The Altered (26 page)

It not only
looked right, for a fleeting moment as they’d pulled up, Daniel had
felt
something
deep in his gut telling him to stop. They’d
passed the sign for Wembley Park Tube station about ten minutes ago
and Daniel was certain this was the place.

They were on
the edges of a large industrial estate. Some of the buildings
looked as though they hadn’t been used in a while, but appearances
could be deceiving.

The others
hurried out after him, and as soon as Sam hit the ground, he
growled—a low drawn-out sound that sent shivers down Daniel’s
spine. Daniel glanced back over his shoulder as Sam trotted over to
stand beside him. “He’s here somewhere, isn’t he?”

Sam licked at
Daniel’s fingers and took them gently into his mouth, tugging him
toward the back of the van. They didn’t have a plan as such, since
no one had the first idea of what sort of facility Jordan was being
kept in. For all anyone knew, it could be impossible for them to
get inside. One thing they could count on, though, it would be
guarded and alarmed, considering the lengths someone had gone to
keep it secret.

The brute
strength of the altereds was basically all they had on their side.
Well, that and whatever technical know-how Ash possessed. He spent
ages in his room on his laptop. Granted every time Daniel or Matt
asked what he did in there, Ash just shrugged and said he played
online games, so maybe he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

When they had
discussed the rescue back at the safe house, Ash had said he might
be able to get them in if the security system wasn’t too
sophisticated. But the odds of that being the case were slim to
none. They had to try, though.

Keira opened
the back door of the van and pulled out a couple of Kevlar vests
with Police emblazoned across the front and back.

Matt raised an
eyebrow and whistled as she handed them to Daniel and Ash. “Where
the hell did these come from?”

“I’m fast.
You’d be surprised what you can get away with when you try.”

Daniel took
the offered vest and slipped it on, glad for the protection. His
healing might be quicker than a human’s, but it was nothing like
the other altereds’, and he didn’t want to test it out against a
bullet wound. Daniel turned around to make sure Ash had his on, and
smiled when he saw Keira helping him with it. Sam sat watching in
obvious approval.

Whatever
animosity Keira had felt toward Ash over Sam seemed to have gone,
or at least lessened considerably.

As soon as
Daniel and Ash had their vests securely fastened, Matt closed the
van doors, and Keira locked up. “Ready?” she asked, glancing around
their group in turn. Everyone nodded. “Put your phones on
silent.”

Daniel quickly
did as she asked. It would be just his luck to get a text at the
wrong moment. He slipped his phone into his back pocket and waited
for the others to do the same.

He felt
incredibly vulnerable with only the Kevlar vest for protection.
They would more than likely be facing trained soldiers, and even
with his tae kwon do experience, Daniel would be no match for an
armed professional. None of their party had weapons—the altereds
didn’t need them, and neither Daniel nor Ash knew how to shoot a
real gun. Daniel wished he had something, though, if just to make
him feel better.

Keira caught
his arm as they set off, Sam in the front. “Hey, I have something
for you.”

Daniel watched
curiously as she reached behind her back and pulled out a knife,
sheathed in a black leather holder. The blade—when she took it out
to show him—was serrated on one edge, smooth on the other, and
about six inches long. “I figured you’re the one they’re going to
be after most, so you should have something to protect yourself
with.”

She held it
out toward him, and Daniel took it. “Thank you.”

Keira nodded
once and then left him to go and walk with Sam.

“What did she
give you?” Matt nudged Daniel’s shoulder as he came up beside him
with Ash in tow.

Daniel slid
the knife out of its sheath, turning it over and back as they
walked. “Nice, eh?”

Matt hummed in
appreciation and slid out his claws, flexing them next to the
knife. “Yep. I just hope they don’t come out guns blazing.” He
patted Daniel’s chest, where the police vest sat snug against him.
“Glad you’ve got this.”

“Yeah, me
too.”

Ash reached
out to take the knife from Daniel, whistling low and soft as the
blade glinted in the light of a street lamp. “Why don’t I get one?”
He handed it back with a frown.

