Pride Unleashed (a Wolf's Pride novel, book 2) (26 page)

Once I’m into the darkened tunnel, I t
ake a moment to
breathe
and try not to
let myself
get overwhelmed by the tight space as I gather my
bearings.

I widen my arms and legs
, bracing my palms and feet on the
metal duct
so I can shimmy upward
.
The
tubing
feels icy and slippery against my bare soles and it takes all my strength and determination to climb
up
.
Once I reach the
main level
of the mansion,
I tak
e
a moment to p
o
sit
i
on myself, and
work to settle my racing heart as I
try to figure out where I am
.

I push my hair from my fac
e
, wishing I’d
kept it
tied
up
.
That’s when I see a light up ahead, filtering into the ventilations system from a downstairs floor grate.
I begin to crawl on my hands and knees toward it.

Every now and then the metal tubing makes a groaning sound beneath my light weight, and it forces me to stop and listen, making this mission that much harder, that much longer.

When I
finally
reach
the plastic grate,
I peer down and see the long hallway leading to the master’s office.
T
hat’s the last
p
lace I want to go
—I have no doubt that he’s in
there planning
and strategizing
some
brutal
event for tomorrow
.
That thought has me h
urry
ing
onward
.
Even though
I have no idea what
cruelties
he has in store,
everything in my gut
warns that
it’s meant for me.

As a cold s
hiver moves through m
y veins
it
elicits a quake from deep within, forcing me to use
extra caution
when
climb
ing
over the grate
.
Once I’ve cleared i
t
I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I
’d been
holding and continue
my
forward
trek.

W
hen my duct
comes to an abrupt
end
, only to meet up with another
channel
running p
erpendicular
to it,
I
consider my next move.
Knowing I need to go east,
I slide into the tunnel
to my right, hop
ing it’s the path that will
lead me to Gem
.

I
crawl
along the
thin metal tubing
,
thankful for my size and my ability to move about
the confined space
swiftly and
quietly.
I stop every now and then to
breathe
deep in an attempt to capture Gem’s scent.
Off in the distance
I hear noises and
catch faint traces of conversation
throughout
the household
.
Senses
finely
tuned
,
I
listen for anything that c
an
help me
, or pinpoint my exact location
.

As I continue forward
my mind takes that time to g
ive further consider
ation
to what Stone told me in the courtyard
—t
hat not all wolves want or can be saved.
But I know that everyone, including wild animals, have a will to live and somehow I have to make them understand that what they’re doing here isn’t living
.

I
t’s simply surviving.

Everything about this
abnormal
situation goes against our
primal
nature, and n
o matter what, I have to convince them
to
turn their back
s
on all they’ve ever know
n
and trust in me, b
ecause
the truth of the matter is,
I’m
responsible for enough death as it is, and won’t stand for any more.

Up ahead I see a
nother
grate,
the
soft white rays
of light
filter
in
to
the darkened tunnel
and provide a pathway
.
I hurry to it
in an effort to
gather my bearings
.
I
hover over the grate and
peer
through the plastic slats.
W
hile I’m not familiar with this wing of the estate, I
sense that
I’m getting close.
I go deeper
into the mansion
and
worry gnaws at me when I
realize
just
how long this is taking.
I work to memorize each twist and turn so I’ll know how to find my way back
.
I can only
hope I make it to my cot before Sandy wakes up.

As I approach another vent,
I stop and breathe deep
.
That’s
when I catch Gem’s distinctive scent.

My heart leaps and like a bloodhou
nd
on the hunt
I pull in the scent and follow
Gem’s fragrance
until I come to another
grate
.
I look through it, and my pulse leaps when I spot what looks like a bedroom
.
A dim lamp casts shadows over the room and
there is an eerie stillness, an unnatural silence that has the hairs on my nape rising.

I shift my focus and that’s w
hen I spot
Gem
in a small cage at the
foot of
a king sized
bed
.
Her clothes are ripped, her long blood
-
crusted hair is matted to her head, and she doesn’t appear to be breathing.
I feel a moment of panic, but then
I calm myself and
listen closely
.
When I catch the faint
sound of her blood moving through her veins, I
know
she’s still alive.

B
oth relief and anger rushes through me.
While I
’m relieved to find her alive and breathing, it infuriates me that
the
master
has kept her
locked away
from the others and is
allowing her to remain i
n such a
disheveled
state.

And here I thought I couldn’t hate
him any
more than I already d
id
.

I want to call out to her, but I don’t dare.
I poke my hands through the grate and
twist it until I’m able to
dislodge it.
When it pops from the
wall
with a
loud
snap,
I turn
my body
until I’m lying on my stomach
, push my legs through the tight opening and drop to the ground.

My
feet
land softly and I
widen my stance to brace myself,
expecting an attack.
When none comes, I
quickly assess the situation,
dart across the carpeted floor, and sink to my knees in front of Gem’s cage.

My heart clenches when I see the ragged state she’s in.
I reach inside and
smooth my hand over her hair as I speak in
whispered words,
not wanting to startle her.

“Gem,
you need to
wake up.”

Her
dark lashe
s
fling open and at first my heart seizes
because
he
r beautiful
green
eyes
,
eyes
that once resembled
precious
gemstones
,
have lost their luster
.
They look
blank,
empty
.
Lost.
Which begs the question, h
as the master broken her?

I keep my voice
low but
firm.
“Gem,
it’s
me, Pri
de,” I say with forcefulness, hoping to
snap her out of her stupor.

She blinks once, twice, then her eyes widened with recognition.
“Pride,” she
whispers
,
before
glanc
ing
past my shoulder
.
I follow her eyes and my body tenses as I look behind me, half expecting to find someone standing there.

Gem
squirrels
backward
until she’s presse
d
against the far end of her cage.
S
he
hugs her knees to her chest
in a defensive reaction.
Dread takes hold of me
and
as her throat makes an agonized sound,
I fear
if I don’t get her out of here soon, I’ll lose her to the dark side, like Sandy.

“Shhh,” I whisper and put my finger to her lips.

“You shouldn’t be in here.
It’s dangerous.”

“Has he hurt you?”

She
nod
s
but says,
“
I’ll be okay
.”

“I
promise I’ll get you
out of here,” I say, wanting her to understand
that she’s going to be
safe
before I begin to press for information.

She nods
and loosens her hold on her knees
. “Okay
,
”
she says without question and the
amount of
trust she’s willing to place in me doesn’t go unnoticed.

Without preamble I get right to the point.
“I need to know everything you know.”

She nods again.

I flick my head toward the window.
“What happened out there
?
Tell me exactly how things went down.
”

Dark fear moves over her face and her look is
distant and distracted and I can tell she’s
reliv
ing
horrible
memories.

“Gem,” I say again
and reach though the cage to place my hand on her shoulder in an attempt
to bring her focus back
around
to me
.
Her skin is hot, sticky, like she’s running some sort of fever.
Since werewolves don’t get sick I can’t help but think the master
has done
something to her.
I think back to the poison the officers injected into me
when I was on the run
, and remember how
i
t made me feel.

Ha
s
the
master
injected her with something
as well
?

“Where is you
r
pack?
” I rush out, worry
prompting me to push
harder
for information
.
“
What happen to them?”

I see a new paleness in her face, a tension in h
e
r posture
I’ve never seen before
and her
chest heaves when she says.
“We were all
in
position, waiting for the cannon to sound at noon so we could take out the handlers
…
”
Her voice falls off and her brow furrows.