Surprise Mating (12 page)

“
Beatrice,” a man called and waved.  Syd moved forward until someone caught her arm and she just about had a heart attack.  “Bea, I was calling you, we have a meeting, remember.”

“
Oh yeah, just give me a few minutes and come to my office,” she stumbled.

The man looked at her with a strange expression.  “
With security—our monthly security check.”

“
I know, I meant I needed to go to my office for a second, and grab my other bag, it has all my stuff in it.  I will meet you there in a few,” Syd covered quickly and the man stepped back.

“
You can't, we have to go now, come on,” the man said and dragged her behind him to the elevators.  Instead of going up, they went down.  Syd could barely contain her anxiety. 
This was going to suck
.

As they exited the elevator, they were hustled into a room to wait for their name to be called.  Syd didn
’t like the looks of some of the men going in and out and was even less happy when she saw a few of the people coming out with bruises.  What the fuck kind of security check was this?

After twenty minutes Sydney began to sweat, her mates should be in the building by now, waiting.  “
Beatrice Grundle.”  A man called and she looked around and then rose quickly when she realized it was her.

“
Yes?” she said.

“
This way,” the man said, looking down at the folder in his hand.

She followed and paid attention, there were a lot of rooms that were closed and she was feeling very uneasy.  Especially after she heard a few cries comin
g out of some of the rooms.

They wound their way back, and she paused and turned when the man held out a hand to an open door, offering her to go in first.  She looked past him and frowned.  There were bars there, and what looked like a jail, and hell she
could see people in them.  What the hell?  Where had she been taken?

“
Ms. Grundle, have a seat,” the man said and she noticed they were not alone, there were three other men in the room, standing against the back wall with their hands folded in front of them wearing black suits.  They looked like morticians.  Syd swallowed and sat down across from the man. 

There was a large desk with a computer and the man sat down, then punched in a few numbers.

“So, it has been a month, has anything changed on your security?” the man asked and didn’t look at her.

“
No,” she said firmly.  Rissa would have told her.

The man
’s eyes shot to her quickly and he raised an eyebrow.  “Are you sure?”

“
Yes.”  Bastards were fucking with her.

“
I see,” the man said and leaned back.  “So the report we had that you are dating a known felon is wrong?”

Syd frowned and put a hand to her chest. 
Academy Awards time
.  “My goodness no, I don’t know where you get your information from, but I would never date someone who was a felon.  No, I stay at home most nights, unless I am going to see my mother.  I just take care of my cat, and watch the news,” she said.

The man looked at her and chuckled then nodded.  Syd felt the presence of two men on either side of her and she refused to move.  “
That is not what we hear,” the man said and two hands clamped on her shoulders preventing her from moving.

“
In fact, this picture is of you, just last week in the local pub with the man in question, looks to me like you are very close to him,” the man said and flipped a picture of the Troll with some ugly ass guy kissing in a booth. 
Gross, seriously?

*****

Gio stood on the floor waiting for Syd and when she didn’t show he began to get a bit worried.  He smiled at the people passing him and then walked to the stairwell.  There was a flash in the corner of his eye and he turned. 
OH SHIT!

*****

Thomas and Kiki had made it through the store with only one person stopping them to try to get them to buy something, apparently sales were down considering the desperate look on the salespersons' faces.

When they got down to the basement, Thomas tapped his ear.  “
Where to?”

“
The third vent on the right leads to their basement,” Dec said and Thomas nodded and went to the vent and used a tool from his purse and opened it.  He turned to Kiki who was standing there and said, “In we go.”  Their communicator would not work after a few feet, so they told Dec and Nik they were going in.

Kiki leaned forward and sighed, “
Vivi is gonna be pissed having to comb out all of these cobwebs.”

“
Tough shit.”  Thomas laughed and followed him in the vent.  It was large enough they could walk bent over.  Kiki led the way through the maze of metal tunnels and he cussed the entire way.  Thomas just smiled and followed.

When they reached the end of the line, Kiki turned around and whispered, “
What the fuck do you want me to do now?”

Thomas rolled his eyes.  “
Open it slowly.”

“
It is locked,” Kiki whispered.

Thomas swore and said, “
Knock it out, quietly.”

