Thoreau - Chapter 70: Chapter 70

After I explained what my ring did, Gemma was quick to come up with a plan, and I agreed that it was a good one.
So we left the supply closet and made our way through the twisty maze of halls, avoiding one janitor, but not seeing anyone else. At last, we found a map of the building posted on the wall next to a bank of elevators.
"There!" she pointed to the place labeled executive offices on the seventieth floor. "He'll be there."
"What if he's not?"
"Then we can wait. If Kerry and your papa get here before he gets back, we could try setting off an alarm to get him to respond. That way, the cavalry will already be here to bail us out if the wheels fall off."
"Gemma, you are very pretty and a smart girl, and I know we're going to be great friends, but I don't understand what you're saying," I admitted. "What is a cavalry? And what wheels? We're walking, not driving!"
"Oh, my goodness," she murmured as she blinked up at me. "Another one."
"Another what? Car?" I shook my head. "I don't think a car will help us, although these hallways are wide enough for a couple of dirt bikes if we find any. I can drive one, you know! Arch and Wayne taught me, and Bubble convinced Dad to get me one!"
"Is your dad the same person as your papa?" She tilted her head as she asked. "And who's Bubble?"
"No, scema (silly)! Dad is Dad and Papa is Papa! And Bubble is my older brother, Kon."
"You have two dads. Sorry." She held up both hands. "Still trying to get a handle on you."
"A handle on me?" My face screwed up in confusion. Was she talking about dirt bike handles? "I'm a boy. Why would I need a handle?"
"So like Kerry." She smiled, but her eyes filled up with tears and she sniffed. "I miss him so much."
"Don't cry!" Before I thought about it, I put my arms around her and hugged her. "You will see him soon!"
She snuggled into me for a few moments, then sighed and patted my back.
"Thanks, Reau. I needed that." Stepping back, she swiped her fingertips under her eyes, then marched to the elevator. "Let's finish our mission, okay, cutie pie?"
With a nod, I followed her.
When we reached the executive offices, we found the reception area deserted with only a few dim lights on, which wasn't a surprise since the floor-to-ceiling windows showed that it pitch-black outside. I glanced around until I found a clock and saw the red letters said 6:33 a.m.
My first thought was, Ooo! Good number! And my second thought was, No wonder we haven't run into anyone! Their work day hasn't started yet!
"It's too early in the morning for anyone to be here," I whispered to Gemma as we crept along one wall, scanning each of the shut and locked doors, but she raised her hand and shook her head, then pointed.
Following her finger, I could see a bright glow coming from under the double doors straight ahead, and my eyes flicked up to see "CEO" written on the gold plaque nailed to the dark wood.
Reaching forward, I squeezed her shoulder to show I understood, then dropped my hand and fiddled with my ring, ready to activate it as soon as she gave me the signal.
We'd gone over our plan several times, probably because she could sense I wasn't remembering most of the details, but I got the main part of it.
She would open the door quickly, I would run inside in my skunk form and distract the big meanie, and she would come in and knock him out with a burst of her power. After she pried the ring off his hand, we'd hurry out again and find a safe place to hide while she summoned Darius.
If he wouldn't or couldn't teleport us out of here for some reason, we'd find a phone and call someone.
We'd spent the whole elevator ride debating over who to call. She wanted to call her boyfriend, but said he probably had his phone turned off or threw it away. When I asked why he'd do that, she rambled on about safety and the risk of being tracked, and I stopped listening because I really didn't care.
Unfortunately, his was the only number she knew because she really was bad with remembering numbers. I, on the other hand, had lots of numbers memorized, and I was proud to tell her that! Of course, we decided Papa was the one I should call. Not only was he a monster hunter and would immediately know what to do, he and Bubble were probably half-way here, anyway, along with her boyfriend.
And if Kerry Harker was anything like Papa and Bubble, these hunters wouldn't stand a chance.
So I trailed silently behind Gemma as she crept up to the CEO door and pressed her ear to it. She listened for a moment, then looked at me over her shoulder and nodded. I nodded back, and she quickly spun around, her cheeks cherry red, as I started to unzip my coveralls.
