Nothing that will stop me from being with you. Lupo redoubled his efforts and kept the panther down.
Hurry, Jasmine whispered. They’ll take—
What Lupo’s rage hadn’t accomplished, Jasmine’s frantic tone did.
While the panther shook his majestic body side to side to throw Lupo away, his wolf hit the invisible wall one more time with his paws, claws unsheathed, and the barrier vanished. A moment later, Lupo’s dark-brown and tan wolf was pinning down the panther. The wolf opened his jaws and roared, slashing at the panther’s flank, then lowering his big mouth to the panther’s throat for an unforgiving bite of his sharp fangs.
The wolf’s teeth went through fur, thick skin, sinews, and then bones. His mouth filled with blood and organic matter, making it difficult to keep his hold, but he didn’t relent and pressed down. The panther’s eyes lost their sparkle and soon after his body sagged to the floor, a river of blood pooling under him.
After a moment of incredulous silence, the crowd stood and emitted a collective shout. The priest and Jasmine’s father left their seats and shifted in mid-run.
Lupo’s wolf moved before the panthers could reach him. Even in his augmented state, his borrowed energy would soon diminish, and he would never survive a coordinated attack from the pack. Being the full moon, soon every single person in the crowd would be able to shift, and it was imperative he left before that happened.
On all fours, he took the hallway and went through the glass door that led away from the arena. Chased by two powerful and well-rested panthers, only Lupo’s and his wolf’s will to be reunited with their soulmates kept them going. The hallways weren’t heavily guarded, but the wolf was slowed down by surprised shifters who were armed with silver bullets. The wolf attacked before they could point their guns at him, but one of the guards still managed to graze his hind leg. Recoiling in pain, the wolf skidded and hit the wall, but bounced back and resumed his mad run.
Following his nose, the wolf retraced all the steps his jailers had taken to and from his cell, but he found himself nowhere close to an exit. Skirting guards and the alphas still on his tail, he turned into a hallway he hadn’t seen before. There, sensing the faint scent from exhaust engines, he followed it, hoping it would bring him closer to an exterior wall. When the acrid smell became stronger, his nose made him swerve to the right and he broke into a room, frantically looking for a window.
His chasers were right behind him.
Silvery light inundated the studio Lupo’s wolf had just invaded. A desk stood before him and a window. Angry roars rippled his furs, and fangs scratched his bum and hind legs twice. The wolf gathered all the strength he had left and jumped.
First he hit the desk, sending the furniture flying backward and against his chasers. Then without losing momentum, he dove through the glass panels and found himself airborne.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A wolf flew from the third floor of a building. A naked man hit the cobblestones below.
In a haze of pain, Lupo rolled to his side, nursing his ribs. The harsh sound and the stench of tires being pulled to a sudden stop startled him into standing, but his legs didn’t support him and he hit the pavement without breaking his fall.
A door opened, steps hurried toward him. A worried feminine voice said, “Oh my god! Are you okay?”
Heavier, booted steps come closer. “Is he alive?” a man asked as a callous hand tentatively touched Lupo’s shoulder, prompting him to moan. “Call an ambulance!”
Another car halted, then a third, and a fourth. After that, Lupo lost count. Panicky voices formed a chorus of questions, exclamations, cries. Something warm and soft, a jacket maybe, was draped over him. Lupo was terrified about the Purists taking advantage of his vulnerability, and didn’t allow himself to faint, least the were-panthers came and claimed him as their own, only to whisk him away and finish him.
“Is he that guy that went missing last week?” someone asked.
“Difficult to say with his face all broken like that, but…”
“It’s him!”
“How can you be sure?”
“I can see the resemblance.”
“He sure looks big enough to be that guy.”
“Why is he naked?”
“What on earth happened to him?”
“Has someone called the police already?”
The violent sound of an ambulance crossing the traffic at full speed startled Lupo from his torpor. Then red, intermittent light illuminated Lupo’s face, the glare penetrating under his closed eyelids. A door opened, and the crowd was asked to move aside.
