Panther Protection (12 page)

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, you can let me out,” she demanded.

“No can do. The king said you are to remain here and no one is to talk to you unless it is necessary.” Then he shut the window. Growling now, she screamed. Well with a damn guard keeping watch she needed to do something. Walking over to the bed, she lifted the tray and saw some fresh fruit. She didn’t know what these people did to her food, so she left it alone. Next, she looked in the bag and found clean clothes. Nope she wasn’t having any of that. She just sat on the bed and thought about what to do. She knew some messed up Troll king wanted her to be his mate to use her power.
Her power
. Shit, she needed to figure out how to use it fully and get out. Running back to the door she banged again and the window slid open.

“Yes?” Getting on her tiptoes to allow her to look him directly in the eyes before she spoke.

“Can I get an unopened bottle of water?” The man blinked a couple of times then left. He didn’t shut the window, which she cheered herself for, it actually worked. She noticed she was in a room down a long hallway full of weird light. She heard some yelling and shouting and then before she knew it she was staring in the red eyes of Malak.

“So you think you can try to use your powers to get what you want. I’ll have you know that it won’t work on me. It works really well with shifters and humans that is why your guard was able to leave even though it cost him his life.” She gasped knowing she had sent a man to his death because she wanted out. She had killed once before, but that was out of anger, this was different.

“Just let me go. I have mates, and they will look for me, and I have a mother who will kick your ass. As soon as nothing is standing between you and me, I am going to do exactly that, kick your ass!” she yelled, but it only made him laugh and shut the window.

She stood alone in the vast room of emptiness, not knowing what to do. The feeling of helplessness wasn’t something she had ever wanted to feel again. When she was attacked a few months ago, she had fought him with everything she had, but now, she was stuck behind a giant door and bars. A prisoner in every sense of the word. Closing her eyes she sunk to the floor by the door and let the few small tears run free as the thought of never seeing her mates again hit her, never being able to tell them how much she loved them. Gage for his quiet strength, Axel for his overprotectiveness and being an ass but was sweet once you saw the inner him. Both so different, yet, they completed her. Now, she just needed to hold onto that feeling and not let go—determined to survive.

Chapter Fifteen

Axel ran as fast as he could, even with Travis helping Cece he couldn’t seem to get there quicker. Time was running out and dark was upon them within a matter of a few hours. Millie had been missing for some time now, and each passing minute, fear crept into his heart.

“We are almost there,” Xandria replied as she kept up the steady pace. It seemed like they kept going in circles but within fifteen minutes they found a weird looking oak tree and stopped. “This is where I leave you. You will see the castle once you enter, but it is a long trip, and at night is when most of the trolls like to come out. They are not day creatures as most would like to think. The Troll king has this power and could walk among everyone because of his linage, so once inside walk north for an hour then find a tree high enough to be out of reach and rest until daybreak. Continue north, but when you get to the small clearing, turn west and keep going until you reach the castle grounds. There are several passages that lead under the castle, try to find one. That is all I can do for you.” She turned and faced him. “Please bring back my daughter. I have been without her for all her life, I cannot live another day without her.” This was the first time Axel had seen real emotion from her toward Millie. She normally did her best to try to hug and talk, but Millie was laid back and laughed, where Xandria was a queen and stuck in her world for far too long.

“You know I will.” He didn’t need to say anything else as he watched Gage go to the tree and walk through a small looking hole, it was amazing that Gage kept walking and didn’t come out. Travis then grasped Cece’s hand, who seemed to be shaking, and walked in and he followed with one last look at Xandria. It was a weird sensation. The way he kept walking it felt like the inside of the tree and the smell was strong of moss, grass, and wet wood. He kept walking, not sure when it would end, then suddenly it did, and he was standing in a weird field just like the one they had entered in. He would have thought he took a wrong turn if it wasn’t for the fact everyone was standing there looking at them.

