I ran to the rocks with all the speed my limited werewolf abilities gave me, and made it there in record time and without any air left in my lungs. I leaned against one of the rocks and looked around. "Abby!" I wheezed. "Abby!"
"Becky!" came the excited reply. Abby peeked her head out of the crack she'd earlier wanted me to enter. "Come see what I found! There's even more stuff here!"
"Abby, I don't think that's-" Her head slipped back inside and I groaned. I had no other choice but to follow her whims and catch her unawares. I slipped into the crack, or rather squirmed, wiggled, and sucked in my gut to get between the immovable boulders. The space beyond the crack was pitch black but for the light behind me, but my eyes adjusted more than I expected. Must have been my wolfing showing. I spotted Abby standing beside an opening that led deeper into the cave system. "Abby, get back here this-" And she was gone, slipped into the opening with a smile and a giggle. Damn, but she was cute when she was evil.
I sighed, rolled my eyes, and adjusted my headlights to go deeper into the depths of this granite whale. I dove into the cave only to trip over something laying on the ground. My momentum caused me to stumble farther into what turned out to be a large room. I fell to the dirt ground and coughed as a cloud sprang up. A small pair of feet stepped up beside me, and I glanced up to see Abby kneeling beside me with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you all right?" Abby asked me.
"Yeah, just dandy." I sat up and looked around. My weak eyes could make out six short, wide wooden boxes that leaned against the walls. One of them was open behind Abby, and she had a blocky item in her hand. "What's that?" I wondered.
She giggled and held it out to me. "It's putty!" I took it and looked it over. It was a brick of gray putty with a box strapped to the top. A few wires came out of the box and stuck into the putty. There was also a short piece of string that led to the metal mechanism and could be lit with a lighter. I'd seen enough action movies to realize I didn't want to be in a room with boxes of these things. I yelped, grabbed Abby and pulled her to the entrance. "Hey! What are you doing!" she protested.
"That's not putty, it's plastic explosives!" I told her. She stopped struggling and we reached the opening only to hear the sounds of voices coming toward us. My eyes widened, and I pulled Abby against the wall to the side of the entrance.
"What time does this need to be done?" a rough male voice asked someone. It sounded like the thug who'd provoked Burnbaum the day before.
"One o'clock," came the brisk reply. I recognized that voice as being that of Alston.
"So an hour after voting closes?" the first man replied.
"Yes, and no earlier. We don't want to doubt the integrity of the election, just frame the Lone Wolf party for the explosions," Alston told him. At that comment my heart skipped a minute's worth of beating. "How much of the explosives have you placed?"
"Nearly done, but it's been slow going. Those tunnels aren't so easy getting through because they haven't been used in so long."
Alston scoffed. "Perhaps if you hadn't been occupied in the cells yesterday the job would be finished," he scolded the man.
"How was I to know that Protector wasn't like the other Brier?" the man argued. "Besides, if you were doing your job of protecting us we wouldn't have been in that cell-"
"Quiet." I heard a nose sniff the air and hugged Abby against myself. The poor girl shook like a leaf. "Someone's been in here." The other man sniffed the air.
"Yeah, and recently." Their footsteps followed my trail to the entrance, and the first man from the conversation stuck his head inside the room. It was the man from the brawl, and his eyes scanned the dark room. His gaze fell on us and his eyes widened in surprise. "You-" I gripped the block of plastic explosive in my clawed hand and brought it down atop his head. The putty cushioned the blow, but it was enough to knock him off balance. He fell to the ground in a cloud of obscuring dust, and I dragged Abby out of there.
Unfortunately, Alston stood in our path, and I didn't like the grin on his face when he recognized me. "Well, good morning to you," he greeted. I picked up Abby and tried to dodge around him, but he stepped in my way. Behind me I heard the man stumble out of the room. We were trapped.
Chapter 25
I hugged Abby to me as the girl clung to my neck. Tears ran down her cheeks and her upper lip was covered in snot. I thought about reasoning with these guys, pleading with them to let her go and keep me. That's when I remembered that was really stupid because bad guys never let anyone go. Alston looked me over with that wide, creepy grin of his. "What a pleasant surprise to find such a lovely woman here with us." He glanced behind me to the man. "Don't you think so, Fuller?"
