Mutts Like Me (The Awakening Series Book 1) Page 9

  Unshed tears burned the back of my eyes and throat. Through the blur, I noticed several people starting to stare at me and I took off down the steps and back to the sidewalk. I had to find shelter, and soon. I considered and discarded a number of ideas until finally it hit me: Go to the library.

  It took a while on foot. I briefly considered shifting, but didn’t know how I would deal with the clothing issue, so I had to walk the twenty-plus blocks to get there, praying it would still be open. It was getting late, but I made it. Another small bit of hope and excitement thrilled me as I pushed open the door. I finally remembered one full name.

  Jean-Marc Laurent.

  Chapter Eleven

  It took some doing, but I managed to find him on the Internet, as well convince a guy to let me borrow his cell phone. Well, the flirting to get the phone took some doing, given the state I was in. Finding Laurent on the Internet had been easy. It helped that he owned a successful, upscale restaurant called Nightingales, as well as co-owned Midnight Ink, a tattoo and piercing shop. His name came up quickly when I Googled him.

  I called both places and was turned down both times when I asked to speak to Laurent, but when I asked for Caleb, I got a hit at Midnight Ink. Whoever answered the phone had a slight accent and got a little cagey after I’d asked to speak to either Laurent or Caleb. He demanded to know who was calling and when I just said ‘Marti’, he barked, “Where are you?”

  “Who are you?” was my brilliant comeback.

  “Listen, Marti, wherever you are, stay alert. You are in danger,” he said.

  Well, duh.

  Since the guy who’d loaned me his phone was getting a little restless, I knew I had to wrap things up quickly.

  “Do you know Toshio,” I asked.

  “Yes, Marti, I know all of you. Be very careful of anything you say over the phone. The Awakened are everywhere. Just go to the place where you met Toshio and I’ll send someone for you.”

  “But I don’t know where that is!”

  “Yes, yes you do. Go there, then three blocks south. Hide somewhere and wait. You’ll know us when you see us.”

  He’d hung up before I could get more information.

  I handed back the phone to its rightful owner and gave him a short thanks before heading back out the door.

  I hesitated on the sidewalk. The place where I met Toshi? I’d been unconscious when we got there…Oh, geez. Of course! The first place I met him was… more than twenty blocks away and nothing but rubble.

  Damn it. I had to go back the way I’d come.

  Man, what I wouldn’t give for some bus fare right now. I checked my other pockets quickly, hoping I’d strike gold, or at least silver, but no luck. I considered running back in the library and trying to borrow another phone, but time was wasting. At last I ducked in between a couple of buildings, shucked off my clothes, rolled them tightly in my jacket, then finally picked them up in my mouth as I tore down the street on four legs, hoping against hope that no animal patrol was about.

  I’d nearly made it there in record time when I recalled he’d said three blocks south. I headed in that direction trying to stay out of sight between buildings and alleyways, grateful for winter’s early sunset. Not much further now.

  Just as I was coming up on the designated area, four arms scooped me off the ground.

  The next thing I knew, I was dropped, yelping, onto the ground in front of the fanged blond god (a.k.a. Jean-Marc Laurent) and another large man who liked a Marine. As I whirled around, snarling, Caleb backed up with his hands in the air.

  “Sorry about that. We had to be quick.”

  All four—including a woman I’d never met—sniffed the air.

  The woman suddenly lifted the fur on the back of my neck and I jerked away, growling.

  “Ah, hell. She’s been chipped,” she said.

  Laurent bent down and pointed to a curtained off partition. “Quickly, Maritza, you can change in there.”

  Annoyed, I did as he said and when I returned, my stomach dropped at the serious looks on their faces as the two men watched Caleb and the other woman who were now chanting in a language I didn’t recognize.

  I turned to Laurent. “What’s going on?”

  His concerned frown wasn’t comforting. “They’re trying to hide you. You’ll need to be quiet and let them concentrate.”

