Garon’s bodyguard stood outside the study. William waited next to him. As she neared, William stepped to the side and nodded to her. The bodyguard opened the door. Inside, Garon sat at the table where she herself had been seated the last time they’d met. She stepped inside. Behind Garon stood his other thug. They both looked reserved and annoyed.
“What do you want?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
His eyes turned frostier than she thought possible. “I want you to consent to this union, of course.”
“That’s never going to happen. Why do you want to mate with me so badly, anyway?”
“Because together we’d rule the world.”
She laughed. “Really? And why would I want to do that?”
His brows lifted. “Why wouldn’t you?”
Danika tried to temper the rage that flowed inside her. “I have enough right here, just as you have enough in Las Vegas. Whatever help you think I’ll be to you as a mate, Garon, I assure you, you’re mistaken.”
Garon’s eyes narrowed. “That’s too bad. I thought you were a sensible young woman, but now I see that you’re nothing but a child.”
“I warned you of that the first time we spoke.” She smiled.
“Then as a spoiled child, I’m afraid I’ll have to teach you how to respect your betters.”
Danika’s smile disappeared. “When a better appears, I’ll give him all the respect he is due.”
Garon stared at her with an air of malice she’d never experienced. “You will become my mate,” he threatened. “One way or another. Even if I have to ruin you to make sure no one else will have you.”
“I’d like to see you try. Believe me when I say this is a war you will not win.”
Garon chuckled. “Really, Danika? Your last minion tried to kill you. Your current minion was turned. Your distress is obvious, yet your guardian is nowhere to be seen. Can I assume that not all is going well in your paradise? Shall I go on about your failings?”
There was a ruckus outside. Mason appeared in the doorway.
Garon stared from Danika to Mason.
“I have nothing further to say,” replied Danika. “When the kings arrive next Friday, I will tell them of my decision to decline your offer. You may stay until such time, but I neither want to see you, nor may you to set foot in my home again. Are we clear?”
“You’re making a mistake,” Garon said in a dangerously low voice.
Danika held his stare. “That’s my decision nonetheless. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re going clubbing for the night.” Danika spun on her heels and walked out with Mason and William in tow. She didn’t stop till she was by the entrance.
“I don’t know that going out is the best thing right now, Danika,” said Mason.
“I have to get out of this house.” She opened and closed her fists several times, while pacing. “Besides, I need to focus some of this newfound energy and rage on something other than paperwork.”
Siad entered from the lower staircase. “Do you need some help, Lord Danika?”
“Yes, Siad, thank you. I need to have a car brought around, please. Oh, and Siad? Lord Garon will be leaving momentarily. After he’s gone, change all the combinations to the house locks. And please make sure everyone is made aware that he is not permitted on my home lands until he arrives next week with the three kings. And if for any reason anyone lets him in, they’ll be cast out from the coven.”
“Of course, my lord,” said Siad.
Danika threw open the front door and stepped into the bright night sky. Despite the pounding anger inside her, she felt like the old Danika. The one she had been before her parents’ deaths, as if she could conquer the world. And tonight she was going to start by finding out once and for all what was going on in her city.
* * * *
The first Vampire bar was called Midnight. Their financials were good, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but every club needed checking.
Mason tried to keep away from her on the other side of the car, but Danika felt his anxiety, mixed with need; he wanted her. She watched Mason stare out the car window as they sped past the busy nightlife. Vamps went about their lives, as if the virus had never even happened.
The car came to a stop in a valet spot outside a two-story black building with a metallic blue sign that read “Welcome to Midnight.” The valet rushed up to the car to open Danika’s door, but Mason was out before the valet reached it. At the sight of Mason, the vamp backed up a pace. Mason surveyed the scene, as Danika surveyed his rear. Stepping aside, he held out his hand to her. She rose from the car, small gasps and whispers came from the would be customers that waited behind a rope, trying to get into the club.
The smell of the city hit her full-force. The blood, sweat, bodies, and food mixed together caused her to wrinkle her nose. It was one of the reasons why she preferred to keep to her own kind. With Mason in front and William behind her, the three walked toward the building.
“M’lord?” called the valet.
Danika turned.
“Did you want me to park your car?”
“The car stays,” Mason said.
“Of...of course,” he replied.
Danika stepped to the large vampyr bouncer waiting at the side of the rope. She smiled as she approached.
“Welcome, Lord Danika.” He moved the rope and opened the door for her.
