A Place to Call Home (Hollow Crest Wolf Pack Book 3) Page 19

  Noah snorted. “Believe me, we’ve gotten a full education.” The disgust on his face sent a sharp pain into my heart. At one time, I’d thought there was real potential for us to become friends. What would he do if he found out I was some kind of mutant?

  “Let’s go,” Kannon urged me. “We can’t risk losing our chance to escape.”

  “Good luck with your sister,” I told Lynn as we rushed past her. I felt bad leaving her and Noah behind, but they’d kill me and my wolves if we let our true natures show. They had stormed the university with what sounded like an army, and I’d given them directions to the other humans. Their fate was now out of my hands.

  I heard gunfire in the distance and grabbed Grayson’s arm as we rounded the corner. “We need to go slow and avoid the fighting if we can,” I told him.

  Grayson nodded. “Our priority is getting you out safely.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And mine is getting you out.”

  Grayson grinned at me and Corey chuckled.

  We ran through the hallways and seemed to get lucky. The fighting was taking place either outside or on the other floors so we managed to avoid it. We didn’t run into trouble until we got to the elevator.

  “I don’t think we should risk it,” Wyatt said as he held out a hand. “We don’t know what the elevator doors will open up to.”

  “There have to be stairs,” Kannon mumbled. “There’s always stairs.”

  We cautiously opened several unmarked doors, hoping that we wouldn’t run into an armed enemy. Wyatt got lucky on the third one we tried as it revealed a dimly lit staircase that probably didn’t see much use.

  “Does anyone know what floor we’re on now?” I asked. “This place is like a maze, and I wasn’t exactly paying attention when we were brought in.”

  “I know we need to go up,” Grayson said. “The level with the door out of here has carpeting, so we’ll be able to identify it when we see it.”

  I followed the other guys into the stairway, and we ran. I tried to keep my tread as light as possible, as I didn’t want to sound like a herd of elephants and give our position away.

  When we came to the next floor, Grayson held his hand up for quiet. We all held our breaths as he pressed his ear to the door. It would be a little too easy if we found the way out this easily, but didn’t the universe owe us something after all the shit we’d been through the past few months?

  Grayson slowly opened the door a crack, and my heart fell. There was definitely no carpeting. Gunfire sounded loudly down the hall, and Grayson shut the door silently. He backed away and pointed for us to continue up the stairs.

  We continued this process several times, and with each failure to find the right floor, I felt even more hopeless. At the fifth door we stopped at, the gunfire was so loud we knew we wouldn’t be able to get out through there.

  “Keep away from the door,” Grayson ordered. “Stay on the stairs in case a stray bullet penetrates.”

  “Should we skip this floor and try the next one?” Kannon asked as we all huddled on the stairway.

  Corey shook his head. “This is probably the one we want if there’s the most action here. This is where the lamia are defending most heavily from the intruders.”

  I sighed because I knew Corey was right. Of course, the floor we wanted was the one that we had no chance of getting out of.

  “What if we go up a couple of floors and try to find a different stairway that’s not in the middle of the action?” I suggested. “This place is huge, so there’s bound to be more than one way out.”

  Kannon’s eyes lit up. “We should head to Dr. Green’s office. If anyone has a secret way out of here, it’s him.”

  I squeezed Kannon’s hand in thanks. “That’s an awesome idea.”

  I saw Corey’s head pick up, and Wyatt looked less defeated. “Let’s go,” Grayson said determinately.

  We cautiously crept back up the stairs, counting the floors as we went. Once the sound of the gunshots had faded into the background, we decided it was safe to venture out.

  Grayson held up a hand to indicate we should be silent and motioned for Wyatt to open the door a crack. I held my breath as Grayson peeked out to evaluate the situation. He waved us forward and Wyatt held the door as we slipped through one by one. Wyatt closed the door as silently as he could. If there was someone on this floor, we didn’t want to let them know we were here.

