WE COLLECTED TORI AND Simon just as they were heading out to rescue me. After a very brief explanation about the earthquake and the wolf by my side, I asked if Simon had gotten hold of his dad. His face darkened, telling me the answer wasn’t good.
“Voice mail,” he said.
“Seriously?”
“It said he was unavailable and switched to voice mail. I left a message. He could have been out of range or on the phone or…”
He didn’t finish, but we all knew what he meant. Unavailable could mean a lot of things, not all of them as innocent as being stuck between cell towers.
“We’ll call again as soon as we’re out,” Aunt Lauren said. “Which should be soon. ”
We headed for the nearest exit. We’d gone about twenty feet before Liz came racing over.
“Three of them,” she said. “Coming this way. ”
“Guns?” I asked.
She nodded.
If it was three unarmed staff-even with supernatural powers-I’d be willing to take them on. But guns were another thing. I told the others.
“There’
s an unused wing to the west,” Aunt Lauren said. “They won’t guard that exit because it’s through a secured door. ”
I followed her and used the key card to get us into the wing. As soon as we were through, Derek stopped short, the hair on his back rising, lips curling in a silent growl.
“Do you smell someone?” I whispered.
He shook his head sharply, with a grunt, as if to say sorry, and we started forward again, but he was wary now, gaze flicking from side to side.
“I know this place,” Simon murmured. “I’ve been here. ”
“Your dad used to bring you to work sometimes when you were little,” Aunt Lauren said.
“Yeah, I know, but this place…” He looked around, then he rubbed the back of his neck. “Creeps me out, whatever it is. ”
“The exit is around the corner and down at the end,” Aunt Lauren said, ushering us on. “It leads into a yard. We’ll need to climb the wall, but that’s another reason they won’t guard it. ”
We continued along. Simon and Derek weren’t the only ones getting chills. It was so quiet. An empty, dead place. Shadows hunkered along the walls, out of reach of the security lights. It stunk, too, reeking of antiseptic soaked right into the floors, like an abandoned hospital.
I glanced in the first open door and stopped short. Desks. Four tiny desks. A wall of faded posters of alphabet animals. A blackboard, still showing the ghosts of numbers. I blinked, certain I was seeing wrong.
Derek nudged my legs, telling me to get moving. I looked at him, and I looked at the classroom.
This was where Derek had grown up. Four tiny desks. Four little boys. Four young werewolves.
For a second, I could see them-three boys working at the three clustered desks, Derek alone at the fourth, pushed slightly away, hunched over his work, trying to ignore the others.
Derek nudged me again, whining softly, and I looked down to see him eyeing the room, every hair on his neck on end, anxious to get away from this place. I murmured an apology and followed the others. We passed two more doors, then Liz came running back.
“Someone’s coming. ”
“What?” Aunt Lauren said when I relayed it. “From down there? That can’t be. It’s-”
The clomp of footsteps cut her off. She looked each way, then waved to the nearest door.
“The key card, Chloe, quickly!”
I opened it and we all tumbled inside. As I closed the door behind us, the lock whirred shut. I looked around, squinting to see with only the glow of an emergency light.
We were in a huge storage room packed with boxes.
“Lots of places to hide,” I whispered. “I suggest we find one. ”
We split up as footsteps echoed down the hall. I turned, nearly tripping over Derek. He hadn’t moved, just stared into the room, fur bristling.
I looked around. I saw boxes, lots of boxes, but over along the far wall, something else-four beds.
“T-this was-” I began.
“Where is everyone?” boomed a voice from the hall.
Derek snapped out of it, grabbed my sleeve between his teeth, and tugged me deep into the sea of boxes. We found a spot in the back corner where boxes were piled three high, leaving a small space for us to hide. Derek nudged me toward it. I whispered for the others as he went back to gather them up.
In a minute, we were all wedged in that space, crouched or sitting. Derek stood at the opening, guarding it, ears swiveling. As the steps drew closer, I didn’t need his hearing to pick up the voices.
“Scientists. ” A man snorted. “They think they can hire a few rent-a-cop half-demons and they’re ready for something like this. Arrogant sons of…” His mutters trailed off. “How close is Mr. St. Cloud?”
“His flight will arrive in seventy-five minutes, sir. ”
“Then we have an hour to clean this mess up. How many kids was it again? Four?”
“Three were recaptured. The fourth-the werewolf-wasn’t, but there was a report that he’d entered the building. ”
“Great. Just great. ” Their footsteps sounded outside the door. “All right, here’s the plan. I need two survivors. If you can get me two, Mr. St. Cloud will be happy. And that doesn’t include the werewolf. ”
“Naturally, sir. ”
“We need a place to set up a base of operations. The team will be here in five minutes. ”
“It doesn’t look as if they use this wing, sir. ” A door creaked. “This room even has desks and a blackboard. ”
“Good. Start setting up and get Davidoff on the radio. I want him down here now. ”
I waved for Liz to go check things out.
We all strained to listen, praying they’d find some problem with the room or be offered a better one. It didn’t happen.
“At least they’re on the other side of our escape route,” Tori said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Simon said. “We’ve got a Cabal SWAT team setting up down the hall. We’re screwed. ”
Liz came running back in. “There are two guys in suits and one wearing what looks like a soldier’s uniform. Plus four more like him marching up the hall. ”
The clomping of boots echoed her words.
“We’ll hold tight,” I said. “They’ll send those guys searching-hopefully somewhere else. When we get a chance, we’ll run. ”
Derek chuffed and slid in behind me, letting me rest against him, so warm and comfortable that I started to relax, and when I did, so did he, muscles softening, heart rate slowing.
“So you two came on your own?” I said to Liz. “How?”
“Drove. ”
“But Derek doesn’t have his license. ”