Eve shuddered as she studied her surroundings. The space was decorated in horror movie chic. A lone naked lightbulb hung from the ceiling, casting a distinct foot-wide circle. The cement floor was stained with reddish-brown splatters she thought might be blood. There was a noticeable pattern to it, a distinct line where unmarred floor gave way to gory floor. On the very edge of the circle of light was a horizontal bar of silver metal—the edge of a gurney, like the ones she’d seen in the medical examiner’s room on CSI. It had been pushed aside to make room for her.
Beyond the gurney, the shadows whimpered and writhed. Because of the intensity of the wattage above her, Eve’s nictitating membranes weren’t useful at all, leaving her blind but for the young wolf standing in front of her.
“I tried to draw them away, but they didn’t follow,” the boy said petulantly. “By the time I came back to see where they’d gone to, they were digging around the kiln room. What else was I supposed to do with her?”
He tossed the bucket aside. It crashed into something metallic and Eve jumped. A dog’s frightened bark rent the air. A kennel, maybe? The resultant din of scratching and shifting suggested there were several creatures restrained in the darkness.
“How did they find us?” the voice asked.
“How the hell would I know?” the wolf muttered. “If not for Jaime, I wouldn’t have even known we were being watched.”
“What did Jaime do?”
“He didn’t do anything, besides knock his girlfriend up. He had a delivery in Corona, which only took him an hour and a half, so he came back hoping to make another run. He noticed them sitting in a car on a side street before he left and again when he came back. He thought it might be Yesinia’s dad looking to take a bat to him. He mentioned it to me, and I checked it out.”
“Mortals do have their uses.”
“Occasionally.”
“Where’s Cain?”
A maniacal light lit the boy’s eyes. “Cain is dead.”
Eve winced, her gut churning. An ache grew in her chest and spread. Laughter came from the speaker. Again, the sound held both masculine and feminine notes. Like a prepubescent boy whose voice had not yet fully changed.
“You think you killed Cain?” the person asked. “You? Better demons have tried and they have all failed.”
“The tengu grabbed him.”
There was a pause. “How many of them?”
“Twenty or more. However many there were in storage.”
“Well, perhaps they’ve at least injured him. I’ll check on him when I get there.”
Eve realized then the poor sound quality was not entirely inherent to the speaker in the phone. It was the sound of traffic. Whoever was talking was on the way. Her heart dropped into her stomach.
“So what do you want me to do with her?” the boy asked, his feet shuffling on the gruesome floor.
“She might be more valuable to us alive than dead. If Cain survives—which he has proven is inevitable—he might forfeit a great deal for her return.”
Fury started to burn its way through Eve’s fear. She was sick of being mauled. No amount of chocolate could improve her mood enough to avoid the nuclear meltdown she felt was coming. And there was one basic undeniable truth—there was no way in hell she’d allow anyone to use her against Alec.
Her head turned slowly, her eyes narrowing in an attempt to see a way out. Where was she? The house on Falcon Circle? If not, she was screwed, because she would have no idea where she was, or which direction to run for help.
Eve glanced down at her watch. Through the water droplets on the face, she saw it was just after one in the morning. The kid couldn’t have moved her too far from the masonry. Not enough time had passed.
If this was a real slasher movie, this room might be a basement of horrors. But this was California, where earthquakes made basements a rarity. She was either on the ground floor or above it. For some reason, that made her feel better. As long as she was above the ground, she might have a chance of escaping to the street outside or being seen from a window. If she screamed loud enough, she might be heard.
The door is to your left.
The sound of the female voice took Eve aback. She glanced around furtively. One of the animals was talking to her and she didn’t sound good. Her voice was weary. Resigned.
It opens inward. If you make it to the hallway, run to the right and don’t stop.
Eve had no idea how to reply without her voice, how to say she would come back for them if she lived through the night. She refused to leave them behind and let them suffer whatever fate awaited them on that gurney.
We’re counting on it.
Mentally girding herself, Eve wiggled in her seat, trying to see if her legs were bound in any way. They weren’t.
“You can bleed her until I get there,” the person on the speakerphone said. “Just don’t drain too much.”
The wolf’s slow smile sent Eve’s anger into overdrive. A rough growl escaped her. She lunged forward, aiming her shoulder at the boy’s stomach like she’d seen football players do when tackling. The maneuver worked. They both tumbled to the ground and crashed into a malodorous kennel. The animals began to bark, hiss, and screech.
