Nocturne 040 – Scions 02 - Patrice Michelle - Insurrection (8 page)

Every once in a while they would pass special rooms to their left and right. The first open room they came to was an insane asylum scenario with torture equipment and “patients” screaming out during an electric shock session. The second was an eerie cellar with jars of body parts in a clear liquid on a wooden shelf. Meat hooks hung on the far wall and a crazed “killer” with stringy hair and a scarred face yelled as he swung a bloodied ax toward the crowd. They all jumped back at the same time his ax hit a Plexiglas wall between them.

Kaitlyn’s pulse raced and he could smell her fear rising above the others around them. Even though he knew this was all pretend and her fear was superficial, not life-threatening, his wolf’s protective instincts still reared up within him.

He had to stop himself from literally lifting Kaitlyn in his arms and carrying her the rest of the way through the damned freak show. They shuffled along with the rest of the patrons down another hall. This time the wooded park scene before them made his throat close—

and his heart pound. Wolf howls echoed from the speakers on the floor and a huge gray animatronics wolf pushed his head and the front part of his body through thick shrubbery in the left corner. His eyes glowed a bloodred color, while his bared teeth and sharp canines dripped bloody drool.

When Kaitlyn didn’t flinch or tense at the scene before them, Landon’s chest swelled with pride. Just as he was letting out a sigh of relief, a different howl ripped through the loud haunted house, its pitch so feral and piercing, he winced.

Another creature stepped out from behind a thick tree in the park, baring down on the unsuspecting female actress who’d screamed in fear as she’d passed the wolf emerging from the bushes. She’d run deeper into the forest to get away from the animal. The humanlike werewolf’s body was covered with a coating of light fur, and he stood well over sixand-a-half-feet tall with black evil eyes, pointy ears and a wolf’s snout. He displayed a whole set of razor-sharp teeth as he stalked the female, walking on his toes. His alien-looking elongated fingers sprouted deadly claws and he emitted vicious, bloodthirsty growls. Out of everything Landon had seen that night, this actor’s mannerisms, costume and makeup were by far the most convincing.

Kaitlyn began to shake in his arms. “Too hot,” she said, right before her legs collapsed and her body went limp.

Landon’s concern for Kaitlyn spiked. He gripped her waist and lifted her off the floor and against his chest, while he scanned for an exit sign. Shouldering his way through the crowd, he burst through the exit door at the end of the blackened hall.

Cool night air rushed toward them, freezing his lungs. He quickly swept Kaitlyn’s unconscious body into his arms. Carrying her to a wooden bench to the right of the exit, he sat down and cradled her against his chest. Regret and worry bunched his shoulder muscles. He’d never felt so out of control, so fiercely protective for another in his life. The sensations slammed into him in unrelenting waves, battering his defenses. He slid his trembling fingers up her waist to her rib cage, careful to touch her gently. Kaitlyn’s strong heartbeat thumped under his palm as he stared at her slack features. The entire experience in the haunted house and the protective streak hammering in his head made him realize just how much he’d come to value this human. Somewhere along the way, he’d connected with her, not just from a protector’s viewpoint, but from a werewolf’s pack member perspective. He thought of her as one of his own…one he also wanted with a deep abiding desire that knocked him in the gut. Running his nose along her temple, he drank in her unique smell of violet and musk.

And ached.

It was painful, wanting a woman he couldn’t have, but he didn’t trust himself not to hurt her if things between them heated up. Whenever she was near, he had a hard time keeping his wolf side at bay. The beast was always there, just under his skin, growling for him to take action. Adding sex to the mix would only heighten his primal senses, making it very easy to forget just how breakable she was.

But she would have his loyalty. There was nothing quite like a wolf’s dedication to his pack mates. Landon knew he’d defend her with every last breath in his body. Just as any Alpha would.

“You smell good, too.” Kaitlyn’s warm hand cupped his jaw and her languid voice sent a jolt of heat rushing through him.

Landon’s insides rocked at the pleasing feel of her soft touch on his skin. His groin instantly tightened, his body craving more. Fighting his instinctive response, he quickly set her down on the bench and stood.

“Glad to see you’re back to the land of the conscious.”

