Dogs of War Episode 5 (7 page)

Dear God there could be children around.  She put her forehead in the palm of her hand, unable to believe what had just happened. She could feel Demon’s eyes on her but she didn’t care. His phone stopped ringing.

“Sidney, listen – “

“Stop, Demon we don’t need to ever –“ she was cut off by his phone ringing yet again. “I guess someone really wants to talk to you.”

He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at the display, she noticed that he still had a very noticeable hard on underneath his pants and she flushed an even deeper. There was no way she was ever going to be able to explain this to Red, or to herself.

“What the fuck do you want?” His tone told whoever was on the other end of the line exactly how annoyed he was at having gotten their call.

Desperate to do something so she wouldn’t just sit there agonizing on what had almost happened she began to clear away the plates and utensils off the blanket, pouring out unfinished mead, collecting the trash, and packing it away as best she could as Demon silently listened to whoever was on the phone.

“Are you fucking shitting me? I told him what they were up to and he still tried to go alone.”

Sidney was all ears, something was going on with the Dogs.

“Oh, he took two prospects, both who are now also being held prisoner, and a guy who just switched team mid season. Yeah, I see your point. Real smart of him.”

She wanted to interrupt, to ask what was going on, even if it wasn’t any of her business. If it involved Red she needed to know.

“Goddamnit. I’ll be there in a few. Get everyone else together because we’re leaving in an hour.”

Demon hung up and stuck the phone back in his jeans, “I’ve got to go, will you take care of all of this?” He indicated the picnic supplies.

“What’s going on?”

He ran his hand through his hair, “Well, if you must know, your dumbass ex-boyfriend managed to row all the way up shit creek, and not only did he forget a paddle, he forgot the whole damn boat. And as usual, little brother has to go drag his drowning ass up out the water. “

He was dehydrated. He hadn’t been given food, water, or any medical attention and Red was pretty sure the situation was on the verge of being dire. It hurt to be alive.

He’d tried to sleep, sitting in the wheelchair they’d left him in with his head propped against the wall, but the pain was too much. If they’d left him untied because they’d assumed he was too weak and injured to try to escape, they had assumed correctly.

At some point time had ceased to have meaning. There was no clock on the wall, no window to see the sun or moon, no way to tell how long he’d been there when every second felt like he were about to die.

Footsteps tromped down the hall every so often, and each time he hoped it was someone coming in to either kill him or relieve some of the pain. He’d have cried with gratitude if someone had just come in and handed him a glass of water.

Eventually, someone did come in. But they had no medical equipment, nor a gun aimed at his head, nor a glass of water.

It was Frederick again, dressed in a different version of the same suit he’d worn before, looking just as clean-cut and emotionless as before.

“So, I hope you’ve had time to mull over your options.”

Red tried to nod. He’d thought long and hard about the situation.

“Good, good. And what decision have you come to?”

He knew what his answer was, but he wasn’t ready to give it. “Water?” he croaked, the effort of speaking making his throat feel like it was about to crack open.

“Of course, how rude of me,” Frederick pulled out his phone and instructed someone to bring water.

They both waited in silence until a woman in the same kind of blue scrubs the man, John, had worn, brought in a pitcher of water, two glasses, and a small bowl of cut lemons.

“Very nice, thank you.” Frederick looked at Red, “Would you like a twist of lemon in yours?”

Red lifted an eyebrow. He wanted to take the entire icy pitcher and pour it into his mouth, he didn’t give any fucks about a lemon.

Frederick smiled as he handed Red a glass, sans lemon, “I think I like you. I don’t generally have an affinity towards many people, but with just a raised brow you made me understand exactly how you felt about my silly lemon question. I haven’t been so amused in a long time.”

Red ignored him and concentrated on the sweet feeling of the water sliding down his parched throat, filling the empty hole inside him he hadn’t been aware was there. “More?” He limply held out the empty glass.

“Why, not.” Frederick took the glass and refilled it. “Yes I think we’re going to do splendidly well together. Big Dog was just not bright enough for the task at hand, but I can tell that you’re a cut above. Just think Red, all of the shifters united together, under your leadership. No more squabbling over stupid turf wars, over someone cutting into your market. No, all of you working together with one goal.”

Red drank slower, licking his lips between sips. He could feel how dry and chapped they were.

