by Gold, Bella
“Get a room, you two,” he muttered.
I pulled my hands from Ava's, never hearing what she said to me in the first place. I'd been so distracted by her eyes, I don't know if she even said anything to me in the first place.
“We thought we had an entire warehouse, uncle,” Ava said sarcastically. “But someone had to show up – ”
Ava stopped. We'd all heard it at the same time. A sound outside. A vehicle was pulling into the driveway – and it was moving slowly. As if they were trying to make as little noise as possible. But I heard them, plain as day.
I looked at Deacon as he stood up, grumbling to us, “Wait here.”
“Over my dead – ”
I put my hands over Ava's mouth to stop her from speaking. Whoever was out there was coming to the door, and they were moving fast. Even more alarming was the sound of multiple feet – there was more than one of them coming.
I pulled Ava down to the ground with me just as Deacon hit the floor too. Gunshots rang out from the doorway before it had even fully opened.
It was just Ava and me behind the bar and Deacon was in front of it. If he'd been hit, he made no sound as he went down. There was no way I could safely stand and look, not without risking a bullet to the brain. Us shifters didn't die easily, but a headshot would do it. No way of recovering from something like that.
Ava looked at me and there was fear in her eyes. “Deacon,” she mouthed to me.
“He's fine,” I mouthed back, not really knowing if he was or not. Last thing I saw, he hit the ground before the bullets went flying, but what happened after that – I couldn't see.
But I had to see. I couldn't stay hiding behind the bar forever. I had to see what was waiting for us, what was looking for us. Because whether I liked it or not, it would come inside and find us.
“Wait here,” I mouthed to Ava.
She started to stand up with me and I pushed her back down, giving her a look that told her to stay down and that I wasn't playing around. I wasn't just going to stand up and look, I was going to shift back into my true form. I wasn't going to stand, no. I was going to fly.
“Keep your head covered,” I whispered to her, kissing her forehead without even realizing what I was doing.
And before she could stop me, I took off, flying toward the roof of the building, my wings flapping wildly, sending the beer bottles, the table, the chairs – everything – flying around in a storm of wind and thunder.
Chapter Fourteen
AVA
Elias changed so quickly, I couldn't prepare myself for the rush of the wind or the storm from his wings. Not only was there thunder, there was a flurry of electricity coursing the air that made my hair to stand on end. Water fell from the ceiling in droplets, just like rain. A warm, soothing, summer rain. It fell thicker and thicker on my head, and I covered myself.
Gunfire rang out, and there were footsteps. Many, many footsteps. And the familiar roar of a lion.
“Holy shit,” someone called out.
I couldn't be sure if they were more surprised by Elias or my uncle – but they were about to be in for another surprise too. Closing my eyes, my body twisted and shifted, changing shape. My clothes ripped to shreds around me as I grew in size. I had two choices in that moment – a lion or a bear. I went with bear, calling upon my father's spirit to help me win this battle.
I lunged from around the bar with a mighty roar, just as one of the men was rounding the corner. His eyes grew wide as I went for his throat, my giant paws smashing into his head and taking him down. I tasted his blood as it rushed into my mouth as I bit down and tore through his jugular. His screams turned to gurgles as he began to choke on his own blood.
A bullet pierced my skin, my leg, and I let out a roar as pain ripped through my body. It wasn't a killing blow, it would heal. And it would heal fast, too. I focused my energy on the wound, pressing the bullet out of my skin and listened as it clanked to the ground, the wound closing up around it.
The man with the gun stood there, shocked, and that momentary pause was enough to get him killed.
Not by me, this time though. By Elias. He swooped down, his talons tearing the man's head from his shoulders. His suddenly decapitated body slumped to the ground.
