Callum: Trillionaire Shifter Club Book Four (4 page)

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Behind one of the many ominous doors
lay an elevator that allowed Ava and Chase to travel to a higher floor where
the party was located. The room itself that the party was held in was circular,
and had windows covering most of the perimeter so one could peer out and see
the theme park at great height. Judging how evenly spread out the vastness of
the park was, the building they were in was roughly in the centre of the park.

The occupants
of the party were dressed in the grandest attire, making Ava in her simple work
clothes stick out like a sore thumb.

As Chase
entered, no one appeared to notice him, everyone in the clustered groups
standing around talking amongst themselves.

“Wait here,”
he said and moved away from the door.

Ava leant
against it, feeling intimidated and squeamish. A woman with elaborately fixed
blue hair appeared to the side of her and approached.

“Who are
you?” she asked in a soft, accusatory tone.

Ava turned to
her, looking sheepish. “No one.”

“Who are you
with?”

Ava shook her
head. “No one.”

Then she
remembered Chase’s advice to behave herself, and forced an additional answer.

“One of my
friends knows Chase.”

“Male or
female.”

“Pardon?”

“Is your
friend male or female?”

“Female.”

“And where is
she?”

Ava turned
away from the woman’s glare, as Chase was now returning. Accompanying him was a
tall, slender man with dark hair and somber features.

“I do hope
you’re being polite, Lindsay,” Chase said to the woman.

“She’s a
stranger,” Lindsay said coolly.

“And also a
guest of the party,” Chase said. “Perhaps you could fetch her a drink.”

Lindsay
lowered her head and peeled away from them.

Ava looked
from Chase to the other man.

“Leon
Stalker,” the man said extending his hand. “This is my party.”

“Um, I’m
Ava,” she said shaking it. “I’m sorry, but my friend Ruby, she’s gotten lost –”

Leon’s hand
fell away from her and he turned to Chase. “This is your –”

“No, that was
Kirsten,” Chase said. “She decided not to attend.”

“How tragic.”

“Ava is one
of her friends. She’s also a friend of Callum’s.”

“Oh yes,”
Leon said. “I recall he may have mentioned you.”

“Who?” Ava
stammered. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

There was
something off about his tone. As if he had taken a dislike to her.

“I’m sorry
about what I’m wearing –” she began.

“Find the
friend,” Leon said turning to Chase. “Do it quickly.”

“Of course.”

“And check to
see no one is trying to escape.”

“Certainly.”

Chase stepped
away from them and exited the room.

Ava pursed
her lips together, fearful of the man in front of her. She sensed there were
unsavory things running behind his eyes.

“May I ask,”
Ava said, “is Callum here? Am I going to see him tonight?”

“I suspect a
reunion is imminent,” Leon said.

Lindsay came back
over and handed Ava a glass of champagne. “Thank you.”

“My
pleasure.”

“Lindsay,
will you escort Ms. Ava to where Callum is?”

“What?” Ava
said. “Now?”

“Yes,” Leon
replied. “Now.”

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

It seemed like a thousand years ago,
but he still remembered her face. He remembered how she smiled, how she looked
at him, how she tasted. He was trapped, in these feelings. These thoughts. So
much time had passed now that he was sure she would have moved on, and
hopefully found someone that could make her happy. For Callum, there was no
happiness. Not in his past. Not in his future. And certainly not now.

There was one
hope. One final chance that he could make it back from the depths of hell to
which he had fallen. Long ago, when he had once ruled his pack, as they had
plundered the towns of humans and shifters alike, he came across a man who
tried to change him. Tried to make him see the error of his ways. He couldn’t
remember the man’s name now, only that they had shared wine over an open fire,
and he had told him of this dark fortune. Of the horror that was to pass…

He had spoken
of vampires. Three brothers who were the same in appearance, yet varied in
character. Since his time here Callum had grown to realize that the Stalker
brothers were whom the man had referred to. He had only met two of them so far,
and he knew already that it was the third one to which his destiny was tied.
The man gave him a specific set of instructions for when he was to encounter
this third brother, the leader of the three as he was described. Even here, in
the thick of their territory, neither Curtis nor Leon, nor anyone else, made
mention of the third brother – and yet – he had been alluded to. Callum
suspected they were afraid of him, for reasons unseen. He had dreamt of his
escape night after night – even seen ways out of his cage, and the path to
freedom. But he had also seen the face of that third brother in his dreams –
the face of an evil that would prove far more damaging that anything beyond his
comprehension…

And Callum
knew that his place was to be here.

