Roxanne Desired (17 page)

Freaky
Jason is not going to jump out and kill me,
I kept repeating to myself over and over again. Yes, I’m a badass Adelphi she-wolf who just happens to be petrified of basements or any dark, damp, place notorious for harboring ghosts and monsters. It was crazy to think that I was one of those monsters now. But monster or not, just the thought of a hand lurking out from behind the stairs and grabbing my ankle had goose-bumps forming on my arms and behind my neck.

“There is no such thing as Freaky Jason,” I accidentally whispered out loud.

“What was that?” Ariel asked from behind me.

“Nothing,” I rushed out, too quickly to be believable.

Feminine chuckles mocked me from behind. I shook my head and ignored them. I didn’t care what they thought. My little mantra had always kept me safe in the past, so I was sticking with it.

I proceeded to place one boot in front of the other, until at last I found the ground. Relieved, I moved to the side so the rest of my group could finish descending the stairs. The smoke and fire hadn’t reached down here yet, but you could still smell the raging inferno from up above us. Before I could figure out what to do next, Paige tore off down a long corridor that I couldn’t see the end of because it curved off to the right. I took off after her. As I ran, I could hear terrified shouts and screams in the distance. The sound rang out louder the closer I got.

“What the hell is that?” Tegan questioned, her voice floating up from behind.

My head swung from left to right, trying to search out whatever she was talking about. When my eyes landed on a dark brown, lumpy, red stained burlap bag, I almost lost it. The stench of rotten meat rose from the bag, coating my nose and mouth. Whatever was inside of it had been dead for quite some time.

“Let’s keep moving,” I almost gagged out as I jogged by it.

The long, winding hallway finally came to an end as the passageway opened up into a large room. What I saw as I looked around the room made my stomach roll. The taste of bile crept up my throat and I had to stop myself from lurching forward to empty the contents of my stomach. Paige was on the floor in tears, holding in her lap the mutilated body of a woman. The corpse had the same shade of dark brown hair as Paige and also bore the same striking high cheek bones and straight nose. It was obvious that the woman wasn’t just a pack mate to her, but was also a blood relative. Judging by their many similarities in feature, the young woman was of close relation as well. My heart burned for her. The anguish and despair that she must be feeling had to be crippling. I wanted to go to her, but the cries of the still living werewolves in the next room called to me. I couldn’t save the poor woman cradled in Paige’s arms, but I could try and save the others.

“Go. I will stay with her,” Tegan said, nudging for me to leave. “I have faith that you and Ariel can handle anything down here. As soon as she is able,” Tegan began, gesturing with a jerk of her head to Paige, “we will follow you. Don’t let anyone else die tonight…besides our enemy.”

I reached over and gave Tegan’s arm a squeeze. I was incredibly thankful for her help. After one last gaze at Paige, Ariel and I took off farther down the passageway. We followed the terrified screams of pain that coated the air like a cruel and unjust compass. I would make whoever was wrenching the squeals from those poor suffering creatures pay in a very grievous way.

***

Heart thudding, I came to a screeching halt in the next and final room of the basement. This larger room was unlike the first in more than just size. The first one had been empty except for the dead bodies left strewn on the floor. This one was filled with objects and furnishings, forming two separate areas. One area had square cages, stacked two high against the far left wall. There were unmade beds and couches placed, without a real plan in functional design other than to separate the two spaces, all around. I made the mistake of taking a deep breath of air. My hand flew to my nose, trying to block out the rank smell of the beds. They smelled strongly of spent semen and blood. I wouldn’t let myself think how the odors had gotten there. The adjoining section was filled with clinical machines and tables that took up all of the useable space in that half of the room. On the cold, metal tables, wolves were strapped down and unconscious with tubes running to several parts of their bodies.

The screams dimmed as we entered the room. The sounds had been coming from the cages stacked up against the wall. My feet felt like leaded weights as I walked over to the enclosures. I could smell burnt flesh and unwashed bodies as I neared.

“Are you here to help us?” A man’s strangled voice rang out from one of the boxes.

He stuck his hand through the bars in front of his prison; the sides, top, and back were fully enclosed. His skin sizzled and smoked on contact. The bars were made of silver, and most likely so was the entire cage surrounding him. It was a prison built out of acid to a werewolf, but the silver box wasn’t shit to this hybrid wolf. I could touch the stuff all day long. This is where my immunity to silver was going to pay off in spades.

“Yes. I am here to help you.” I reassured him.

I grabbed hold of the bars and pulled. With little to no effort, I tore the silver door from its hinges.

“You are free,” I said gently, and at the same time I moved over to the next cage.

I continued doing this until I had freed a total of six wolves; four of them were males and two were she-wolves.

“I tried everything I could think of, but there is no saving these wolves,” Ariel yelled over to me from the other side of the room.

She had been trying to figure out how to unhook and revive those wolves while I had freed mine.

“Are they infected?” I asked.

Ariel nodded the affirmative.