The rain continued to fall, making it hard to see. We were in the eye of the storm, all caused by Elias' mighty wings. I rushed toward three men cornered by Deacon in lion form, all of them holding their hands up in surrender, their weapons were on the ground in front of them. With one paw, I pushed the guns further away from them and waited for my uncle's decision. As much as I wanted to kill them, I didn't see a single one with the tattoo I was looking for. El Monstruo wasn't here. These were just his lackeys.
We needed answers. And dead men wouldn't give us the answers we needed.
Then again, we also didn't need all three of them alive.
The wind slowly calmed down, as did the rain. Elias landed beside me, human once more. His clothing, unlike mine, didn't shred to pieces when he shifted. Then again, he wasn't like us. He was different in many ways.
Elias walked toward them men, towering over them.
“What the fuck are you, man?” one of them said. The smallest one. He looked to be about seventeen years old – at most.
Elias flashed a predatory grin, looking back over his shoulder at Deacon and myself, both still in animal form.
“What does it matter? You won't live to tell the tale anyway.”
“Elias – ” Deacon said, shifting into his human form. “Don't.”
“I'm not going to kill them. Yet.” Elias said, taunting them with a hand that resembled a talon, but switched back to being a hand a second later. It was like a trick of the mind, but I knew what I saw.
“We need answers,” Deacon growled.
I tried to not look at him, his clothing torn all around him and him standing there naked as the day he was born. I didn't need to see my uncle like that. Or rather, I didn't need to see my dad like that. Whatever he was, it didn't matter. He was a relative. And yes, the more time we spent together, the more I felt like he might actually be my father. But my heart hurt even thinking like that. My father raised me, he was a good dad and I would always love him as such.
But let's face it, I was more like Deacon than I was like my father. Harder. More ruthless – as I'd demonstrated only moments before.
I stayed in bear form, partly to intimidate, but also because I didn't want both Elias and Deacon seeing me without clothes.
Deacon grabbed the younger one by the face and held his head up to stare into his eyes. “Who sent you,” he demanded, “and how did you find us?”
The youngster tried to look at the other guys – both older than him. Both more experienced, but still just as scared. One of them looked at me, eyes wide. The other didn't look at any of us, and I knew he was the most dangerous of the bunch. Older, wiser, and while afraid, he kept his head down. He was preparing himself. For what, I wasn't sure, but I'd keep an eye on him. He'd be my first choice to kill if things didn't work out the way they needed to.
“Our boss,” the kid said. “He was – ”
“Shut up, Gabriel,” the one refusing to look at us said.
“They're going to kill us, man,” Gabriel responded.
“You'd rather die by their hand than that of our boss's, I'm telling you. Shut up.”
Deacon walked over to the other guy, lifted his head up to look in his eye. “What's your name?”
The man spat in his face, which made Deacon lash out and strike him. The blow threw the guy's head back against the wall.
“Listen, man,” Deacon growled. “We're not playing games here. You have no fucking idea who you're messing with.”
“Oh, we know who you are,” the guy said, a smile forming on his lips. “We know all about you – all of you.”
The way he spoke sent chills down my spine. I looked over at Elias who looked at me. I stayed in bear form as I walked over the one guy who was still not talking – the one
between the asshole and Gabriel. I stared up at him, baring my teeth and he looked down at me.
“Did you see her rip that man's throat out earlier?” Elias said, standing behind me, petting my fur. “She could do that to you too, if you don't talk. But she'd do it slower this time. She'd make it really hurt.”
The guy never took his eyes off of me. Gabriel was also staring, but pressed himself against the back of the wall. Poor kid. He probably had no idea what he was doing. Who knows how he got caught up with these guys, but he didn't belong there. The fact that the Boss, as they called him, sent him there to an almost certain death pissed me off even more.
Deacon was still working with the other guy, trying to get him to talk. It wasn't working out for him though. The guy wasn't going to talk, not even to tell us his name.
“What's your name?” Elias asked the guy we were with.
“Juan,” he muttered.
“Juan, listen up buddy,” Elias said, grinning at him. “We don't want to kill you and your friends, but since you attacked us, it's only fair to tell us why you did that. And if you do tell us, maybe we'll let you go. Some of you, at least.”