  Grayson cautiously led the way down the hall but hesitated at the corner. I perked my ears and listened as carefully as I could. I couldn’t hear anything, but my sixth sense was tingling. We weren’t alone.

  “His office is only a couple doors down,” Kannon murmured.

  We were only a few steps down the hall when Dr. Green’s door swung open. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw us and then he glanced back at a second lamia that stepped out into the hall.

  “Here are my wolves now,” Dr. Green said proudly.

  “The ones you’ve been holding captive?” the stranger asked dangerously.

  Dr. Green swallowed nervously. “Arminius, everyone knows you have pet wolves of your own. I didn’t think-”

  Arminius raised an eyebrow, and that was enough to make Dr. Green snap his mouth closed. Who was this guy?

  Dr. Green shifted his weight nervously, and Arminius turned his gaze toward us. His eyes penetrated deep into my soul, and I felt the same urge to squirm that Dr. Green had.

  There were a couple beats of silence as Arminius looked us over. Our entire group was frozen as if his gaze was enough to keep us pinned in place. Power radiated from Arminius in a way I’d never felt before.

  “I’d like to offer an official apology,” Arminius finally said. “Dr. Green acted without my knowledge or authorization, and he will be dealt with harshly.”

  Dr. Green opened his mouth to argue and Arminius held up a hand to silence him. I looked between Dr. Green and Arminius. Had Arminius come with the humans, or had he already been here? I could feel the power radiating from him with the senses I’d gained when I’d become a lamia.

  Grayson stepped forward after a moment of consideration. “Thank you for the apology,” he said confidently.

  Arminius smiled. “But words aren’t enough?”

  Grayson hesitated. Arminius was a dangerous man - we could all feel it. The smart thing would be to use this opportunity to get as far away as possible. Asking for anything else felt like we were gambling with the last few dollars we had managed to desperately scrape together.

  “We don’t want to bother you,” I said quickly. “We’ll get out of your way so you can…conduct your business.”

  I swallowed nervously. Arminius didn’t seem concerned that the university was filled with violence, bloodshed, and utter chaos. We were isolated here in a small pocket of calm, but that could be shattered at any moment.

  Arminius gave me an amused look. “I insist you stay a little longer, but as guests this time.”

  “We’ve heard that before,” Corey said defiantly.

  Arminius chuckled. “Trust me, you’ll want to see this.” He tilted his head to one side. “It sounds like the battle below is over. Green, why don’t you lead the way downstairs.”

  I exchanged a glance with Kannon. Arminius’s hearing was even sharper than ours.

  Sweat was dripping beading on Dr. Green’s forehead, and he looked nauseated. His eyes darted to the window down the hall, and a millisecond later he took off in a dead run. Unfortunately for him, I was standing in his way with the rest of my pack. I quickly aimed a kick at his knee. He managed to avoid it, so my foot barely made contact. However, my attack had thrown him off balance, and he stumbled.

  Grayson’s fist hit Dr. Green’s face with a satisfying smack. Dr. Green flung out an arm to stop himself from falling, but Wyatt grabbed hold of him and twisted his arm behind his back. Dr. Green struggled to break free, but Corey hit him in the sternum. Dr. Green gasped for breath, but he was still trying to break away. This time my kick to his knee didn’t mi
ss, and he fell back into Wyatt’s hold.

  A chuckle from Arminius floated over us. “Do you want to get a shot in, too?” he asked Kannon.

  I expected Kannon to say no, but he stepped forward and aimed a powerful punch to Dr. Green’s face. There was a crunch and blood spurted from his nose. “Good job,” Arminius said indulgently.

  “I see you have everything under control here,” Pierce said as he walked up to the odd scene. “Prisoners have been rounded up downstairs and are awaiting judgment.”

  “The humans?” Arminius asked mildly.

  Pierce shrugged. “Held separately, for now.”

  “What are you going to do with them?” I asked worriedly.

  “The humans?” Pierce asked in surprise. “They haven’t been kind to you.”