“Okay, north is that way. I set a timer on my watch. We have an hour, make the most of it,” Cece stated as she took off in a run. Not wanting to fall behind, and not wanting her to take the lead, he ran up in front of her and kept going. It seemed like a large forest engulfed them, but it was thicker with trees that seemed hundreds of years old, and the earth just took over. It wasn’t hard for him, being a panther, but Cece seemed to struggle the deeper they got. Thank God Travis was there and seemed to take on a protective roll with her, lifting her up and onto his back. They had been walking for what seemed like minutes when Cece’s timer went off.

“We have to stop here. I might need some help with climbing the tree, I’m not a shifter remember,” she joked.

“I say we go further,” Axel countered. He didn’t want to rest knowing his mate was still in the castle, which he totally forgot to look for.

“We have to listen to Xandria, she has been right about a lot of things, and she is going to be right about this. She knows these lands better than we do, and we need to get up a tree.”

Just as he was about to tell her that idea was stupid, noises could be heard and rustling started to come from all direction. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he watched as everyone climbed a large tree and sat, he too followed. They had placed Cece closest to the inside on a taller branch next to Travis, and he and Gage took their own. Sure enough within five minutes a bunch of men, well more like midgets really, started to run around looking at things with large looking spears. They didn’t seem to hear or scent them. Keeping his eye glued on the men, he watched as they walked away. He whispered up to Travis that he would take first watch so they could sleep, then Gage and then him. Between the three of them someone would always be mindful of the world below their feet.

*****

Millie woke with the noise of a screeching owl at her window. She ran to the window looking out and saw a bunch of weird looking people. Could those be the trolls? She had only seen two, Malak, and his son, Zalph. Both looked, well normal to most. Malak had red eyes, where Zalph did not. That got her thinking, if he was Malak’s son, then where is the queen, or mate? What was she needed for if someone else was there.
Ewe, maybe he was one of those guys who has multiple wives and only wants them for sex and power.
Okay that thought did make her puke in her mouth a little. Keeping the window open, she looked out at the land and the trees of the forest. The sky was bright with an orange moon setting a glow. She normally would have found this beautiful, but being she was held captive she just, well, she didn’t have a damn clue what she thought. Not sure what tomorrow would bring she climbed into the bed that was there and went to sleep.

*****

Gage woke up to the sound of beeping. It was Cece’s watch again. He shook his head at the simplicity of the act, but grateful too. They needed to head out. They had to make it to the castle and wasn’t sure how the hell to get into the castle. Waking everyone up, Travis said there hadn’t been any activity for a few hours and they all climbed down. The four of them continued to run until they spotted the clearing. Sure enough there seemed to be a path that turned west. This time Cece was able to run without stopping and the four of them took off. They needed to stop a few times, and the feeling of them being followed bothered them. One waited while the others sat by a small stream drinking some water. He had wished he had remembered to pack some type of food, but his mind was solely on finding his mate as was Axel's. Nothing had come up and soon they left again. This time the castle became clearer and he had to admit it was pretty impressive. The large castle looked out on a ledge that overlooked the ground below. He wasn’t sure how they were going to get up there, but they were if it was the last thing he did.

“So, any clue how to get inside?” Travis asked as their pace slowed some.

“Not a damn clue. I was thinking about looking for a door or something,” Gage said back looking in the direction of the castle.

“Okay, what kinda door?”

“Well, I remember reading somewhere that trolls like to leave underground passages, and one that hasn’t been used is on the other side of the castle. So we just need to, umm find it.” Cece peered up at them hoping she hadn't pissed him off. He didn’t think he could get mad at the small little human, she had done nothing but help them along the way, and she wanted her friend back as much as any of them.

“Great, going in blind, again,” Axel grumbled but continued to walk. The path seemed to take a steep grade as it grew closer to the castle. They needed to find a door, and not get spotted so he pointed to a small area along the outside of the moat. It had been dry, so it no longer held any water making crossing easier for them. It dipped down leaving a darker colored brick wall than the lighter brick above them.