Until the
Dark Prince arrived.

Callum slowly
opened his eyes. He had been asleep for sometime in the darkness here, but he
could sense his Mistress’s presence. Her gown was moving across the floor,
sweeping and swooshing, gathering all the dust other filth with it.

Callum
climbed out of his basket, in wolf form as human form was forbidden. He went to
the gate to his cell and waited for her, sitting in an obedient stance.

“Good
evening, Mr. Ren,” the vampiress’s chilling voice began. “Your hour of
reckoning has arrived.”

She unlocked
the cell door and held it open for him. Callum swiftly moved along the floor
towards her, and then followed at her side.

As they
passed by manage a cell and cage, he felt the wandering eyes of those trapped
within gazing out. But there wasn’t a moan, a cry or whisper among them. Only
the Mistress could break the silence.

She opened
the door at the end for him, and they proceeded into a carpeted section of the
tower, moving through passages, and climbing stairs when necessary. Eventually
they reached one of the experimentation rooms.

This one was
brightly lit and wide reaching – big enough to fit a hold ward of patients.
There were several glass windows overhead, which Callum was drawn to for a
moment, but there was only darkness within.

Two people
were waiting for them in the centre of the room.

“That’s close
enough,” the Mistress said to him. “Sit.”

Callum sat.

Looking up,
he saw one of them was the cheetah shifter Chase, who was working with the
vampires. The other was a girl with dark hair sitting in a chair, her eyes
closed, and head titled. For a moment he thought he recognized her.

“This is your
final test,” his Mistress explained to him. “Gaining our trust and displaying
your loyalty has no doubt come at great cost to you. The question of whether we
should trust you further perhaps lies in the answer of whether you trust us.”

Callum was
suddenly frightened. He sensed they wanted him to do something horrid.

“Lindsay, can
we have some light up there?” the Mistress called.

Callum
followed her gaze up to the dark windows, only to have their contents now lit
and revealed.

Standing at
the face of the glass, was a tearful, hurting…

…
Ava
.

He had not
forgotten her face. Nor had he forgotten her name.

But she was
the last thing he wanted to see now.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

“Ruby!” Ava screamed. “Ruby, wake
up!”

The woman
standing behind the chair glared up at her crossly, sending shivers down Ava’s
spine. She quickly pushed passed Lindsay so she could get to the door again.

“It’s too
late for her,” Lindsay called after her. “You won’t make it in time.”

Ava glanced
back. “Can you tell me where the room is?”

“I’m not on
your side, darling,” Lindsay murmured.

Feeling
disorientated, Ava decided to return to the windows overlooking the room. As if
perhaps it would provide her some much needed information…

The wolf was
circling Ruby in the chair.

The woman had
taken a few paces back and was muttering something under her breath.

“You see,”
Lindsay said. “He’s going to do it. He’s chosen you over her.”

“What do you
mean?” Ava replied sharply.

“Madame
Patricia said if he wishes to gain their trust, he must murder your friend, and
in return they would let you go. So you would be safe.”

Ava recoiled,
her heart racing, tears in her eyes. She pounded on the glass.

“Callum!” she
screeched. “Callum, look up here!”

The wolf
slowly looked up at her.

“Don’t do
it!” Ava shouted. “Don’t hurt her!”

The wolf
turned away, startled and unsure.

Madame Patricia
stepped forward to look up to her, a cold menace bleeding from each eye…

“You think
your words have any sway here, girl?” Patricia challenged. “Do you think for
one moment, our dearest Callum would forget his love for me?”

“It’s his
love for me that makes you afraid,” Ava fired back. “Whatever you’re doing to
him, you know it’s just a trick. With me, the love is real.”

