Chapter 11

11

The warehouse’s night shift guard activity was more intense than the day’s. The gang carried double the number of weapons than the daylight crew did. Friendliness had left the building as security displayed a gruffer and more professional demeanor.

Thorn had insisted my former pack was not a problem, but he made sure they lacked the opportunity to become one.

So this is what it meant to work for a Syndicate.

An unfamiliar woman stood guard duty at the stairs’ base with an AK-47 hanging from a strap on her shoulder and pointed to the ground. She nodded as I passed, leaving me to wonder if Thorn had added me to the official employee roster. Given my demonic partnering agreement with Thorn, that idea sparked my anger, but I stifled the urge to storm to his office and headed to my room.

My room.

It felt strange claiming this place as my own when I first viewed it as a prison. But with this new magical connection with Thorn, we seemed magnetically drawn to each other.

Truthfully, it’s been a long time since I felt like I belonged to anything or anyone. I’ve been stuck in exile since Kye chucked me from the pack, but I’m unsure belonging here is better than being alone.

And yet my churning thoughts made it difficult to sleep, even after I’d taken a long, hot bath to relax. Resigned to a long night ahead, I turned out the lights and lay in the king-size bed with black satin sheets.

Either Thorn had soundproofed the room, or all the guards downstairs were quieter than I ever hoped to be. I stared at the play of lights and shadows on the ceiling and begged my mind to shut off so I’d slip into slumber.

Every time I glanced at the clock on the side table, the number had only shifted by a few minutes. There wasn’t an analog clock in the modern decor room, but internally, I heard, tick, tock, tick, tock, the clock in my head mocked me as I tried to let go of the insane couple of days I’d just had.

Then my stomach rumbled.

Damn it. As much as I cannot sleep now, hunger would not help the cause.

Was there a break room in the building to score some yummy pre-bagged machine snacks or someone’s bag lunch?

I tossed the red gossamer comforter and black silk sheets off and headed to the ridiculously lush closet, where I changed into a pair of leather leggings and a matching vest and checked out the ensemble in the closet door mirror.

My skin seemed paler, but maybe it was just the stress. Either way, I hoped there was some food here. I slid the butterfly knife into my boot in case I had to cut something and headed back downstairs.

From how quiet my room was, I expected no one else to linger below, but the moment I opened my door, laughter and arguments over cards assaulted me.

I guessed that answered that question. So, Thorn’s office had not been the only room soundproofed.

I walked down the hall to the railing and looked down to the large atrium where four men sat at the poker table. I started to call down to ask about the state of the food service here when I picked up the strands of the men’s conversation.

“How long do you think Thorn will keep this one around?” said one to Hoss.

Hoss tossed a card at the dealer. “One,” he said.

“What, no speculation?” said the first guy.

Hoss shrugged. “For as long as he needs, as usual. And after that?” He shrugged again. “The usual.”

For as long as he needs. And after that—the usual.

The image of my neck slit, dripping blood, and then my body tossed into the swamp to become gator food filled my mind. I don’t know where the image came from, either from one of the men downstairs or my overactive imagination, but I do not need a roadmap to that hell.

Fuck.

Thorn swore he wouldn’t kill me, but that was an obvious lie. His henchmen expected it. And right off, I could see that hanging around here was horrible for my health.

There had to be a back way out. Building codes mandated places like this to have more than one exit, didn’t they? But I scanned the hall and did not spot any convenient exit signs. It would be suicide to walk through the front door, telling Thorn I had flown the coop.

I walked the hall, went to my room and opened the different drawers in the enormous walk-in closet and found my shit, and packed them into my pack. Now I had to figure out how to get out without being seen. I checked the window by the bed, but that was sealed shut. I checked the bathroom. Same thing.

Damn.

I poked my head out into the hallway and scanned it again. There seemed to be a depression at the end, and I tiptoed to it, and found a small alcove. And there was the exit tucked into its recess.

Bingo.

Stealthily I walked down the stairwell, and found another door at the bottom. I scanned it carefully, and found no security system or magic sigils that signified a spell. Gingerly, with heart pounding, I pushed it open, expecting all hell to break loose.

Nothing.

I found myself in a gaping maw of a warehouse. Though all that shone were a few emergency lights halfway up the wall, they left stacks of boxes in shadow. I saw no open doors. A whisper of a breeze tickled the back of my neck and I turned and discovered moonlight peeking in through the cracks in the painted industrial-sized window. Someone had left it open a crack, and that opening was my exit.

