Callum: Trillionaire Shifter Club Book Four (3 page)

CHAPTER
EIGHT

As the roads turned and waved outside
the car around them, Ava looked out the side of her window, and thought about
her night with Callum again. This could have been it. The air was cold, but not
to the point of being brutal. The wind was still. The sounds of other people
faded into the background, almost as though they weren’t really there…

Ava’s hands
were tightly wrapped around Callum’s waist as they steered out into the starry
horizon. A few members of his pack had approached as he fixed her with a helmet
and set her on the back of the bike. Callum had told them he was taking off for
the night, and that they were not to follow him. He didn’t say where they were
going. Ava didn’t even know herself.

After a
timeless forever, Callum brought them towards the base of an isolated mountain,
far from the city and the club. Stepping off the bike, Ava put her helmet aside
and saw the terrain was rich with forest. With little more than the light of
the moon to guide them, the pair set out into it, holding hands together.

“I assume
you’re leading us somewhere specific,” Ava said after a moment. “And you don’t
mean to bury me out here.”

“Well, I’m
glad you think so highly of me,” Callum replied.

“You have to
admit on the face of it, I’m taking a risk here,” Ava said. “Letting a tall,
handsome stranger drag me out into the middle of nowhere. At your disposal.
Completely helpless.”

“If you
wanted to be around other people, we could have stayed at the club.”

“Why didn’t
we?”

Callum
stopped and turned around, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Because who
you are around them… Who I am around them… Is not who we really are.”

“So who are
we?”

He didn’t
answer her. Not with words.

His hands
moved around her back as he pulled her in to kiss her.

Ava closed
her eyes. Their lips melted together in an intoxicating blend of the atmosphere
around them.

Nothing
before and nothing since…

Could compare
to the moments that followed.

CHAPTER NINE

The theme park was flooded.

Ava and Ruby
sat in a ten car pileup outside the entrance, where security guards appeared to
be checking to see if whether people had already prepaid for their tickets and
car space, otherwise to be directed away.

“We should be
fine, shouldn’t we?”Ava asked. “Can I see the passes?”

“They’re in
my bag,” Ruby said.

Ava reached
round for it and pulled them out. When they finally made their way up to the
entrance, she handed them to Ruby. Ruby wound down her window.

“Do you have
passes?” the guard asked, leaning in.

Ruby passed
them along.

“Our
apologies, but you’ve come to the wrong entrance,” the guard said handing them
back. “VIP is permitted entry to the underground parking, which can be located
at the North West entrance. Do you know how to get there?”

“No, we
haven’t been here before.”

“Okay just
keep going straight down this road, and then take the first left you see. Then
go along that road for a bit, and take the first left. Keep going for a bit and
you’ll be there. Okay?”

Ruby nodded
and wound up the window again.

As they drove
back out to the road, Ava observed the colorful light display being projected
from the park. She wondered exactly where this party was taking place.

“Passes,” the
guard said at the next checkpoint.

Ruby handed
them over and the guard took them back to his little station situated in the
middle of the barricades. He appeared to be getting on the phone with someone.

“So is there
anyone we know at this party?” Ava asked. “How did you say Kirsten got the
passes?”

“She got them
off her shifter friend.”

“Is he going
to be here?”

“She didn’t
say.”

The guard
returned to the vehicle.

“Once you’ve
found an adequate parking space, you’re to wait there for someone to come see
you.”

“What for?”
Ruby replied.

“Standard
procedure, Miss.”

She wound up
the window again and they ventured into the dark tunnel before them.

CHAPTER TEN

Outside of the car, the underground
parking was full of blue lighting emitted by crystals mounted to the walls. Ava
walked around to stand beside Ruby who was peering around to see if anyone was
coming. Instead of following her gaze Ava made an effort to make eye contact
with her friend, searching for clarity.

“Second
thoughts?” Ava questioned.

“Of course
not,” Ruby replied. “Having the time of my life.”

Ava winced,
having seen the response coming.

“Please tell
me you have a hidden agenda here.”

Ruby smirked.
“Well, I did meet Kirsten’s shifter fella on one occasion.”

“And?”

“The heat
level is out of this world.”

Ava turned
away, keeping her smile concealed. “You’ll have to dumb it down for me.”

“The dude’s
hot, what can I say?”

“Classy.”

“Well,
regardless of that he’s going to be better than those loser friends of Evan’s
right?”

“Is it just
cause it’s New Years you feel like you have to hook up?” Ava blurted out. “Or
are you truly going through a slutty phase?”

“Mind your
language,” Ruby replied. “I’m not making fun of you for ruining yourself over a
guy who ditched you.”

“We don’t
know he ditched me,” Ava said.

“Well,
regardless.”

Ava nodded.
“Yeah, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. It just slipped out.”

“I forgive
you,” Ruby said. She stepped away from the car. “Come on, let’s take a look
around.”

The pair
moved out into the pathway and began trekking through the parking area.

There were
several vehicles parked in spread out locations, giving the impression that
while there were some people here, the numbers were running a bit low. They
couldn’t see parking’s entirety, as it spread around various corners and the
like, but judging from here, it would be much of the same. Eventually they came
to a small set of stairs leading up to a pair of glass doors. An entrance to
the park. An exit out of here.

