Ember's Curse (Prime Wolf) (19 page)

"You guys are lucky. You were two seconds from a serious ass beating," she hissed.

"You deserve to be in here with all these mangy mutts, Wolf Lover," teased one of the guards.

"Fuck you," she spat. "Hey! Instead of jerking around with that vamp bitch all day, do you mind giving us a hand with this prick?"

Watching several vampires drag a beaten and bloody Milo across the floor would usually be a very disturbing sight. I'm not saying that it didn't bother me; it did, but when the wolf in question is wearing a big shit-eating grin, it's hard not to shake your head at him.

"You're crazy," I said as he passed by my cell, leaving a bloody trail in his wake.

"Thanks for the compliment," he laughed back, amused.

"Who is that?" Dane asked crawling out of bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with the ball of his palm and slipped his body behind me. He peeked out just far enough so that he could watch the procession of guards hauling Milo into a cell several doors down.

"He is my friend," I answered him softly. I turned around and looked at the curious boy. I noticed that the bags under his eyes had almost disappeared and he seemed less nervous this morning than yesterday.

"Did you sleep well?"

He quickly nodded and stretched his arms over his head. After a big yawn he smiled. "I had a dream about my mom. She told me she likes you."

I gave his shoulder a pat. "I'm sure I would have liked her too. Now run over to the sink and get yourself a drink."

Dane did as he was told. I looked between the bars that separated me from Harper. She was pacing restlessly in her cell and mumbling something under her breath. Her eyebrows flew up when she noticed I was watching her.

"Do we have an escape plan yet?" she asked, not wasting any time.

I just shook my head and said, "Nothing yet." She stopped pacing.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's figure this shit out." I nodded slowly. I always did appreciate her no nonsense attitude.

"We have at least twenty vamps and three werewolves policing this place at any given time," I relayed to her. "The bars are coated with silver and all the cells are warded. Brute force doesn't bend the bars, I've tried." A pang of guilt shot through my gut. If it weren’t for me, none of this would be happening. But it was. I hadn't been able to figure a way out of this mess so the extra help was needed.

"How did they capture you and Milo?" I asked. Tommy seemed to only be interested in me. I had no idea he planned on capturing my friends too. After all, he didn't know they were coming to the pack house.

"We were asked to leave a couple hours after the meeting in Tommy's office. They tried to tell us that you and Collin had already left...I obviously didn't believe them," she grumbled. "Besides. Rent’s due and I'm not about to let you get out of paying your share."

I had to laugh at that. "Sometimes I wonder if there's an abnormality growing in your brain," I grinned.

"Shit. After putting up with you all these years? I wonder that myself." The slash of her mouth and the way she crossed her arms as she made that statement failed to impress, her eyes shone with unshed tears and joy, proving that she was just happy to see me safe.

"Are you two ladies done chirping yet?" Milo piped in from his spot on the concrete floor. He pushed himself up and leaned his back against the bars of his cell. With blood stained hands, he pushed the loose hair from his face and took in several deep breaths. "I must be getting old," he griped. "It used to take twice that many vamps to hold me down." He patted a non-existing belly and said, "Yup, time to hit the gym. Show those punks what this seventy-five year old werewolf is really made of."

"If you're done, Wolf, mind telling us why you interrupted our pow wow? We're in the middle of trying to figure out how to save your whiny ass," Harper snapped.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it. It’s handled," Milo said confidently.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I sent Mojo to get us help," he answered with a blood-slicked grin. "Tegan should be rounding up a posse as we speak...assuming she is not still mad at me," he said thoughtfully. "But no worries. She loves her uncle Collin, so I'm sure she'll still come."

"Cut the crap, guy. The last time I checked, your dog isn't Lassie. Not to mention...she is just a dog!" Harper said with clenched teeth. "You’re really no help at all!"

"Maybe we should listen to him. I did witness the puffy little thing pop out of here somehow, while he was fighting the guards earlier."

She looked between the two of us speechless. Her hands flew up in the air and then she finally said, "Fine...how's the mutt going to save us? Bark to Tegan in code?"

"Actually," he said standing, "she can send Tegan messages in another way," he looked at Harper expectantly.

"Okay. I'll bite...how?" she asked.

He leaned on the bars and said, "My little Mojo isn't just any ordinary pooch," he gave us both a lazy wink. "She is a fairly powerful witch, one that was cursed to live a hundred years as a dog."

Chapter 16

"Once upon a time in a land far, far, away, there lived a looker of a witch. She had a wealth of shock white curls that fell freely over her lightly freckled shoulders," Milo chanted staring at the ceiling in wonder with a dramatic hand over his heart.

"When I asked for Mojo's story, I wasn't aware that it came in fairytale form," I chuckled.

"He just can't help it, Em. The dude is a smart ass," Harper said.

"All right, all right, the short and simple version then," he said, sitting on the lone stool in his cell. It made it harder to see him from where I was standing across the room, but I could still hear him. "Molly Joe is what my little furry companion use to answer to. When I acquired her, I shortened it to Mojo. She had a summer fling with a very powerful Warlock. She wanted to have fun...he wanted more. She left him, he cursed her...the end."

"I like your friends, Ember," Dane said with an amused stare at Milo. "That funny guy over there the most," he said, pointing across the room.

Milo stood back up and strutted around the small cell. He smirked at Harper triumphantly and said, "Kid has good taste."

She shook her head back at him, unfazed. "Every kid loves a good clown show. So don't let it go to your head."

"Hey," he said with mock offense, "you're just jealous of my greatness." His chest puffed out a little more.

"I'm just over it all together," she retorted.