The cover was removed and Lupo was naked again, but gentle, gloved hands probed him.
“Severe trauma, and possible internal bleeding,” a calm, professional voice stated.
Hands rolled him from one side to the other, as a hard surface was slid under him. Lupo recognized they were putting him on a stretcher.
“On three—” the calm voice started, but a police siren pierced the air.
A moment later, someone yelled, “Wait!”
“He needs immediate attention,” the calm voice protested, and Lupo felt the stretcher move.
“We need to confirm his identity first.”
“You can do that later, at the hospital.”
“We must do it now.”
“I insist—”
Two fingers turned his face toward the red light.
“It’s him. It’s Lupo Solis. Call his father—”
Only then did Lupo slip into unconsciousness.
****
The scent of antiseptic and soap tickled Lupo’s nose.
A sense of déjà vu made him scream before he opened his eyes.
“You are safe, Lupo,” Quintilius said, his strong, familiar hand stroking Lupo’s face.
He was in a hospital room. No straps anchored him down. No cuffs coated in silver around his wrists and ankles.
Chest heaving with ragged breaths, sitting upright with his legs dangling to the side of the bed, Lupo stared at his father for a few second before he could talk. “Dad—”
“It’s okay. You are at the Tiberina Island Hospital. Lie down. You must restore your strength.” Quintilius patted Lupo’s head, then eased him down to the mattress and tucked his legs under the sheets. “You went through so much, just rest.” He raised the blanket up to Lupo’s chest.
His father’s reassuring words had a calming effect on him. Lulled by Quintilius’s gentle caresses on his head, Lupo closed his eyes and relaxed.
When he woke the second time, he sensed other scents besides his father’s. Ludwig and Camelia were sitting on either side of his bed, and Quintilius sat on its edge.
“Lupo!” a strangled cry escaped Camelia’s mouth as she leaned forward to take Lupo’s hand in hers.
“Son—” Ludwig’s eyes were full of tears.
Lupo let them hug him, then took a long breath and said what he had been thinking about non-stop, “Jasmine is alive.”
His words silenced the three adults, whose eyes were staring back at him with worry.
He wasn’t strong enough yet, and even the simple act of talking required him to use energy he didn’t have, but he told them what had happened to him, without omitting anything. They had already gathered a few details by themselves, and nodded in places or commented in others, but let him talk for the most part. He had to stop several times, and his father made him drink water. Finally, he ended with, “I jumped out of that window and you know the rest.”
“What if the cousin set you up?” Ludwig asked.
“But why would he do something like that? The way Jasmine’s father and the priest had planned it, Lupo would’ve never survived the fight.” Quintilius stroked his goatee.
Lupo’s head was heavy and he lay down on the pillow. “It doesn’t matter why he did it. The only thing that matters is that Jasmine is alive. Her scent was fresh. He must have seen her the same morning—”
“Which means that she c
an’t be far away from Rome. Even if the cousin flew in for the occasion, there aren’t lots of places outside of Europe where she could be,” Camelia said.
“My bet is on Venice. Her family is there, it stands to reason that they kept her close.” Quintilius tapped on his cell phone. “Let me make a few phone calls.” He stood and exited the room. A moment later, he peeked from the door. “The enforcers are here to talk to you,” he said to Lupo. “Do you want me to send them away?”
Lupo shook his head. “It’s okay. The sooner I get rid of them, the sooner I can start looking for Jasmine.” He tried to sit, but dizziness overcame him.
“You won’t put yourself in danger. Right?” Leaning over Lupo, Ludwig placed a hand over Lupo’s forehead and his mind cleared.
A pleasant warmth spread from the spot where Ludwig’s fingers had lingered to the rest of Lupo’s body. “You know I’ll do anything in my power to find her.”
Ludwig sighed. “Son—” A knock on the door stopped the angel from finishing his thought. “Come in,” he called.