  “Hide me, how?”

  He merely put a finger up to his mouth and frowned, shaking his head.

  I opened my mouth to question further, but didn’t speak when his military-looking companion put a hand on my shoulder, his dark-eyed gaze compassionate.

  “Just let them work,” he said. “This must be done quickly.”

  Since my life couldn’t get any weirder—so I thought—I kept my mouth shut and watched.

  As Caleb and his companion continued to chant, a warm tingling grew over my skin. I gasped as a sudden pain shot through the back of my neck, and their chanting grew louder. Dizziness swept over me and my knees started to buckle. Both Laurent and the other man swept their arms behind me to hold me steady.

  “Wha—” I stopped as they urgently shook their heads, no, indicating I needed to be quiet as the words and energy filling the air reached a crescendo.

  At last, it ended and I collapsed into the chair the two men guided me to.

  “What the hell was that,” I whispered.

  “Caleb and Anjelica put a cloaking spell on you to try to counteract the chip you’ve got,” Laurent said.

  “What chip?

  Caleb was at my side in a flash, grabbing hold of my arms. “Tell us where you’ve been, Marti. Where’s my sister?”

  I looked into his worried face and the words wouldn’t come out.

  “Are you sure this is safe?” the woman, Anjelica interjected. “We don’t know if she collaborated with them.”

  Collaborated? “With whom?” I demanded. “If you think I was in cahoots with those assholes who took us, you’re out of your mind.”

  “Took you? Took you where?” Caleb asked.

  I looked up the four worried frowns and slowly began to recount the last few days.

  There was a moment of dead silence when I finished that left me squirming.

  “She’s got to get out of here, now. We can’t risk it,” said the mountain of a man next to Laurent (and that was saying something, given how large he was).

  To my dismay, the others nodded their agreement. The big guy knelt down to my face level. His eyes were serious, but not without compassion as he spoke. “I’m sorry, Maritza. You’ve been compromised. You can’t stay here. We don’t know how long the spell will last, and you might have already led them here.”

  A hot burst of anxiety shot through my stomach. “What do you mean, compromised? How could I lead them here?”

  “They put a tracking device in you. That’s why we had to start the spell immediately. We know they’re already aware of this location, but with the help of the witches so far, we’ve been able to hold our ground. Not to mention Laurent has some favors can call in. But it’s still too dangerous for you to stay here.”

  He gave Laurent a significant look that I didn’t understand, but my head shook in denial the entire time he spoke. It was impossible. Wasn’t it?

  Let’s see about that neck of yours, she’d said.

  I reached up to rub the back of my neck, the area that hurt when the chanting started.

  “Gabe, show her the mirrors,” Laurent said.

  The big guy left while I worried about why I needed a mirror. A second later, I found out why. He led me to a room in the back where it was clear tattoos were done, and gave me a small handheld mirror.

  “Look at the back of your neck.”

  Afraid, I lifted the hair from my neck and positioned the mirror to see.

  There was a tattoo like a smeared barcode on my neck at the base of my skull.

  My hands went numb and I dropped the mirror. Fortunately, it didn’t break. I don’t think I could take sev
en more years of bad luck.

  “How?” I whispered. The tattoo was new, but not red. It appeared completely healed. A thought occurred to me and I whirled around. “What day is it?” I demanded.

  “Monday.”

  “The date?” I urged.

  Gabe’s eyes widened ever so briefly. “January third.”

  Relief rushed through me. I’d only been out of for two days. Somehow my body healed the tattoo completely in that short period of time, or else the Awakened used some tech to make it stick.

  I picked up the mirror again and tried to rub the mark off my neck with my other hand. “Can’t we get it off? Or can’t you tattoo over it?”