"Can we please get back on track? The sooner we get out of here the better. My body is craving sex and blood...both at the same time preferably."

"Amazing," I huffed.

"What?" she looked at me confused.

"We are being held prisoner by a bunch of vampire zealots and all you can think about is sex?" Incredulous. "Not to mention there is a child here. Show some restraint."

She shrugged with indifference, "I like it. Not ashamed to admit it." Her eyes traveled over to Dane and they softened. "Never be ashamed to speak your mind. Sometimes the honesty of your own words is all you can count on."

Dane giggled at Harper.

He looked down at his bare feet and shyly peeked back at her through his disheveled hair. His amused expression switched to one of sadness. "My mom says to keep quiet around the bad man. I wish I could use my honest words with him."

Harper’s face fell and she grabbed hold of the bars so tight her knuckles whitened. I bent down and picked up the boy. He tucked into me, his cold nose snuggling up into my neck. "I would like to sleep now," he said, pointing to my bed. I guess he laid claim to it after finally getting some good rest last night.

"You got it, Buddy boy." I walked him over and laid him down. He pushed his legs under the covers and I pulled them up the rest of the way. With a kiss on his cheek, I walked back over to the side of the cell closest to Harper. She looked like she was about to lose it.

"We can't leave him in here," she said. “We aren't leaving any of them behind."

***

The boy slept soundly next to me through another night. Tegan never showed up. Milo had paced his cell all night sure that she would. Someone in one of the cells near me gave a throat-clearing cough. "There is no way out of here," the man said. "We all gave up that hope years ago."

He was the first prisoner who had bothered speaking to us since I'd been thrown in here a couple days ago, besides Dane.

"They can hear everything you say," another prisoner piped in. This one was female. "I'm surprised you haven't spotted the cameras yet. It's the first thing I noticed," her tone was soft, implying that she was young. Not a child but a younger woman.

I sat up and searched the cells closest to me. Her voice hadn't been raised when she spoke but I could hear her clearly which indicated that she was near.

"Here," she said lifting a slim, brown, arm. It was attached to a small body that was lying flat on a cot. She wore a simple blue dress, a bit faded and ripped in parts. Her black hair was braided tightly to her scalp. The woman's eyes were large, maybe a bit too large for her petite face. Those disproportionate eyes were transfixed on the ceiling above her.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. Her movement was slow and lazy. "Several months, maybe a year. It's not like I have a calendar."

Nope…There weren’t any calendars, clocks, or any windows to help mark the passing days and weeks.

"Were you taken from your pack house?”

She shook her head. "No. I was taken while working my beat. I was closing in on a perp wanted on a simple possession charge. The last thing I remember, I was chasing him down an alleyway. Right before I caught up to him, I got hit from behind. Then I woke up here," she blinked and then sighed. "It's been all lollipops and gum drops ever since."

I hadn't noticed before, but a chain was connected to her left ankle. The skin underneath the cuff was red and in some parts bleeding.

"Why do they have you chained?" I questioned.

She pushed her legs over the side of the bed. The tips of her toes barely touched the ground as she sat up. She couldn't be more than five feet tall. Being a werewolf gave her extra strength and way above average senses, so I understood how such a tiny thing could still be in law enforcement, but her fellow officers probably stayed up nights wondering how she pulled it off.

"It seems I have a nasty habit of biting and punching anyone who enters my cell." She shrugged. "It's kept my veins fang free so far, so I'll take the trade off," she replied. She looked down at my unhindered legs and her brow rose.

"How come you're not chained? I heard about your little freak out on Tyson the other day." She inched toward her bars, the silver cuff slowing her down. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. He usually doesn't kill many of us."

I was thinking about how to respond to her when a thick wave of power rushed through the room. It made my skin crawl and snatched the air from my lungs. I fell hard to the floor. I pushed myself back up against the intense power. It's thick fog pressing down so hard that I had to hold the silver bars for leverage. The skin of my palm sizzled but I didn't let go.

"What the fuck is happening?" Harper hissed and bared her fangs.

The next few moments passed slowly. My ears felt like they were going to bleed from the ongoing power pulse. But then, just as quickly as it came, the pressure blanket lifted, leaving a tall, spiky haired woman standing in the middle of the hallway. In her arms she held a very satisfied looking Mojo. The tiny dog wiggled free of Tegan’s hold and dashed straight for Milo's cell. When she reached it, she squeezed herself through the bars.

The woman, who was shackled, leaned heavy on the bars breathing slowly to try to catch her breath. "Holy hell...what just happened?"

"Hi Ember," Tegan said, giving me a little wave. She looked around the room. When she saw Milo, she scowled. "If it wasn't for Mojo, I'd leave you to stew in here," she said to him.

"I missed you too, Pip squeak," he said, blowing her a kiss.

"I asked you not to call me that." She pulled her gaze from him and looked at me. "Where's Collin? I don't see him."

I closed my eyes and ran a shaky hand over my face. My body was still amped up from the power surge and I had a feeling that if I wanted to, silver or no silver, I could probably shift with the extra boost from the residual juice.

"They are holding him in a separate area. I have no idea where, but I can feel that he's close."

The temperature in the room rose. Heat infused my pores and beads of sweat formed on my forehead. Tegan’s eyes widened. "Incoming," she said, casting a worried glance across the room.

"I see a fellow witch has come a calling," said a tall, average looking woman. She walked out of the shadowed stairway with a smile. Her hands were stuffed into the front pockets of her jeans and she rocked to a stop several feet away from us. Her head cocked to the side and a studied look replaced the smile she wore. "You're a long ways from home, Water Witch," she said, not amused. "If you leave now, I will let you live."