Once I was naked again, I pressed my thumb to my ring, felt the tiny needle pierce my skin, and whispered, "Hide me!"
The world grew bigger as I shrank down, then I ran around a little to make sure I had control of all four legs. Satisfied I was good, I nudged Gemma's foot with my tiny nose, she flung the door open, and I ran inside as fast as I could waddle!
A man in a business suit jumped up from where he was seated behind a desk, and I raced toward the other side of the room, trying to get him to turn his back to help Gemma.
"What the hell?! How did you get in here?!" he shouted as I reached the far wall, whirled around and lifted my tail. "Oh, no! Don't you dare, you shitty little creature!"
I grinned inside as I wagged my tushy and flicked my tail at him, and I was having so much fun, I didn't even realize Gemma had already knocked him out until I heard a thud and felt the floor vibrate a little.
Spinning around, I hopped up and down with excitement as Gemma crouched next to the big, bad meanie and yanked a gold ring off his finger.
"Aha!" she shouted. "Got it!"
Since I couldn't talk to her in this form, I ran over to her so she didn't forget me, but I quickly regretted it when she scooped me into her arms and held me belly-up against her chest, making the whole world flip-flop with sickening speed.
Oh! I thought as my tummy cramped. No wonder Squidge hates when someone does that to him!
"And now my sweet skunk, let's get out of here!" she giggled and booped my nose with hers.
Suddenly, we heard shouting and running feet, and my upset tummy roiled and gurgled as Gemma spun around.
I wish I could tell her to stop moving me around so quickly while I'm belly-up! I griped as hot bile flooded my mouth. I don't want to vomit on her soft bumps!
"We better get out of here," she murmured and gripped me even tighter before running out of the office and back toward the elevators.
There was a ding, and the elevator doors whished open, then three men ran out into the hallway and swiveled their heads around until one spotted us.
"There they are!" he shouted and pointed to us.
With a quiet, "Crap," Gemma spun on her heel and headed back the way we'd come, and the jostling as she ran made my stomach heave.
Gulping down the sour acid bubbling up in my throat, I fixed my blurry eyes straight ahead to try and ease the dizziness and saw three more men running into Mr. Hubler's office from the other direction.
Making a funny noise in her throat, Gemma whirled in a frantic circle, which did not help my stomach situation at all, then lunged for a door and crashed through it into a dimly lit stairwell.
She ran down as fast as she could, but her short legs could only do two steps at a time safely, which slowed her down. When the elevator meanies met up with the ones in Mr. Hubler's office, they'd figure out where we were and chase us, and she wasn't going fast enough to get away from all of them.
Why isn't she using the ring? I scowled to myself. That was our plan!
A door above us slammed open with a bang, and it must have startled Gemma because she tripped and tumbled head over heels down several stairs before hitting the next landing with a heavy thud. Thrown out of her arms, I managed to twist myself around enough to land on my feet, then had to do a few hippity-hoppity steps to stay on my feet. Scurrying over to her, I saw her eyes were closed and blood was trickling down from a bad cut on her temple.
Oh, no. Oh, no. Please be okay!
"We have a visual on the female in the east stairwell," a man's voice echoed from a few flights above us. "Confirm that security also sighted a male on the cameras."
"That's an affirmative," another voice crackled with static. "We watched him go into the CEO's office, but he never came out."
The sound of feet running down stairs was getting closer, and I ran around in a circle, wondering if I should shift into Spring's body and attack them. I wasn't a fighter, and I didn't want to hurt anyone, not even these meanies, but I had to do something to give us a chance to escape.
As two men bounded down the last set of stairs separating us, I realized I was out of time to decide, let alone shift. Since there was only one thing I could in skunk form, I spun around, raised my tail, and sprayed them with every last drop of my stink bomb.
Ha! Take that! I crowed as one meanie screamed and rubbed his eyes while the other dropped to his knees and vomited.
Clawing off my zias' ring, I was instantly back in my own body, but only for a second before I half-shifted. I could run faster in my wolf's body, but Gemma was knocked out and wouldn't be able to hang on.