Juan and Gabriel looked at one another, as if trying to figure out what to do.
“No, don't you fucking date,” the other guy said, lunging for the other two. He reached Juan, wrapped his hands around his neck, before we saw it coming.
Gabriel shouted out, “Arturo, don't!”
Arturo. That was his name. And whether he knew it or not, he was about to die. I lunged and grabbed him by the leg, burying my teeth into his skin as I pulled back as hard as I could. Tendons in his leg tore, causing the man to scream out in pain as I pulled him away from Juan. Elias had to literally pry the man's hands away from Juan's neck, since Arturo was trying desperately to take Juan down with him.
As soon as Juan was free from Arturo's grasp, he started talking. “Our boss goes by the name El Monstruo,” he said, speaking quickly. “He sent us here to kill all three of you. He's been following you for some time, and he knows you're here.”
“Where is he now?” Elias asked.
“I don't know, he doesn't tell us everything. We're just his lackeys, man. No one important. But I can promise you one thing – he's close by.”
“He's going to call Arturo on the burner phone in his pocket. If he doesn't answer, he said he had a backup plan,” Gabriel added. “From there, we were to get further directions. If you weren't killed and were only injured and brought in to him, there would be a bonus. If you were killed, he wanted your heads brought to him. He specifically said to try and not kill the girl, I don't know why.”
My heart stopped. He wanted me alive. But why?
“Why did he want the girl alive?” Elias asked, growling and his eyes turning full of hatred.
“I don't know, man,” Gabriel said, licking his lips in a nervous way.
“You're all going to die,” Arturo laughed. “All of you, including you and Juan.”
I bit down on his leg, crunching bone with my teeth, causing him to lash out, kicking me with his good leg. Elias kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out. Maybe even killing him. I let go of my grip.
Elias and Deacon seemed to have this under control, which meant I could change back into my human form again. But as I glanced at them, I knew it would mean I'd be without clothing. I didn't want to be naked in front of them. I walked behind the bar and looked down at the remnants of my clothing. Nothing could be salvaged.
Elias had followed me. But before I could say anything, he lifted his t-shirt from his body, showcasing those amazing abs, and placed it on the bar.
“Here,” he said. “I'll find you something else to wear in a bit, but in the meantime, this should be long enough to cover you.”
He walked back toward Deacon and the other two men, both of whom were cooperating for the moment. I shifted back into my human form, screaming as my body twisted and turned, my bones breaking and reforming into an upright shape. I stayed down on all fours though, gasping for breath. The coppery taste of blood was still in my mouth, a taste I'd never get used to. In animal form, I didn't even notice it. But now, it made me want to throw up. I held it in, however, as I reached up and pulled Elias' shirt down from the bar and slipped it over my head.
He was right about it covering me. The good thing about being petite meant that his shirt literally covered my entire body and nearly fell down to my knees. And to think, it was nearly skin tight on him. As I stood up, I caught a glimpse of that chest once more and I was truly grateful for him loaning me his shirt. Not just because I could now be human and clothed, but because of the view.
“So what the hell was with that bird shit, Elias?” Deacon asked him. “You have some explaining to do, boy.”
Elias caught me staring, and from the corner of his eye, he smiled at me. I smiled back.
“Yeah, I know, Deacon. And we'll talk, trust me, we will. Once this is all over with, I'll explain everything.”
He wiped the corner of his mouth, as if to signal me to do the same. I did so and my hand came away with fresh blood, making the vomit rise up in my throat again.
There was no way could I throw up in front of them. No way. I kept it down, rushing to the bathroom where I cleaned off my face and clung to the porcelain throne, letting all that grossness leave my body at once.