“Thank you.” The sounds from inside were almost deafening. The music thumped and boomed in her ears. The décor was total black with holographic lights twinkling in the ceiling like tiny stars. The bar wrapped around the entire landing of the club. Young Vampires, vampyr, and vamps all mingled, and a few older, established Vampires sat at large, round plush tables, sipping wine. They raised their glasses to Danika when they noticed her. Danika acknowledged them with an incline of her head. After scanning the scene, Danika took a seat at the bar, closest to the exit, with William beside her. Eyes watched her from every angle. It didn’t take the bartender long to notice her, as well.
“What can I give you, my lord?” he asked.
“Do you have any human?”
“We keep a small private stock of human in the back. I can get you a glass if you’d like.”
“Nothing more fresh?”
He furrowed his brow at her. “No, m’lord, I’m afraid we don’t keep blood slaves on staff here.”
“Pity.” She pouted and then waited.
The bartender’s eyes shifted from Danika down the bar and back. “Did you want me to get you a glass, Lord?”
“Do you perhaps have a private room that we might be able to utilize?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t have private rooms here.”
Danika stood from her chair and headed to the exit.
Mason stepped out into the night, holding the door open for her. She breathed in deeply and a somewhat familiar scent hit her. She looked around to see where it was coming from, but it was gone again.
* * * *
They stopped at three more clubs, all to no avail. The novelty of clubbing was wearing off when they pulled up to the fourth club. It was newer, and owned by the New Life Corporation. Danika had never heard of the company before, which surprised her when William told her about their current holdings in the city. They owned two warehouses down by the Navy pier, as well as another down south of city center. They also owned a small office building on Wabash Street. Their exact business was undetermined, and the owners hadn’t been introduced to Danika as far as she knew. She made a mental note to ask Chase about it.
The club wasn’t like the other four they’d visited. It sat next to the boarded up University Club. The threadbare green awning on the University Club was a weak testament to the beautiful building it had once been. Danika remembered having visited it with her parents years earlier.
She turned her gaze back to the club they’d come to investigate. There were no lines outside, no bouncers, and no cars, just a simple brass plaque on the brick building next to the entrance. The sign read “The Trade House.” Danika thought it an odd name for a club. As she approached the walkway, an electric charge trickled over her skin. She stopped dead in her tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Mason asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
Mason stepped forward and was hit with a jolt of electricity hard enough to make him stumble. He tried again, and again was hit with a jolt of electricity. She felt his anger rising.
“It’s fae magick,” he spat. The look of disgust on his face was apparent.
“I thought the fae were extinct.”
“Not extinct. But I did think they’d all returned to their own realm after the outbreak.”
Danika looked at Mason hard for a moment. “When this is all over Mason, I think you and I need to have a very long conversation. In the meantime, William will come with me on this one.” She nodded to William and they stepped to the walkway and under the red awning.
“No.” Mason moved forward a third time. The muscles on his neck and arms bulged and he held his breath. He pushed against the unseen barrier as if he tried to push through solid rock. After a minute, he forced his way through the magick shield, but was knocked to his knees. He cried out as his body convulsed. Danika and William lifted him under the arms, dragging him back to the sidewalk. Paul jumped up and helped pull him to the car.
Mason looked worse for wear. His color had drained and he’d begun to sweat. His muscles twitched and spasmed.
“Put him in the car,” she said to Paul. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Mason tried to protest, but she put up a hand. “It’s obvious you cannot enter. William and I will go. If I find anything, I’ll come out and we’ll call for Neeman, all right?”
His feelings of protection and jealousy poured into her. He leaned on the car, catching his breath, his eyes a fiery blaze. She wanted to comfort him, and have him comfort her in return.
“Don’t make me come in there after you,” Mason replied, his breath evening.
Danika nodded to William, acting more confident than she felt, and the two crossed the barrier again, to the entrance. A rush of warm air escaped, and she smelled the faint scent of blood. She peered inside, and saw nothing but complete darkness; not a sound emanated from within.
“We can call Neeman first,” William suggested.
“Why?” she asked. “This one looks tamest of all.”
She stepped into the small entry area, the door closing behind William. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. They walked a few steps to a curtain. William pulled back the plush blue velvet. There was no loud music, no crowds, no dancing; simply the soft sound of Chopin playing.
