Page 30 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
Myrtle stared at them, somewhat confused, but stepped out of the way to let them into her apartment. They happily stepped past her into a dimly lit room. Peter had been in there a few times before, whenever he had trouble sleeping after a busy week at work. They’d watch the soaps, and she’d be thrilled to tell him about all the characters’ backstories, filling him in on all the juiciest gossip. He enjoyed her company. Especially because she never needed him to do anything but sit and listen.
The whole apartment only had a few lamps lit at this time of night. Most of the light came from her TV, which she’d put on mute.
“Sorry to bother you,” he apologized.
“No, it’s no trouble,” she said, looking from him to Olive and back again. “Did you want some tea and TV time, lovies?”
He smiled. “No,” he said. “I was hoping we might be allowed to borrow one or two of those,” he added with a nod to the bookcase behind her favorite armchair, where a collection of wigs sat lining the shelves.
***
Peter scratched at his head, getting a look from Olive to cut it out.
“They’ll think you have lice,” she hissed at him as he followed the path she was cutting across the expanse of the garage.
She’d already obstructed the view of one of the CCTV cameras, spraying it with a tiny can of hairspray she’d dug out of her handbag.
“I saw it in a movie,” she had said.
“Of course, you did,” he had smiled.
“Now, follow my movements exactly but be casual about it, okay? There’s one other camera but if we walk in this specific line then it shouldn’t catch us and even if it does they won’t know it’s us because we don’t look like us.” She sighed at his raised eyebrows. “You’re with me in this, right?” she had asked.
“Operation Information Grab is a go, oh Captain, my Captain,” he had said, touching his hand to his forehead in a salute.
She had glared at him and told him to get ready to greet the guard and not make a big deal out of the wigs. Or that they were there at this hour. Or the fact that they had reason to believe they were expected. It shouldn’t be too difficult to get passed him. Nothing ever happened at the facility, and it wasn’t like the guards were highly trained killers. They were regular Joe’s working a regular job. They weren’t exactly looking for trouble.
“Right,” Peter had said, even though he severely doubted this to be the case. Better not to burst her bubble, though. She might turn around and get her ass out of there, and he’d rather have her ass right where he could see it. For various reasons.
“Sorry,” he now muttered, forcing his fingers away from the wig. “It’s itchy.”
“I know,” she replied, pressing the button of the elevator.
“You know, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s better we’re here when there’s more people,” she said. “It’ll take them more time to look through the footage once we’re in and they’re trying to determine where we’ve gone. And don’t worry about the basement level. There’s no CCTV there. Trust me, I’ve checked.”
“So you’ve said. A few times now. You’re not worried, are you? That you didn’t check thoroughly enough? I thought you didn’t know how to look for that sort of equipment by the way, Ms. Bond,” he remarked.
“I don’t know how to look for bugs,” she deflected. “Completely different to looking for cameras. Any woman who has ever rented an AirBnB knows how to look for hidden cameras.” He was about to make a comment of astonishment to that statement, but she breezed past it, saying, “Now, what do we do if the alarm goes?”
“We huddle,” he said. “Wherever we are we find a place to hide, and we don’t head toward an exit no matter what.”
“Good. And why is that?”
He gave her a look to cut it out, but then said, “Because they’ll catch us and torture us and throw us in their dungeon. They don’t really have a dungeon, do they?”
“Who knows? If werewolves are real, then why wouldn’t people have dungeons?”
“I guess,” he grumbled.
His wolf was antsy. It wanted to be let out, it wanted to be in control. A big part of him would take the relief of it over having to put himself in this situation, but he also knew that a wolf stalking the hallways would definitely blow their cover. So, he told his wolf to wait.
“Have you always been this easygoing?” he asked, stepping with her through the elevator doors as they slid open. The small lobby they entered was clearly not the main entrance, but the stark white walls and cement floor seemed to be a theme for the whole building, inside as well as outside. At least judging by how the garage had looked the exact same. “I mean, casually assuming dungeons might be in the near future and all that?”
“Yes. In fact, I’m too easygoing,” she murmured, getting her ID out of her bag. “It’s a character flaw. I always think everything is going to be alright until it isn’t.”
“Wish you’d shared that sooner,” he said, but then straightened his back as they neared the security desk.
There was no one else around in the lobby. The security officer wasn’t paying attention, only his scalp visible behind the chest-high desk counter. Olive didn’t hesitate. She ducked down so that he wouldn’t be able to spot her as she walked past the counter and hurried her step.