Shouting came through the speakerphone. “What’s going on? Tim? Answer me! What the fuck is happening?”
Struggling to her knees, Eve then lurched to her feet. One with the darkness now, her night vision kicked in, allowing her to see the proliferation of bloodstained tools hanging on racks suspended from the ceiling. There were also at least a dozen kennels holding animals so ravaged, Eve couldn’t tell what species some of them were.“Bitch!” the boy cried, swinging for her legs with both arms.
Eve stumbled, then turned and kicked at where he lay on the floor. “Asshole!”
Reaching the door, she fumbled for the knob. Grasping hands scratched her ankles and shins but couldn’t get purchase. Yanking the portal open, Eve leaped around it and fled to the hallway.
Behind her, the wolf cursed and gave chase.
Alec bypassed the patio area of the masonry at a run, heading toward the main gate that led to the street. His footfalls combined with the Marks’ behind him in a rhythmic pounding that built his anxiety. He was a yard away from the gate when a familiar figure appeared on the other side. The man grasped the wrought-iron bars, revealing the diamond-shaped detail on the back of his right hand—a detail that was identical to the one on the kid from the convenience store.
“Bad timing, Charles,” Alec bit out.
“What are you doing here, Cain?”
The Alpha of the Northern California pack was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alec wasn’t in the mood to play. “Leaving. Get out of my way.”
“I’m looking for someone; a young male from my pack.” One hand dug into his pocket and withdrew a newspaper image of the Upland Sports Arena. In the periphery, the boy stood beside a Gehenna Masonry truck.
Alec smiled. “Good luck with that.”
The Alpha’s eyes glowed golden in the moonlight. He was tall and sinewy, handsome in a way that lured too many mortal women astray. He was dark and intense. Magnetic, some said. And wily enough to avoid Jehovah’s wrath. At least so far. “It can’t be a coincidence that you’re here.”
“You’re the one outside of your territory.”
Charles settled more firmly on his feet, showing his determination to block the exit as long as necessary. Since the padlock was on the exterior of the gate, Alec wouldn’t be able to access it without reaching through the bars, a move that would put him at an unacceptable disadvantage.
“Point me in the right direction,” Charles said, “and I’ll step aside.”
“There’s no help for your rogue wolf. Go home.”
“I can’t let you kill him.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“He’s young, and he’s my son.” Charles’s knuckles whitened. “His mother was a witch. Her parents believe I’m denying him his magical birthright. They’ve turned him against me.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Because he’s a half-breed,” the Alpha continued, “he can’t control his wolf, so he’s rejected it and fled.”
Alec’s arms crossed. “You’re breaking my heart.”
“Let me handle this within the pack.”
“It’s too late for that.” The evening breeze blew through the bars, ruffling through Alec’s hair and filling his nostrils with the stench of Infernal. “Among other things, a Mark has been taken.”
“Whatever Timothy has done, it’s been at the will of his grandparents. Let me give them to you in return for my son.”
“I want my Mark,” Alec bit out, agonizingly conscious of how much time had passed since Eve had been taken.
“I understand. I want to help you.”
“Then get out of the way.”
The Alpha’s grip loosened. “Do we have a deal?”
Alec inhaled sharply. “Sure.”
Eve was right. The mark did burn with a lie.
CHAPTER 20
It was a hallway, and at the end there was a faint, almost imperceptible glow.
Eve raced toward it, suddenly aware of just how much swinging arms helped a person to run. With her wrists bound in front of her, she felt off-balance and front-heavy.
The screeching cries of the animals ceased abruptly with the closing of the door Eve had fled through, telling her the horror room was soundproofed in some way. The thudding footfalls of her pursuer, however, were loud and clear. And gaining on her.
Flanking either side of the hallway were other doors, only a few, but they were all closed. There was no wayward moonlight to give her bearings. There was no artificial illumination and no windows to tell her where she was. Only the glow at the end of the tunnel that hinted at a window.
The hallway emptied into another. She turned the corner and found herself dodging sofas and end tables. Moonlight flooded the space through picture windows. She was on the ground floor. If she’d been a religious person, she might have sent up a prayer of thanks. As it was, she thought it was about time she’d been given a freakin’ break.