Lost Wolf (Curse of the Moon Book 1) (20 page)

My stomach twisted into tighter knots. Something was definitely wrong. I continued heading toward his office, anyway.

A tall blonde sat in the chair behind the desk.

"Is this Professor Foley's office?" I asked.

Her eyes widened when we made eye contact.

"Soleil?" I asked, remembering the girl who had spoken with me at the Jag. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm friends with Toby." Her expression was somber.

"What's wrong?" I exclaimed. "Where is he?"

She gestured for me to come inside. "Close the door."

I did and then sat across from her. "Is he okay?"

"We don't think so."

I felt like throwing up. "What happened?"

She took a deep breath. "It's rather complicated, and you don't remember anything."

"Huh?"

Soleil bit her lip. "I'm not sure how much he would want me telling you."

I stared at her. "You do realize I'm just his student?" Though I was sure I was about to find out more about not only him, but my memory issues as well.

She held my gaze. "You and I both know that's not true, honey."

My shoulders dropped and a lump formed in my throat. "I don't know
anything.
"

"You know more than you're letting yourself admit to."

"Stop talking in riddles!"

"This would go a lot faster if I could drink from your essence again."

I stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"This." She got up, walked around the desk, and stopped inches from me. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth. Mine opened on its own. The same silky feeling from our last interaction pulled up from deep within me and out through my throat.

My eyes fought to shut, but I forced them open as a warm tingle ran through my body, massaging every inch of me. A sparkling purple mist swirled in between our mouths, appearing to travel from mine to hers. If that wasn't weird enough, wings appeared behind her, taking up the entire office. A slight breeze brushed over me with each movement.

The pulling sensation continued and the tingle grew warmer as the mist grew darker in color. Finally, my body went limp. I couldn't remember what I'd been so upset about just moments earlier.

Soleil closed her mouth and everything stopped. I jerked backward. She opened her eyes—and they were an unnatural shade of green. She blinked and they returned to normal. Her wings disappeared.

I stared at her, breathless.

"Okay, now that I'm up to speed—"

"What was that?" I demanded. "You did that to me at the Jag, too."

"For Toby."

My mouth gaped. "What?"

She returned to the seat. "Your dreams—those are actual memories."

"I-I… How do you know about my dreams?"

"When I drank your essence, I gained access to everything."

I scowled. "Everything? My memories, you mean?"

"Only what you allowed, and—"

"I didn't allow anything! You didn't even tell me what you were doing." Anger tore through me. "How dare you?"

"Look, Toby needs our help. Are you willing or not?"

"Where
is
he?"

"Being held against his will."

The room seemed to spin around me. "What?"

"Look, I don't want to overwhelm you. There's a lot you don't know, but I know you remember Toby—even though you doubt."

I felt completely naked. Her essence drinking, whatever that was, had given her access to all my thoughts. "Well, whatever you just did to me, you should know what I'm willing to do," I snapped. "And how do you know he's being held against his will? Did you steal his essence, too?"

She muttered under her breath. "He was trying to protect you."

Everything disappeared around me as I stared at her. I couldn't find any words.

Soleil reached around me and helped me to stand. "Here, come sit in the comfortable chair." She helped me around the desk and sat me in the soft seat.

"We need to get him out, but you're the only one with a way in."

"You've got to be kidding me." I leaned my elbows against the desk and accidentally knocked over a stack of papers—I really was a klutz.

"Nope. None of us can get near him."

"Why me?" I picked up the fallen papers and put them on the desk. A framed picture sat on the desk, face down. I pulled it upright and gasped.

It was a photo of me.

Or someone who looked just like me. I held it, trying to make sense of everything. The girl looked just like me, down to a barely-noticeable scar in front of my right ear. Only she was wearing an outfit I'd never seen and was sitting in front of a pond I'd never been to—at least that I was aware. I hated my memory.

"Wh-what's this?" I shoved the frame at Soleil.

"His favorite picture."

I pushed the chair back, shaking my head. "This is all a joke. A really cruel prank." I glanced around for hidden cameras.

She shook her head. "It's not, and he needs
you
."

The room seemed to close in around me. My stomach lurched. "I'm going to be sick."

"The toilet's down the hall and to the right."

I ran past her and found the bathroom just in time. As soon as I rinsed my mouth, I hurried out of the building as fast as I could.

Why did he have my picture? What did it all mean? Whatever the answers were, I couldn't face them.

Chapter 21

Toby

My head snapped back, waking me. I blinked my eyes, trying to get rid of the bleariness. My arms ached from being tied over my head for so long. I pulled on them, but the metal only dug into my skin again.

I steadied my legs underneath me, using them rather than the chains, to keep me standing upright. If only I had something to lean against. Or to drink. I was parched.

How long had I been in the dark dungeon?

Over to the side of the room lay a human skeleton, still in chains.

That didn't offer me much hope. The only thing I had going for me was that Brick, Sal, and Jet knew I'd gone into the club. But was I even still there? Surely this room wasn't advertised in their brochures.

My right eye throbbed, reminding me of the beating I'd received after being chained. The owner had sucker punched me a few times before unleashing a couple of his men on me.

I coughed, which only made sharp pains shoot out from my ribs. At least all the pain distracted me from the hunger and thirst.