Thankfully, Spring was a huge beta wolf, so I was super tall and strong when I half-shifted. That made it easy to scoop her up like a bride and leap down the stairs four and five at a time.
Then the whole building shook so hard, it nearly knocked me down, and a familiar clap of thunder roiled up from far below our feet.
That's Chime Karma! I shouted with a big grin. And if Bubble's here, Kerry, Papa, and my mates are, too! I just need to stay alive until they find us!
So I ran faster, hurtling down the stairs and heading for the ground floor with the hope that I'd meet Arch and Wayne somewhere along the way or at least smell them, but then the door I just ran past flew open and, seconds later, an invisible fist punched my left shoulder with a sickening crack!
An awful pain radiated through my whole upper body, but I managed to jump down to the next landing and hang on to Gemma and stay on my feet. Hearing footsteps thundering after me, I ignored my ouchie as best I could and took off again, but panic was building inside my chest now.
I tried to be brave and strong, but the pain was slowing me down and the meanies were getting closer and I didn't know what to do!
I want to go home! Tears spilled from my eyes and trickled into my fur. I want my mates! I want my bubba and my papa and my bubble! I don't like this! I don't like this! I don't like this!
My shoulder slipped in and out of place with a grinding noise until it finally gave out altogether, and I almost dropped Gemma. Sliding to a stop on the next landing, I set her in the corner and whirled to stand in front of her.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
There was nothing left to do. If I shifted into Spring's body, even on three legs, I could book it out of here much faster than these guys could run, but I wouldn't leave Gemma behind, not even to save myself. My magic ring was back on my finger, but I'd used up my stink bomb, so transforming into a skunk wouldn't help.
"Now, if things go south and you get desperate, kick, bite and scratch any part you can reach."
Somehow, my brain cleared away the panic and pain enough and I remembered Gamma Nick's words from the day luna and I went to self-defense lessons for the first time.
"Let your wolf ascend and use your fangs and claws, even if it's against a human. If necessary, the alphas can work out some kind of story as to how you caused so much damage. It's more important that you're alive and safe."
"That doesn't seem like something we can practice," luna had said.
"No, that's something you can't practice. It's a fight-for-your-life moment that adrenaline and your wolf will control."
Well, I wasn't sure which way was south right now, I couldn't let Spring ascend or control anything since he was knocked out, and I still didn't know what adrenaline was or did. I was, however, going down the stairs, so that was probably close enough to south, and I was in a fight-for-my-life moment.
I need to stay alive and safe, just like Gamma Rio said, especially since I know my mates and family are nearby. I can't give up now!
Spring had said that Dr. York once told him, "You didn't come this far just to come this far."
And I hadn't.
I hadn't followed Gemma to the top floor or run down all these stairs just for it to end here.
I finally have so much love in my life! I'm not going to lose it now!
Whether it was Gamma Nick's words or that mysterious adrenaline or the desperate desire to see my loved ones again, something made me hurl myself at the two men as they came into sight.
I did exactly what Coach Hall had taught us during football practice and drove my good shoulder into the belly of the one holding a weird-looking gun. I must have been moving very quickly, or else being half-shifted made me much stronger than I realized, because his body kept going and slammed into the other meanie, knocking both of them down.
They smacked into the stairs with meaty thuds that made me wince. I hadn't meant to hurt them, only to stop them from hurting Gemma and me!
Sorry, Mister Meanies, I thought as I stared at them, waiting to see if they got up, but both of them stayed down, so I figured no kicking, biting, or scratching was necessary. Good. I don't want to do any of that, even if Gamma Nick was right about the rest.
Hearing more doors slamming open from both above and below us and voices talking about "taking them alive," I knew I couldn't wait for Papa or Bubble or my mates to catch up. The bad men were never going to stop chasing us.
Since I couldn't think of anything else, I went with Gemma's original plan. Crouching next to her, I dug in her pants pocket until I found Mr. Hubler's gold ring. I probably wasn't supposed to since it was her ring now, but what else could I do?