“And when we’ve gotten the little problem of all the other ‘species’ under control, and our other plans come to fruition, your kind will be our… hmmm, what will we call you? Enforcers? No, that’d be a public relations nightmare. Lesser human task force? Probably not, the masses might balk at being referred to as ‘lesser’, no matter how inferior they actually are. Well we can think of a nice name later. Basically you’ll keep the humans in their place. I’m sure you’ve wanted to do that for a long time now.”

The man seemed downright jovial in his own detached way. He really thought Red was going to agree to all of this. Red didn’t blame him, he could see he was a man used to getting his way.

But Red had spent that time thinking, he’d tried to think of anything to get his mind off the pain, and it had wandered over Three Rivers. Yes, it was a town that had been built for shifters by shifters, but others had settled there too. He’d thought of the old man who liked to sit at the 24 hour breakfast house and drink coffee; silenus. At his death, thousands of years of wisdom and knowledge would die with him. Plus he was on the town council. He’d thought of the little fae girl who worked at the supermarket. She was silly but sweet and she always gave Morgan a lollipop when she went in with him. He’d thought of the vasily family that lived on a huge farm on the outskirts of town, they stayed to themselves but they donated to the food bank and to the First Baptist soup kitchen, a lot of folks ate well because of their generosity.

Then, of course, there were the witches. There was Demon and there was Sidney.

Three Rivers was theirs too, and his job was to protect Three Rivers. There would be no genocide under his command.

He set the empty glass in his lap, he really didn’t have the strength to hold it any more, and he didn’t want to drop it and show his weakness to Frederick, even though he probably already knew how bad Red was injured.

“No,” Red said.

“What?” Frederick seemed to mishear him.

“I said no,” he said louder, more clearly.

“That’s ridiculous. I’ve read your silly book of laws. It’s like the white power manifesto, except for shifters. There’s no reason for you to turn down this opportunity. And that’s what it is, Red, an opportunity. Shifters united, all supernatural creatures except shifters eliminated, your people would be the second most powerful group in the world, and you’d be leading them. Think of what opportunities you could give to your species. The possibilities are endless.”

“I said no,” Red’s eyes met his, the confusion cleared in Fredrick’s face and turned hard.

“You realize you’re not only signing your own death certificate, but one for those two young shifter’s in the other room too?”

Red nodded, he knew the consequences of his actions and he’d still given the only answer he could.

“Very well then,” Frederick turned to go, “You may keep the water. A last meal as it were. Someone will be in to handle you shortly.”

Red watched him walk out, glad at least his suffering would be over shortly.

“There is no way in hell you are coming with us,” he made sure he had everything he needed in his saddlebags and buckled them, he didn’t have time to worry about Sidney. “Call a cab and go home. There’s nothing you can do.” He slung his legs over the seat of his bike, the bike which she was standing in front off, arms folded.

Sidney had insisted on coming back to the clubhouse with him while he waited on all the guys to get there, abandoning his fine dollar store china in the park because she refused to listen to reason. So instead of staying behind and cleaning up their mess and driving home to wait like a sane person, she’d decided that she was just going to tag along with him. He guessed she’d assumed that if she didn’t have a way to get home, he’d let her go with them. She had assumed wrong.

“I’m going with you,” she said, lips pressed in a determined line.

Demon didn’t say anything to her, just looked at all the other guys, and the few chicks scattered here and there, in the parking lot ready to go at his say and shouted, “Y’all ready?”

Yells of agreement and the sound of forty or so hogs cranking gave him his answer. He wasn’t going to argue with her. He didn’t have time. He’d just drive off and leave her standing there, if she wasn’t going to act rational he wasn’t going to try to rationalize.

“I’m a witch! I can help!” she yelled, coming closer to him. Even over the din created by the bikes, he knew that others had heard her. She sure was stupid. This was the second time she’d said it out loud around the other shifters. Even if Red would take her back, which Demon doubted, now he’d have to explain to a lot of other people why he was involved with a witch.

“Yes, by staying here and staying safe. I can’t protect you and save Red at the same time.”

He could see the anger bubbling up in her, he could almost feel it.

“I said, I can help,” she said between gritted teeth.

“Whatever Sidney, I’ll see you when I get back with Red,” he pushed the kickstand with his foot and prepared to leave.

