sight of the castle on the hill. She didn’t want to move with Bryon’s wolf’s head in her lap. The driver turned onto a bumpy road and they climbed a hill. The path narrow
ed as they drove past trees that became a forest the higher they went.
After a short amount of time, they passed through a gate in a stone wall. If she was correct, they were at the back of the castle. The part not seen from the town. The van stopped and the men got out. The two side doors opened and men grabbed the wolf by his fur.
“Hey!” she hollered, even though she doubted they understood her. “Be nice.” She held his head in her hands and scooted him closer to the door so they wouldn’t have to yank and pull on him. She followed her mate’s procession with the last guard behind her.
They came to a rounded door that would’ve looked perfect in a castle if it wasn’t made of shiny metal. The guard punched in a passcode on the electronic entry device and the door popped open. Quite modern, especially when there supposedly wasn’t any electricity in the castle.
Inside, the air was musty and old, but the corners were relatively free of cobwebs. So either it was so old that all the spiders had died or there was enough activity to keep them from making a home. She wasn’t sure which was better.
The men led them down a set of stairs where a switch on the wall turned on a single light bulb. The wire was attached to the stone and ran up through a hole in the rock floor. The whole place was probably wired in the same fashion.
At the bottom of the steps, the room opened into a large space that looked multifunctional. Cells with thick bars lined one side. Chairs and foldable tables were stacked against a wall. The other side held a fire box and what looked like a stone altar. All the horror and witch movies she’d ever seen flashed through her mind. All the scenes where the sacrificial victims had their throats slashed or heads cut off or a knife driven through their hearts. A shudder passed through her. She and the wolf had to get out of there fast.
She looked around for possible escape routes. No windows or other doors except the one they had come through at the top of the stairs. The men dropped the wolf inside a cell and pushed her in before closing and locking the door. The guys whispered as they left. She found that interesting. Were they trying not to draw the attention of the old ghost king? She wanted to laugh at that, but the surrounding environment made the story feel more real.
Kari sat on the floor next to the unconscious wolf’s head and petted him. “Well, wolf, any ideas how to get out of here?” she waited for a reply not coming. “Yeah, me neither.” She sighed.
“I have to say, this has been an exciting trip. When I came on this project, your boss told me I would just have to walk around and pretend to be a girlfriend.” She laughed. “I failed at that spectacularly. I haven’t seen Sheldon in forever.
“But in a way, that’s fine. Because with you, I don’t have to pretend to be in love. You’re exactly what my Tabi talked about when she spoke of Joe and his love. Shifter love.” She looked down at him, stroking her fingers through his soft fur. For years, she’d dreamed about a shifter being her white knight, or black wolf, in this case. He would love no matter her looks or how smart she was. He would love her for who she was.
And she would love him with all her heart in return. They would have three kids, two boys and little girl. The boys would always watch over their sister and keep her safe from bullies and those who would be mean to her. She’d wanted a cat and dog, until she realized that if her husband was a shifter, he would probably scare the crap out of the cat. But the dog would be okay. But why have a dog when her shifter husband could play fetch with the kids? And he’d walk himself. Huge bonus.
When she’d reached her late twenties, that dream slowly went away. Replaced by bills, a mortgage and car payments, and reality. She watched as her friends, one by one, married and grew their families with children and animals—regular ones. The thought of shifters no longer entered her head. She’d forgotten for the most part that they existed. Everyone looked and acted human.
She sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her legs. Her wish of finding the man of her dreams had come true, but now it seemed they would never have their happily ever after. She felt certain they would kill Bryon. Biting tears flooded her eyes. Her heart sank and a pain inside her ached like she’d never felt before. That was what losing someone you loved felt like.
She felt helpless, overwhelmed by the circumstances. How could she fight men trained to kill? Thinking back, she was trained how to defend herself against those types of people and how to go on the offensive. But she’d had a desk job her entire working life and she used her brain, not brawn. Perhaps it was time to kick her own ass into gear.
She’d been relying on Bryon to get her out of the tunnels. Now that they were, it was up to her to get them out of this. She would do whatever it took to protect him. She could do this.
