CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Penelope squinted her eyes and lifted her arm to protect them from the bright artificial light when Marcia had finally deemed it safe to take off her blindfold.
She couldn’t believe that Marcia Goldman, the woman whom she’d seen as a second mother and as her parents’ best friend, had been the one to blindfold her and the twins before leaving the mansion!
Anger boiled in her veins, but Penny couldn’t afford to lose her temper.
Not here, and not now. She gave Marcia a forced smile, then looked around for Nina and Kosta.
She spotted them standing awkwardly at the foot of the stairs, right behind Richard Goldman, who was in deep conversation with Enzo.
She sighed in relief. At least, Enzo was there.
Theresa had already shifted. The beautiful she-bear was in the ring, walking in circles and growling, putting on a show for the rich people who were half-cheering and half-pissing their pants in fear.
Penny couldn’t help but notice how graceful she was, at the same time exuding raw strength and intimidating every single person in the dingy basement.
Marcia showed her where their seats were, but Penny nodded and descended the stairs, wanting to take a look around first.
She had never expected to see so many shifters gathered in one place.
Some of them were in their animal form, and the ones who weren’t were wearing some sort of thin leather collars, so it was easy to spot them.
They were all lingering close to their owners.
Some were studying the she-bear in the ring curiously, while others didn’t dare raise their gaze from the floor.
Dog-shifters, cat-shifters, two monkey-shifters who were circling the ring, as if they weren’t sure what to make of the bear…
Penny even saw a coyote-shifter in a corner.
Apparently, Nina and Kosta weren’t the only sheep-shifters, as she saw a timid black sheep eyeing the coyote and keeping her distance as best as she could.
Making her way through the small crowd and nodding now and then, she noticed something: most of the shifters were either children, teenagers, or young adults.
She wondered what their owners did with the ones who reached the age of adulthood.
The fighters were either shifted, or they were wearing normal, comfortable clothes.
However, the girls and young women, were generally dressed in skimpy, flashy garments.
Penny felt slightly sick to her stomach.
Gladly, Goldman had taken her advice and allowed Nina and Kosta to wear plain clothes.
Moving on, she made sure to study every corner of the room.
Here and there, she saw armed guards keeping an eye on the shifters.
The exit was heavily guarded, too. “This won’t be easy,” she thought.
People were going to get hurt in a few minutes, and she hoped the twins would get out of there unharmed.
Enzo was counting on taking everyone by surprise and causing a huge chaos.
As long as the guards didn’t shoot the shifters in the heart or in the head, they could easily heal from any wound.
Some might take longer than others, but few could be truly fatal.
As for the humans present… neither Penny, nor Enzo cared much whether they’d get out of there alive.
If a stray bullet hit any of them, it wouldn’t be their fault.
Penny saw Goldman and Enzo step into the ring. Nina and Kosta were with Marcia now, so she went to them. It was her duty to make sure they were safe.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Goldman began in a cheerful, booming voice. “I know you have questions about tonight’s event. It’s very unusual, indeed, but also the most exciting thing we’ve organized so far. Don’t you agree?”
Some people nodded in approval, while others chose to stay silent and wait for Goldman to convince them.
“I would love to take credit for all of this,” he motioned toward the whole room, “… but the truth is that it was Enzo’s idea. We’ve gathered here tonight to welcome our new member and partner to our humble club. Let me hear a round of applause for Enzo Salvador and his bear-shifter, Theresa!”
When those around her started applauding and cheering loudly, Penelope had no choice but to join them.
Her eyes were fixed on the ring, and when she looked past Enzo’s shoulder for a second, she caught Killian’s gaze.
He was looking at her from the other side of the room.
He hadn’t been there a moment ago, so she could only guess he had just arrived straight from the office.
She gulped. Penny really liked Killian. Even after finding out he was part of his father’s club, she still saw him as a brother.
She took a deep breath, then smiled and waved at him.
He nodded and smiled back. As her gaze returned to Richard and Enzo, Penny had a feeling that was the last time she’d see her childhood friend.
She rubbed her sweaty palms on the classic black jeans she was wearing, then placed them on Nina’s and Kosta’s shoulders and pulled the kids closer to her.
Marcia didn’t notice. She was too entranced by her husband’s speech.
Goldman had started telling the story of how he had founded the club ten years before, and everyone was listening, nodding, whispering among themselves from time to time, and waiting for the glasses of champagne they knew were coming after the founder’s speech was over.
Penelope couldn’t focus. Champagne was the last thing on her mind.
She knew no one there would get to drink a single sip.
Enzo had said he intended to strike fast and hard, so she was bracing herself and holding the twins in an almost desperate grip.
“Now, Enzo… Would you like to say a few words?”
Enzo shook Goldman’s hand and stepped forward.
He cleared his throat and took his time to study the whole audience for a long moment.
His green eyes lingered with intensity on each shifter who looked up to meet his gaze.
Little by little, even the ones who were the most submissive felt his presence and his silent call.
The Aries Guardian focused on his own breathing, using it to draw more power and authority into his body.
For now, he didn’t move a muscle. He didn’t have to.
As he stood tall and proud in the knowledge that he was an immortal demigod, he became so radiant and magnetic that even the humans started regarding him with new-found respect.
When he felt the time was right, he started speaking in a calm, confident voice.
“You know why you are all here tonight. You know why I am here. I’m looking at you, at each and every one of you. Do you know what I see?”
Awkward silence. Half of the audience didn’t understand a thing. The other half understood more than Enzo could express in words. They sensed his strength, his devotion and determination. They heard his call to battle without him having to spell it out for them.
“I see… warriors.” His last word was a whisper.
In the blink of an eye, before the humans even realized something was about to happen, Enzo let out an angry cry and pushed his chest forward.
The buttons of his white shirt popped one by one, then all his clothes turned to shreds when he shifted faster than he had ever shifted in his life.
When he fell forward, he wasn’t a man anymore.
In the middle of the ring, there stood a black ram with strong, curved horns at the ready.
Behind him, the she-bear stepped closer, lifting herself up on her hind legs and releasing a mighty roar that made the walls shake.
“Come on, it’s time to go.”
Penny grabbed the twins by the hands and tried to pull them toward the exit.
The guards were starting to catch up with what was going on, and the club members were pushing each other, yelling, and ordering their shifters to attack the ram and the bear who had taken over the ring.
Nina and Kosta resisted her. When Kosta pulled his hand free and started shifting, Penelope felt like her heart had stopped beating for a second.
She froze. Then, Nina followed her brother’s example, and Penny found herself surrounded by teenagers and young adults who were shifting into various animals and attacking their former masters.
“Nina, Kosta! No! That wasn’t the plan!”
She tried running after them, but they were soon out of her sight.
The next thing she knew, the sound of gunshots filled the room.
She ducked, covered her head with her arms, and looked for a good place to hide.
When someone jabbed her in the ribs, she winced.
If she wasn’t careful, the club members and their wives would trample her, and then she’d fail to carry on the simple task Enzo had trusted her with.
Slowly, she made her way out from between the rows of chairs and stopped against the wall.
The chaos was concentrated around the ring, so Penny managed to dig her phone out of her bra with trembling hands.
Of course, she wasn’t supposed to have a phone with her, but no one had thought to check between her generous breasts when Marcia had brought her here, blindfolded.
She curled into a ball as best as she could and hoped the shifters wouldn’t notice her.
Enzo had given her the address an hour before the event had started, as he himself hadn’t known it too long in advance.