Chapter 21 The Chase #2
“Jessie, is there any access from this spot to out front with the valets? Besides taking the stairs and going through the main doors?” Freddie turns away from us to blow his smoke in the other direction, but at this point his entire arm is on my arm.
I push him off of me.
“No, I don’t think so. The only front access is the main doors…” Her voice trails off. I stand up straighter. “There’s another access. It’s an emergency exit. Comes from the basement. We never use it.”
I want to throttle her, but I resist the urge. Freddie snubs out his cigarette on the bar cart.
“You can get to the basement from here—“ she goes to open the middle door. The one that leads to the hallway office when the door bursts open.
***
Freddie
Pretty little Ondine busts through the door, Sabbies was just about to walk through. She is so sweaty and frantic. Her cute little black dress is hanging off of her. She makes this high-pitched squeak and then hops into Sabbies’s arms. God, she’s so electric. She makes me hum whenever I’m near her.
Like a storm is about to hit.
“Man-ho,” she sobs, “Man-ho is down there. Fifteen feral alphas.”
Oh, isn’t she just the absolute most helpful creature? I take a quick inventory. Unlike my brother, who was able to conjure a machete out of thin air, all I have are my mitts. But it’s more than enough.
I waste not a second. I go right through the door she came from and run at top speed to the end of the hall and down some stairs.
The further down I go, the less the de-scenters are working.
I know what Man-ho smells like. Like death in a humid room.
I follow that smell until I make it to an empty classroom.
It reeks of alpha and Ondine’s fear. I leave the room and find the door to the outside.
It opens right up to the valet, where maybe 30 people wait for their cars.
Where the hell is Man-ho?
I’m going to fucking kill him.
Everything he does and is and stands for makes me want to remove his beating heart from his chest while he watches. I’ve been closing my eyes and picturing destroying this man for most of my life.
I weave through the crowd, and while his smell is everywhere, I can already tell he’s gone. His smell is a beacon, though, to every feral male alpha in this crowd trying to hide amongst them. He’s left men behind, thinking they’d blend into the crowd.
I grab a redhead by the nape of his neck and throw him to the ground. The crowd parts and shouts as I pump my fists into the guy, keeping him on the ground. His buddy tries to help, but I’m amped up.
I let his buddy pull me off of him. His hands are eating into the flesh on my shoulders, tearing at my clothing. Once I’m close to him and on my feet, I pivot and slam my knuckles into his ribs. He doubled over and I knee him in the groin.
I’m stronger than them.
I’m faster than them.
My whole world is centered on being better trained than them.
I know how Man-ho trains his pupils. The promises he makes them. The suffering he uses to hone their abilities. And I know their goddamned weaknesses.
I just wish I wasn’t wearing dress shoes and slacks.
Blood sprays on my face as I slam a third man into a pillar holding up the awning over the oxbow driveway. Fuck yes. That’s the fucking shit.
Several of the foul smelling fuckers jump into a car that pulls up.
There’s a car behind them, so I pop one of my victims in the mouth to move him out of the way, and rush up to the car.
The car of alphas peels away from the building, and I’m already reaching in to roughly take out the valet on the other car.
I apologize to the terrified beta and take his place behind the wheel. I’m out of the street in no time.
I call Jake as I’m rushing through traffic after the alphas.
“Jake, where the fuck is Man-ho?”
His voice is tight, but he’s all business. “Not at the school. Not at his house.”
I shake my head, realizing he doesn’t know what just happened.
“Man-ho was at the Club the whole time. He had Ondine in the basement with fifteen alphas trying to get a scent-match. Ondine got away, and I chased after the men. Man-ho was gone, but I took down a few guys. I’m chasing after some boat of a car with four of them. But I need Man-ho!”
“You lost him! You lost your mark!” Oh no, Jake is about to read me to filth.
“You are his enemy, I thought. You are the one with his smell. You want to kill him, and yet right under your nose, he took my omega, who was standing ten feet away from you! This is your fucking job, Freddie. Maybe you should go back to the mountains and meditate on how to take care of your own business, since actually doing it is outside of your grasp!”
Humbled, I stay quiet.
I grind my teeth in frustration. But I stay quiet.
“You’re no longer my client, Freddie.” His words hit me like a spear through the gut.
I can’t do this without him. I can’t do this without his pack.
If he’s out, does that mean he’ll take Ondine with him?
If he’s off this job, does that mean he is done with me entirely?
He grumbles about twelve very not nice things about me and everyone else associated with me. “Get back to HQ. Now!”
I say I will and hang up the call.
“Fuck!” I scream into the windshield and hit the steering wheel over and over and over until my fists and chest hurt.
I rip my hand through my hair. He wants to meet at the room. He isn’t completely done with me. I’ll make this right. I’ll set things straight. I can’t let him turn me away, not now. Not now.