“You’re not going anywhere without me.”

He started to gun the motor and leave the parking lot, but his engine sputtered and died. Then one after the other he heard all the bikes in the parking lot stall and cut off. He looked at Sidney.

Her eyes were closed and she was holding her breath, fist clenched at her side. All around her people were trying to turn their motors over and only getting the frustrating sound of failure.

Demon sighed and rolled his eyes. God, women were a pain in the ass.

“Get on the goddamned back and let’s go.”

Sidney opened her eyes and immediately the sound of engines roaring to life surrounded them.

***

Sidney held on to the back of Demon for dear life. They were traveling at speeds that seemed like they might be defying some sort of physical law. Which was good. The fear helped her keep the buzzing thrum of energy surging between her and Demon down to an annoyance, instead of completely taking over her every feeling and thought.

She was also scared for Red. She had only the barest of ideas of what was going on, Demon hadn’t been very forthcoming, but what she did understand was that he was in serious danger. No matter how they’d left things, or what he’d said, she wasn’t going to stand around while he got hurt, or worse. Not when she could do something about it.

Which was something she couldn’t be sure of. Whatever powers she had didn’t seem to want to cooperate during her lessons but she’d decided that Demon wasn’t going to leave without her and she’d made it happen. Cutting all the engines on the motorcycles hadn’t been her plan, she’d just closed her eyes and willed something to happen, and it had worked. She hoped she could repeat that success to help get Red out of whatever he’d gotten himself into.

The road stretched out in front of them and Sidney lost herself in her thoughts, carefully staying away from anything that related to Demon or their picnic, lest she let herself be taken over by whatever connection it was they had.  Instead she thought about the people around her. She hadn’t met even half of them, but she felt powerful with them around her.  Some weren’t club member, just people from the community who wanted to help, there were even women there. Sidney didn’t know what they were headed into, but she couldn’t imagine that anything would get the better of this group. Even without knowing that they were shifters, they looked like a tough bunch. If she’d seen them out in public before she’d known who and what they were, she’d have steered well clear. But she’d met some of them, spent time with them, and knew that they were all a part of a big loving loyal family, one that would ride into danger at a moment’s notice when one of theirs was threatened. It was more than anyone in her life would have done for her.

The sun was about to disappear behind the horizon by the time Demon pulled off the road and told them they’d go the rest of the way by foot. Sidney couldn’t have been happier to get off the bike. It wasn’t only the ride that had been tough, but the constant fight against Demon’s pull had also taken it out of her. She needed some distance from him, however scant, as much as she needed to walk.

They walked silently, more silently than a group of more than forty should have been able to pull off. Demon led them into a forested area where they seemed to meld with the trees and brush effortlessly, even though they were all still in their human forms. Something about being a shifter must give them the ability to walk like a wolf in both forms.

Demon made a signal with his hand for them to stop, Sidney could see through the trees that they were nearing the end of their leafy cover. Beyond the edge of the tree line, there was a clearing with a large square nondescript brick building surrounded by chain link fence topped with razor wire. It reminded Sidney of the DMV, or any other government building for that matter, in the way that it was so perfectly absent of character. A functional building with little use for decoration.

The group made a line, staying well within the cover the low hanging branches provided, and watched, waiting for Demon to give the signal for them to move. Sidney looked over at him, his face was bare of expression, maybe he was planning how to best get in without being seen.

“He’s in that building?” Sidney whispered.

“That’s what I’m waiting to find out,” he answered.

Sidney’s brow furrowed, he hadn’t sent anyone to scout and as far as she could tell, Tinker hadn’t known where they were taking Red. He’d been left at the clubhouse to heal, which she’d see to as soon as she got back, but the brief story she’d gotten was that he’d somehow faked unconsciousness long enough to be left unattended, then had shifted and come running back to the club as fast as he could. Which hadn’t been very fast, so there was no telling how far away they’d taken Red.

“But how are you going to find out?”

“A little ghostie is going to tell me,” he didn’t take his eyes away from the building.

The ghost thing again, she’d meant to ask him about that over lunch but she’d been… preoccupied. She was curious, but now wasn’t the time to have a long discussion about things that did or did not exist.