"Yeah, real tasty," the man behind us replied. I shuddered at the feral tone in his voice.
"Unfortunately, they've come calling at a very bad time," Alston scolded us.
"Then I guess we'll leave and come back another time," I quipped.
Alston chuckled. I didn't hear any humor in it. "I'm afraid that's not quite what's going to happen. You see, your trail leads here to our storage depot, so your mate and his friends will no doubt come looking here for you. We'll have to make sure they don't find you, or any part of our plans." He looked to Fuller. "Get the rest of those boxes to the caves and set everything up. Lance wants to press the button at exactly one."
"Sure thing." Fuller stalked past us, gave me a lecherous sneer, and walked behind Alston into a hall that led deeper into the boulder system.
"Now what shall we do about you two, hmm?" Alston mused.
"Let us go?" I suggested.
"That suggestion is becoming very annoying, especially as it will never happen," he replied. He looked around and spotted another entrance. His eyes lit up with a cold, eager expression, one that spelled doom as clear as alphabet soup. "We'll have to put you two where you can never be found." He pulled out a package that contained thick wads of a taffy-like substance, and stepped over to us. He held out two large sticks toward us. "Both of you must eat these."
"Hell no," I refused.
Alston pulled out a gun and pointed the barrel at Abby, who cried out and buried her face into my neck. "This gun also has silver bullets. Another refusal and I won't need to worry about one of my captives."
I hesitantly grabbed them, but popped one in my mouth while I kept Abby's in my hand. I didn't want to be the one to give a child poison. The taffy substance had the flavor of grass and quickly dissolved in my mouth. Abby watched me with terrified eyes until her face twisted into puzzlement. "Your scent's gone," she whispered.
"Yes, quite a useful little invention of ours," Alston spoke up. He glared at Abby. "Now eat yours or you get the bullet." Abby swallowed hers and we were both left without our scents. Alston gestured with his gun toward the entrance he'd spotted earlier. "Now follow that tunnel."
I knew he meant to lead us some place in the middle of this rock maze and shoot us, but there wasn't anything else I could do but obey. With Abby in my arms I stepped through the arch and into a long, curving tunnel with darkness that my eyes could barely penetrate. The walls were wet and molding, and the dust at our feet was replaced with mud, hard-packed dirt, and crumbling of rocks from the jagged ceiling above us. There were tunnels on either side of the long walk that delved for miles into the hillside in all directions, and the winding hall seemed to go on forever and ever. We wound our way through right tunnels and left ones until I was dizzy and tired. I wondered if anyone at Sanctuary knew these tunnels existed. If they did then we might have a chance at escape, or at least being properly buried.
To make this wonderful experience even more fun, Abby raised her head and started picking at her snot. That caused her to squirm in my arms. "Abby, hold still," I pleaded. She shook her head and grabbed a glob of the stuff which she then lobbed at a nearby wall. Abby was able to repeat this every twenty feet or so for a fifty yards before Alston noticed.
"Stop that!" he ordered. Abby hunkered down in my arms and glared at hi
m, but she stopped. We went another dozen yards before Alston stopped us. "Turn to your right," he commanded.
I stepped to my right and into a side room. The place was so dark that I tripped over the entrance way, and both Abby and I fell to the ground. Abby scurried to the side of the opening and when Alston hurried in after us she let out a ringing howl that echoed around the cavernous room. The sound was so high-pitched that it pained my ears, and Alston, too, cried out and clapped his hands against his ears. Before the howl faded away Abby tackled the man's legs and he tumbled over. His gun was knocked from his hand by the rocky ground, and I scrambled for it as he tore Abby off him. Alston tossed her aside and faced me only to find that I had the barrel of his own gun aimed at his head.
"A-another step and I'll shoot," I warned him. Abby hurried to my side and latched onto my leg.
