Chapter Seven
Garret
With a groan, I opened my eyes. I hadn’t felt this much like shit since the morning after I’d drunk that entire bottle of whiskey that I’d found in an abandoned village just outside of the city of Tharia. My head pounded loudly, like a hammer smacking against stone and I grunted as I pushed myself up to a seated position. Looking around, I tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened.
My throat throbbed and I lifted my hand to it. A red feathery dart brushed against my fingers and I gritted my teeth as I gripped it and pulled it out. Fucking hell. No one had ever gotten the upper hand on me in battle. Especially not a woman. Who the fuck was she? In the dim light of the night, I’d seen a flash of silver white hair. The slender body that hinted at an omega, but I hadn’t seen more than that.
Lothgar and Ravick groaned beside me. They were waking up too. I turned my head and watched as they pulled the darts from their throats, looking just as miserable as I felt. I looked around and saw the devastation that woman had left behind her. The glass had shattered and lay on the white tiled floor like tiny little diamonds. Several hours must have passed because the lights had started to come on. Based off my body’s natural circadian rhythm, I guessed it was close to sunrise or shortly thereafter.
“What the fuck was that,” Ravick murmured, clearly incredibly annoyed.
“Where’s Triss?” Lothgar asked, looking around for our mate. I growled in answer, sensing through our bond that she was several miles away.
“The woman took her,” I replied.
“How long do you think we were out for?” Ravick asked, rubbing his forehead. I’m sure his head was pounding just as hard as mine.
“Maybe three or four hours. The sun should be up by now, I would think,” I said, grunting as I pushed myself to my feet. “Come on. This place will be crawling with the company’s security team before long. Especially when they realize that they lost their precious science experiment in Triss.”
“You’re right. The longer we wait here, the more time the suppressant will work its way into your systems and suppress our alpha instincts,” Ravick muttered, forcing himself up to stand by my side. Lothgar followed, growling at the mention of the drugs.
“Unnatural,” Lothgar muttered with disgust. I shared the same sentiment.
“You’re from here,” I observed, turning my eyes suspiciously toward Ravick. I hadn’t brought up the subject, but I had known since the time he’d stepped into the clearing with me and Lothgar.
“I am. And I’m getting fucking tired of having goddamned darts shot into my throat. The first one did something to me and awakened my alpha instincts. I’m not sure how long it will last or if the suppressant will work its way back into my body, but I’m not about to wait while our mate has been taken,” he answered, his eyes flashing as he met mine.
“Let’s move. There’ll be more time for that later,” Lothgar scoffed.
I nodded, grunting my agreement.
“Our weapons are over there,” I pointed, seeing them on a bench under a series of brightening lights. They’d been studying them. Especially mine and Lothgar’s since they were foreign to the people living here.
“We’ll grab them and go,” Ravick replied. The three of us wasted no time and rushed over to claim our weapons once again. I picked up my sword and slid it back into the scabbard, while Lothgar took his twin curved blades and did the same. Ravick had a wide variety of guns and knives, which took a minute at least to strap back onto his belt.
There was more to this man than he appeared to be. If he lived in the city, why would he have a need for so many weapons? I studied his movements, noticing that he carried himself like a man who was used to being in charge. His alpha nature just functioned to amplify that. There was little doubt in my mind that he was someone important here. Or at least, he used to be.
There was no time for questions though. We had to make it out of here and we wasted no time in leaving the basement where we’d been held prisoner.
Ravick led the way, seemingly familiar with this area. We took several turns until he found what appeared to be an emergency stairwell of some kind and we followed him up several floors until we reached ground level. He stopped at a thick metal door with a thin window, peering outside it for a quick moment before he shifted and pressed his back against the wall.
“There’ll be men patrolling these levels. We’ll have to move more carefully now,” the city alpha whispered.
“I am not afraid of city men. I’m a warrior,” Lothgar snarled.
“They have guns. Your swords aren’t going to help you against a bullet,” Ravick replied impatiently, his tone rife with judgement. I rolled my upper lip in annoyance.
“No shit,” I growled. “We’ll have to use stealth. Take down anyone we meet before they can open their mouths and alert anyone to our presence.”
“You seem like you’ve done things like this before,” Ravick said, his gaze studying mine for clues about me. His gaze was as equally suspicious as mine.
The three of us were perfect strangers really, until a feisty little redhead brought us together. I didn’t really know anything about either of the alphas here with me and they didn’t know much about me. For now, they were still my enemies.
“I have,” I answered quietly, tensing my jar firmly.
And I really had. I was a mercenary for hire in the wilds and I made a lot of money doing it. Sometimes I was hired to kill someone. Sometimes I was hired to steal something or someone and many times that required stealth and absolute silence. I was observant, patient, and sometimes that called for analyzing different escape paths constantly in order to achieve whatever mission I had been hired for. I was good at it too.
I took post by the door, waiting and watching as a guard passed by. After five minutes of waiting and watching, he passed by again. I counted the seconds and once I knew it was clear, I opened the door slowly and slid into a dimly lit hallway. I gestured for the others to follow.