Hoping she'd forgive me for stealing it, I shifted back to my body, slid the ring on my finger, and hollered, "Darius!"
Between one heartbeat and the next, that spicy, smoky djinni appeared right in front of me, making me flinch and skip back a step.
He looked as startled as I did, his thick black eyebrows flying high on his forehead as his gaze flicked from me to Gemma and back to me again.
"Not exactly what I expected," he murmured, "but at least the ring is off of Hubler's finger."
"Yes! It's on mine!" I held it up to show him. "Will you please get us out of here?"
"Is that your first command, Master?"
"Yes." With a nod, I reached down and grabbed Gemma's hand and held it tightly so I didn't lose her when we teleported.
"Where shall I take you, Master?"
There was only one place that I knew without a single doubt was safer than anywhere else in the whole wide world right now.
"Take Gemma and me to my luna," I said.
"As you wish, Master."
Darius reached out, but I took a quick step back and shook my head.
"Wait. Magic some pants on me first, please, so no one can see my dicky," I asked politely and even gave him my melt-your-heart smile.
I knew Darius had to follow my orders so long as I wore the ring, but that didn't mean I couldn't use my manners.
He chuckled as he did what I asked and even put me in a pair of super-soft sleep pants with little wolves all over them, so I knew my smile had worked!
Then my heartbeat sped up as the men I'd knocked over started groaning and the voices and footsteps from below us grew louder and closer.
"Take us to my luna now, please, Darius!"
A hand squeezed my shattered shoulder, sending a bolt of agony through my whole body, and I fell into a soundless whirl of swirling colors and then nothingness.
Archer
Using Castle's basic map, we divided up as soon as we arrived at the lab. The fighters immediately headed to the lower level where all the evil things were supposed to be.
Our alphas stayed with Gelo and the witches, King Julian led his troops, and Prince Lyr commanded the faerie fighters. Titus had a good-sized group of nephilim warriors with him, and ten tiger shifters followed Chime Karma, which would have made me laugh my behind off in any other situation.
Hank Bishop took command of his little band and didn't even try to reign Kerry in. Although none of us could see nephilim power, we could feel it, and the amount Kerry Harker was cocooning himself in was nothing I ever wanted to go against.
We searchers went directly to the cells and paired up. Wayne, of course, was with me to find Reau, Lanie went with Granite to look for Gemma, and Azure and Livvy were tasked with rescuing Roger and the Hall twins. Prince Aerin partnered with Grey, which surprised me. I would have bet on the crown prince wanting to be in the thick of battle.
Then again, if it were Peri missing, I'd probably go looking for her, too, I admitted, and leave the fighting to Cole.
"Searchers are entering the cell area now." Lanie's voice was a murmur in my ear rather than a link in my mind, and I frowned.
That's going to take some getting used to, I linked Wayne, who nodded.
The alphas had made her pack before we left, but since only we shifters could link, Titus Wray gave everyone earpieces so we all could communicate and coordinate with Posy, Josef, and King Brioc back in the war room.
As Lanie watched our rear, Prince Aerin waited until we'd all shifted, then blasted the door off its hinges. A shrill klaxon nearly deafened us until the prince sent a bolt of magic at it, too. Easing through the door, he kept his hands up and ready, but then he looked over his shoulder and nodded.
Six big wolves ran past him, their noses low to the floor and quivering, as Lanie hustled after us.
"Alpha? Is that you?" we heard a pair of voices call in unison, and Azure's wolf, Axel, and Livvy's wolf, Perdix, took off down the long, white hallway.
At least that takes care of the Hall twins, I linked everyone.
Roger's here, too! Livvy called out. Don't smell Reau or the princess anywhere, though.
There are a few others locked in separate cells, Azure added. Nephs, I think, but no more shifters.
Lanie shared that information with Prince Aerin, who was staring at a control panel inside the door, and Firth didn't wait to hear any more. As the air crackled with fae magic and the smell of burning electronics wafted around the prince, my wolf nudged Ocean back out of the door, and they put their noses to work.
We ended up several corridors away before they picked up our baby boy's scent and took off like furry rockets, Firth leading and Osh circling back to make sure the trail didn't veer into a room, which it did.