The wolves next to me had already taken the painful climb from their prisons and were in the process of shifting into wolf. It would be far easier and faster for them to heal as their beast. Cries accompanied their change and after they finished, they began to nudge and rub their fur covered bodies against one another. The scene was both sad and peaceful. Regrettably, this peacefulness had an expiration date. I looked around for an alternate exit, one that wouldn’t take us back through the front of the house where the heaviest concentration of fire was.

Tegan stepped warily into the room. She had Paige pressed up against her. Paige’s head was tilted down, hair draped forward in defeat, uncharacteristically allowing another wolf to console her; a wolf not of her own pack.

The wolves in the corner stopped moving. As if in slow motion, they turned their heads all at once in Paige’s direction. Tilting their heads up, a combined howl filled the dimly lit room. She snapped to attention. With eyes red from countless tears, she locked her gaze onto the howling wolves. She let out a strangled cry of her own before lurching forward, reaching her pack in the space of a short word. Her knees slammed to the ground as she came to a jarring stop in front of them; the wolves pounced on her. It was a heartfelt reunion, one that had me letting loose a few tears of my own. I watched them a few seconds more, enjoying with them a little bit of happiness. It was a much needed reprieve from the day’s horrors.

Where are Tyson and the witch?
The question hit me out of nowhere. I was surprised I hadn’t thought to look for them already. It had to be because of the terrors we found down here. This kind of scene could screw up anybody’s level of concentration. My head was screwed back on straight, though, and finding that idiot was again top priority. Well, that and getting everyone safely out of the burning building. I pulled out my cell phone. Nathan picked up on the first ring.

“Thank God it’s you, Rox. Are you okay?”

I exhaled deeply at the sound of his voice. It was like a cool wind blowing over my heated skin, affording a temporary relief from the happenings around me. Each syllable was a welcomed gift.

“It’s horrible down here. Tyson had several wolves caged in silver. The rest are either dead or altered. I have no choice but to put the altered ones down. It’s the only way,” I explained, voice neutral. I was already setting myself up for what I knew I had no choice but to do.

“Shit. I wish I could do it for you,” He whispered.

I appreciated him not trying to talk me out of this. He understood there was no other way. There was no cure for what those poor wolves had been exposed to. To leave them in that state, to die a slow and degenerating death, would be cruel.

“I was hoping to use you as my beacon to get out of this place,” I began, explaining to him the reason for my call. Once I told him exactly what area of the grounds he could find me in, we agreed he would give me ten minutes to put down the infected wolves. After that was finished, he would instruct Harek to blow a hole through the foundation of the building so as to create a passageway for us to escape through.

“Lover.”

“Yeah,” I answered him.

“You can do this. You are the strongest woman I have ever met. The way you’ve faced straight on, everything that’s been thrown at you with so much courage is…well, it’s just incredible. I am so proud of you, Rox.”

After a short pause, I wiped away the tears Nathan had brought to my eyes. I had never had anyone speak to me the way he did. He made me feel that somehow I could be that woman he spoke of, so brave and courageous as that woman sounded. Could she be me?

“Do me a favor?” I said, pushing down a small sob.

“I will do anything. Just ask it,” He said with strong conviction, even though his response was spoken in a soft hush.

“Take me after all this is said and done. Grab me up, throw me over your damn shoulders, anything you have to do. Just take me as quickly as you can. I need to feel you inside of me. I need you to fill the void I am feeling without you next to me. Only making love to you will do.”

“You can damn well count on it,” he growled.

“You
should go now,” I suggested to Tegan. “Maybe take Paige and her wolves into the next room with you?”

I looked in the direction of the unconscious wolves that lay hooked up to machines. Discreetly, I placed my hand over the gun on my hip.

Tegan looked at me blankly for a moment. Her brows drew together and she gave me a slight nod as it dawned on her what I was about to do. I grabbed a tattered blanket from one of the beds and shoved it toward her.

“You might want to use this to cover up the woman’s body in there. I don’t know how much more Paige can take.

Tegan grabbed a couple more blankets before clearing her throat. “Everyone, come with me please.”

Paige looked over at me with an expression flush with questions. I begrudgingly gave her the same signals that I had given Tegan just moments before. Her smile fell, but as Alpha of her pack, she accepted without argument the best course of action for her lost flock.

Excited to be free and reunited with their Alpha, the wolves followed behind Paige as Tegan led them from the room.

After their backs disappeared from sight, I walked over to the table Ariel was standing next to. She hadn’t given up yet, her hands hovered in the air over a male wolf.

“Has there been any change?” I asked her. I guess I was still holding on to hope as well.

Her arms fell to her side in defeat. She shook her head.

“It’s no use. It would take ten times the magic that I have to save them.”

My eyes flew to her face. “So they can be saved then?”

Ariel cursed. “No. They cannot. I am sorry if I misled you.”

She walked around the table, reaching toward the man’s waist. She picked up the white sheet that lay over him. It covered his naked body from hip to feet. She pulled the thin material up, gently placing it over his still face. Ariel repeated this process until all the wolves were covered.

