Everlyn
I went with Zephyr. He’d returned to the house after his meeting with the club.
I’d woken up about thirty minutes before he did.
I showered and was waiting for him to return.
I felt refreshed and wide awake. When he entered the house, he gave me a brief rundown of the topics they discussed and said they were looking into things.
They’d know more by Wednesday’s regular meeting.
After he told me what was decided, he asked if I wanted to see the clubhouse. I asked what he meant by “clubhouse”. He smirked and said I’d have to come with him and find out. I raced to get dressed in clothes instead of my pajamas and pulled my hair back.
When we left the house, we walked instead of riding or driving.
We headed toward the outdoor barbecue area, which I thought was strange.
No one was outside. The security lights were on, and spotlights from the pathlights around it seemed to shine up at the mausoleum.
Zephyr led me around the mausoleum and up to the bronze doors. I stopped.
“Is this some kind of joke or trick? Is Fenrir hiding in there, waiting to jump out at me?” I asked, suspiciously.
“It’s not a joke, and no, he’s not,” Zephyr replied as he opened the doors.
His hold on my hand remained firm, so I had no choice but to enter with him.
I didn’t fight. Inside, it was lit by a soft glow, like the kind you’d see on a dimmer switch.
I’d thought about coming in here before we left for the rally and checking it out.
I’d never been in a mausoleum, but it looked like what I’d seen in movies.
I scanned for anyone lurking in the shadows. I saw no one.
I was led to the back of it, where a large stone door was. I thought of it as the entrance to a larger tomb. I wasn’t keen to open it. The dead should be allowed to rest in peace. However, it appeared that Zephyr thought otherwise because he reached for the bronze handle.
“Wait, why are we going into someone’s tomb?” I asked, digging in my heels.
He glanced over at me. “Evie, trust me.”
Taking a deep breath, I stopped resisting and let him open it. The stone door, for as heavy as it appeared, should have taken all his might to open, but it moved effortlessly. As it did, I gasped.
Inside wasn’t a crypt with a coffin or a dead mummified body in it. Instead, there was a flight of stairs leading down into the ground. The lights came on spontaneously, lighting the way. I automatically stepped inside, and the door shut behind us, making me jump.
“Just a tad further. The door handle has a built-in biometric reader. If your prints are in the system, then that door will open. If not, it stays closed. It’s programmed to close once it senses entry.
At the bottom of these stairs, you’ll find a metal door.
It has fingerprint and retinal scanners.
Either one will open the door, again, if you’ve been programmed in the system by Fenrir,” Zephyr explained as we descended.
I was speechless. It was like something out of a spy movie.
He was right. At the bottom was the metal door, where he pressed his hand against a screen next to it.
The door unlatched. When Zephyr swung it open, that’s when I heard the sound of voices.
As we entered, I found myself in a room, or more like a long hall, that was something out of a history book or a movie.
I froze and stared as the other Prowlers greeted us.
“This area is our clubhouse, or as we like to call it, our longhouse. We built it to match what a Viking longhouse looked like in our youth, but this one has modern conveniences and defined rooms for sleeping and storage. Oh, and there are no animals kept down here, unless you count my brothers and sisters,” Zephyr joked, saying the animal part loudly so they heard him.
Someone, maybe Fenrir, neighed like a horse.
Someone else made an oinking sound, and then it became a farm, with mooing, braying, clucking like a chicken, and barking.
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing.
When I stopped, I had to say it as he led me to the center, where there was an open firepit, and that was where the others were gathered.
“You are all a bunch of crazy animals. I swear, it’s amazing that you can be taken out in public for more than two seconds.” I teased them.
“Sane is boring,” Berserker exclaimed.
“Welcome to our clubhouse, the secret, inner sanctum of the Asgard Grave Prowlers,” Raider said formally as he stood and came to me.
He held out his hands, which I took after dropping Zephyr’s. Then, I was brought toward Raider, and he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“Your final acceptance ritual will be soon. It’s the final step to making you one of us.
And no, we won’t tell you what it entails.