  Arminius smiled at me. “The humans that were held here will be exchanged for the lamia that the humans have taken hostage. They won’t be harmed.”

  I nodded in agreement, but I felt like I was missing a big part of the story here. I had a feeling that the world was going to be a much different place than how we had left it when Dr. Green took us hostage.

  My pack trailed after the lamia as they led the way to the main gathering downstairs. There was a small pocket of humans dressed in fatigues subdued in the corner. I didn’t see anyone I knew, these men all looked older. I looked closer and realized they were probably military. How bad had things gotten if the US military was battling the lamia? The lamia usually kept a tight hold on the politicians.

  My attention shifted back to Arminius when he stopped in front of the crowd of lamia who were still holding their weapons. Arminius raised a hand, and the crowd immediately silenced.

  “We’re here today in a joint mission with our human counterparts,” Arminius began.

  What? My eyes snapped over to the humans in the corner. Now that I looked a little closer, they didn’t appear to be prisoners. They also didn’t appear to be entirely welcome in the crowd of lamia. It was an awkward and uneasy alliance, if anything. But why work with the humans at all?

  “Today, we’ve made strides in uniting the humans and supernaturals while removing our enemies from power,” Arminius continued. “Dr. Stefan Green,” Arminius paused, and Pierce shoved Dr. Green forward. “Was the leader of a small group of lamia that has actively been working against the rest of our community.”

  Dr. Green looked around the crowd, searching for potential allies. When it became clear that he wouldn’t be finding any, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

  Arminius ignored Dr. Green and continued speaking. “By eliminating this man from power, we’re sending the message that violence against humans will not be tolerated.”

  I glanced around at my pack mates to see that their jaws were slack with shock and eyes wide. I never thought I’d see the day that the lamia were activists for human rights, but I wasn’t the only one.

  “Our human friends should take note that we always act swiftly and without mercy when we identify an enemy.”

  Dr. Green raised his chin and braced himself at Arminius’s words. Pierce handed Arminius a sword, and my eyes widened ever further. I expected Dr. Green to try to run again, or to argue for his life, but he looked resigned to his fate.

  “My part of the fight might be over,” he murmured to Arminius. “But I expect you to finish it.”

  Arminius gave him a nod of respect. The two men obviously knew each other and may have also been allies at one time. There was a strong sense of history between them. However, Arminius didn’t pause as he hefted the sword. He murmured something in a language I didn’t recognize, and Dr. Green closed his eyes.

  Even though I knew what was coming, I was still shocked as Arminius swung the sword, and Dr. Green’s head was separated from his body in a spray of blood. The sudden violence was shocking, but almost surreal. Everything about this situation seemed more like a nightmare than reality.

  I remained frozen as a couple of lamia moved to clean up the body, and Arminius strode over to speak with the humans. The floor was smeared with Dr. Green’s blood, and I was filled with bitterness. He was dead, but I was still a monster. His death hadn’t brought me peace or even a sense of justice. All I felt was anger that help had come too late for me.

  Kannon wrapped an arm around me. “We’re free,” he murmured.

  “Finally,” Corey said irritably.

  Wyatt looked at me with sadness in his eyes. It took me a moment to realize why. “He was probably the only person that could have reversed this,” I whispered.

  Kannon’s eyes widened, and Grayson frowned at me.

  “He never would have, even if he could,” Pierce interrupted. He tossed Grayson a set of keys. “Go to Seaside and don’t make any stops on the way.”

  “Why Seaside?” I asked doubtfully. We had been pushed in that direction more than once, but I didn’t trust that was the right place for us.

  Pierce shrugged. “You can go wherever you want. If you go to Seaside, I’ll know I didn’t waste my time saving your asses.”

  He walked away without another word. “So…Seaside?” Kannon asked hopefully.

  Grayson nodded slowly. “Seaside. We’ll check it out before we approach them, and if we don’t like it, we leave.”

  I sighed but trudged after the others as we went in search of the vehicle Pierce had left for us. We might be free from Dr. Green, the university, and the town of Hollow Crest, but we weren’t really free.