The entire interior was a light-colored satin. The walls were papered in a striped, metallic champagne. Champagne-colored, round seating poufs were scattered all around the club. A crystal chandelier hung from the low ceiling in the middle of the room. On the far side were more curtains, each a different color, but all plush velvet like the entrance.
A tall, thin vampyr attended to several different Vampires at a light blond wooden bar on the left side. Behind the bar hung a massive shelving system. Encased within a cooling system were rows and rows of bottles of blood. Not Savor, but actual human blood. It reminded her of her own blood freezer at home. William squeezed her arm, and she turned to see a small Asian human in a red kimono rushing forward. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun.
“My apologies for making you wait, I am Chin Lee. What might I offer you?”
“I’m afraid this is the first time for my fledgling.” Danika tried to sound at ease. “Would you mind showing him around so he can make his choice?”
“Of course, of course,” Chin Lee replied with a smile. “Over here, we have the bar. Our bar is stocked with every blood type available, and a scent sampler can be offered for you to help with the choosing. Especially since you’re a fledgling, I’m sure you are not yet aware of all the fragrances available to your palette.” Chin Lee smiled at William.
Danika stepped behind William, her eyes scanning everything, as he followed Chin Lee across the room. Chin Lee pointed out different features of the club and different entertainments that the club had to offer. Danika watched the bar patrons. There weren’t many, but she recognized each of them in turn. They were all lesser Vampires and vampyr from Chicago and the surrounding areas. The sideways glances she got from them confirmed their uneasiness at her presence. When she turned her back, she heard several of them exit.
Danika’s neck prickled and she was about to tell William they needed to leave, when Chin Lee turned her attention to the velvet curtains. Danika’s skin chilled and her anxiety rose at an alarming rate. She wished Mason were with them.
“Here is where we offer private affairs,” Chin Lee continued. “Each room is designed with a different theme.” Chin Lee pulled aside the first red velvet curtain. Inside, the room had a red lounge chair, as well as a plush red rug. There was a small red table with a white, old-fashioned telephone on it. Next to the phone stood two golden menus. Danika’s gut clenched at the thought of them. A red curtain hung on the opposite side of the small room, which blended in so easily that Danika didn’t notice it at first. The room was enhanced with a deep musky essence that made Danika’s fangs ache with need. She coughed and covered her mouth, afraid her fangs would elongate.
“This is Passion. Inside you’ll find a menu with whichever passion you might desire. That passion will be carried out to your every detail.” Chin Lee let them have a moment to look inside, then closed the curtain with a smile, and walked to the next.
It was a deep, bluish purple. The inside was a deep blue with stars twinkling on the ceiling. A plush, deep-blue sectional and matching chair waited in the room. Again there was a table and phone. The room smelled sweet and savory; the distant sound of trickling water and birds emanated from inside.
“This is Fantasy. Every fantasy is listed on the menu and is provided and guaranteed to meet your expectations.”
Letting the curtain drop, they proceeded to the next room; it had a white curtain, and everything inside was perfectly white. The same as the other two, only this one had simulated sunlight inside. Danika’s heart leapt. She’d never felt sunlight before. She wanted to walk inside and stay forever. The room was quite warm, and instead of carpet on the floor, there was white sand, pure as a virgin beach. The scent of vanilla and honeysuckle floated out as did the distant sound of crashing waves.
“This is Bliss. Again, every delicacy you can imagine is yours for the asking.”
Finally, they walked to the last, black curtain, set further apart from the others. A door peeked out from underneath it. Chin Lee approached the curtain, but she did not open it.
She smiled brightly. “This is the Pain room. However, it is reserved for our more mature clientele. No one under the age of two hundred is allowed in, I’m afraid.”
Chin Lee led them away and motioned for them to sit on the poufs. The bartender came over with two fresh goblets of blood. Chin Lee handed them to Danika and William. Danika wondered how much the cleaning bill was for this place. She scanned the room. Most of the patrons had already left. Her mind told her it was time to leave. She sipped her goblet of blood. It was warm and fresh, no more than a day old. That was a rarity in and of itself. It had a spicy aftertaste that was mild, but not unpleasant.
“If you would like to secure one of our private areas, there is an upfront fee of five thousand dollars. A deposit against anything you might purchase, as well as any damages left behind. If you’d like to use the bar area, you’re welcome to do so.”
“Thank you, Chin Lee. Why don’t you give us a minute to discuss what we would like to do,” Danika said.