Alston remained where he stood, but grinned and shook his head. "No you won't. You haven't the courage to shoot." He took a step toward me, and I took one backward with Abby following the strange parade. "See? You won't-" I fired, but my aim was a tad off. Instead of hitting him in the chest the bullet flew into the ceiling. Crumblings of rock fell atop his head as he glared at me. "You stupid bit-" He didn't get to finish his insult before a large rock fell onto him and he crumpled to the ground like an empty bag of potato chips.
Abby and I looked at his unconscious form for a long, confused moment, and then I yanked her around him and out into the hall. I took us to the left and down the hall a dozen yards until we came to an intersection. "Abby, any way you can put your sniffing skills to the test?" I asked her.
"Yep, we'll follow my nose," she replied.
"Huh?"
"My snot. I threw it against the wall because my dad said that was a good scent to follow."
I remembered the fingernails under Alistair's skin, and how it hadn't had a scent. "But we don't have a scent anymore," I argued.
"I cried before he gave us that nasty stuff," she reminded me.
"Oh, right."
"Come on, Becky. I'll lead the way!" Abby cried out in glee. She pulled me through the maze of passages and retraced our steps by snot scent alone.
In half the time we reached the opening into the first chamber, but we had one last problem. We heard the sound of voices in the cavern and even my sniffer sensed there were about half a dozen people out there. Abby sniffed the air and her face lit up in a smile before she bolted from me and out into the cavern. "Papa! Mama!"
I followed her out in time to see Abby race into her parents' outstretched arms. Off to the side I saw Alistair, Stacy, Burnbaum and Luke relieved at the happy reunion. Maybe that's a bit of a stretch. The first three were happy, but Luke was definitely not relieved. He snapped his head over to me and marched over. I cringed when he wrapped his arms around me and stood before me in all his terrifying fury. "Um, hi," I squeaked out.
Luke swooped down and captured my lips in a mind-numbing hold. I melted in his arms as that dingy cavern with all its terrifying memories disappeared. Unfortunately, the audience was harder to ignore, especially when Alistair cleared his throat. "As glad as I am to see Miss Becky and Miss Abby are all right, we don't have time for long reunions," Alistair spoke up.
We parted and I was able to breathe. Stacy stepped forward and grasped my hands. "Don't you ever do that again, you foolish little girl. Going out into the woods was the worst idea you could think of," she scolded me.
I sheepishly grinned. "But I found Abby," I pointed out.
"And Becky saved me from the bad man!" Abby spoke up in my favor.
"Bad man?" Luke asked her.
Abby nodded her head. "Yes, he took us down that way and was going to shoot us," she told them.
At that moment the crowd stiffened and all eyes but mine whipped over to the entrance to the tunnel. I heard a scrape of shoes on the ground inside the entrance and the men rushed after the noise. In a moment there was a scuffle down the tunnel, and the men dragged back a very unhappy Alston. He growled and thrashed in their grasp, but they held him tight. Alistair especially had a tight grip on his former assailant. They slammed him against the wall close to the storage room. Alistair and Mr. Stewart kept their hands on him and Luke stepped in front of him.
"What were you planning for these two?" Luke asked the man. Alston sneered at us, but didn't reply.
"He didn't want us to tell anyone about them going to blow up Sanctuary and blame the Lone Wolf party," I spoke up.
There was a collective gasp and gaping from our allies. Luke growled and grabbed Alston by the collar. "Is this true?" Alston kept his mouth shut, and Luke shook him hard. "Well?"
My eyes widened. "What time is it?" I asked around the group.
A half dozen eyes glanced at their watches. "A quarter past twelve," Mrs. Stewart replied.
My heart skipped a beat. "The explosives are supposed to go off at one!"
Alston took advantage of the shock to free himself of Alistair and Stewart's holds. He pushed them aside and lunged at Luke. Alistair recovered quickly and grabbed Alston's ripped coat. It was ripped because Alston was transforming into a werewolf, and chaos erupted in the cavern. Mrs. Stewart pulled Abby away, and Stacy pushed me to the side. Alston turned on Alistair and their clawed hands collided as Alistair himself transformed.