“I was able to put them in stasis. I didn’t want them waking up in the middle of…” Ariel hesitated, but after looking away and then back into my eyes, continued. “Well, you know why. Anyway, I respect what you’re doing. They would thank you for it if they could.”

I couldn’t speak, but I was positive my eyes spoke volumes to how thankful I was to her for helping me make this impossible situation a bit easier. Then Ariel walked by me, leaving me to fulfill my duty.

A cold vise wrapped around my heart as I drew my gun. The weapon was heavy, almost as hefty as my conscience. I took a few steps back, my head buzzing with doubt. How could I slay these people? They were just innocent victims. A chill ran through me as I felt another part of me taking over. This was a colder, less compassionate side. I knew right away that it was my vampire nature taking hold, giving me the courage to do what was needed. The predator that craved blood and vengeance like a drug rarely reared her head, but I was grateful for her now. Calmness blanketed my jittery nerves. Not soothing them altogether, but making it possible for me to walk forward.

Light from a flickering bulb bathed the room with an eerie hue. I caught sight of some clothes on the concrete floor, pushed up against the table’s leg as I moved forward. A pair of blue jeans and a black button up shirt made up the pile’s contents.
They must belong to him, the wolf on the table. The guy I’m about to murder in cold blood
. I shook my head, forcefully pushing those kinds of thoughts away, making myself concentrate instead on my footfalls and the gun in my hand. I walked closer, reaching the foot of the bed. I took the last few steps quickly, and before my boot hit the ground, finishing up with my final step, I leveled my gun against the man’s head. One intake of breath later, I squeezed the trigger. My ear drums rang from the shot and my hand felt numb as I lowered the gun to my side. A plume of blood leaked from the bullet hole and then spread like wildfire over the sheet, soaking the entire area above his face. I looked over to the next table. My body moved robotically to the prone body that lay on top of it. I had reached the point where every part of my humanity had numbed up, falling headlong into the cold depths of where both my predators resided. It was too late to stop now; not until I was finished. I lifted my gun and fired again.

Four more
. I thought to myself, surprised I was even capable of that much brain power. How was it possible for me to think when I felt as if I were walking around in a semi-conscious state?

Pop. Pop. Pop.
The sound of gunfire owned the room. It barely felt like I was the one pulling the trigger, but regardless of that, one by one, the killing continued.

***

With my first clear thought in God knew how long, I found myself quietly sitting on the concrete floor, my gun lying next to me. It was done. They were all dead. I reached over and grabbed the firearm and shoved it home into its holster. In the same motion, I grabbed my cell phone.

“It’s done,” I simply stated. “If you walk around the back of the building, I will let you know when I have you in sight.”

“I will head that way now,” Nathan whispered. “Harek, let’s go man. It’s time,” I heard him yell over to the dragon.

I could hear everyone on the other end of the line as they started talking all at once. I pushed their voices away, and concentrated instead on finding the location of my mate, my love, Nathan. The voices faded away and a pure white light flashed in front of me. I had to look up to zero in on it, but Nathans signal came through to me loud and clear. He had somehow found my exact location without further instruction from me. I stood up.

“Your position is perfect. Just give me a sec to clear out so I don’t get hit by the debris.”

“Just say when,” He answered.

I jogged past the entryway to the room and farther down to the next one. Tegan and Ariel were down on their knees, consoling the wolf pack when I entered. I took a step back when a few of them lifted their heads from the circle and growled.

I just walked over to them and said softly, “I’m sorry.”

The deepest sorrow filled their eyes as they looked away from me. There was not an ounce of forgiveness in them; I didn’t expect there to be. I was going to have to live with that and what I did, as would they; their burden a larger one than my own. No one here was to blame for the deaths of their pack mates. But I was the one easiest to fault for it. Tyson was the bastard who caused all of this and it pissed me off to no end that he kept slipping away unscathed from the aftermath of his scheming.

“Go ahead and let him loose,” I spoke into the phone.

Seconds later, the ground began to tremble. Dust coated the air as pieces of rock and plaster began to rain down on us. Then, there was a deafening
boom.
I fell to the ground covering my head with my arms, choking from the thick dust and smoke I was forced to swallow.

“Let’s go!” I yelled over the explosion.

Howls and the erratic tapping of claws was the only sound I could hear. I was running forward, making progress only by memory, as I made my way back into the other room. My lungs felt coated in dirt and my eyes stung from the smoke that was quickly overtaking the entire lower level, seeping in from the holes above our heads in the ceiling that the explosion made. I kept running blindly, my hands out in front me. I yelped when my elbows buckled against a wall of resistance and my face went careening into the same wall. But instead of the excruciating pain that would follow a face plant into an immovable barrier, I was lifted up before full impact and thrown over a set of wide masculine shoulders.

“Nathan!” I yelled in relief, and then proceeded to cough up a lung.

He gave the back of my legs a quick squeeze to let me know he’d heard me and then turned in a rush in the other direction, taking a route that would hopefully lead us out of this hell hole.