Chapter 23
Tori mostly stumbled down the stairs in the dark. Cyan kept a firm hand biting into her upper arm to hold her steady. Tori didn’t understand how the other woman could see in the ink black stairwell. No emergency lights strobed, and the thrumming pulse of the alarm was muffled.
A whimper escaped her mouth. She was trying hard to hold it together, but all of this was out of her depth, and Tori was definitely going under for a third time.
“You are doing very well, Tori, don’t give up now,” Cyan’s words were comforting, even though her tone was far from it.
Cyan pushed through a door, and the lights hurt Tori’s eyes. They pulsed in time with the throbbing in her head. She ran, trying to keep up with Cyan’s rapid pace.
She saw the beast heading toward them and froze. A strangled scream got stuck in her throat. It came out like a vomit of sound. Cyan clamped her hand over Tori’s mouth.
“Shut up, he will not harm us. Give me that—” Cyan pried the iron from Tori’s clenched grip— “before you do something you regret.”
The wolf, and it was a wolf— there was no mistaking the intense eyes, the elongated snout, and the sheer size of the beast— ran straight to Tori, headbutting into her middle. She stood frozen, hands lifted above her shoulders, holding her arms away from him.
Cyan reached out and grabbed him by the ruff. “Did you bring any friends?”
The wolf glared at her, and then huffed, as if they were communicating.
Cyan grabbed one of Tori’s arms and wrenched it down, putting her hand into the thick fur at his neck. It was soft, and comforting. The wolf let out a soft whine. And then Tori fell to her knees, clutching the beast to her. She was safe now. She didn’t know why, but he would keep her safe.
“Les, I need to get your woman out of here. Viktor is still upstairs. You were right, it was Madyson. She seems to have gotten a few of my men to turn.”
“And Mark. Oh my God, that was Mark who was with her when she hit me in the head.” Tori looked up at Cyan. “Madyson, long dark hair, sour face. Dresses super boring and conservative. Right? That’s who was in the kitchen when I got here.”
“Si, that is her,” Cyan confirmed.
“Why is she doing this?” Tori asked.
“I am not fully certain. But I have my suspicions. We need to go.” Cyan dragged Tori back to her feet.
She didn’t want to let go of the wolf. He was an anchor in this maelstrom of confusion and danger.
“Be careful,” Cyan said to the wolf.
He pressed against Tori’s hip and licked her fingers.
“I will keep her safe, go,” Cyan dismissed the wolf with a flick of her hand. He ran in the opposite direction.
Tori stayed tight on Cyan’s heels as they ran down the grand staircase and headed toward the front doors. Cyan skidded to a halt and threw out her arm to stop Tori.
“What is it?”
“That’s my car, but I don’t know if I can trust Sigmund anymore. I don’t know who I can trust, or how far this conspiracy goes. To the back of the building.”
Tori gasped as the smell hit her first. It was the smell of death. She refused to focus and for once was grateful for the bad lighting inside. As they pushed into the kitchen, a swarm of wolves flowed past them and into the hotel.
She should have been terrified, but something told her they were the cavalry here to save the day.
She kept running, out through the broken doors and onto the loading dock. She stopped when she saw Honey kneeling over Chef.
“Oh, thank God, Tori, you’re all right,” Honey said as she pushed to her feet and pulled Tori into a hug.
“What is going on here?” Tori asked.
“I didn’t think Les had called in any backup. Your presence is most welcome,” Cyan said with a bitter chuckle.
“Les didn’t call. Melinda did. Fernando said Madyson isn’t who you think she is.”
“My brother’s little wolf is the one who called?”
Honey nodded. She helped Tori to sit on the dock.
“Tori? What are you doing here? Where did Les go?” Jen crawled from where she leaned against the building to Tori’s side.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Tori admitted.
“I think it’s a terrorist attack,” Jen said.
“Hardly, it’s a coup,” Cyan said. “What did my brother have to say?”
Honey shrugged. “I got everything second hand. She talked to Morgan. You can get the specifics from him when they come back. But what I gathered is Fernando thought your new assistant seemed familiar but couldn’t identify her. He picked up some whispering at the coven house, and then he figured it out. She used to be part of Coventry’s harem.”
Cyan’s mouth dropped open. “Coventry’s harem had all been Rubenesque, voluptuous, and blonde. I had taken care of them myself, overseeing the removal of their memories, and relocating them.”
“Madyson is hardly new. And she—” Cyan stopped talking.
“But didn’t Coventry get destroyed before Lazarus?” Honey asked.
“No, Lazarus fell first, and then Coventry. But they had one supporter who got away. He must have found the survivors of Coventry’s harem.”
The conversation that went on above Tori’s head was confusing with all the names she didn’t recognize. Where was Les, and how was Honey mixed up in all of this.
Moments later, a big man with dark hair, and who was completely naked, hauled Viktor onto the back doc. Viktor stumbled. Tori thought Viktor was big, but the two men were of a size.
Cyan braced him with her hands on his ribs and helped him slowly to the floor.
“That’s a good look on you babe, but you know, pants are a thing,” Honey said with a startled laugh.
The naked man grumbled something and turned back into the hotel. Honey picked up an armful of discarded clothes and walked into the kitchen.
“Tori? Tori!”
She spun when she heard Les call her name. He stood hiding behind the broken door.
“Les?” She vaulted to her feet and ran to him. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
He looked past her, and out at the loading dock. “Can you get my clothes? They’re on my bike.”
“What’s going on, Les?”