“Certainly, take your time, but we close in an hour and a half.” Chin Lee bowed and walked toward the bar with the bartender.
“We should get out of here.” William sipped from his glass. “This doesn’t feel right.”
“Easy.” Danika laid her hand on his arm and drank the warm blood from her goblet. “We don’t know anything yet. We have no idea what’s on the menus in those rooms. It could be anything from dogs to Mexican food.”
“Even you don’t believe that, Danika,” he said. “You know as well as I do that this blood is fresh. Where would a Vampire club get fresh blood?”
“Okay, but I have no proof of anything yet, and I can’t do anything without proof.”
“Maybe I should go call Neeman, and get Mason.”
“Mason can’t get in. You saw what happened when he tried. And if we call Neeman and the trackers now, this place will be closed down by noonday. We have to do this alone,” she whispered a little too loudly. Chin Lee looked back at them and Danika waved.
“Fine.” William sipped his drink and raised his goblet toward Chin Lee. “We go in, we look at the menu, and then we leave.”
“Now which do we choose?”
“I like the one called ‘Bliss,’ but I doubt we will find what we are looking for in there. I guess ‘Passion’?” he said.
Chin Lee appeared at their side. “Have you decided then?”
“We’d like to see the Passion room.” Danika smiled.
“Very good. I’ll need a credit card please for the deposit.” Chin Lee led the way to the Passion room.
“I’m Lord Danika Chekov. Any bill that you might incur can be sent to my home.” Danika and William stepped into the room and sat on the couch.
“Very good.” Chin Lee bowed. “When you’re ready to order, lift the phone and tell the operator what you’d like. Enjoy.” She smiled, then let the curtain close behind them.
The room was so red, Danika felt like she was surrounded by blood. The spicy scent hung thick in the air, filling her nostrils and forcing her to relax. William walked to a small table. He took a swallow of the blood from his goblet and picked up the menu. He scanned it, then handed it to Danika. She downed the last of her blood as well, and set the glass on the table, taking the menu from William. As she did so, a chill skittered up her spine. Passion did not begin to describe the things on the paper. The debauched indulgences of their society was a better name for it. Every item involved a human, and every one was worse than the one before. After reading the first five, Danika had to set the menu down. William was as pale as she felt. This was definitely the place that the rogue had gotten human blood; the question that still remained was why.
“We should go.” She stood. The room swayed, and William reached out his hand to steady her, but he, too was unbalanced.
“Something’s wrong,” he said.
Danika nodded. She looked down at the goblet on the table with bleary eyes. William pushed open the curtain while trying to hold Danika steady.
“Going already?” Chin Lee moved to them from the now empty bar.
“I think we don’t have enough time this evening to properly enjoy what the room has to offer. We’ll have to wait until we have more time. Perhaps the owner would squeeze us in somewhere, if at all possible.” Danika knew she was swaying, but refused to fall down.
“I think that can be arranged,” said a male from behind her.
Danika froze on the spot. Goosebumps rose on her arms, then the scent hit her, that familiar scent. She turned to see a vampyr standing behind her. His once light brown eyes, now pale blue, shone against his pale, no longer bluish, skin. His bone structure had refined as William’s had and his hair was a lighter shade of blond. Pearly white, short fangs peeked out from beneath his upper lip. He looked impeccable in his tan suit. This was not possible. She was seeing things again. It was the blood causing her to hallucinate.
“What? No hello for your old friend?” He pouted. “I’m hurt, Kitten.”
“Xenock,” she managed. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her sluggish body wouldn’t obey.
He smiled. “Well, isn’t this lovely. And who’s your new friend?”
She looked from William to Chin Lee, they were both staring at him as well. She wasn’t seeing things. “This is William, my fledgling.” Her mind blazed with questions, fighting against whatever drug had been given her.
“Your fledgling? Why, Danika, how maternal of you. I didn’t know you had it in you. Good for you.” Xenock eyed William.
Danika’s grip grew tighter on William, and he put his arm around her waist. She was trapped.
“You’re the one who sent the rogues.” She stalled.
“Did you enjoy them? They did their job well. They led you here,” he said with a flourish.
“And it was you that night at the office, outside.”
“I wanted to see your new slave. I’d heard news that you’d paid quite a sum for him. He’s a big one, isn’t he? You always did have a thing for big men.”
Danika ground her teeth together. He acted as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t tried to kill her, but more than that, as if he wasn’t supposed to be dead.
“What do you want, Xenock?”