Daniel glanced
up at the front of their group. He heard Sam make a soft huffing
noise. “I think you’ll be well protected when we get near.”

Ash followed
his gaze and ducked his head. “Yeah, maybe.”

He had a fond
look on his face, and Daniel wondered what Ash felt about the whole
“Sam” thing. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Sam had taken
an interest in Ash—he’d hardly left his side.

But Ash wasn’t
an altered. He had no experience of what it was like to have your
body and mind changed to be something else. Daniel wondered if Ash
saw Sam as a person trapped inside his shifted form or just as an
overfriendly wolf. And if Sam was never going to change back, did
it matter?

Daniel tucked
the knife into the back of his jeans and rubbed his forehead. The
whole idea of it made his head hurt, and the last thing he needed
was to be distracted right now.

They walked in
silence after that, no one wanting to make any unnecessary noise as
they got farther into the industrial estate. After they passed the
first couple of rundown buildings at the start, they found the ones
nearer the middle looked in use, if a little old. A couple of vans
were parked outside one building and a few plants stood outside
another—proving some businesses were still being run out of it.

Sam kept on
going, though, past all of them, and headed out to the farthest
part of the estate, which backed on to wasteland. One low building
sat apart from the others, and Daniel was almost disappointed with
how obvious it seemed. He’d expected something well hidden and hard
to find, considering how secret it was supposed to be.

His heart rate
ramped up at the prospect of finding Jordan inside. He refused to
let himself consider what sort of shape he might be in.

Keira put her
hand on Sam’s shoulder, stopping him before they left the cover of
one of the last buildings. They were hidden from sight where they
stood—tucked in the entranceway and shrouded in darkness.

Matt leaned
his back against the glass door, facing them. “I think it’s safe to
assume they have cameras covering the outside. I can’t see any from
here, but I can hear something that sounds like one moving.”

Charlie
nodded. “Yeah, we heard that too—about every ten seconds or so.” He
glanced behind them in the direction of the building. “We could
probably disable them without being seen.”

“But they’ll
know something’s up if their cameras suddenly go offline.”

Matt closed
his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, and Daniel knew just how
he felt. How were they ever going to get inside if they couldn’t
get close without giving themselves away?

“Ash, can’t
you… you know… do something to the camera feed so that it loops the
same image?”

Ash snorted
and rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, I’m not bloody James
Bond.”

“I was just
asking,” Matt snapped back. “You’re on that laptop of yours all the
bloody time. I just thought it was worth asking, since we’ve got
nothing else.”

Ash blushed, a
guilty look on his face. “Yeah, fair point. Sorry. I’m just on edge
with all this… creeping around.”

“It’d be nice
to know exactly where those cameras are, if nothing else.”

“Oh, there’s
maybe something….” Ash pulled his phone out of his pocket and
fiddled about with it.

He tapped away
at the screen, and Daniel fought back the urge to ask him to hurry
up. By the way everyone else started to fidget in place, he
imagined they were all struggling with the same thing. They were so
close, though. Despite the danger waiting for them inside, Daniel
just wanted to get on with it and get to Jordan.

“There.” Ash
declared proudly and swung his phone around for everyone to
see.

Everyone
gathered as close as they could to peer at the iPhone’s screen.

“What are we
looking at exactly?” Daniel asked. “I mean, I know it’s that
building,” he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, but… ”

“It’s the
street view on Google Maps.” He took his phone back and did
something else to it before showing them again. “This is the
building we’re in front of now.”

Sure enough,
Daniel recognised it on the screen.

“And this—”
Ash moved down the street on the screen. “—is the building we’re
after. I’m not sure how up to date this is, but it’s the only thing
I could think of. Anyway,” he carried on, not waiting for anyone to
say anything. “If you look up here.” He zoomed in a little and
pointed at the top of the screen. “You can easily see the camera,
and another one over here.”

Daniel
squinted at the screen. “Yeah, okay. So assuming they’ve not
changed anything since this was taken. What are you
suggesting?”

Ash looked up
and met his eyes, and then looked at Keira. “You said you were
fast, yes?”

