(Chapter song ‘Mama Says Knock You Out' by LL Cool J)
DEACON
We roll into St. Edwards around noon. The town is tiny. 200 wolves have been hiding in here for a decade. I can only imagine what they must be thinking, seeing a bunch of military vehicles roll through.
We turn to the main street and stop at a checkpoint. The Enforcers let us in and the trucks roll down the quiet street. I can't see anything in the canvas covered, black truck, but I hear people as we stop and park.
The back doors open and we file out. I pull my Alpha out and fix my skull cap. I adjust my shorts and cutoff and walk around the truck all tough. This is my business and no one’s getting in my way.
I take a few steps and stop. My jaw drops. Seeing it person is not even close to seeing it on TV. This is Scify on an epic level.
Bastian claps my back. “You ok?”
“No.” I slowly shake my head. “None of this is okay.” I swallow as I look at the listing three story building. Chunks of brick are broken off and the sides are patchy. The windows are all blown out and the decorative concrete on the roof and around the windows is cracked and chucks have broken off.
Ops Investigators get to work and fire grappling hooks up the building to check the upper floors. Leading the charge is Sawyer. Every blast of their launchers makes me jump. Ok, this whole thing may actually terrify me.
I look around the ground floor. The road is destroyed. The right side is buried by at least 5 feet and the front door is missing.
Jake meets me half way as I wander closer to the scene. “There’s no one in the building. All residents seem to have disappeared too.” He pulls me and breaks me out of my shock. We push through people trying to figure out what happened. It’s then I realize the whole area is crawling with people.
“Who are all these people?” I say as I see what loons like science teams.
“Some are from Atlas. Titus ordered a unit here. Others are science teams from Phoenix. Ricky thought we could use some experts.” He says as he guides me through the chain link fence surrounding the building.
Bastian joins us with River. “He’s here.”
Jake glances at him. “Where?”
“Inside.” He informs.
“Who?” I ask.
Jake looks at me as we climb a bridge built to the front door. “Zander.”
“Oh good. The King will solve everything." I say sarcastically.
Jake shoots me a look and I shoot one back.
The building lists so bad everything is pressed to one side. Just a huge pile of garbage. It’s even more destroyed than when I saw it last time. I wander across a temporary bridge built to navigate the list. In the debris, I see something really weird.
I stop and lean on the rope. “Is that?”
I study the carved decorative, dark railing. My eyes rise to the stairs. All the spindles are there, but the top banister is missing. Well, not missing, but twisted in curls and knots on the floor.
“It gets weirder.” Jake says.
I motion to the banister as I start to walk. “What’s weirder that that?”
I see Zander at the door, but he looks strange. He looks upright in a listing doorway.
He stands with his thick arms crossed. “Watch your step.”
I look down and where the door frame meets the room, it’s ripped up and there’s leaking light like it’s bleeding along the seams of the wood.
I lift my foot over the twisted frame and step into the room. My brain really can’t handle much more.
The gigantic library is perfectly fine. A fucking natural disaster of epic proportions happened just outside a fucking bedroom door and this room is completely untouched. The walls still have all their books, the floor is straight and flat, the windows are beaming with sunlight and the fucking floors look polished.
I take a few steps in. My head is everywhere.
My breathing speeds up. My heart starts to race. I feel my calm side completely check out.
I take a really deep breath. My fists ball and my body starts to shake. My wolf is spinning circles and howling.
“Dea?” Jake says.
“Is Jenny here?” My chin juts out and a fire erupts inside.
“No. She’s not. There’s no sign of her.” River informs.
I slowly process what I’m hearing.
River slides up beside me. He looks into my eyes. “Deacon…breathe.” He says as he lays a hand on my shoulder.
I take deep, infuriated breathes.
“What…the…hell?” I clench my teeth so hard my jaw hurts.
“Deacon…” He raises a hand to me.
“What the hell?” I say again.
My brain pops because I cannot wrap my head around this at all.
“Deacon…We’re investi…”
I spin around, throw my hand to the room. “WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?!” I scream so loud, I think a bird flew off somewhere.
Zander holds his hand out. “Deacon. We can explain.”
“EXPLAIN? THERE IS NO EXPLAINATION FOR THIS! THIS CAN'T BE FUCKING HAPPENING!” I yell as a vein pops in my forehead.
“My dear boy. No need to shout.”
I roll my fuming head to the voice that came from a hallway. It’s that Windum asshole with Azriel and the other fruit loops.
Windum looks to Zander. “It’s escaped.”
“Damn.” Zander rubs his forehead.
I turn to him as Azriel steps in front. “Deacon. I can see your concern…”
“Concern? Az…Concern? THIS ISN’T CONCERN, AZRIEL! THIS IS RAGE!” I point to my face as I yell.
He lifts his chin and hand to try and calm me. It isn’t going to work.
“I know there’s questions.
“I have so many goddamn questions, AND I WANT SOME GODDAMN ANSWERS!” I lean over and yell to the smug Sorcerers behind Azriel.
“Yes, we understand. Just try to remain calm.” Azriel says.