Two enforcers entered, both immortals, both tall, lean, and dressed in the same black suit. The only difference between the two men was the color of their closely cropped hair. One was a redhead, the other a blond. After the customary introductions, they started asking Lupo questions, and he retold his story for the second time that morning. By the time he finished his tale, he was exhausted, but he had questions of his own.
“Did you find anything at the Purists’ place?” Lupo readjusted his position with Ludwig’s help who hoisted him upright and fluffed the cushion for him before slowly letting him down.
The two immortals gave Ludwig a glance, and Ludwig nodded, saying, “You can talk freely. He deserves to know.”
The door opened, and Quintilius reentered the room, acknowledged the enforcers’ presence, then said, “Please, continue.”
“We raided the facility as soon as you were found—” the redhead started.
“Where was I? I was drugged when they brought me there, and the two rooms where I was kept had no windows. They also must have been insulated because I never heard outside sounds.” Lupo had been in such a bad shape, he hadn’t noticed that his wolf ears hadn’t caught any distinctive noise, like cars or birds or even people.
At his query, both immortals’ eyes went to their shoes.
Ludwig answered for them, “Close to Castel Sant’ Angelo, in a building on Lungotevere Castello. Thanks to their privileged status as a religious sect, the Purists never entered the last paranormal census, or the ones before. We only have access to the members’ home addresses, which led to nothing, because at every door we knocked we were told they had the right to talk to a lawyer first. Their temple’s location was a mystery until yesterday, when you escaped from it.”
“We looked for you everywhere, and you were under the Immortal Council’s nose the entire time.” Quintilius hugged himself, shivering, even though the room was toasty.
After a moment of silence, the immortal continued, “By the time we stormed the temple, the place was deserted already. Not one person was present in the building—” The redhead paused, sought Ludwig’s permission to speak again, then carried on, “A fire had been started in the quarters where you were probably kept. Soon after you fled, they decided to cover their traces before abandoning ship.”
“What are you saying?” Lupo took a sip from the cup Camelia was holding to his lips.
“That we couldn’t find a single item connecting your abduction to the Purists,” the second immortal answered.
“For more than a week, I was either strapped to a bed or forgotten in a cell, with almost no food and just a cup a day of water. Then I was drugged and I had to fight a panther—” Lupo’s voice faltered at the end. In the silence that ensued, he finished the water and asked for more. When his mouth wasn’t parched any longer, he took a long breath, and looked around. “You are telling me no Purist is in jail for what they did to me?”
“Yet,” Quintilius said. “No Purist is in jail yet. Ludwig and I have formally petitioned the Immortal Council, and justice will be served. With your deposition, Mr. Conte and the rest of the Purists will pay for the crimes they committed against you. Starting with making you spend a year in prison for something that never happened. I won’t rest until they are behind bars.”
The two immortals shuffled on their feet during Quintilius’s tirade, but when Ludwig opened his mouth, they paled.
With a cold glint in his eyes, Ludwig stood and leaned against the wall, his wings trailing down his back as he folded them. “I’m personally supervising the manhunt, and it’s only a matter of time before Jasmine’s father is taken into custody. Regarding the priest, we don’t know his identity, but we’ll soon find out.”
“And as you requested, Archangel, the Purists are not a recognized sect anymore, and all their members are officially renegades. Their status as paranormal citizens has been removed, but it can be reinstated if they cooperate with the Council in regard to the kidnapping and attempted murder of Mr. Solis,” the enforcer recited.
Ludwig hugged himself, and crossed his ankles in a relaxed pose. “Good. They won’t find a single lawyer willing to represent them now.”
“They are all responsible for Lupo’s suffering.” Camelia changed position on the uncomfortable wooden chair, her fingers drumming on the armrests.
“An entire community of people who thought they could get away with murder,” Quintilius said.