Throwing his body at a closed door, Osh battered it as Firth whined and pawed at the floor, trying to dig through the slick, industrial tiles because his paws couldn't turn the door knob. Before I could half-shift and do it for him, five red-tipped fingers beat me to it.
As Lanie pushed the door open, Reau's rich cedar scent rolled over me like a blessing from the Goddess.
He'd been here.
Our baby boy had been here!
It looked like an unused janitor's closet, a narrow, concrete-block room with wooden shelves and a wash tub in the corner. Strangely enough, a desk lamp was plugged in and sitting in the middle of the floor.
He wasn't alone, Wayne pointed out. There's another smell here. Granite?
It's Gemma Shepherd, Wyatt confirmed as Granite snuffled all over the lamp. They're together.
"That's good, right?" Lanie, not used to the link yet, said aloud, then used her earpiece to let Posy and the others know we'd picked up their trail.
At least he's with a healer, Ocean said as he joined Firth outside the closet.
The two of them followed Reau's scent through a labyrinth of hallways until we came to a bank of elevators. Osh bounced from the left one to the right one, then laid down in front of the right one while Granite pressed his nose on the call button, took a big inhale, and bayed.
"Hush, please, wolfie!" Lanie had her guns drawn and up as she scanned the area. "We don't need to attract any company right now."
Apparently, Granite pressed the call button hard enough because the left door dinged and opened. Ocean shook his head and lifted a paw to point at the right elevator, and Lanie poked the call button with her elbow before resuming her guard position. Our wolves watched the numbers going down, down, down, until the doors slid open with a quiet ding, and Granite went straight to the floor buttons on the inside.
Firth and Ocean confirmed that they still smelled Reau, too, so we all crowded in, and poor Lanie had to sit on top of Gran since an alpha wolf and two beta wolves took up a lot of space.
Stretching her arm out, Lanie pushed the top floor button with the barrel of her gun when Gran told her that was the one that smelled most like Gemma.
"Never going to get used to talking to a wolf with my mind," she mumbled.
Sure, you will! Gran chirped in his cheerful, child-like way. It easy as linking your draggie!
Any other time, Ocean and Firth would have joined Wayne and me in snickering at her expression, but they were too intent on the hunt.
When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, Osh and Firth bolted out, noses low to the floor, and Gran only waited long enough for Lanie to hop off of him before he joined them. Lanie brought up the rear, her guns out and pointed at the ceiling, and our wolves headed toward the shouting we could hear from somewhere ahead of us.
Six new scents, Firth let us know, and Gran agreed before he peeled off and circled back to a door marked 'Stairs.'
Gemma opened this door! he woofed excitedly as he snuffled along the handle. Then he dropped his head to the space between the bottom of the door and the floor, but quickly reared back and pawed at his nose. Yucky-yucky! Stink like skunk!
Bet Reau used his magic ring and blasted someone chasing them! Wayne's eyes were wide and excited. He's got to be close!
"Well, if a skunk sprayed in the stairwell recently, we can't open this door," Lanie murmured, eyeing it. "It'll ruin the wolves noses and, if it's fresh enough, make me gag or even vomit. We'll go down a floor or two and check it out, but first, let's make sure whoever is yelling isn't yelling at them."
So Osh and Firth led the way, the shouting growing louder the further we went, and we found three heavily armored and armed guards in the office labeled CEO. One knelt next to a man passed out on the floor, one was pressing his earpiece and yelling, "Take her alive!" and the third was also issuing orders, only he was screaming, "Search until you find the male!"
None of us cared if they were talking about Gemma and Reau or not. The fact that they were guards for these people signed their own death warrant. Granite, Ocean, and Firth tore into them while Lanie covered us from the door, making sure we didn't get any surprises as we ripped them to shreds.
"Damn, wolves are messy," she muttered when we finished. Picking her way through the bones and body parts, she crouched next to the man in a suit and pressed her fingers to his neck. "Still alive. Do we know who he is?"