“Okay, well start pushing.” They all seemed to take note and pushed on various rocks trying to see if anything would move. He pushed on so many rocks, he was losing his place on where he had been when Cece yelled.

“I got something.” She pointed to a small amount of water that was trickling into the cracks. “It used to hold all this water, and even though it’s dry, water still finds all the holes. I can’t push, not strong enough.”

Gage went over and started to push it. He could feel the bricks shift some, but nothing to move it totally. Axel gave it a shot next, and just like him, only got them to shift. Travis followed and did get them to move an inch, but not enough to let them in.

“Why don’t you guys push together?” Not wanting to stop now, he nodded and the three of them pushed and the door gave way to a brick tunnel. “Good job, boys, now let’s kick some troll ass and get our girl back,” without even a look back she headed forward. The tunnel was full of spider webs and wet dog smell. He wanted to plug his nose, but walked. It grew darker and he was happy to see that Cece had pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket. She seemed to be the only one who thought a little ahead. Soon they hit another wall, again like the first the three of them pushed to revel a small looking room. Walking inside, they placed Cece in the middle as one took the front, and each took a side. The door behind them suddenly shut. Turning they were shocked to see Malak and several wolves looking at them.

“Oh, it is so nice that you came to play today. Hope you can stay and watch the festivities tonight. I am going to be taking my mate, and I would love it if you would stay and watch.” Shifting slightly he let his claws reach out only to be stopped short by several shifters grabbing them. Malak laughed and before he could even react everything around them went dark.
Fuck.

*****

Millie woke to the sound of the door opening. A small woman, who seemed to be about her Gran’s age, walked in with yet another tray of food. She smiled at her but frowned when she looked at her clothes and the uneaten food from yesterday.

“Did you not like the food and clothes, miss?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“No, they are fine, I just want to leave. Can you help me?”

“I cannot, miss, you see you are to be mated tonight to the king.”

“Please, I am a prisoner here.” The woman looked up at her and frowned.

“I am only doing my job, miss. Your dress for tonight will be here soon.” And once again she turned and head out the door. Millie had had a thought last night and knew what she needed to do. The king said she couldn’t work her power on trolls, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t get the hell out of here. Running to the bathroom she took off the top lid and ran to the door stepping far enough away so she could do this right. She would only get one shot. Then, she cried out for help.

“Help, help, please, I fell. I think I broke something. Please, I need someone to come and help me.” She pretended and just as she had predicted the doors opened and she swung the lid down on top of the guard’s head, knocking him out, and leaving the door open. She didn’t miss her chance and she bolted. She ran as fast as she could down the hall to where she found some stairs. She heard someone coming, and she ducked into the small section behind a potted plant, trying to make her body as small as possible. Once they left, she ran down, and she could see the front door. No one was near and she just about made it when someone chuckled, echoing in the halls.

“So you think you’re so smart you could leave. Well let me tell you, this is going to happen and you will be my mate.” She spun to see Malak standing at the bottom of the steps looking at her, his eyes glowing a bright red.

“I will never be your mate you sicko. I have two mates and they will come for me.”

“Your right they will and they have,” he snapped his fingers and several men carried in four bodies. She screamed and went to them. She checked and all of them were breathing.

“What did you do to them?” she asked as she ran her hands across Gage’s face and then Axel's.

“They are just taking a little nap, don’t worry, they will wake for the ceremony. But if you don’t make the ceremony, they will die, Millie. And your special little friend here.” He walked over to Cece who looked so small and frail. “Will serve as a replacement for me and my men. She is rather pretty, in a plain sort of way. She won’t be my mate, oh no, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have her tied to my bed while I break her.” He ran his finger down Cece’s cheekbone and Millie didn’t know what to do. She needed a plan, well another one, which included getting out of here, and getting her friends back safe and sound.