Ruby looked
around to make sure no one was following them. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

They went up
the stairs and the doors automatically opened leading out to a warm, carpeted
area. The room branched round to the right where various posters on walls
displayed the park’s attractions. Ava glanced at them, taking in the letters
and the colors, but not really accepting their full meaning. There was another
set of steps leading up to the left.

“Are you sure
we want to go up there?” Ava asked as Ruby began to ascend. “What if we get
lost?”

“Stranger
things have happened.”

Ava frowned,
not really understanding how that countered her question, but then proceeded to
follow her anyway.

At the top of
the stairs, they had the choice of continuing down a long reaching corridor
that traveled out of sight … or to exit through another pair of glass doors a
few feet to the right.

They stood in
front of them and peered out.

The doors
opened breathing in a gust of icy wind, and their eyes searched beyond it into
the various lights, colors and sounds of the whirling amusement park before
them…

Ava stepped
out and lent against the railing and watched it all…

The crowds of
people shuffling about…

The enormous
rides…

The circus
tents…

The
explosions in the sky…

Are you out
there?
she
wondered.
Are you hiding amongst this?

She glanced
over her shoulder to see where Ruby was, only to find her not there. Ava
quickly stepped back through the doors into the carpeted area.

“Ruby?” she
called.

She looked
down the stairs. No sign of her.

She looked up
the far reaching corridor.

Still no
sign.

“Ruby!” Ava
shouted.

She turned
around half expecting to see her standing behind her – but alas, she was not
there either…

Ava bit her
teeth together and began sprinting down the corridor, her heart racing. Soon
she was met with a maze of doors, pathways, entrances and exits. She stood in
the centre of it all, completely dumbfounded.

Ava then
moved to the closest door and forced it open.

The carpet
immediately broke away at the edge of the room, replaced by cold, stone tiles.
The room was dark, only dimly lit from the barred window breathing in the fierceness
of the night. Ava fumbled for a light switch could find none.

As she began
to close the door again, a voice startled her: “Who’s there?”

She opened
the door again and peered round, trying to get a better look. There was
something crouched in the far right corner.

“Hello?” Ava
called.

“Please help
me,” the little girl said. “My foot is stuck.”

Ava stepped
forward and the door behind her immediately blew shut.

“Quickly,”
the girl said.

Ava walked
forward and crouched by the ground near her. She still couldn’t see the child’s
face.

“How did you
get in here?” she asked. “Where are your parents?”

“My parents…”
the child whispered.

Then her tone
changed entirely.

“
My
parents were born in the fires of hell
,” she said in a monstrous rasp.

Ava shrieked
and fell backwards, as the child began to ascend, four, five … eight feet into the
air.

Ava looked to
where her feet were and saw they had grown like a pair of stilts. Her arms had
grown likewise, now reaching with her with sharp black claws.

The girl’s
face was still shrouded by her long dark hair, her eyes unseen…

Until the
claws parted her fringe…

And the red
eyes stared back at her –

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

The creature growled and hissed and
clawed at Ava, but something else had entered the room without her realizing,
and before she knew it, Ava was on her feet and being pulled away from the
monster. Only once they were safely outside of the room was she released to
fall to the carpeted floor. The man behind her moved quickly back to the door
to close and lock it.

Ava quickly
climbed to her feet, startled. “What the fuck was –?”

“Shut up,”
the man said in a nasty tone.

She swallowed
her voice as he approached her in an intimidating fashion.

“Where’s your
friend?”

“I don’t
know,” Ava stammered. “I was trying to find her.”

“You
shouldn’t have wandered off,” the man scolded. “You were given specific
instructions to wait at your car.”

“I’m sorry,”
Ava said, blushing. “Who are you?”

“I’m the one
who got you your passes,” the man said.

“So you know Kirsten?”

“Yes,” he
said. “Which way did she go?”

“Oh,” Ava
murmured. “Oh… I’m… She’s…”

“What?”

“She’s not
with us. It’s just me and Ruby.”

“Kirsten’s
not here?”

“No.”

The man
chuckled to himself and ran a hand through his blond hair.

“What the
hell was that in there?” Ava demanded.

The man
glanced back to the door. “None of your business.”

“Of course, I
just –”

“I’m only
going to say this once,” the man said. “Tonight you’re to be on your best
behavior. Speak only when spoken to. Do as you are told.”

“By you?”

“Yes, by me,”
the man said. “But it’s not me you have to be worried about. Unless you want to
find yourself behind one of these dreaded doors, being tortured, experimented
on, treated like meat –”

“Oh man, this
is way too creepy,” Ava interrupted. “I don’t want to be a part of this.”

The man
stroked his chin. “What’s your name?”

“Ava.”

“Ava,” the
man whispered. “Ava, Ava, Ava…”

“What?”

“You’ve come
to see Callum, haven’t you?”

“He’s here?
For real?”

“Oh yes he’s
here,” the man replied. “And if you want to see him tonight, you’ll be on your
best behavior. No interrupting. No talking back. No smiling or giggling to
yourself. No running off. Understood?”

“Yes,” Ava
said softly.

“No rolling
your eyes.”

“I wasn’t.”

“No telling
lies.”

There was a
moment of silence. Ava glanced up at the man.

He wasn’t
looking at her.

“And who are
you then?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Chase,”
he replied. “Welcome to Shifter World.”