  By now I’d figured out that the Latino looking, obviously ex-military “Gabe” was Gabriel Lara, Jean-Marc Laurent’s business partner, according to the Internet research I’d done. And the place we stood in had to be Midnight Ink. And to think this place was not so far from the building I’d called home…

  “Do you know what happened to my apartment?” I blurted, cutting off whatever answer he’d been about to give regarding the tattoo.

  Gabe blinked at the non-sequitur, as did the others who had joined us.

  They looked a little uncomfortable and I suddenly didn’t want to know.

  “We—” Laurent began.

  I waved a hand and cut him off. “Never mind. Not right now. If they can track me through this,” I waved a trembling hand at my neck, “then you’re right. I need to leave. I won’t put you all in danger.”

  I could have sworn I saw respect in their eyes and it made me feel a little better. Even though I had no idea where I was going to go, or how I would get there.

  In the end, it didn’t matter. Gabe led the way as the rest of us followed into the basement, through a secret door, and into a labyrinth beneath the city.

  Who knew?

  I experienced some serious déjà vu as we made our way down dimly lit corridors that eventually led into a garage. I turned to Caleb.

  “Another bat cave?”

  He gave me a weak smile, and I realized he must be worried about his sister.

  I put my hand on his arm. “Cass is a fighter, you know.

  His smile grew a little stronger. “I know.”

  Laurent took a set of keys from his pocket and pointed toward a rather non-descript sedan, which beeped in reply. I raised my brows and looked at Caleb. “No Hummer this time?”

  Laurent turned and smiled. “Don’t let appearances fool you. This car was built specifically to withstand numerous types of attacks, yet still blend into traffic. Perfect for undercover missions.”

  Well, all righty then. I took his word for it, as he and Caleb got into the front and Anjelica and I took the backseat. Gabe stayed behind to gather more troops, promising to meet up with us.

  “Wait, guys – where are we going?” I finally thought to ask. With all the weirdness of the day, my mental faculties seemed to have gone AWOL.

  “We’ll be doing some recon at the last place we have pinged on Toshio’s phone. I’m guessing it’s Clara’s safe house.” Laurent looked at me in the rearview mirror. “After which, we’ll try pinpointing the facility unless you can show us the way.”

  I swallowed back fear. “I can probably find it again. But we can’t go in there unprepared. And if they can track me now…” I broke off the thought, anxiety shooting bile into my throat.

  Anjelica turned to me, her eyes kind for the first time since leaving Midnight Ink. “We’ve got you covered at the moment, but I’ve got a call in to a local coven for more firepower. The ones who chipped you will already know that you’ve been spelled. Their witches are bound to already be at work trying to break the spell, so our side will be helping remotely as much as possible.”

  “But that means they could still find me at any minute,” I protested.

  Caleb turned to look at us. “It will be all right, Marti. We’ve got some serious power on our side. Even this car is under a cloaking spell.”

  “That’s right,” chimed in Laurent from the driver’s seat.

  I could see him smiling at Anjelica in the mirror and wondered if she had anything to do with that. If so, I was seriously impressed.

  Caleb nodded at me, expression grim. “I promise we’re going to rescue our gang before anyone can find you.”

  He put such emphasis into his words I wondered if he was making a promise to himself, more than to me.

  The three of them made plans as we drove. I listened and added to the conversation whenever I could, but most of the time, my mind just kept replaying Toshio’s bruised face, his bleak eyes, and the way his legs stumbled as he was pushed into the room. Not to mention the mysterious choice he’d had to make.

  My new companions were convinced that he’d chosen to work with the Awakened in order to set me free. I couldn’t believe that. I wouldn’t believe that. If he’d chosen anything, it must have been to lie to them in order to give me a chance to escape. Surely he must know that I’d come back for them?

  But if he did, wouldn’t the Awakened know that also?

  “Um, guys, do you think we’re walking into a trap?” I said.

  The three of them actually laughed. “Of course we are,” Laurent said. “But forewarned is forearmed.”

  “But they’re forewarned and very well-armed.” I said.