“No. Fuck that.” I shove him aside. “I want to know how the hell a 24 year old librarian survives this shit!”
I walk up to Azriel. “Who the hell are the royal douchbags?!!” I shout as I point to the sorcerers. He goes to say something and I shoot flames in my glare at him, warning him that interrupting me is a very bad idea right now. He shuts up.
My questions fire out like shots from a cannon.
“What the hell does this have to do with rogues?! Who the hell was the dead guy is that you saw?!! What the hell was in this room?!! AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY GIRLFRIEND?!!!” My shoulders heave as breathe hard.
Azriel jumps in front of me. “All your questions will be answered, but we must contain this before anything else gets out.”
I suck in my top lip and nod. “Nobody is going anywhere until I get some fucking answers!”
“You will.”
“I better or I’m raising fucking hell.” I throw a finger in his face and steam as Jake grabs my arm.
He pulls me back. “Deacon. Come on. Just calm it down.” He says quietly. “We'll find her.”
I nod as I try to calm down.
“Now. We understand that this situation is urgent. The problem is it’s not an easy task to retrieve the girl.” Windum says.
“What do you mean?” I stand with my arms crossed. “I’ll get my trackers. I just need to know where…”
He interrupts me. “Finding her body is the simple task. Finding her mind…that’s the difficult part.”
I flare my eyes. “You’ve got two seconds to make sense or I’m wolfing out.” My eyes glow and the girl beside him flicks her hand down. A red ball forms in her palm.
“Deacon! Stand down!” Zander growls.
Windum lifts his fingers to the woman. The ball disappears.
“Windum…if I may.” Azriel says.
Windum nods and motions him to go ahead.
Azriel walks up to me and puts his hands in a prayer in front of his chest. He lowers his head like he’s trying to find the words.
He raises his head and places a hand on my shoulder. “Alright. Alpha. Do you believe in ghosts?”
I look at him like his head just fell off. “What?!”
“Ghosts…Specters, poltergeist, phantoms…” He offers.
“In…fucking movies…What?” I look around the room. Zander nods at me and my eyes widen.
I look back at Azriel. “No.” I say with shock.
“I’m afraid he’s telling the truth.”
I look behind Azriel to the man Windum called Euris. He joins our circle. “This room…This vault…was not just the holding of vast magical knowledge, but it was also a prison.”
“A prison.” I repeat in disbelief.
“Yes.” Azriel confirms. “A prison for evil incarnate.”
“Oh, come on, Azriel. She’s not that evil.” Euris snips.
He turns to him. “She's the daughter of Satan.”
“Really?” my brows shoot up.
“No. Not really.” Azriel waves me off.
I blow out a breath.
“But she might as well be.” Azriel crosses his arms and side eyes Euris.
“She’s confused. This room will do that.” He defends.
“She wasn’t confused when she stole it!”
“She didn’t steal it! It was an accident!”
“Yes, she did! You just can’t accept it through your gobbledygook you have for her!”
“I do not have gobbledygook! “
“You’re covered in gook!”
“ALRIGHT!!” I yell to stop this…whatever the fuck it is. The two wizards turn to me.
“OK…I’m only going to say this once. Shut the fuck up and explain this to me like I’m as dumb as that guy.” I point to Windum.
“See here!!” He protests.
“SHUT UP!!” I bark at him.
Euris turns to him. “Windum.” He motions his hand to stand down.
“Deacon.” Azriel starts. “This is the vault of the Shamans. In it, is every magical item and spell in every known universe. Your lovely girlfriend found the largest collection of magic of all time.”
“A magical vault.” I confirm.
He nods. “Inside was to be protected by the High Sorcerers Council. Many centuries ago, we made a deal with the Shaman of the time. We protect the library and he works with us for what we needed.”
“Hold on.” Zander interrupts. “I was told this was a library. You were controlling the Shamans vault and you didn’t inform me?” He shoves himself in the conversation.
“The High King is on a need to know. You, King, didn’t need to know.” Windum says as he rocks smugly on his heels.
“I am Zander Maximus. King of the oldest kingdom in Europe. I demand to know everything!” He growls.
“To me, you’re a spec on my shoe. Sorcerer trumps King. I can easily turn you into a pauper with the wink of an eye.” He eyes Zander.
Zander squints and walks up to him. “Unless, you want an army of millions raining down on your head, you will not threaten me again. I have ways of removing your head from your shoulders and no amount of magic can stop it. If you think my crown wasn’t protected from you, you really are dumber than you look.”
I knew that Windum jerk was all talk.
Euris walks up and pushes Zander back. “Now is no time to start war.” He looks between the two men.
“Yes, well. It’s all out now, so wasted words.” Windum clears his throat.
Pussy, I smirk.
“You were saying.” I refocus the conversation.
“The Sorcerers Council appointed a guardian. A keeper of the Vault. Selina Edwin. She was a fairly new addition to the council of eight. She was ambitious and very talented.” Azriel continues.
“Yes, she was.” Euris smirks.
I do a double take and arch a brow. “Were you…Were you boning her?” I look him over.