“Danika, how can you even ask me that?” He pouted again. He stepped forward and caressed her face with the palm of his hand. “You know what I want. What I’ve always wanted.”
Danika’s head reeled. All this time Xenock was supposedly dead, he’d been watching her, waiting to strike. But how had he done all of this? Who was really pulling the strings? Chin Lee no longer smiled. Standing in front of the exit curtain, she barred the way out. The bartender relaxed at the bar, but Danika got the feeling that he was anything but. She’d seen Mason relax that same way before. With Mason’s blood inside her, she’d be able to take Chin Lee, and possibly the bartender, but Xenock was another story, especially with her being drugged. Her biggest concern was for William.
Danika breathed in deeply. “If I give you what you want, will you let William go?”
“Touching.” Xenock smiled. “So touching, Danika. I wish you’d done that for me.”
“You tried to kill me, Xenock,” she yelled, swaying slightly. Her anger was beginning to show. She needed to control it if they were going to make it out of this alive.
“I didn’t want to kill you. I just didn’t want anyone else to have you.” His eyes held the same crazed look that she had seen in them the night he’d attacked her. And his face bore the scar where she’d struck him with her nightstand lamp. Somehow, the two seemed to add to his already fierce appearance.
“All right, Danika, if you wish it, I’ll let him go.” Xenock motioned for William to leave.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” Xenock motioned to the exit. “See, Danika, I can be civil. I mean the young man no harm. He’s free to go.”
“I’m staying,” said William stoically, staring at Xenock.
Danika turned to William. “Go.”
“No. I won’t leave you here.”
“William.” She laid her hand on his cheek. “You must go now. Go to the car. I can take care of this.”
He blinked several times and she sent him a silent plea to understand what she’d said.
“My offer is good for another thirty seconds.” Xenock flashed his fangs at William.
William pulled her into an embrace and whispered in her ear. “We’ll come for you.”
“Tick tock.” Xenock tapped his watch.
Reluctantly William let go of her and crossed to the exit. He took one last look in her direction, then stepped through the curtain.
“There now.” Xenock wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s you and me, Kitten. Just like old times.”
* * * *
Mason was finally over most of the electrical shock waves. His biceps still twitched, but he’d gotten his breath back. He unbuttoned the collar of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. He hated prostituted fae magick. Not that he hadn’t been around it before. He had, in abundance. But twisting the natural order of things for money went against everything he believed in. He felt Danika inside the club, but it was muted. He paced as the minutes ticked by. Then something happened, terror filled him. He rushed the barrier again, the magick prickled the hairs on his arms. Cursing in frustration, he took a step away.
He was about to go for it again when William staggered out, alone. Mason’s heart sank.
“Where is she?” he demanded, stepping to the edge of the barrier.
“She’s in there, with him. She didn’t know...” William slurred.
“Know what? What are you talking about?” Mason shook William. “What’s wrong with you?”
William looked up, his eyes glassy. “Xenock, he’s got her.”
“Xenock’s dead.”
“He’s a vampyr.”
“What does he want?” Mason already knew the answer.
“Her.”
Mason slammed into the shield and was hit by wave after wave of electrical magick. He tried to step inside, but was dragged back by Paul.
“Stop, you are going to kill yourself,” William yelled.
Mason stooped over, inhaling with his head between his knees. Inside the beast roared to life, knowing the danger his mate was in. There wasn’t much time before the beast took over. Mason tried to concentrate through the pounding in his ears. He could get into the club, but it would open the door to his destruction. For her though, it would be worth it. He raised his head, his resolve set. She was his, and he was hers. Nothing would keep them safe now from what he would unleash on them all.
“Step back.”
“Mason, what are you going to do?”
“I said, step back!” Mason yelled.
William moved away, his eyes wide. Mason knew his voice was no longer his own. It was too deep, too reverberating. His limbs shook as the beast crawled out of his cage, closer to the surface. His fingers cracked and his knuckles popped. His skin itched and stretched.
Staring at the building, Mason took deep breaths, filling his nostrils. At first, all he smelled was the city. He focused on Mother Earth, the dirt, the trees, the sky above, every piece of what made up the Earth, even the air around him, filled him. Communing with nature herself, he felt the order of the way things were supposed to be.