Chapter Fifteen
My uncle and Elias had the three men restrained when I came out of the bathroom, my face cleaned and free from the blood and vomit. Elias looked over at me, concerned. Deacon did too. Both men were worried about me, which I thought was cute. But I was more worried about them getting hurt – especially my aging uncle. At one time, I didn't doubt he was a fearless warrior who could take anyone down. But these days, he moved a lot slower than before – even in lion form. His slow reaction time could mean death for him. I could handle myself getting hurt or dying, but Deacon? No way.
Elias could be in danger too though. And the idea of him getting hurt also caused a pain in my chest.
“You okay?” Deacon asked me, wiping the sweat from his brow. He'd slipped into some pants since I'd gone into the bathroom.
“Yeah, I'm good,” I said, reaching for another beer to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth. “You?”
“Could be better, but I'm alive, so that's good,” he said.
Elias had joined us, all of us keeping an eye on the three men. Arturo was still not awake. Either he was faking it or Elias knocked him out cold. His chest was still rising and falling, so I knew he wasn't actually dead. What a shame, I thought. His leg was bleeding heavily from my bite though, and without medical attention, he'd at least lose the limb – if he didn't bleed to death first.
Neither Elias nor Deacon seemed all that concerned about it. Hell, I wasn't. Whatever happened to him, I couldn't care less. The poor kid – Gabriel – on the other hand, him I felt sorry for. He kept looking at me, begging for help with those eyes of his.
“What's the plan?” I asked, still looking over at Gabriel.
“We wait until the man calls Arturo's phone, let one of those two answer and play along, and we go from there,” Deacon said calmly. “Let him think we're dead.”
“What if one of them gives us away?” Elias asked. I had the same thought,
“They won't,” Deacon said knowingly. “Because if they do, we eat them alive. And they know we can do it too.”
The mere mention of actually eating another human being caused my stomach to roil, but I tried not to let it show. This was all talk, I knew it. I couldn't imagine Deacon or Elias eating another human being either. Or maybe they did and I just didn't know it. They were known to be a ruthless, blood-thirsty gang of guys. I guess I fit in nicely with them now too.
Which made me think – maybe to these guys, maybe we were the villains. Who knows what stories these people were told about us. From afar, we were pretty damn scary and brutal. And looking at it from that perspective, it was easy to believe we were the bad gu
ys.
“Gabriel,” I called out, staring at the kid. “Why are you with these assholes?”
Gabriel looked stunned at first, then looked over at Juan before answering. That look said it all.
These two were brothers. Which could come in handy if we needed to torture one or the other for information. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, however.
“Our parents were killed,” Gabriel said, “And we had nowhere else to go, no one to feed us. Our boss took us in, trained us, put us to work and paid us well.”
Juan nodded. I realized that yes, he was older than Gabriel, but not by much.
“Is Arturo your brother as well?”
Elias gave me a look, I guess he hadn't pieced it together just yet. But I had.
“No, we just met him before we came out here,” Juan said. “We were told to obey him at all costs, or else.”
“Or else what?” Deacon asked.
Gabriel ran a finger across his throat. No need for words. That said enough.
“Do you think you could keep us safe?” Juan asked, eyes wide.
The three of us – Deacon, Elias and me – all looked at each other. Keep them safe? We hardly even knew these guys. But then I felt my heartstrings being tugged – they were just kids.
“Listen, we didn't want to do this,” Gabriel chimed in. “I'd never even held a gun before today. Arturo handed it to me and – ”
The phone Deacon pulled from Arturo's pocket rang, silencing everyone.
“Want us to keep you safe and alive?” I asked, grabbing the phone from the table, walking over to the two kids. “Then do exactly as we say. You tell your bossman, whoever he is, that you killed the two guys and captured the girl, who's only injured. That Arturo was killed in the fight and only you two remain alive. Got it?”
“He won't believe it – ” Juan said.
“What other choice do we have?” Gabriel asked.
I handed the phone to Gabriel, putting all my trust into that scared little boy. “He's right, Juan,” I said cooly. “What choice do you have?”