Broods Of Fenrir

chapter 10


Unsure how to interpret what she"d said, Brand stared at Bera. „Gone" wasn"t a word mates used lightly. Unless Erik was dead, Bera should be able to feel him. Brand put a hand on her arm to calm her. “What happened?”

“He felt Lucas, nearby and hurt.” She pulled a hand through her disarrayed hair. “He told me to leave because he thought something was wrong.” Her entire body shuddered.

Brand frowned. That Erik had told her to leave was one thing, and that she had actually done it was another.

Guessing that she wouldn"t be able to stay on her feet much longer, he slid his arm around her back and led her into the living room. He eased her into the leather chair and sat across from her on the coffee table.

Alice hovered in the doorway of the bedroom she had claimed, head down and arms wrapped around her middle.

He sensed Bera"s distress as keenly as Alice did. “I know you better than that. You wouldn"t leave just because he told you to.”

She looked into his eyes. Tears overflowed her lower lids, streaking over her red-splotched cheeks. “He Compelled 91

me. He"s never done that before.”

His throat constricted. He knew Erik wouldn"t have Compelled her unless the situation was dire. “He told you to come here?”

Bera sniffled once, then nodded. “He had an escape tunnel put in the basement a long time ago. It leads to a garage on the adjoining property. He never got over the torch and pitchfork days.” Her lips twitched in a weak smile. “I was about halfway here, when he faded out. There"s nothing. I can"t feel him at all.” Panic shook her voice, as if saying the words somehow made it more real.

“Take it easy.” He put a hand on her knee. “You"d know if he was dead without any doubt.” She nodded, but she didn"t look convinced. “I"ve never felt anything like this. The link is there, but where he should be there"s nothing.”

Alice said, “He"s drugged. It has to be a dissociative anesthetic, like ketamine, and a big dose at that. Otherwise, she"d feel his wolf.”

He turned to Alice. “How many places around here would have doses that big?”

She shrugged. “Veterinary clinics, zoos, lots of places.” That wasn"t any help at all. He returned his attention to Bera. “Okay, I"m going to assume that Lucas told whoever has him where you live. Who else might be in danger?” Bera"s eyes flicked back and forth a few times.

“Gunnarr is the only male he"s close to. The two of them spend a lot of time at Kick.”

Brand stood and crossed the room to pick up his cel phone. While grinding his teeth, he punched in Kick"s number.

When a female voice that wasn"t Sigga"s answered, he said, “Let me talk to Sigga.”

She came on a minute later. “Hey, I was just going to call you. These guys came in here tonight, and I remembered I"d seen them with Lucas before he disappeared. They"re human, which is why I forgot. Gunni"s here with them now.” 92

After a brief commotion on the other end of the line, she said,

“Oh, they"re leaving. Gunni looks blasted. I don"t think he had more than one drink.” Her voice grew distant. “Gunni"s in trouble, isn"t he?”

His fingers tightened around the phone. He tried to head off whatever impetuous idea had occurred to her. “Sigga, I want you to go home right now.”

“I"m following them. Track me.” She hung up.

“F*ck. She"s going after whoever has Erik.” He pocketed his phone and moved to the closet. “Of all the ridiculous, harebrained ideas I"ve ever heard…”

“You forgot brave,” Bera said from behind him.

“They took Erik, and Gunni is nearly as strong. Sigga isn"t going to stand a chance if they figure out she"s following them. That"s not brave; it"s careless.” He grabbed two knives from the top shelf and clipped them to his belt at the small of his back. Three pairs of eyes were on him when he turned around. “No.” He looked at each of the females in turn. “No f*cking way.” Bera grumbled, “You can"t stop me from going after my mate.”

“Do you think he"ll thank me for finding him if anything happens to you?” He reached into the closet and ripped his jacket from the hook.

Alice said, “You"re going to need someone to drive if you"re tracking her.” Always logical and calculating, that one.

“Absolutely not.” The three of them were crazy if they thought he was letting them come along into Loki-knew-what mess he was about to stumble into. He yanked his jacket on while glaring around the room.

“How are you going to stop us?” Dagny asked. He"d felt her in the hallway from the kitchen throughout the conversation, indecision and worry battling inside her.