“No. I wasn’t…boning…her.” He snorts. “We were friends. That’s all.”
“Euris.” Azriel tilts his head.
Euris glances at Azriel. “Alright. I was boning her, but it wasn’t sordid affair. We were in love.”
“OK. So what? She stole the room after you put her in charge?” I fold my arms and try to make sense of this.
“Again, not exactly.” Euris says. “We had one rule in the agreement. We were not to step foot in the vault. We were charged with its movement. We agreed to move the library so it wouldn’t be found, but we were not to enter it at any time. If the Shaman needed in it, we moved it and we let him in.”
I’m trying…so hard. “You move it?”
“Yes.” Azriel says. “This room is charmed with a teleportation spell that’s run by the driver. The keeper has the key and it moves through space and time based on the drivers thoughts.”
I rub my chin. “So this room can teleport.” I point to the floor. “What about that one?” I point out the door.
Azriel sighs. “This is where it gets complicated. It seems that Seline used a Shaman potion. Specifically one that gives wolves the ability to teleport.”
“Ravens.” I supply.
“Precisely.” Azriel says. “For whatever reason, she spilled the potion out there. The teleportation activated the rooms autopilot and here we are.”
“Sure. Why not? Alright. You said Seline did this. So where’s Jenny?” I look to the men and flip my gaze between them.
“How can I say this?” Euris rubs his forehead.
I lean to him. “Use little words.” I growl.
Azriel nods. “Remember the ghost question?”
“Yes.” I, all of a sudden, don’t like where this is going.
“Seline strayed. Like Eve with the apple, she did the one thing she wasn’t supposed to.” Euris says.
“She went inside.” I guess.
Euris nods. “The Shaman found out and…” He looks to the floor and rests his hands on his hips.
I study his movements with confusion.
“He killed her.” Azriel finishes.
My face softens. “Awe…shit, man. I’m sorry.”
Euris waves me off. “It’s quite alright.”
“We were devastated. She was young and draw into the evils within these walls, but didn’t deserve the death she received. What was worse was the afterlife she was forced to live.” Azriel says.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Unbeknownst to me or the council, she tied her soul to the room. She knew she was breaking the agreement and knew she could be killed for her prying eyes.” Euris quietly chokes. “Her obsession for this room turned her heart dark. There’s magic is this library that even the most dark witch won’t touch. Seline wanted all of it. We found her spirit in here after she departed. She was angry, confused and dangerous. We discussed and agreed…”
“Lock it up.” I breathe.
“And never open it again.” For two centuries this room had never been opened except on two occasions. One, when your friend opened it…” Azriel informs.
“And the second?” I turn my head slightly.
“Two years ago.” He says.
“The Reaper.” I say. My thought goes to the puzzle piece I put together.
Azriel nods. “The Reaper was given to us by Phoenix to keep safe. Cedric…the ‘dead guy’…was Selines replacement. We allowed him access and he put the blade in here. Shortly after, the room disappeared. Failing to reappear where we would know where it is, we put out an ABP as it were. It seems Cedric lost control of the room. It teleported through space and time wherever and even whenever the room saw fit. No one guided it. Cedric had the only key. How he got into the room, I have no idea and without his body, we can’t ask.”
Euris crosses his arms. “We suspect Seline made an attempt to escape and it failed. When the room stopped and attached itself to your girlfriends building, it’s our belief that Seline used her abilities to lure Jenny to find her.”
“The sleep walking.” I supply.
“If that’s what the poor girl was doing, then yes. Seline was influencing her mind. Drawing her to the room.” Euris says.
“But, how? We were miles away.” I ask.
“A worm.” Azriel supplies.
“What?”
“A magical worm. She must of planted one in Jenny’s mind. It’s subtle at first. Strange dreams, some urge to go somewhere. Then that connection grows stronger. For Jenny, it would compel her to find the door.” He rubs his nape.
“Jenny kept talking about a song.” I look to the floor then back up to the men. “Then what? She walks out?” I arch a brow.
“No. Seline is a spirit tied to the room. She cannot leave without a body.” Euris says.
I tilt my head. My mouth goes small. “Please…do not tell me my girlfriend, my precious baby, is fucking possessed by a psycho bitch.”
Azriel swallows. “I’m afraid she is.”
“Seline isn’t a psycho bitch.” Euris corrects.
I motion to the store. “That’s pretty goddamn psycho to me! I knew something was wrong with her. FUCK!” I growl and walk away. I spin back around. “How do we find her?”
“I have a suggestion.” I turn to River who has his laptop. He spins it around to face me. “Follow the rogues.”
I watch the satellite images flip and the red dots all enter New York State.
River says the one thing that I’ve been fearing this whole time.
The reason the wolves retreated was because they got her. This cannot get any worse.
ВЫ ЧИТАЕТЕ
Behind The Alpha Book 5 Deacon
МистикаDeacon Riley: The one thing about wolf packs is you can never beat a solid pack down. My pack has always been survivors. We always bounce back. After years of rebuilding from the Cowboy from Hell, I'm finally at a position to take in new members...
