Page 60 of Addicted in Blood
“There are six entry points that don’t require scaling the fence or going over the barbed wire that runs along the top.Four are main gates, two are breaks in the fence.I have two wolves positioned at each of those entry points.They’ll give you access in and stop anyone from following you.But if they’re challenged, they have orders to abandon their posts.Do you understand?”
I reached out and squeezed his arm.“Thank you.”It had been an unexpected move, but he grabbed my hand and kissed it.
I pulled his card from my pocket and offered it to him.“This should take care of the favor you promised.”
He pushed my hand away.“You were right.What you do here today helps me as much as the House Trelane.Keep the card.”
I didn’t argue.He was definitely someone I wanted on my I’ve-tried-everything-else list.
“Now go.It won’t be long before they discover you missing.”
I nodded, stopped to give him a last look before exiting, and when he nodded with a smile, I returned it before shutting the door behind me.Harlow hadn’t left yet, but as I sprinted down the road toward an entrance, I heard both cars start up.
Now it was me, twelve wolves I’d never met, and one recalcitrant vamp, who, if my dreams were truly prescient, would stonewall me for as long as he could hold out against my charms.I snorted.Easy-peasy.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
I joggedalong the fence until I came to the first gate then slowed, searching for the two wolves that should be there.My nerves were already a jumble over my plan for Devon, and they amplified at meeting a pair of strange wolves.
I didn’t know anything about shifters.Did the wolves have awareness of themselves, or were they driven by their animal nature?Would they recognize me?Maybe I should have asked The Wolf a few more questions.It wouldn’t take long for two wolves to rip me apart if they didn’t like the way I looked at them.I scanned the area, not seeing anything.
Then, as if forming out of shadows—they were there.
They blended into the brush in the pre-dawn light and were larger than I was expecting, St.Bernard-size on steroids, with broad shoulders and lean muscles.A gray one laid next to a bush, but it rose to sit on its haunches, its nose lifted into the air.The better to sniff my scent.
A second one, black as night, stepped from around a boulder.Big and bad.Its yellow eyes bore into mine as if it were trying to tell me something.I hoped it was something along the lines of “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you.”
Saying something like “nice doggy” or “nice wolfie” didn’t seem safe—or respectful—so I went with the idea they were more aware than the savage beasts they appeared to be and might understand me.
“Hi.I’m Cressa.I’m one of the good guys.”I held my arms out to show I wasn’t carrying a weapon.“I think you’re here to show me a way through the fence?”
They both tilted their heads, just like a dog would do, and I had to hold back a grin.
“Look.I probably should have learned more about shifters before now, and I promise to get caught up after this current emergency is over.”
They tilted their heads to the opposite side.Good grief.Thank the stars no one was recording this.Would they remember this conversation once they shifted back to human?It could be humiliating to run across them at a dinner party.
“Yeah.I’m being stupid.Can you just show me where I can get through the fence?”
The two gave each other a look that seemed to confirm they were fully aware, and I could already hear the story they’d share with other wolves at said dinner party.I was pretty sure my cheeks were turning red.
The black one trotted over, its head down, tongue lolling to one side, yellow eyes still trained on me.I stood my ground, though my body had tensed for defense—or running, which would be the worst thing I could do.
It whined, pawed the dirt, then turned and trotted off toward the fence, tail wagging.I took that as an invitation to follow, and keeping my eye on the gray one, hurried after Mr.Black.Somehow, giving them names sounded safer, though I’d feel bad if it was a female.Mr.Gray kept pace behind me, and each time I turned around, its gaze focused on our surroundings.A definite team effort.
Mr.Black stopped at the gate, left paw placed on the bottom corner of the post where the fence had been cut.From a few feet away, no one would notice unless looking for it.I bent down and pushed against the chain link.A three-foot gap opened up, which was large enough to squeeze through.
I shrugged off the backpack and slid it through the opening.When I crawled through, my hair caught on a piece of cut fence, but I managed to extricate myself without leaving strands behind.Once I stood and brushed off my pants, I looked for the wolves.They were five feet away, staring at me.
“Thank you.I appreciate you helping me out.I owe you one.”It was tricky business giving a favor to a shifter or vamp, and doubly risky when I’d only seen the shifters in their wolf form.Nothing like having a shifter track me down after a couple of years and say, “Hey, I was that black wolf that helped you out back at that mill.Time for a favor.”I grinned as I waved at them, then turned and considered my options.
It would be foolish to do anything other than follow my dream—to a point.I strode for the heart of the facility, glancing back once to see if the wolves were there.I didn’t see them, but there was no doubt they were there, blending into nature.
The farther into the facility I walked, the more things looked familiar.And after another five minutes, I found the spot where I’d waited for Devon in our dream.It hadn’t taken long for him to appear, but reality might work differently, and the full dawning hit me that this was the real deal.This would be a true test if my prescient dream would work as I expected.My fall through the second-story window had turned out real enough.But the dream of the wolf massacre had manifested in Los Angeles rather than at the Humboldt pack’s birthday party.Or was there a second attack coming I could prevent?
I pulled out my phone and texted The Wolf.It was brief.
“Keep an eye out for other vamps on the Poppy.If celebrating a birthday, no parties until this is over.”