I crossed the warehouse floor in a hot minute, leaped, caught the lip of the open window with my fingers, and with an Olympic gold move I swung one leg, then another onto the lip. With the sharp lip cutting into my ass, I pushed open the window wider.

At the other end of the warehouse, I heard a door creaking open, and knew I had to get out of Dodge quickly. Peering in the darkness to the ground below, I pushed my butt off the window edge and dropped.

So many things might have gone wrong, but I hit the ground with only a slight bend to my knees. That was almost a shifter-grade drop and was way cool.

“Should this window be open?” said a male voice.

“Hell, no. Check it out.”

Fuck. I needed to make tracks. I sprinted straight toward the river, away from the railroad tracks, but when I figured I wasn’t being pursued by Thorn’s guy, and after I passed several other buildings, slowed and turned my trajectory back toward town.

My stomach still rumbled, and a dark stout in a dimly lit pub with a bucket of crawdads sounded amazing.

But I caught a whiff of something in the air. A prickling ran along my skin that caused goosebumps to ghost over my skin. The wolves were all around me, and their power pressed in on me as they paced outside whatever boundary they couldn’t cross.

For a moment, I considered turning back, returning to Thorn’s warehouse and tucking myself back into my satin sheets. But I’m no safer there and couldn’t hide from the wolves forever. Besides, that prickly electrical sensation was only growing stronger. It felt like I was getting stronger by the second.

I bounced on the balls of my feet, testing my balance. These last few days prepared me to go ten rounds in the sparring ring with any wolf. The knife in my boot went into my back pocket instead, and I continued to walk between the warehouses. I didn’t feel any magical fields or boundaries keeping the pack at bay, so I chose my route carefully, keeping to the shadows and frequently pausing in doorways to check my position in relation to the night breeze.

I found a crowd of rowdy bar hoppers and blended in, my entire body warm and alight with something indefinable. Then two things happened at the same time. Kye moved into view across the street, and the clouds moved away from the moon, illuminating the entire street in a soft, white glow.

An electric sensation under my skin grew until I felt like I blazed light. I looked down at my hands and clenched and flexed my fingers. When I glanced up again, Kye had vanished. I sniffed the air and caught his scent and debated whether I should rush away from the town center.

No. I’m too caught up in these new sensations to replay drama with Kye.

I blinked and glanced around, and the people and the buildings lit as if it were noon. And the people. I had heard of auras but never thought people could come in such interesting shades. Someone bumped my arm, and I looked around to see a woman shrouded in anxiety that her husband would be angry she stayed out so late.

A man crossing the road in front of me shone green, relaxed, and happy, just leaving after having drinks with a friend he had lost touch with. A group of women my age passed me, shades of purple and pink, excited to be out together, ready to take on the world.

Power flooded through me, filling me until I thought my skin would split. For a moment, I thought I might finally shift. Panicked at the idea of that happening in the middle of so many humans, I rushed toward the closest sanctuary: my apartment.

It wasn’t until I hit the stairs leading up to my floor that I realized I didn’t have my keys.

Not that it mattered.

Instead of the usual way, I detoured through the apartment still being renovated, and climbed onto the fire escape. My fingers clung to the walls with a strength I never thought possible. Within a minute, I was around the corner and outside the same bathroom window I had locked tightly yesterday.

Fuck.

I was frustrated, and with increasing fear that I was about to go furry, I wall-hugged past my bathroom to Chastity’s room. Thankfully, even though the bedroom window was closed, the latch hadn’t caught. I pushed it open and half-climbed, half-fell onto the floor.

Even though I might shift, I was still graceful as a donkey. I grinned. The more things change, the more they stay the same, too, and that’s more than reassuring. Besides, if Kye and the pack thought I was at the safe house, maybe I could stay here a while. It had been easier to break in than I had anticipated.

So I hurried back to my bedroom and stared at myself in the full-length mirror in the corner. Externally, nothing had changed. My pink hair frizzed out a little from the humidity. My skin no longer looked pale but had returned to its usual sun-tanned hue.

I gazed at my reflection in the glass. The breath rushed out of me, and my lungs refused to refill.

My breathing stopped. Staring back at me were sexy brown eyes with irises swirling with molten gold.

What the fuck was going on?