He would Compel all three of them if he had to. He opened his mouth to say as much, and then stopped. Even if he could make himself do it, which wasn"t at all certain, what 93

would happen if whoever hunted them showed up here? With an order like „Stay in the house," they"d be unable to leave even if the place became a deathtrap.

He looked from Bera to Alice and finally to Dagny.

“Come here.”

Dagny came forward, stopping in front of him.

He stared down at her, indecision gnawing at his gut.

“If I say so, you will take the two of them and leave without the slightest hesitation. Do you understand me?” Both of the other females started to protest. With a glare he said, “Alternatively, you can all stay the f*ck here.” When they quieted down, he returned his attention to Dagny and waited for her answer.

She searched his face. After a moment, she nodded.

Brand shook his head. “Not good enough.”

“I"ll do it, Brand. I promise I"ll take them away if you tell me to.”

“I"m counting on you.” He drew her into a kiss only long enough to leave him wanting more. He let her go, still reluctant to bring them with him, but without another viable choice. “You"ll follow me in the car, but don"t even think about getting out.”

The ride to Kick was silent. Brand had chosen his work vehicle because the huge Escalade with the words „Sword Security" emblazoned on the side would keep people from asking questions. When he pulled up to the curb, the kids smoking in front of the club scrambled away in a riot of multicolored hair and black leather.

He jumped out of the SUV and pulled in a lungful of the cold night air. Dagny was all he could smell. His infatuation with her was going to make things difficult. He had no interest in tracking someone else when he only wanted to bury his nose in her.

With a last stern look at the trio of females he hoped 94

would keep them inside the vehicle, he closed the door.

Walking a few steps away, he tried to relax himself by stretching the muscles of his back. He craned his head back to look up at the moon. Five hours left. The pull was strong, the urge to transform and run free like an itch on the inside of his skin. Waiting longer wasn"t going to make his task any easier.

The cold air tickled his nose as he inhaled again. So many powerful smells flooded into him that for a moment he was dizzy. The swirling scents of people living so close to one another assaulted him—exhaust, garbage, sewage, concrete, plastic, metal. He filtered them without conscious thought.

When he was done, a handful of brood scents remained. He caught Sigga"s scent—a sunlit prairie in the fall. He opened his mouth and dragged in more air.

Following Sigga"s scent, he started down Mississippi Avenue at a quick walk. He tried to figure how much time had passed and how far they could have gotten in that time, but he was too distracted to think it through all the way.

He turned left when her scent veered and glanced over his shoulder to watch the Escalade turn the corner behind him before he picked up his pace. He scented a few times, trying to estimate how many men he was tracking. Four distinct human scents came from the group ahead. One of them seemed familiar. Scattered as he was, he couldn"t figure out where he"d smelled the man before.

He continued, turning twice more, onto increasingly more desolate streets whenever her scent changed direction.

When the smell of Sigga"s blood hit him like a slap to the face, he came to an abrupt halt. After examining the area around him, he saw a dark spot on the sidewalk a few feet ahead, a splotch smaller than his palm.

Searching for more indications of violence, he tried to control his temper. The anger climbed his chest until he panted with the effort of containing it. Someone had stepped in the blood, splattering the dark stain around the print of a smooth-soled shoe.

He lurched forward and then inhaled, straining to catch her scent. They"d picked her up in a vehicle. Unlike the odors of living beings, which were unique, something mass-produced like a car was difficult to track. He might be able to follow it a short way, but not far.

After running several more paces, the scent overlapped with so many other similar-smelling vehicles that he couldn"t distinguish one from another. He grumbled and looked around, studying the dilapidated buildings and empty lots. They could have gone only a limited number of directions from there. He kept moving forward until he hit the next intersection.

He looked both ways down the street that crossed in front of him and realized he knew the place. On impulse, he turned right, toward a rundown industrial complex. Between the moon and his anger he couldn"t concentrate enough to isolate where he was. He waved the Escalade forward. When it stopped in front of him, the passenger window slid down.

“Why do I know this place?” Brand asked Bera.

