When I turned around to face everyone, the guys were staring from me to Sloane and back again. They didn’t know which was a weirder scene. Me staying in my clothes after I shifted or Sloane holding three huge welded chains attached to hellhounds. The links were easily the size of her fist and probably weighed more than fifty pounds each. They were not your typical hardware store chains. She looked really fucking sexy and way more lethal than she did yesterday.
The hellhounds led the way with Sloane following soundlessly behind them, and the rest of us trailing behind her. Staring at her ass. Hours passed, and the sun began to dip low in the sky. The terrain all looked the same. I started to wonder if we were walking in circles, but she seemed to know where she was going, so I didn’t say a word to dispute our direction. When the sun was gone and the night had descended, she stopped and passed a chain leash to Palmer and one to Vaughn. She kept a tight grip on Helios, but he never jerked her as they hiked forward. “Just the tips, boys,” she called quietly to the hounds. The tips of their tails lit with hellfire, helping guide the way since Vaughn and Palmer couldn’t see in the dark.
“Just the tip, huh?” Novak questioned. Sloane shot him a filthy, flirty look in answer and kept on walking.
It was after 11pm, and we’d been walking for a good ten hours, when Helios switched directions to follow the bank of a small creek. We were getting closer now. Attacking them at night would benefit us, I hope. Out of the six of us, four had night sensitive vision. I was sure the mage had a spell for that too, so possibly five. Another hour passed us by, and I could just start to make out faint talking in the far distance. We were a mile out. Sloane and Helios stopped, and she handed his chain to Stone as she strode closer to us. We circled around as she whispered our parts of the plan to us.
“When we get closer, I’m going to release the hellhounds so they can circle around to the other side of this camp. Briggs, shift and go with Atlas. I’ll make them look like wolves and you can lead them into the back side for a surprise attack. You’ll have full control over them, so use it wisely. Palmer and Stone, I need you guys to find and secure York. Keep him away from the fight. He may want to join, but he’ll be too weak to stand his ground. Vaughn, can you mist with him to the treehouse?” She turned her head to Vaughn.
“Yes. That won’t be a problem.”
“Can you take Palmer as well?” she inquired.
“I’ll need to make two separate trips, but I can do it.”
“Okay, when the commotion dies down, take York and then come back for Palmer. The rest of us can move faster, so we’ll come back on foot. Kill everyone except prisoners. And be careful. The male in charge is a vampire-mage hybrid. Not only can he read minds, he can control them as well, if you don’t keep them sealed tight. I’d like to kill him myself, so if you find him, let me kno--”
Her word came up short and her attention shot to the right. All three hounds vibrated with tension. My sensitive hearing picked up the snapping of twigs and crunching of the earth under heavy shoes. Someone was out there, getting closer to us.
“Briggs, shift. Atlas, stay on his tail.” She waved her hand over him and smokey magic covered him. He transformed into a masculine charcoal colored wolf with a black dusting on the ends of his fur. I shifted without question and waited for the command to leave. She changed Helios into a burnt reddish brown wolf and Cronus into a wolf with a black face, tail, and feet that faded up to a dark brown body. “Wait,” she patiently relayed to the hellhounds, “Let him see us first.” What the fuck was she planning? I wanted to ask her, but I couldn’t speak right now.
“Hey! You can’t be out here,” someone shouted from a short distance away.
“Go. Now,” she whispered urgently. We split up and sped away. The last thing I saw as I looked over my back was Sloane snatching something from her skirt and slinging a knife at the man. It landed dead in between his eyes. I heard her muted voice command, “Vaughn, glamor yourself to look like him, then glamor our weapons, and lead us in.” I turned back and accelerated my speed with Atlas only a tail’s length behind me.
We had to get into position and take out anyone in our path. The first strike had been made. The group was marching into camp as trespassers, with Vaughn pointing a loaded gun at their backs. She was one tornado they wouldn’t see coming.
20
York
Sunday Night
I listened to the dripping water as I stared at the newest mark on the wall across from me. Eight hundred and fifty-eight days. I’d either be free or dead soon. Alone in my cell, I let my mind linger on images of Sloane. I wanted to be free and wrap my arms around her again, but I knew she’d rather cut my hands off than let me touch her. I had so much shit to make up for if I lived. My life was in her capable hands now.
Once she saw the state of my body, I knew it would only be a matter of time before she went on a murder spree. I only hoped it was enough to bring her in my direction. If I got out of this cell, I was going to kill Kelvin myself. I needed to get Levi out of this mess too. He was scared to leave, I got it, but this is no place for humans.
The guard on duty tonight was sleeping soundly, sitting in a chair facing my cell. He was one of the more violent bear shifters here. He used that strength of his regardless of its need. I’d kill him on my way to Kelvin. Over two years in captivity would have you planning murder on a daily basis. He snored loudly, and I wished for the hundredth time that I had enough power to call up thick, thorny vines to strangle him in his sleep. Having a time limit put on my life had turned me into a morbid version of myself. Or what was left of me.
I feared that if I got to walk out of this place as a free male, I would never again be who I once was. I barely remembered what it was like to be free, to eat when I was hungry, or shower when I felt dirty. I wanted the sun to shine on my skin and the grass to caress my back as I watched the clouds move through the sky. I wanted to climb the trees and speak to the birds. I wanted to shave and get a godsdamn haircut.
My toffee skin was pale, wrapping around my bones from near starvation and no muscle usage. My once lean fingers now looked skeletal. My joints jutted out, showcasing how unhealthy I’d become. It wouldn’t take long for me to bounce back if I could get out of here. A couple of hours with my feet buried in the soil and the earth would feed me all the nutrients and power I needed to build myself back up.
The door to the cells banged open suddenly, and I flinched back into the shadowed corner of my cell. It scared the sleeping guard so much that he flipped his chair and landed on his ass on the uneven floor. “Brad! Get the fuck up here. Roy just found some supes walking around the outside of our perimeter,” was shouted from the doorway by an unknown camp dweller. Brad, the shitty bear shifter, stood and dusted his ass off before slamming the door behind him, leaving me free of his snoring finally.
There was only a few minutes of tranquility before the door was opened again. Levi came into view with an armful of food and several bottles of water. “Hey, man, did you hear what he said?” he quizzed me softly.
“Yay, more prisoners,” I bit out sarcastically.
“The talk around camp is that it’s a girl and a few guys. Roy said they had dogs with them, but when he yelled at them, the dogs ran off.”