“Cyan, will you come in here?” A deep voice called from behind Les.
Tori could see people moving about, but she wasn’t certain what was happening. Cyan walked past her.
“At least grab my jeans. I promise I will explain.” Les reached out and ran his fingers down Tori’s cheek.
“Okay.” She turned and walked down the ramp. Nothing made sense. There were a bunch of naked men around, and where had the wolves gone? She picked up Les’s clothes. “Oh.” Suddenly everything made sense if Les and his friends were a bunch of werewolves. And that was stupid. She must have hit her head really hard. She carried the clothes back to Les.
He dragged her behind the door with him, wrapping his arms around her and claiming her lips with his.
“I’m sorry. I was stupid and jealous.” He pulled his jeans on. “Connie about disowned me when I got back. She told me I had to ask you to tell me everything about Samantha and beg for your forgiveness. I know the timing right now with all of this is crazy, but I’ve never fucked anything up so badly in my life as I did when I left you.”
Tori put her fingers over his mouth. “Do you love me?” She blinked back tears.
He dropped the shirt he had started to pull on and pulled her back into his arms. She rested her cheek against his chest as he began stroking her hair. “I love you. I love you, and I’ve never been more scared than when I knew you were inside, and I couldn’t find you.”
She let out a soft giggle. “I still don’t know what’s going on.”
“That’s probably not a bad thing. Let’s get out of here,” he said.
Tori nodded. She bent down to pick up the shirt he dropped.
There was a deafening bang. Les dropped on top of her. “Stay down,” he snarled.
“Ah, fuck!” Someone bellowed. Someone else screamed.
“Are you hurt?” Les asked.
Tori shook her head. No, not hurt, at least not this time. “You?”
“No.” Les rolled off her and pulled her tight against the wall, into the small space the open door created. Les crowded Tori behind him, protecting her. The confusing events of the evening continued to unfold, as she watched over Les’s shoulder.
Viktor, clamping a hand over his shoulder, red spreading over the sleeve of his still half open dress shirt charged past them like a rampaging bull.
The door from the kitchen to the front of the house was open, and Mark, the hotel manager, stood framed in it, a gun in his hand. There was a sound like the fabric of reality was being torn in half, and Cyan was suddenly on Mark’s back, her hand around his neck. Someone else screamed. A half-naked man, Tori hadn’t seen before, rushed forward, suddenly he was a wolf, his jeans dropping to the floor behind him as he ran.
There was a pile of bodies and snarling animals. Viktor kicked someone aside and lifted Cyan out of the melee. He carried her, kicking and screaming, away from the fight. He set her on one of the long prep tables and pointed a finger in her face. Tori didn’t hear the words, but it looked like a scolding. And then they were making out as if the world didn’t exist.
“Les?” Tori asked, “What the hell is going on here?”
“I don’t know if I can even explain everything,” he admitted.
The mass of bodies slowly broke apart. Mark was flat out on the floor, a wolf had its jaws wrapped around his neck. The woman, Madyson, sat, curled in on herself. Her blouse torn to strips, blood smeared over her face, arms, and legs. Yet another naked guy held a gun pointed at her.
There seemed to be a definite connection between how many naked men were around versus how many wolves were around. And all the men seemed to be built like walls of muscle.
Viktor still stood with Cyan at the prep tables, only instead of making out, she was tying a strip of fabric over his shoulder. One of his sleeves was missing.
“Les, help Diablo out,” the big man Honey had called Babe directed him.
“You’ll be okay.” Les told Tori. It wasn’t a question.
He stepped out of the space he had crowded her into for protection, and crossed the kitchen, taking the gun from the naked man.
Les nodded at Diablo and took the gun. He crouched down behind Mark. And to think he had liked the general manager.
“What the fuck, dude?” Les asked. He kept his eyes on Mark’s back, only casting a quick glance at Tori, making sure she was still safe. Tonight had turned into one hell of a clusterfuck.
“I’m not saying anything without a lawyer present,” Mark grumbled.
Les laughed. “As if Cyan del Fuego will let you have a lawyer. I thought you were smarter than this. Banging the boss lady’s assistant was probably the dumbest thing you have done in your entire life. You know your wife is going to find out. Your entire career has been destroyed.”
“That man isn’t going to have a career after this,” Diablo said as he returned and took the gun back from Les.
“I found this guy out front,” Dante said, as he followed one of Cyan’s suited guards into the area. “And guess what I found in the engine?” He held up something that looked like an old cell phone with a lot of wires coming off of it.
The guard went straight to Madyson and kicked her. “You put a fucking bomb in my car, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
He looked up and crossed to where Cyan and Viktor were. The guard dropped to his knees and lowered his head. It looked like there was a renewal of vows of some kind. Cyan placed her hand on the top of his head. He stood, and immediately took up position behind her.
Les made eye contact with Cyan, a smirk spread across her face, and she nodded. Whatever this had been, she approved. Approved of what he didn’t know.
Morgan clapped him on the shoulder and took the gun. “You did well tonight, why don’t you take your girl home and try to smooth things over with her. We can talk about this later.”
Morgan continued until he stood with Viktor and Cyan.
Les didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately went to Tori and grabbed her hand, pulling her outside with him. “Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
He didn’t stop until he swung her onto the back of his bike. He climbed on and started the engine. “Hold on tight.”
He didn’t speed out of the alley, he took it easy, after all, he had Tori on the back.
“I don’t want to go home,” Tori said against his ear.
“Where to?”
“The gazebo, we need to talk.”