Ludwig’s lips curved up in a cold smile that matched the calculating glint in his eyes. “Don’t worry. That mentality ends now. The first time one of them tries to do business with the rest of the paranormal community, they will realize how the Immortal Council’s Peace Pact is not to be trifled with. Even if we’ll never be able to bring all of them to justice for what they did to Lupo, the Purists have had all their privileges abolished, and life as renegades is no laughing matter.”
The two immortals nodded during the exchange, then tentatively stepped toward the door.
“We’ve taken Mr. Solis’s deposition, and unless there’s anything else we can do for you, we’ll resume the search for Mr. Corte and the priest,” the blond said, one hand over the door’s handle.
Ludwig raised one eyebrow, freezing them on the spot. “One last thing. We have new intelligence to share with you. As Quintilius was saying earlier, we have just discovered that our son’s soulmate isn’t dead as the family made everyone believe. Relocate the majority of the resources on looking for Jasmine Cannalis Corte. Start with her family business’s headquarters in Venice.”
“Will do, Archangel,” both men said at the same time, then left.
“What about Vera?” Lupo asked when they were alone. “What will happen to her?”
“We didn’t want to believe she was in any way connected with your disappearance. But the recordings from the garage’s cameras showed her leaving, and soon after you went missing.” Quintilius shook his head.
“Do you know where she is now?” Lupo had mixed feelings regarding Vera.
“We looked for her at the den, but she hasn’t gone back, and her brother is genuinely worried about her.” Ludwig pushed himself off the wall, and started pacing with his wings tightly folded behind.
“She seemed attached to her little brother—” Lupo’s mind went back to all the times she had mentioned Martino and how her face had lit with joy. She wouldn’t have left him behind. “Do you think something happened to her?”
Ludwig paused in the middle of the room. “She’s been missing since the day you were taken. In fact, since we took into consideration that she might have acted under duress when she drove you out of the building, we plastered both your face and hers everywhere.”
Lupo caressed the shaved stubble on his head, his fingers touching all the scars that were healing. “In a way, she did. From the little I remember, she said something about Martino being in danger.”
Camelia massaged her long neck, tilting he
r head from one shoulder to the other. “I hope she will resurface safe and sound. What she did was wrong, but she was probably being forced into it.”
“I hope so too,” Ludwig said.
All things considered, Lupo still wasn’t sure what to make of Vera, but he didn’t want for her to be dead.
****
Under Lupo’s insistence, he was discharged from the paranormal hospital early in the afternoon. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he had discovered that Jasmine was alive, and he had already wasted a whole night and the morning lying in bed.
Shifting had taken care of the damage inflicted on his body during his captivity, and an infusion of angelic blood had sped his system’s recovery. His strength wasn’t completely restored, but he could walk fine, and that was enough for him. He refused the wheelchair, and left the Tiberina Island Hospital on his own, wearing the change of clothes Camelia had brought for him, not knowing he would be using it so soon.
“I’m famished,” Lupo commented as soon as he was on the hospital’s ground level, and the smell from the cafeteria reached his nostrils. During his short stay, the nurses had come four times with food trays he had devoured, but he was still hungry.
“Have something to eat first, then we go back home,” Quintilius said, then walked ahead toward the cafeteria’s entrance to reserve a table Lupo covered with food.
Under his parents’ and Camelia’s concerned supervision, Lupo ordered at least three portions of every single item on display, filling around ten trays with everything from roasted chicken to crème caramel. He ate without gusto, only to quiet the painful cramps that tore his stomach in two, washing the food down with water he mixed with sugar.
“You should’ve let the doctor take care of you,” Camelia said, after Lupo poured the sixth package of sugar into his glass. “You didn’t even finish that last IV bag.”
“I didn’t have time for that.” Lupo bit into a piece of pizza he had folded in two.
“Lupo, we told you we’ll help you find Jasmine, but you can barely think straight—” Quintilius removed from the table the empty trays Lupo went through as if he was competing in a sprint race.
Lupo (The Immortals Book 8) Page 18