The pair duked it out in a death-match of fangs and fur. They sliced and cut at each other, and their opponent ducked and dodged to the best of their ability. Mr. Stewart and Luke tried to get in on the terrifying fun, but the two combatants rolled about the floor and slammed against the walls with such fury that I could barely follow who was in what torn clothing. Fur and blood flew off them until Alston jumped at Alistair's throat, and Alistair swung a clawed hand that caught the other man on the side of the head. I heard a horrible snap and Alston collapsed to the ground. Nobody needed to be told he was dead, but it was confirmed when Alston transformed back into his human self. Alston's eyes were open, but lifeless, and he wasn't breathing.
Alistair stumbled back against a wall and Luke hurried over to him. The manservant also transformed to human and showed off all the deep claw marks and gashes left by Alston. Only by the abilities of the werewolf was Alistair still alive, much less standing. "I'm sorry, sir," Alistair wheezed to Luke. "I couldn't think of any other way to stop him."
Luke shook his head. "You did your best and protected us," he pointed out.
Stacy stepped forward and tapped on her watch. "Besides, he was only buying them more time. There's only forty minutes until one."
Luke's eyes widened and he whipped his head over to me. "How were they taking the explosives to Sanctuary?"
I pointed at the hall down which Fuller had traveled. "I think through there. They said they were having trouble getting through some old tunnels because they hadn't been used in a while."
Luke nodded and turned to Alistair. "Old friend, we're going to need your expertise with this place," he pleaded. That reminded me that Alistair had been one of the werewolves to help build Sanctuary.
Alistair grimaced, but pushed himself off the wall. "I will recall what I can."
"These caves smell endless. How will we track them without a scent?" Stacy questioned.
"There are many tunnels outside the villa, but they come together at one point beneath Sanctuary," Alistair told her.
"And that's where?" she wondered.
"In the dungeon beneath the stairs. If they intend to bomb any of the west wing they must travel through the dungeon to another series of tunnels on the other side."
"Then we'll meet them there and stop them," Luke replied. He looked to Burnbaum. "When we reach Sanctuary gather as many of your men as you can in a space of ten minutes. We'll hold them off until then."
"What if there is too many?" Burnbaum asked him.
"That doesn't matter. We'll stop them long enough to let you get your men," Luke insisted. "Now let's hurry. There isn't much time."
Chapter 26
Abby and I were picked up, and
our wolf pack rushed to Sanctuary. We reached it in five minutes, which left roughly thirty minutes to spare. Mrs. Stewart and Abby were left a safe distance from the villa, and I nearly was, too. Luke stopped me and herded me toward them. "You must stay here," he insisted.
"And do what? Wring my hands while I wait for you to get back? Hell no," I replied.
"How do you intend to help?" he countered. He grabbed my transformed hand and showed it to me. "You can't even transform."
"But I can still fight, and you need everyone you can get," I pointed out.
He shook his head. "I won't see you killed by Lance's men."
I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. "Leave me here and I'll follow you, anyway. Besides, we're wasting time," I reminded him.
His lips pursed together. "You're right. Forgive me."
"Forgive you for-" I began before I saw a flash of his hand swing toward my face. That asshole actually decked me and knocked me out.
The next thing I knew I was on the ground in Mrs. Stewart's arms with Abby standing over me. I sat up and looked around. Everyone else was gone. "How long have I been out?" I asked her.
"Ten minutes," she replied.
I scrambled to my feet, but Mrs. Stewart held me back from running. "Lord Laughton told me to keep you here," she explained to me.
I didn't care about that, I didn't care about anything. All I knew was that jerk mate of mine left me here while he went off to get himself killed. If he was going to die doing heroic stuff than I was going to be at his side doing the same. I whipped my head around and growled at her. She was startled by my long, sharp fangs, and I tore myself from her grasp and raced down the forest trail to the villa.
The deck was full of people wining and dining after a long voting sessions. The Protectors were close at hand to keep heated political discussions to just that, discussions, and I spotted Protector Brier among the throngs of people. I wormed my way through the crowds, grabbed his arm, and before he could argue I'd tugged him along the deck toward the lobby. He turned the tables when he wrapped his arm around my waist and swung me to the right to slam me against the wall.