Mason reached deep inside, awakening the ancient magicks that had lain dormant for the past two hundred years. At first, he thought he might have lost them, for all the times he’d pushed them away. Then something stirred. They were warm, like his mother had been. Bright lights danced before his eyes, and for a split second, he could swear he saw her: the long raven hair that swung down to her waist, her slender tan arms and legs, clad in the barest of thin gowns. He smelled her, the ever-present scent of night-blooming jasmine. She smiled at him, her violet eyes flashed; then she was gone. The magicks merged with his inner beast and their power stirred in his veins.
The connection was made. The beast laughed and stopped his ascent, reveling in the pleasure of the dark power. Mason concentrated on the task before him, feeling the brick building underneath the spell. The air shifted like a curtain had been lifted. The metallic threads of magick lit up the black night. They covered the building in a fine silky web that snaked and weaved over it.
Mason straightened and chanted in the language of his mother; speaking words in the deep voice of the beast. It surprised him how easily the ancient language rolled off his tongue and demanded mother nature herself obey his command to show the purchased magick. “Si meage dask edar ekess show ve batobot svabolen tepohaic coanwor thirkua. Si require ekess ocuir wer arcaniss kacka mrith hrekim batobot tepohaic defiled wer zarlathil gavir.” When all the webbing was visible, Mason stopped. William and Paul gasped behind him.
“What the... How did you do that?” William breathed.
Mason didn’t answer. He inspected the threads before him as they glistened in the moonlight. Then he spoke to the night air in a voice he’d not used in a hundred years.
“I am Maelstrom, son of Mephisto. I pronounce this magick void, and command it to return to Mother Earth from whom it was drawn and bought with a price.”
The web quivered and shook. Mason watched it unravel, sinking into the ground. He felt the pull on the magick in his veins as the web was sucked into cracks in the sidewalk, the ground, and a nearby tree, vanishing. Mason’s limbs shook with pain as Mother Earth exacted her price from him. A loud clap of thunder cracked through the night, followed by a bolt of red lightning that struck the tree, splitting it in two. From the split, a thousand wisps of red light fanned over him, swirling across his body, searching him for information. They came to rest on his runes, then ripped through his chest and burst into the night carrying his true name out onto the wind. His beast stepped back uncertainly. He knew what would be coming now.
Mason didn’t wait for the strands to disappear before taking off toward the club with William right behind him. The door had been locked, but it did little to deter Mason. Grasping the handle, he seared it red-hot, then twisted the metal, throwing it aside. Pressing his lengthened nails between the door and the jamb, he yanked until it flew open.
Mason turned to Paul. “Call Neeman, tell him where we are.” He ran into the club and ripped down the blue entrance curtain, stepping into a bright room. It was empty but he smelled her.
“They’re here somewhere; they couldn’t have vanished into thin air.”
He ran to the first curtain and threw it open; there was no one inside. He ran to the second, same. The third was empty, as well.
The fourth was barred by a door. He gave it a swift shove, and it cracked on its hinges. The bar was silent. Black paint covered the inky room, covering bloodstains that Mason knew would be there. In the middle, a metal bar hung from the ceiling, and a pair of shackles dangled from it. A table with leather straps and various other pieces of furniture, if you could call them that, were the only other items. The beast within Mason came closer to the surface at the sight of such painful implements. He wanted to come out and play. The beast wanted to take Xenock and tie him to the pole and—
Mason ran into the middle of the front room, trying to calm himself. He spun in a circle to figure out where they went.
“Mason, there’s a hallway,” called William from behind the first curtain.
Mason darted for the red curtain. Inside, William held back a second curtain, which connected to a hallway. William didn’t look too good.
“We’d just come out of this room when Xenock appeared behind us. He must have come through this way.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Mason sniffed him.
“Xenock put something in our blood. But it’s clearing.”
“Danika’s drugged?”
William nodded.
Mason swore. His blood would do little to help her if she were out of it. Mason rushed past William to a small passage. He ran down the hallway to a door. Mason slammed into it, and broke the door with a crash. A dark staircase led down to another underground tunnel. Taking the stairs three at a time, he hit bottom at a run. It was an old access tunnel, which Mason was sure connected to others all across the city. He ran flat out and came to the end of the hallway within seconds. The hallway split and he looked both ways; he couldn’t hear a thing. His beast sniffed the air and caught her scent coming from the left. Mason took a minute to try and control him.
“What’s wrong?” William caught up.
“Nothing,” said Mason. It’s not your turn yet. The beast howled in frustration. Mason looked down the hall and took off again at top speed.