Keira nodded.
“Yeah.”

“See that door
in the middle?” He pointed at the screen. “The entrance is set back
far enough that I don’t think it’s visible from either camera.”

“Probably
because you need a code or something to get through it.” Daniel
muttered, because it wasn’t likely to be a normal door they could
just open and stroll through.

“Yeah,
probably. But my point is, if you can move fast enough and get to
the door without the cameras picking you up, then that’s the first
bit done.” He looked down at the floor and scuffed his boot along
the rough stones. “I hadn’t got much further than that.”

Daniel clapped
Ash on the shoulder, feeling a bit bad for the way he’d dismissed
him. “Sorry, Ash. You’re right—one step at a time.”

Ash turned his
phone back off and shoved it in his pocket. “So, assuming you can
get us to the door without being seen. What do we do then?”

Sam flattened
his ears back to his head, and he bared his teeth at the same time
the other three altereds turned as one and faced the street.

“I can get you
inside.”

Daniel froze
as he instantly recognised the man approaching them. Since the
other brother was probably inside, this must be Chris Carter. That
night at the bar seemed a million years ago with everything that
had happened, but Daniel never forgot an altered—teeth, claws, but
not full shifter. He felt Matt’s hand on his arm, and forced
himself to relax. It wasn’t as though the man was a threat now.

“What the hell
do you want?” Matt hissed.

Daniel wasn’t
looking at Matt, but he could tell from the way he spoke that his
fangs were out.

“My brother’s
in there, you tosser. What do you think I want?” Chris stopped
about four feet in front of them but off to the side, keeping out
of sight of the security cameras. “I’ve been watching them come and
go for the past two days, trying to find a way in.” He glanced over
his shoulder at the building, before looking back and addressing
Keira. “I watched them bring Jordan in earlier, he was out cold,
but alive.”

Daniel felt
the tension ratchet up around him. The urge to just barge in there
was almost too much for him to control, so God knew how the others
felt. Their instincts must be screaming at them to go and help. No
one liked to use the term “pack” when referring to a group of
altereds—not politically correct, or some such bollocks—but to
Daniel that’s exactly what they were.

Keira, Jordan,
Charlie, and Sam had been together a long time, and shifter bonds
like theirs ran deep. Daniel wondered if he, Matt, and Ash could be
considered “pack” when only one of them had the genetic disposition
for it. He’d always thought of Matt as family, and Ash too now, so
probably yes.

He didn’t
think they were one big pack yet, though. The two might be united
in their determination to find Jordan, but Daniel still felt edgy
around the others, especially Keira. She’d made no effort to hide
the fact that she didn’t like seers, let alone approve of Jordan
dating one.

“I’m sorry
they got your brother, Chris,” Keira said, stepping forward. “But
I’m thinking he was the one who told them about Jordan and Daniel,
so there are limits to my sympathy, as you can imagine.”

Chris shifted
in a second, fangs and claws sliding out. “Fuck you, Keira, you
know what they do to them in there. Ian wouldn’t have had a
choice.”

For a minute
Daniel thought it was going to devolve into a fight they didn’t
have time for. Keira didn’t look convinced by Chris’s outburst, and
considering what had happened that night at the bar, Daniel wasn’t
convinced either. He certainly didn’t trust him.

Charlie
stepped up beside Keira. “Whether we believe that or not is beside
the point. Can you get us inside the building or not?”

Chris nodded,
thankfully sheathing his teeth and claws, and Daniel relaxed a
little now that a fight didn’t appear imminent. He caught Ash’s eye
and raised his eyebrows, trying to silently ask if he was all
right. It was a lot for Daniel to take in, and he’d been used to
Matt for years, but Ash was fully human and now surrounded by
altereds about to break into a facility—probably a heavily guarded
one—to rescue yet another altered. Daniel was surprised he hadn’t
already run off in the opposite direction.

Ash just
nodded back at him with a tight smile, but at least he appeared
relatively okay with it all. When Daniel glanced down, he saw Ash
had his fingers buried deep in the scruff of Sam’s neck.