Page 98 of Her Wolf

Masquerade

Finn emerged on the first floor of the hotel, fighting a sneeze. It was dusty up here, and mold clung to every particle of air that made it into his nose and lungs. Santino waited outside a door a few yards down the hallway, facing Finn and Bailey as they came closer. Neo’s lieutenant gave Finn a nod before opening the door and standing aside so they could enter.

It was a husk of a room; bare and peeling walls, debris congregating in the corners, a rickety chair in the middle of the otherwise empty space.

A man sat on the chair, arms and legs cable-tied to the wood. He wasn’t wearing a gag, but from the tight set of his wide mouth, he didn’t plan on speaking any time soon.

“This him?” Neo asked, pointing a limp hand in the man’s direction.

“Bailey?” Finn glanced at Bailey over his shoulder.

Grey eyes narrowed, and then Bailey moved his gaze to Finn and gave him a curt nod. Finn lunged forward, drew back an arm, and caught the guy a solid punch to his jaw.

Beside the crack of knuckles against bone, there was no other sound in the room.

Fuck; he’d expected at least a grunt of pain.

Instead, the man straightened his head and grinned at Finn with a Hollywood smile that lit up his eyes.

“You search him?” Finn asked, hand already diving inside the man’s suit.

“Didn’t want to touch him until you got here,” Neo said immediately. “You hear anything about Cora yet?”

Finn shook his head. “You?”

“Nothing. I don’t know how they could have gotten her out. Front’s still locked.”

“And the back, by the kitchen?”

“That doesn’t go anywhere, does it? I mean, you’d have to climb a fence to—”

“You think a fucking fence is going to stop someone?” Bailey snapped from behind him.

“Listen—” Neo began.

“Enough!” Finn straightened, sharing a glare between the two of them. “You two, out.”

Both Bailey and Neo’s eyebrows shot up.

“But—” Bailey said.

“Now.” It came out as a low growl. Either that or the look on his face was enough to convince both men that they’d be safer outside than in here with him.

His beast purred appreciatively, eager to sink its claws into the man tied up in the chair without witnesses to interrupt.

Which was exactly why Finn wouldn’t allow himself a second punch.

A second would lead to a third, a third to a fourth…and what good would a corpse be to him?

As soon as the door closed behind Neo and Bailey, Finn went to work searching the man. This brought their faces close together. The man made no attempt to hide how he scanned Finn’s features, and Finn didn’t bother looking away. His beast grew more and more restless the longer they maintained eye contact, as if unhappy with the slowly building apprehension tainting the air.

“What’s your name?” Finn asked.

“Peter.”

“What’s your real name?”

A flash of what could have been surprise glittered over the man’s dark eyes. His lips slowly curved into a smile. “Peter,” he said again, slower this time.

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