It’s a surprise, but it won’t hurt. I do have to emphasize that showing you our clubhouse is a sign of trust. You can’t speak of it to anyone, not even Allegra.
If we decide she can know, we’ll allow you to show her.
Fenrir will have you go to his place to enter your retinal scan and fingerprints into the system so you can access it here.
You can arrange that whenever you’re ready.
Go ahead, and let Zephyr show you around, then come back and have a drink with us,” Raider finished saying before he let go of my hands.
“Thank you so much for trusting me with this. I can’t believe this has been here the entire time. I can’t wait to see it all,” I told the room as a whole.
They grinned at me. From there, Zephyr took my hand back and started the tour.
The roof was made of wood. The longhouse was a huge rectangular building.
Next to the firepit was a mostly open kitchen.
Tables with chairs and benches lined the space, along with other chairs and couches with soft cushions.
I was shown rooms that surrounded the main entertainment area.
Zephyr explained the storage rooms and the sleeping quarters.
It didn’t feel a bit claustrophobic, or even like we were underground, thanks to the specialized virtual windows and LED video walls they had scattered throughout. They created the illusion that we could see the outdoors by replacing images with outdoor scenes.
It was clear that a lot of time, thought, and money had gone into designing and building it.
And the fact that it was all hidden was truly amazing.
By the end of the tour, I noticed a door I wasn’t taken into, and I wasn't told what it contained.
When I asked what was in it, he hesitated.
No one was close, so I used his real name.
“Leif, I thought I was being let fully in.” I tried to withdraw my hand from his, but he clung to it.
“You are. I’m sorry, I’m just a bit sensitive about it.
You know that sometimes, we’re forced to do things like what we did to Caves.
At times, it’s safer, especially if we have to hold someone for an extended period, to have them here.
But they can’t be given freedom of the longhouse.
Behind this door is our prison slash torture chamber.
It doesn’t happen often, but we have it. ”
I let what he said sink in for a long pause before I responded. He watched me closely the entire time.
“I can see how it would be risky at times to do it in the open, as we did with Caves, especially for an extended period. I can’t say it thrills me that it’s here, but I understand the need.”
He brought me up against him and hugged me as he kissed me. When he let me up for air, I felt dizzy and very turned on.
“Are there more secrets I need to see or know about? Because if there are, hurry, so we can have a drink with everyone, and then you can take me to the house. I have an urgent need to be naked with you,” I whispered.
He let a soft growl slip from his lips.
“The only other thing is that there’s a secret tunnel on the opposite end behind a tapestry. I’ll show it to you later. And this entire thing can be sealed, making it a panic room if needed. Other than that, I think you have the idea. The next time you’re here, explore.”
“Oh, believe me, I will. Now, let’s go have our drink.”
I was the one who tugged on his arm and led him back to the others. He chuckled the whole way.
?
After the past few days I’d had, it was anticlimactic to go back to work.
I had a hard time getting back into the groove.
Part of the reason was the time I spent with Zephyr and the club, which made me want to spend more time with them.
The other was that I was tired of the cleanup project and wanted to be done with it, so I could devote myself full-time to Moore Enterprises.
I had to spend some time there soon to ease into the transition. However, it wouldn’t be today.
My plan was to stop by the main office, catch up on anything I needed to know, and then head to the worksite to see how much progress had been made while I was gone. I still felt guilty for leaving them alone for four days.
I wanted to get an early start. Zephyr insisted on following me not only home, where I got changed and ready for work, but also to the office.
I promised that when I headed over to the worksite, I’d let him know.
If he weren’t available, he promised someone from the club would meet me there.
I knew telling him not to worry wouldn’t work, so I saved my breath and gave him a kiss and a sweet thank you when he left me at the office’s door.
It was barely eight o’clock when I walked into the building.
It officially didn’t open until nine. However, there were coworkers already there.
I said hello to those I met. I went to see if Martin was in yet.
If he were, I’d see if he had time to speak to me.
If not, I’d go straight to my office and check out my emails and messages.
The temptation to do it yesterday was there, but I ignored it.