Patricia
angrily turned away from her and back to Callum, who was sitting at Ruby’s
feet.

“Kill her
now, pooch, or I swear you’ll be sorry.”

Callum’s eyes
widened, and his jaw descended. He was starting to growl.

“Don’t even
think about it,” Patricia whispered.

But now Ava
could see it was her who was afraid.

As Callum leapt
from the floor to attack his mistress, Ava ran to the corner of the room, where
she found a metallic trolley. She wheeled it out, and aimed it in line with the
windows.

“You’re
finished,” Lindsay said, moving round to the room’s exit. “All three of you. You
won’t last ten minutes.”

Ava turned
away from her and faced the glass again.

Then she, and
the trolley, ran straight through it.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

With shattered glass raining from
above, the trolley hit the floor of the room below with Ava riding on top of
it. A split second passed before she and the trolley plunged into the chair
Ruby was sitting on, sending them all crashing to the ground in a wave of
destruction.

Ava sat up,
bruised but unharmed, and turned to Ruby who appeared to be regaining consciousness.

“What the
fuck…” Ruby moaned.

Ava turned
just as both she and Ruby were pulled from the floor.

She stared at
Callum dizzily, now in his human form. He allowed them space to recollect their
footing by themselves.

“Callum,” Ava
whispered. “It’s really you?”

He nodded.
“Are you okay?”

“I’m … I’m…”

“Where the
fuck am I?” Ruby gushed.

“We’re in the
middle of the theme park,” Ava said quickly. “You’ve been unconscious. Someone
must have attacked you.”

“Shit, my
head hurts,” Ruby said.

“Can you
walk?” Callum asked.

“I – I’ll try
–”

Ruby walked a
couple of paces. “Slowly.”

“Can you
walk?” Callum asked Ava.

“Yeah, I was
on top of the trolley,” Ava said. “My legs are fine.”

Callum
glanced over his shoulder. “Well we have to get going. Now.”

Ava followed his
glance. She could see Patricia on the floor with her back to them. A pool of
blood was spreading.

“Is she…?”

“No,” Callum
said firmly. “And I don’t know how long she’ll be out for.”

“Is she
dangerous?” Ava asked.

“She’s one of
the vampires,” Callum replied. “Come on, let’s get out of this mess.”

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Callum held Ava’s hand, and Ava held
Ruby’s. Together the three of them slunk through the carpet corridors – moving
down stairs and through archways and sliding doors till they were somewhere
near the base of the tower. As they turned round one corner, the surroundings
began to seem familiar to Ava. Ahead in the distance, she saw what appeared to
be the area where Ruby had disappeared –

“Stop,”
Callum said suddenly halting their tracks. He inhaled deeply, sensing something
in the air. “Through here.”

He opened the
nearest door which led to a room without light and the three of them went
through. Then they waited behind it, as group of figures moved past.

A couple of
minutes went by and then Callum reopened the door and they hurried back down
the corridor.

To their left
now were the glass doors which led out to the railing which overlooked the
park.

Ava nodded to
the stairs. “Down there leads to the underground car park.”

“We’ll be
spotted too easily there,” Callum said. “We’ll have to go out the front, with
the rest of the crowds.”

They hurried
through the doors then, out onto railing, and followed it along till they
reached the door at the end of it. From there they were able to find a set of steps
leading outside to the ground below.

“Okay,”
Callum said. “If follow the signs on that pathway, it should lead you to the
main entrance.”

Ava followed
his gaze with confusion. “What about you?”

“They’ll
recognize me at the gate,” he said. “My face is everywhere here. I’ll have to
find my own way out. I don’t want to put you at risk.”

“Makes sense
to me,” Ruby said clinging to Ava’s wrist. “Come on.”

“Just a
minute,” Ava said pulling it away. “Are we supposed to wait for you? Where
shall we –”

“I’ll find
you. Just go.”

“No,” Ava
argued. “I want don’t want to leave you again.”

“Ava, please,
just –”

“HEY!” a
voice boomed above them.

They looked
up and saw Chase standing on the railing.

“SECURITY!”
he cried.