She looked at the road ahead, a frown twisting her tense lips. “Erik"s new construction project is in there.” The scent memory of the familiar man snapped into place—Harris"s colleague from the meeting with Erik. “That"s the site he"s having problems with because of the medical research company.”

Bera looked confused by the statement.

Alice spoke up from behind her, “Bioden.” Her voice was soft.

Brand nodded. “Yeah, right. They finally agreed to let him build if he gave money to some research fund.” He swiveled his eyes to Alice. “What do you know about this?”

“Bioden processes a lot of my samples. They made a bid to buy my lab earlier this year.” The fear on her face bled into the brood bond. “What happened, Alice?”

“Erik told them the lab wasn"t for sale. That"s the main reason he"s been having this issue with them.” 96

“Why did they want to buy your lab?”

“They never said. It"s strange. I"m not published or anything. Nobody knows what I"m doing. It"s all privately-funded research.”

He knew she was a biochemist, but what she actually did went way over his head. “Give me the layman"s version.” She shrugged, and looked uncomfortable with the course of the conversation. “Erik"s interested in learning more about our metabolic processes, to see how similar we are to humans. He"s having me collect samples and test them.”

“Just so I"m clear, you"ve been taking samples from Erik"s brood and sending them to a lab down there?”

“The lab isn"t actually down there, but that company owns adjoining property to Erik"s construction site.” His hand clutched the door of the Escalade. “And now the trail of two in Erik"s brood ends right here? Was Lucas one of the ones you sampled?”

“Yes, but there"s no way they could have found that out. I didn"t tell them where the samples came from. They wouldn"t even know what I was doing.” The rage felt so good, so right, as the moon roared above him. “No way? You"re absolutely sure of that?” She stammered for several seconds. “I don"t think…” She stared at her hands in her lap. “I want to say I"m sure, but I can"t, not without doubt.”

Uncertain how much longer he could control the anger and not wanting to focus it at her, he tore his attention away from Alice. Bera recoiled from his gaze when his eyes turned her way. “Do you feel anything from Erik?” Her head shook in a miniscule motion. The set of her mouth made the extent of her concern obvious. That she"d held herself together so long was a testament to her strength.

She"d been able to feel her mate for every waking moment of her life for over a century.

Brand put his hand on Bera"s shoulder. “If he"s in there, I"m going to get him.”

97

Dagny sat in the driver"s seat, her hands resting on the wheel with a light touch. “What do you want us to do?” He admired her calm. The more tense the situation, the more composed she became. He could think of no safe place to send them, not until he knew more about what was going on.

“I think there"s an empty lot up ahead on the left. Wait there.

Keep the engine running.”

She nodded.

It wasn"t enough. Irrationally, he felt as though he were leaving them defenseless. He walked around the vehicle and leaned into the driver"s side window. Closing the remaining distance between them, he drew Dagny into a kiss. Her hand came up around his neck. The parting of her lips was accompanied by a small sigh that got lost in his mouth. Her hand tightened against the back of his neck.

He stroked his thumb against her cheek as he pulled away. “You"ll know if something happens. Get them out.” Her slow nod was reassuring. She radiated confidence—cool, like the first touch of frost. With her at his side, he could do anything. When he let her go, he felt bereft.

He turned away fast and raced down the street without looking back. The streetlights along the sidewalk were all out, which suited Brand just fine. Moving at a speed that would be a blur to human eyes, he kept to the deepest shadows. Running free under the moon gave him a rush he hadn"t experienced in too long.

He approached the Sorenson Enterprises construction site and slowed. Leaping over the fencing without effort, he landed with almost no sound on the other side. He loped across the construction site at a jog.

The Bioden warehouse came into view as he approached the far side. He scaled a construction trailer parked next to the fence so he could see what was beyond. Brush crowded the building along every wall, and the grass grew long.

Brand inhaled, pulling the air into his mouth and over 98

his tongue. No distinct scents were present. He let his gaze wander over the brick walls. He noticed no obvious security measures, and no movements or sounds. The blacked-out windows betrayed nothing to indicate whether the building was occupied.

All appearances to the contrary, it was the right place. A trace of brood power tickled in his belly. Nothing much, only the barest whisper, but with the moon minutes from full, he could feel the presence of at least one of his brethren within.