Chapter 4
T he condescending undertone in his curt comment made Kaitlyn feel like the world’s biggest wimp. She sat up straighter and gripped the rough edge of the bench, thankful for the brisk night air to clear her head. Waking up cradled in Landon’s strong arms, his hand resting on her ribs mere inches from her breast while he inhaled and groaned, caused her heart rate to hitch and her body to react in unprecedented, painful throbs.

God, the sexy man did it for her, hitting every single nerve ending. Something about his masculine scent, heavy with musky notes, rattled her brain whenever he was close.

She met his cold stare and tried to reason through his obvious need to keep his distance from her. Business. He wanted to keep their relationship purely professional.

Fine.

She gave a half laugh, hoping he couldn’t see the color she knew had to be spreading across her cheeks. “I guess the body heat finally got to me.” In truth, the werewolf actor was so close to the outlined body she’d seen in the ashes, filling in the blanks with a visual 3-D representation, she seriously began to question her sanity. Werewolves didn’t exist.

Glancing behind her at the dark Tacomi building and warehouse, she mentally shrugged off her musings about fantastical werewolf imaginings and sexy P.I.s and turned back to Landon with a forced smile.

“Great job finding the back exit. We’re where we need to be.”

“I think we should bag this idea. You’re not up to it.”

Resentment blossomed in her chest. How dare he assume she couldn’t go through with their plans. She jumped up and pulled open the two buttons on her jacket with quick jerks so she could get to her gun if she needed it. “Let’s go,” she said in a clipped tone before she climbed through the split-rail fencing that curved around from the back to the front side of the warehouse.

She didn’t look back as she ran toward the huge full-limbed red oak tree that sat up against Tacomi’s high fence. Once she reached her destination, she stood staring up at the tree’s massive trunk.

“I see how you plan to get over, but how do you plan to get back out?”

Landon spoke next to her.

Damn, how had he followed without my hearing his footfalls? She batted her lashes and gripped his bicep through his leather jacket. “Don’t you know that’s why you’re here, you manly man, you? So you can give me a boost up with your Herculean muscles.”

His eyebrow elevated. “And how am I supposed to get back over?”

She eyed the low limbs on the other side of the fence. “You’re taller. You can jump up and reach that lowest limb.”

“Do I look like I have springs in my legs?”

She let out a huff of impatience. “If you can’t reach it by jumping, then you can climb the fence to get to the limb.” Before he could respond, she released him and stood on her toes to grab hold of a low-hanging limb. Her muscles strained, but she managed to hitch herself up to a sitting position on the thick branch.

“You’re certifiable,” he muttered as she gazed down at him. Kaitlyn flashed an appreciative smile. “Just very determined. Come on,”

she said before she grabbed another branch above her, climbing higher. A few minutes later, her heart raced as she inched across a thick limb that grew horizontal to the ground and crossed the fence’s edge, encroaching onto Tacomi property. Her palms burned slightly from the rough bark as she lay on her belly, then swung her legs down and gripped the limb on either side of her body. Landon waited on another limb and snapped his disapproval. “Insane woman.”

She ignored his comment and ever-so-slowly lowered her body until her feet hung toward the Tacomi property at least seven feet below her. Taking a deep breath, she let go and prayed the shock to her legs didn’t sprain anything.

When her feet hit, a sharp pain radiated from her right ankle, making her gasp, but she was more surprised by the fact that Landon landed next to her two seconds later. She shook off the pain and scowled at him. “How’d you do that so fast?”

He lifted his right arm and curled his fist in a bodybuilder pose, his white teeth gleaming in the dim light. “My manly muscles.”

She rolled her eyes, then started toward the Tacomi warehouse with a quick, crouched down stride. As she made her way across the thick prairie grass, she gritted her teeth from the dull pain throbbing in her right ankle.

“Spoilsport,” he called in a low voice as he shot past her. Even though he was in the same hunched pose, the man moved with a stealthy grace she couldn’t help but admire.

A couple minutes later, her lungs working hard from her dash across the field, Kaitlyn leaned up against the side of the warehouse next to Landon and whispered, “Now to get inside.”