Reg-old Hubler, Gran told her, a long tendon hanging from his front tooth as he grinned at her. Drott Joey show us picture!
"Drott Joey." Lanie blinked at him. "Jesus H. Christ."
More importantly, I stressed, he's a valuable prisoner. We need to tie him up or something until someone with hands can come grab him and haul him back to be interrogated.
"Dude! Two hands! Right here!" Holstering her guns, she grabbed Hubler's sleeve. "And I can 'port. I'll take him to the war room and be back in a sec."
And then she was gone and so was Hubler.
Now what? Granite asked. Follow skunk smell?
No! Your noses would be corrupted by it, just like Lanie said, Wyatt told him. Do what she suggested and take the elevator down two floors first.
But what if he's between this floor and that one? Wayne fretted.
Let's see what's even in the stairs first, I said, knowing Wyatt was right. Our wolves' noses were our best bets right now, and we couldn't risk going scent-blind.
So we ran back to the elevator, although Ocean whined a little when we raced past the stairwell door. Granite slapped his paw on the call button, the doors opened on the elevator we arrived in, and we smooshed inside.
Should have waited for Lanie, I muttered as Ocean poked the button labeled 68.
She knows the plan, and we can always link her, Wyatt pointed out, and Wayne nodded in agreement.
Three minutes later, we were in the stairwell, and Reau's skunk form scent was rich enough to tell us he'd been there not very long ago at all. Granite said the same with Gemma's, and both trails went down. Following them with renewed hope, we made it two sets of stairs before Gran came to a dead stop.
Blood, he growled, and both Osh and Firth stopped and crowded around him to see a smear of red on a riser with a little bit of skin and a strand of hair.
Long, carrot-red hair.
Bet she tripped, Osh muttered. Since there's no other scents around.
Try run too fast with short legs, Gran agreed solemnly.
Hopping down to the next landing, Firth picked up a change in Reau's scent.
He half-shifted, he told the others.
He's carrying her, Wyatt said. To leave skin and blood behind, she probably knocked herself out.
Most likely, Wayne and I said as our wolves took off again.
Several flights down, they picked up the scent of two strangers, then Firth found a strange bullet that smelled very faintly of Reau. As Gran linked an image of it to Papa Gelo, I fought down the rage. If someone had shot my baby boy, they weren't going to live to see the sunrise.
Pfft. They won't even if they didn't shoot him, I smirked.
Rubber bullet, Gran told us a second later. Gelo say it hurt, but can't kill any shifter.
Let's just find him, Wayne snarled.
Going on, it wasn't long before we came upon two guards sitting on a landing and rubbing the backs of their blood-soaked heads as a riot of shouts and heavy steps came toward us from a few floors below.
Not stopping to wonder who had started to kill them, Gran and Ocean finished the job, and Firth stood at the top of the next flight of stairs, prepared to 'welcome' whoever was running up them.
By the time more hunters came into view, Osh stood shoulder to shoulder with Firth, and they leapt forward without hesitation. Those bastards didn't know what hit them. Our wolves ripped out their throats before they even realized they were under attack.
Going still and silent after the last one's gurgling stopped, Firth and Osh perked up their ears and listened hard, but heard no more noises coming from above or below us, so they ran back to Gran.
Gemma's scent and Reau's. He had his nose on the floor acting as a pivot as he went around and around in a circle. Then just goes away.
I smell heat and spice, Firth rumbled. Darius was here.
All of us nodded.
Do you think he betrayed us? Wayne asked.
And took them to who? Wyatt shook his head. His master is knocked out and probably locked in Drott Josef Krall's cells by now.
He could have more irons in the fire than just that one, I backed my boy up. I wasn't going to trust anyone or anything until we had Reau back in our arms. Besides, why would he have come here and taken them? Even if he wanted to help them out of the goodness of his heart, assuming he has one, his master has him so restricted with commands that he has no free will.
We lost the trail. Wayne's breath hitched, and Osh and Firth both whimpered. What now?
Then the most beautiful voice in the beautiful world said the most beautiful words I've ever heard.
I've got Reau and Gemma! luna called in the link. They're safe here with me!