  Not yet.

  Chapter 33

  Lori

  “Human or other?”

  A police officer was standing at the driver’s side window, staring at Grayson suspiciously. He had three other officers flanking him, all of who were heavily armed.

  We drove across Virginia until we came to a roadblock on the highway on the edge of Edgerton. There hadn’t been many other cars on the road. The news on the radio had given us all the chills. Supernaturals were exposed. Humans knew about the existence of shifters, witches, and lamia. The world had disintegrated into a mess as each race drew lines and carved out ‘safe spaces’ for themselves. Prices for food and gas were exorbitant as trade had ground to a halt, and supply lines were disrupted. Fighting was everywhere. Lamia were being lynched in the streets, humans were being drained by lamia, wolves were evicting humans from their territory, and the government had created ‘human only’ zones. The world, as we had known it, was gone.

  “Uh, what?” Grayson asked in surprise.

  The police officer flashed a light in Grayson’s eyes, and my breath caught when I saw the tell-tale reflection that came from having night vision. The police all took a step back simultaneously. “Your kind isn’t welcome here.”

  Guns were raised, and Grayson raised his hands to show he wasn’t a threat. One police officer looked like he had an itchy trigger finger, and the others didn’t look any happier. Things were going to get back unless we got away from them. Now.

  “Grayson, let’s turn around,” I said nervously.

  “This is the only highway that goes in the direction we want. We’d have to take back roads to get around the city, and it would add almost two hours to our trip,” Kannon pointed out.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do,” I said firmly.

  The police officer in charge nodded and seemed willing to let us leave as long as we didn’t cause trouble. Trigger Finger scowled and caressed his weapon, but thankfully didn’t argue with his leader.

  I heard Corey huff in irritation behind me, but no one else argued. Grayson turned the vehicle around slowly to make it clear we weren’t a threat, and then we were sailing back down the highway. The road in this direction was completely empty.

  “Kannon, let me know where we need to turn,” Grayson said.

  “Can we talk about what just happened?” I asked. “Because I know the lamia said the word is out, but I wasn’t expecting armed encampments.”

  “That’s not the worst of it,” Wyatt said as he scrolled through one of the phones we’d
picked up on our way out. “Humans are panicking, but so are the supernaturals who’ve been exposed. There are stories of humans being kicked out of their homes by wolf packs and lamia declaring parts of New York and LA to be theirs. Lines are being drawn everywhere.”

  I sat back in my seat and tugged on my seatbelt. “This is unbelievable.”

  Grayson grunted, but no one else spoke.

  I looked over at Kannon guiltily. “Do you think this is because of us? Because I wouldn’t let you say anything when Lynn approached us?”

  Kannon frowned at me and shook his head. “This was bigger than us.”

  Corey looked between the two of us and raised an eyebrow. “Do the two of you have more secrets you need to share with the rest of us?”

  I gnawed on my bottom lip, and Kannon gave me a shrug. “It’s up to you.”

  I sighed. “Lynn, one of the girls at our school, organized a group of humans because she thought that vampires had stolen their family members and were keeping them hostage at the university.”

  Corey laughed out loud, but Grayson and Wyatt didn’t speak. Grayson’s grip was tight on the steering wheel, and Wyatt looked like it was painful to hold in his words.

  “Kannon wanted to tell you,” I mumbled. “But I was worried the humans would get hurt.”

  “Lori!” Wyatt said as he shoved a hand through his hair. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

  “Between this and the robbery you orchestrated, I think you just took my spot as the trouble-maker,” Corey said with amusement sparkling in his eyes.

  “I’m glad you think this is funny,” Wyatt snapped.

  “Why wouldn’t you trust us?” Grayson’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and shame filled me. I should have trusted Grayson and the others. Why didn’t I?

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe because you kept leaving Kannon and me behind like we were the ones who couldn’t be trusted. I wanted to do something that mattered.”