––––––––
“What happens now?” I asked as we reached the car.
“We wait.”
“That's it? That's the plan?”
“Have faith.”
Craven sounded confident, but then he always did. It seemed to me we'd shaken the beehive, and could expect a swarm of angry bees to come after us. Two against three hadn't been too much of a problem although I did have a few cuts and bruises to show for the encounter. If the whole pack came looking for us, that would be a whole different ball game.
“You did well today,” he said.
“Thanks.” I hesitated. “Craven?”
“Yes?”
“Nothing. It doesn't matter.”
“What doesn't matter?”
“Why did you pick me as your mate? Why didn't you pick someone from your own pack?”
“I did.”
“Oh?” I suddenly felt sick in the pit of my stomach. “I don't understand.”
“Her name was Jarline. She was the daughter of the Beta in my pack. We'd grown up together, and it was always assumed I'd take her for my mate. And I did, but within less than a year, she was dead. A vampire. He'd been struck down with the plague, and lost his mind. Before his own people found him, he'd attacked several shifters including Jarline. In normal circumstances the bite wouldn't have been fatal.”
“The plague?”
“Yeah. It wasn't contagious for shifters, but it was toxic enough to kill her.”
“I'm sorry.”
“That's one of the reasons I began to travel. I needed to get away—needed to forget. That's when I bumped into you in the airport.”
“You said I was your fated mate. What about Jarline?”
“I loved Jarline and, if she hadn't died, I'd still be with her today. But for every wolf, there is only ever one fated mate, and for me, that's you. Even though I loved Jarline, I never felt the connection I have with you.”
*********
“There!” Craven pointed towards the club entrance. The two men who we'd left lying on the floor had just staggered out of the front door.
“What are they doing?” For some reason, I was whispering even though we were parked almost a hundred metres from the club entrance.
“Looks like they're waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
“Jeez Louise. Do you always ask so many questions?”
I thumped Craven's arm.
“Look! There!” He pointed to a black 4 x 4 which had pulled up in front of the club.
The two men climbed into the car which set off at a lick. Craven pulled out straight in front of a taxi. The driver hit his horn to let us know what he thought of our manoeuvre.
“What if they spot us?”
“They won't be expecting us to hang around. Anyone with even an ounce of sense would have high-tailed it out of the city.”
Which sounded like a good idea to me, but I bit my lip and said nothing.
The 4 x 4 had gone no more than a few blocks when it took a left down a ramp into a basement car park. The steel gates were unmanned and slid open as soon as it approached.
“Quick!” Craven parked at the roadside in a no parking zone.
“We'll get towed!” I said.
He was already racing towards the car park. I leapt out of the car and ran after him. The gates were glacially slow which gave Craven time to slip in between them. I didn't think I was going to make it.
“Come on!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the gap just in time. The gates clanked closed behind us.
I couldn't see the 4 x 4, so gave Craven a 'where did they go' shrug. He gestured to the far side of the basement where another ramp led to a lower level. Hugging the walls, we made our way towards the second ramp. There were raised voices, but I couldn't make out what was being said. From behind a pillar, we could see only the near section of the floor below. Craven started to walk down the ramp, but then doubled back. Footsteps—sounded like several people—echoed below us. Two, three, four men came into sight. The two men we'd encountered earlier plus another two. For a moment I thought they might walk back up the ramp, but they headed for a doorway at the far side of the lower floor. As soon as they were through the door we headed down the ramp.
“Stay close.” Craven tried the door. It was unlocked.
“Which way?” I whispered once we were inside.
He looked left and right, and then sniffed the air.
“This way.”
My heart was pounding so loudly I felt sure it would give us away. At the end of the corridor, Craven peered around the corner and indicated the coast was clear. He stopped in front of a lift, and watched the buttons illuminate one after another: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
“Fifth floor,” Craven said. He was already heading for the staircase next to the lift. Much to my relief, we met no one on the stairs.
“Ready?” He had one hand on the door marked only with the number '5'.
I nodded, although I felt anything but.
“Sir?” the woman behind the reception desk said. “You can't come in here. These are private offices.”
Craven walked past her without a word. I saw her reach under the desk, and assumed she was summoning help.
I was right. Three shifters burst through another set of double doors in front of Craven.
“Get out of my way,” Craven said without a hint of fear in his voice.
“You have no business here,” the shortest of the three men said.
“We're here to see Zema.” Craven stood his ground.
“Really?” Shorty laughed. All three of them seemed to find this amusing. “Zema doesn't waste his time with lone wolves. You've picked the wrong territory.”
“He can tell me that himself.” Craven stood his ground.
“Are you hard of hearing? I just told you that lone wolves have no business here. You have ten seconds to turn around and leave. Make sure you're out of our territory within the hour.”
“We aren't leaving until we've seen Zema.”
“Ten seconds.” Shorty took a step forward. “One, two—”
“Ten,” Craven said, as he swivelled on the spot, and kicked Shorty in the chest. The impact knocked Shorty off his feet, and back towards his two companions. Before the other two could react, Craven leapt onto one of them. That was my cue—I charged at the third man, but he side-stepped me with ease. As I turned back to face him, he leapt at me, sending the two of us to the floor. I was winded, and found myself pinned beneath his body as he knelt astride me.
“Time to die, pretty one.” His foul breath filled my nostrils. His claw pierced my neck. I had only seconds before he slit my throat. Craven was on his feet, but too far away to get to me in time. I called upon the strength of my inner wolf, and the response was immediate and decisive. I raised my leg with as much force as I could muster, and caught my assailant squarely in the balls. It gave me only a few seconds, but it was enough. My claws extended, and I went straight for his eyes. His screams filled the room. Now I had the initiative. I rocked to the side, and unseated him just enough to free one leg. A quick kick to the side of his head sent him spiralling to the floor. Craven lifted one of the men by the throat before propelling him across the room. His head hit the wall with a sickening thud as his skull shattered. My assailant was back on his feet, and headed straight for me, guided by his sense of smell alone. I blocked first one fist and then the other. When I saw my chance, I plunged a claw into his throat, and drew it swiftly across his windpipe. His hands went instinctively to his neck as he tried to stem the flow of blood gushing from his throat. His gargled words were indecipherable. Moments later, he collapsed to the floor.
Craven nodded his approval. He'd just despatched Shorty in a similar manner. I raised a hand in a high-five gesture, but Craven just shrugged. “No time for pat-a-cake. Come on.”
The secretary was still at her desk. She was talking to someone on the phone.
We'd no sooner walked through the double doors than there was a metallic thud behind us. A solid metal barrier had descended from the ceiling, and was now blocking the doors we'd just come through. We'd taken only a few steps up the corridor when an identical metal barrier dropped down in front of us. There was no way out. We were in a space no more than twenty feet by ten feet with walls either side, and metal barriers in front and behind.
The hissing sound came from a small vent high in the ceiling. A white gas poured into the space, and moments later, everything went black.