The doorknob jiggled.

My head shot to attention. Was I in for another beating, or would they give me something to drink finally?

The door opened, and in walked the owner. He looked at me and laughed. "How's it going?"

I clenched my teeth, refusing to give him the pleasure of an answer.

"The strong, silent type, are you? We'll see how far that gets you. If you want any water, you better answer my questions."

I groaned involuntarily.

He laughed again. "That's what I thought. What were you doing inside my building?"

"Looking for answers."

"More specific." He punched me across the face.

Blood gushed from my nose. It dripped down my face and onto my bare chest. Instinctively, I tried wiping it, but the chains stopped me. Sharp pains shot through my shoulder.

"Why were you here?"

"Victoria."

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere." A slow, sly smile spread across his face. "My son had a nice make out session with her last night."

I lunged at him, not that it did any good.

"I've got the video to prove it." He pulled out a phone and slid his finger around the screen. "One of these days, Carter will find out about the cameras I have everywhere and be pissed." He chuckled. "But what can he do?"

I turned away from him, ignoring the shooting pains in my neck.

"Here we go. Look at this."

"No," I grunted.

The jerk grabbed my face and forced me to look at the screen. It showed Victoria with the guy she'd been eating with the night before. They sat at a candle-lit table surrounded by plants, just talking.

"Wait for it."

Carter turned to my Victoria and ran his hand along her face. She then kissed his fingertips.

I closed my eyes, refusing to watch anymore.

My captor made a noise in his throat and then something wet hit my eye. "I said to watch," he growled. "Should I turn the volume on?"

I opened my eyes and glared at him through the spit hanging on my eyelashes.

He squeezed my chin and shoved the screen closer to my face.

Carter ran his hands through Victoria's hair. She had her hand on his arms as he flexed. From the expression on her face, she was enjoying herself.

My stomach twisted in knots. The wolf inside me raged, eager to escape. I averted my eyes, unable to watch.

The fingers around my face tightened. I brought my gaze back to the screen.

Now Carter kissed her face. Her neck. The look of enjoyment on her face made me sick.

"What have you done to her?" I demanded.

He laughed. "I didn't plan on this—but it worked out nicely. Carter was just supposed to keep an eye on her. I didn't expect a jaguar to fall for a lowly wolf, but I'll take it for now."

I lunged at him, not caring about the metal digging into my flesh.

"Watch the show." His fist hit my temple with a sickening crack.

On the screen, my captor's son passionately kissed my love. His hand went for the zipper on the back of her shirt and he started unzipping.

The screen turned black.

"You've seen enough. I suppose you've earned a sip of water. I'll let someone know. Have fun imagining what's on the rest of the video." He smirked and left the room, slamming the door behind himself.

Bile rose from my stomach as I tried not to think about the rest of the video. Had that sleazy jaguar…? I couldn't even finish the thought. Victoria and I had decided to save ourselves for marriage—back in those days, there was honor in such a decision.

Images from the video replayed over and over in my mind. The harder I tried not to think of them, the more vivid they grew. I thought of Victoria's sweet scent, her soft hair, those supple lips…

And now that jerk knew them as intimately as I did. Maybe even more.

Vomit rose into my mouth and I threw it up onto the floor until my stomach could only dry heave. Once I escaped, I would tear that conniving, greedy bastard to pieces—in front of his father. They would both pay. Heavily.

I fought against the chains as my flesh ripped all the more. Fresh droplets of blood dripped down my arm. I shouted, allowing my wolf to release all his anger along with me.

Once my throat was raw, I stopped. I'd exhausted myself.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. A different jaguar came in carrying a glass of water. "Finally quieted down, I see." His face turned green. "It reeks in here. What did you do?"

I stared at the drink, longing for even just a sip.

"What did you do?" he shouted.

"Only what's natural, given my circumstances."

He gagged. "I'm glad I'm not on janitorial duty tonight." He plugged his nose and walked around my vomit. "Disgusting."

"Maybe you shouldn't lock people in here."

"Like I have any say." He shoved the glass to my mouth. "Hurry up before I puke all over you from the stench."

I drank as quickly as I could. The water had a funny taste, but I didn't care. I just wanted to quench my thirst and get the horrible sourness leftover from vomiting out of my mouth.

He yanked the glass from my mouth before I'd finished it. "I can't do this." He ran out of the room, gagging.

The inside of my mouth felt better, but I was growing dizzy. Everything spun around me. Maybe that was a good thing. At least it kept me from thinking about Victoria and that jaguar making jaguar-wolf hybrid babies.

Everything turned black.

Chapter 22

Victoria

I climbed into my car, sure Yurika would fire me. It had been the worst day ever. I couldn't concentrate, worried about Toby and agitated by my run-in with Soleil. I kept trying to convince myself I'd imagined everything from her drinking my essence to her bright green eyes and wings. But I could still feel the strange purple mist leaving my body.

My only saving grace was that Carter probably wouldn't allow Yurika to let me go, despite my having spilled crimson nail polish on a lady's silk dress, making it look like she'd had a monthly mishap. If that wasn't bad enough, I'd also put the wrong lotion on another lady's hands, leaving her skin red and irritated.

After that, Yurika had given me papers to file and she'd worked double-duty with the clients.