The door from the upstairs opened, and the stair treads creaked and moaned under someone’s weight. She got to her feet, ready to go head-to-head with whomever. Of course, it would be the red-eyed prince prick himself. What did he want? She was almost too afraid to ask.
CHAPTER 29
Kari stared at the bastard with his red eyes glowing on the other side of the cell.
“What do you want?” she asked. “Going to try to sell us off to the highest bidder? I swear to god, when we get out of here, I will make sure every single person in that warehouse is found and either set free or put in prison. Starting with you.” She shoved a finger through the bars and poked his chest.
The prince frowned and stepped back. He rubbed the spot where she’d touched him. “Do not worry yourself with such trivialities. Soon, your reality will be what I want it to be.”
“What are your plans for us?” If he would give her a hint, maybe she could figure a way out.
“I will take possession of the shifter’s body and live once again. I’ve waited for such a long time.”
“You’ve already taken possession of him and me,” she said. He laughed and walked up the stairs. A few minutes later the guards brought food and water then went back upstairs. Did they really think she was dumb enough to eat their poisoned food? That trick was in every story ever told. Instead, she shoved it in the corner.
Behind her, a cracking sound startled her. She turned to see her Bryon back in human form, lying on the ground. And naked. If not for their dire situation, she’d have kept this view for a while. But she turned and wiggled her robe off for him to cover himself. After shimmying it from her shoulders, she turned to see Bryon set down the cup of water.
“No.” She would’ve slapped the cup from his hand, but he’d already drunk it all.
“What?” His voice was scratchy. “Where are we?” His head shook and he wiped at his eyes. “Everything is blurry. Do you have more water?” Whatever they drugged him with dehydrated his body.
“There may have been poison in that drink,” she said.
He looked at the cup then around them. “Well, shit. There probably was if the prince had anything to do with it. It will knock me out in a few minutes.” He sat up and ran fingers through his hair. “Where are we?”
“At the old castle on the hill,” she said. She held out her robe. “Put this on to cover some of you. Probably not all of you, though.” Her eyes strayed down his chiseled chest and abs. When his thighs separated, her look snapped back to his face. He caught her checking him out. Again. She raised her chin as her cheeks flushed hot. “You’re my mate,” she said. “I can . . . can . . .” she waved her arm in the air over his body, “look all I want.” She dropped the robe on him.
He laughed and pulled her down to his lap. “Yes, you can, my love. And I like that you do. But the fear I smell tells me we have other matters to attend to first.” He kissed her neck. She sighed. She felt so much stronger when with him. He gave her the belief they could get through everything. They practically had already. “Now tell me what’s happening. Why are we at the castle? I heard this place was haunted by one of the old ancestors.”
“I heard that, too, but I do
n’t believe in ghosts, so that’s the least of my worries.” She scooted around on his lap. “Have you seen anything weird about the prince?”
“Weird like what? He’s flamboyant as hell, but that doesn’t bother me.”
“Remember the drawings on the wall talking about the royals being possessed by demons?”
“Yeah.”
“I think it is true. Several times I’ve seen red in his eyes. And that is not a human trait.”
He rubbed his chin. “I have to agree based on what I’ve seen.”
“But I don’t know how that applies to us,” she replied.
“Have you talked to him any? Did he say anything?” he asked.
She thought back to what the prince had said recently. Dammit to hell. Now the bastard’s comment made sense. “He said he’s going to take possession of your body. That he’s been waiting a long time to find another one of you. You being shifters.”
Bryon nodded. “He said something similar to that before—waiting for another me. But doesn’t he know shifters can’t be possessed? The wolf will kick out the demon before it gets a chance to move in.”
“Thank god. That’s a relief. I don’t think he knows that. Should we tell him?”
“Let’s wait until telling him benefits us in some way. We might be able to use it somehow,” he said. His eyes drooped and head fell back against the bars.
Panic ran through her. She slapped his cheeks. “Bryon, wake up. You can’t pass out. We have to get out of here.” His head snapped forward.
“I’m awake. But won’t be soon.”
“How long were you out before?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t too long. Maybe a couple hours. But that was a full dose for me. This was meant for you, right?”
She whipped around to look at him. “You’re right. You were out when they dragged you in here. Why would they bring it for you? That means you got a partial dose.”