Demon spoke quietly to the man next to him, asking him to send someone named Crazy Shade to him. Minutes later a lanky man with long stringy hair and stained mismatched clothes walked up. Sidney consciously kept herself from wrinkling her nose because as soon as he came near the smell of dirty body combined with alcohol and smoke threatened to overwhelm her sense of politeness.

“Hey Shade, looking better man. Are those meds you were telling me about working?”

The man nodded silently and Sidney wondered what he’d looked like before if this were an improvement.

“See on the corners of the building there, and above the doors,” Demon pointed while he spoke, “We need to take out all of those lights and cameras before we try to break in, or they’ll see us coming.”

Crazy Shade nodded again, and began taking off his clothes as if she weren’t standing there, two feet in front of him. Sidney tried to look away, but like most things you don’t want to see, it was impossible not to look, no matter how much she wished she hadn’t. Then the air shimmered and crackled, just like it had when she’d seen Red shift, and she was left staring at empty space. No wolf stood in the place where the man had been.

“Where’d he go?” Sidney asked, searching the forest floor for any sign of him.

“He shifted.”

“But … he’s just gone. There’s no wolf.”

“Not all shifters change into wolves, it’s just the most common.” He didn’t seem like he felt like expanding on that so she silently pondered the repercussions of that particular revelation while she stood beside him in silence.

It seemed to take forever for the man to return, but when he did, Sidney came close to shrieking  as he reappeared almost out of thin air right in front of Demon.

“I got them all, and the ones on the other side of the building too.” His voice was deep and crackled with disuse. “There’s a lot of dudes inside.”

Demon patted him on the back, “Thanks Shade, that’ll help out a lot.”

The man smiled back at Demon, showing a wrecked collection of teeth that made Sidney feel a little squeamish.

“We go in as soon as the sun’s completely down,” Demon said to the man next to him, who in turn passed the words on to the others within hearing distance.

Sidney’s insides coiled with nervous anticipation and fear. She hoped she hadn’t been wrong in coming along, she wanted to help, not get in the way, but what if she wasn’t able to use any of her powers? Or what if she tried to use them and it didn’t turn out like she expected and actually caused more trouble for them? Sidney mentally shook herself, she couldn’t let the doubts seep in. She was here by her own choice, and if she couldn’t help with magic she’d find some other way to contribute, but either way, she’d see Red safe at least.

The minutes ticked by, she watched the sun as the brilliant colors of sunset muted into the grey tones of dusk, and she waited. Demon was staring at the building as if he could somehow gather information from it by sheer will, and he didn’t seem to notice the shifting feet and impatient sounds coming from the people around him. She, like everyone else, wanted to get started so that it’d be over with.

Then, as if some switch had been flipped, Demon quietly said, “It’s time, let’s go.”

She’d expected a flurry of activity at the words, a wild rushing towards the building by everyone, but that’s not what happened. Instead, they just stepped forward, walking with the same noiseless care they’d shown in the woods. It was more disconcerting than the angry horde she’d been expecting.

Demon grabbed her hand, “Stay with me” he said as he started out from under the trees. They waited while someone brought out some sort of metal cutter and clipped the fence so that a door shaped rectangle was formed, easily letting everyone walk through with without having to scale the fence and deal with the razor wire.

This was almost too easy. What was the point of having a fence if someone could just come along and clip a door into it? She’d expected some action movie sequence of men running and scaling the wall, throwing their abandoned shirts over the sharp edges for others to climb over. Instead they just calmly walked through.

On the other side of the fence, they began making their way to the building, the ones that made it first planting their backs against the wall, waiting for Demon to give them further instructions. She stayed behind him as they went, her hand firmly clenched in his.

She followed his lead as he pressed himself up against the wall like the others, and side stepped until he got to what must have been the back door of the facility. There was no window, it was just a plain metal door. Demon stood it front of it, giving a nod to the guys directly around him, as if to say get ready. He tried the door knob slowly and it wouldn’t give. Under his breath he began saying something that sounded vaguely musical, but she couldn’t understand the words, and finally the door clicked, and he looked back to confirm he had it open.

There was no easy way to do the next part. Opening the door slowly and peeking in wouldn’t do any good if someone were watching, so instead he flung it wide, hoping to catch someone by surprise.

And he did. A man, well over six foot tall, in a black suit stood with his back to the door. The sound of the door opening caught him off guard and he turned with a look of surprise on his face but it didn’t last long.