“With a fence like this you know they’ll have a security system,” he reminded her.

“I have a ‘Get out of Jail Free’ pass.” She gave a triumphant grin and pulled an I.D. badge out of her back pocket. She’d taken it earlier that day while the security guard had left his post.

“Where’d you get tha—” he cut himself off with a heavy sigh. “Never mind. I believe there’s an entrance just around the corner of this building.”

Landon stayed next to the building and she did the same, following him. Once they’d turned the corner, they had only a few more feet to go to get to the entrance. The cool night air whipped around the warehouse, stirring scents of axel grease and other unknown manufacturing fumes into a heavy cocktail. Her eyes started to water from the strong smell, and she pinched her nose.

Landon was almost to the door. He reached behind him for the security I.D. card, but as she started to hand it to him, his hand dropped, returning to his side. He halted outside the entrance and reached toward the handle.

Kaitlyn stepped beside him. “What’s wrong—” she started to ask, when her gaze locked on his thumb, rubbing the metal handle. He had a curious look on his face as he stared at the substance beneath his hand. It radiated like a warning beacon and was the same bright iridescent glow she’d seen around the ashes in the park. This time the handprint was even more defined against the smooth metal surface.

Landon could see it, which meant…the shit had to have seen the handprints in the park. Kaitlyn felt as if she’d just been slapped in the face. She clenched her teeth and curled her hands into tight fists. “You lied to me,” she said, punching him in the arm.

Landon scowled. “What are you talking about?”

Kaitlyn gestured to the door handle. “You can see the handprint on there just as clear as I can. Which means you saw what I saw in the park.”

“It’s a handprint?” Landon rubbed the sparkly substance that had come off the door between his fingers.

“No more lies, Landon. You can see it.”

He shook his head. “I don’t see a handprint, just an oil-based, iridescent substance—”

“Which you saw in the park, too,” she interrupted, frowning. She could tell by his expression she had him there.

“I wasn’t sure what I saw.”

“Stop being evasive.” Swiping the I.D. badge through the reader on the wall next to the door, Kaitlyn pulled open the door. “I’m doing what I came to do.”

Damn, Landon had never seen her so pissed. The sight of her narrowed gaze and red cheeks both excited and riled his own temper. He grabbed the heavy metal door before it shut and locked him out. As he entered through the back entrance, Kaitlyn had just turned out of the darkened hallway, entering an office marked Manager.

Landon eyed the lights farther down the hall. He could smell the machinery oils and hear the equipment pumping and pistoning along with the ching of scrap parts falling to the cement floor. Some voices rose above the loud factory noise off in the distance. They didn’t have much time.

He picked up his pace. When he walked through the office doorway, Kaitlyn pointed to the jacket hanging on the back of the chair sitting in front of the manager’s desk.

Landon’s gaze locked on the white G with a dagger slashed through it emblazoned on the back of the black coat. Garotter.

Anger tightened his chest. First the sparkles on the door handle to this warehouse, linking someone associated with Tacomi to whoever had murdered the Lupreda zerker, and now a Garotter jacket was here…not a good combination. He glanced at Kaitlyn, who was rifling through a filing cabinet, and motioned for her to leave.

She shook her head at the same time she pulled out a file and set it on the desk in front of her.

Landon’s sensitive hearing picked up footsteps coming closer. Shit. He burst into speed, moving at a pace he knew would freak Kaitlyn out if she’d been paying attention. He jerked the folder out of her hand and slipped it back in the file cabinet before he shut the drawer.

“Someone’s coming. We don’t have time to get out of here before they reach us,” he said in a harsh tone next to her ear. Tugging her toward the double doors in the corner of the room, he opened the narrow doors and shoved Kaitlyn in the supply closet, stepping in behind her. Complete darkness engulfed them once he closed the door. The closet was only a few inches wider than his shoulders, and the supply shelves jutted out, giving them just enough space to stand face-to-face. When he pressed his body flush against the front of Kaitlyn’s in order to shut the doors behind him, her small hands landed on his waist, making a knot form in his throat. Damn, it was a tight fit. Not to mention the small space left him little choice but to take in her appealing smell.