  “Don’t worry, Maritza,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of tricks up our sleeves.”

  While I trusted his words, I also couldn’t stem my fear. Clara and the rest had tricks up their sleeves too, but it didn’t help any of us.

  “I understand, but I’m not sure you know what we’re really up against, I mean—”

  “Trust me, Marti. We know. I know better than anyone,” he said, his face like granite.

  Something in his expression and tone kept me from protesting further. He looked to be in his thirties, but suddenly he seemed much, much older.

  I glanced at Anjelica and her eyes had gone hard again, her shoulders stiffening like a weary soldier readying for battle.

  She caught my glance and gave a small nod. At that, I slumped back against the seat and silently prayed we’d all make it out of this alive.

  By the time we neared the area by Clara’s, my stomach was knotted tighter than a hangman’s noose. We all knew we were headed into a trap; what we didn’t know was when, exactly, it would be sprung. I just had to hope that the cloaking spells were holding.

  “So, um, guys?” I said as we turned down a road I remembered. “Can’t one of you remove the chip, like with magic or something?”

  Their three collective intakes of breath told me bad news was on the way. I didn’t like the way they all suddenly looked at me with pity.

  “What?” I groaned.

  “Let’s do some recon first,” Laurent said.

  Caleb and Anjelica nodded a little enthusiastically for my taste.

  “Okay, he’s driving, but one of you two spill,” I said to them.

  Caleb shook his head as Anjelica opened her mouth. He compressed his lips for a moment, then gave me the news.

  “There’s no way to do it without killing you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I was still pondering that cheery news when we pulled off into a field that held a dilapidated barn.

  I’d offered many suggestions, but each one had been shot down. The bar code tattoo was merely for the Awakened’s admin purposes—an easy ID that had nothing to do with tracking, so removing that made no difference. And no magic or surgery could get to the chip – it would keep moving out of range of anything that tried to capture it, escaping through the bloodstream like a parasite. If they used anything to try to pull it out, it would explode into a poison that would kill me instantly.

  Didn’t that just make my day?

  Little by little, the total suckitude of my predicament weighed in on me. I began to understand Anjelica’s sudden shift in mood from suspicious to pity whenever she looked at me. She must have known I’d figured it
out.

  There was no way I could remain with my new friends, even we rescued them. And going off to find my dad? Out of the question. I’d put them all in danger. I only had two choices: Stay away or die.

  Neither was something I’d ask Santa to bring me, but it was all I was getting. Happy frickin’ birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s to me.

  Now I just had to hope that Caleb and Anjelica’s juju held out and that I didn’t tip off the Awakened ahead of time. But…

  “Guys, don’t you think they would have someone following me? I mean, in Chicago?”

  “Of course they did,” Laurent said as he got out of the car and the rest of us followed. “I told you that we knew this was supposed to be a trap.”

  He seemed way too nonchalant for my taste. “And this doesn’t worry you?”

  He smiled. “Relax, little pup. We lost them the moment we went underground at Midnight Ink. I told you, we’ve got some tricks of our own.”

  Anxiety can be a stubborn thing and mine insisted, “How can you be certain that we weren’t followed?”

  “Because Gabe stayed behind to take care of them. He already let me know that we’re all clear.”

  Oh. So that must have been the ‘business’ he had to take care of. That helped a little. My nerves settled from high-wire jumping to trampoline bouncing. But with somersaults. And no net.

  “Ok, so what’s the plan?” I asked as we filed into the barn.

  Caleb smiled at the others. “Told you she had spunk.”

  Laurent’s lips moved into a half-smile. “I don’t think that was ever in question. The question is, how are we going to release the dragons?”

  My mouth fell open. “Dragons? Plural? I thought there was only Clara?”

  “There are more. Some holed up nearby. They don’t come out if they can help it, and they don’t like to shift, either. In fact, they don’t like much of anything,” he said.

  “Or anyone,” Anjelica added.