Kiki turned around and rolled his eyes,
quietly kick out a metal vent, right
?  They had no choice and he couldn’t see where the fuck they were going to end up, but they had to go.  The vent was one where the slats were pointed upward so he couldn’t see through, taking a deep breath be used his shoulder and popped the vent off and grabbed it before it could hit the floor.  Impressed with his reflexes he turned around and smiled then scooted out of the vent.

When Kiki turned around he smiled big and said, “
Oh hello, how are things going in here?”

Thomas sucked in a breath and jumped through, thinking they ended up in the middle of the Prentiss Agency goons but when his eyes focused, he realized they had actually ended up in hell.

*****

“
What the hell are you doing here?!” Gio demanded of the tall woman who was smirking at him in the stairwell.

“
Just hanging around!  And you?” the Black Widow said.

“
Shit, I need to find Syd, she was supposed to be here, and she is not,” Gio said pulling out his communicator.

“
The small, little woman with an attitude?” the woman asked.

Gio rolled his eyes and nodded.  “
Yes, we are trying to find something.”

“
I know, I know, the same thing I am looking for I would guess, but that is beside the point.  Do they know yet that you are working for me?” she mused.

“
I don’t work FOR you!” he growled.

“
Whatever.  For—with, what is the big deal?  We are all after the same thing,” the woman said.

“
Damn it, I don’t have time for this, I need to find her,” Gio growled.  “They are looking for information, you know they will figure out the books.”

The woman swore, and said, “
Damn, crazy Seer.  I knew she was adding something to them when I took them to her.  Figures she left a fucking trail, and then hid them, I have to find her.”

“
You should just come to the Drekinn and talk to them,” Gio said.

“
I can’t yet, it is not time, and you know that.  If I go too soon everything will become fucked up.  Just make sure you let me know if they get too close.  I have to find something else before we join forces,” the woman said.

“
Whatever.  SYD!” Gio said, and the woman nodded and grabbed his hand and snapped her fingers.

*****

Kiki and Thomas looked at the rows and rows of cages holding shifters and other magical people.  There was no way they could get them all out, but they could try.

“
We need to find the release,” Thomas said and walked toward where the first cage was and spoke to the man who was staring at them.  None of the captives had screamed or called out to them, it was as if they were in a trance.

“
Sir, do you know how we can get you out of here?” Thomas whispered and the man looked at him and stared.  “Shit, magic.  They won't help us, and we can’t break the spell.”

“
We can save him though,” Kiki whispered and pointed to a man who was laying on the floor, bleeding and obviously in pain.  He was actually making a small bit of noise, and he was not in a cage.

Moving quickly
, Thomas went to the man and turned him over.  There were cuts and burns all over his body.  “Sir, why are you out here?”

“
They are coming back to put me in a cage, someone set off an alarm,” the man whispered.

Thomas looked up.  “
Kade.  We need to get him out of here.”

Kiki nodded and looked around.  “
Back through the vent, I will take him, find Syd and follow.” 

Thomas nodded and
helped Kiki carry the man to the vent and he pushed them both in and then put the vent cover back on loosely and whispered, “Go, I will be there in a few, let the others know we are coming.”

The communicator didn
’t work in the building itself, but once they hit halfway in the vent, Kiki would be able to talk to Dec and Nik.  Shit, he had to find Syd and Gio.

Thomas went to the doors and looked out of the small window.  There was a red light in the hallway.  Kade had done a good job getting the Prentiss to c
hase him apparently.

He eased open the door and slid out, looking around, he needed to get one floor up to the elevator and then he could find Syd.  As he walked down the hallway he could hear voices coming from rooms and frowned.  What the hell was going
on down here, the screams were getting louder as he approached another hallway.  Wait, he knew that cry, Syd sounded just like that when she was crying about being a Troll.  Why the fuck was his mate crying and down here?

Before he could get to the door, G
io appeared with the woman in black.  Thomas reared back and yelled, “Gio, what the fuck?!”

“
Follow me!” Gio yelled and burst through a room where he heard Syd screaming.

When Thomas entered the room
, he almost roared.  Syd was being held by two men, her face was bruised and bloodied, and she was crying.  Gio jumped at the man standing against the back of the wall, while Thomas went for his mate who suddenly stopped crying and grinned.

“
About fuckin' time,” she said and he felt her power shimmer.  The men who were holding her gasped as the large woman turned into a smaller woman who was laughing at them.  “Fuckers, I said I was not sleeping with a Troll.  This is my mate, assholes.”

Thomas roared and jumped on the two men.  “
Syd, run.”

“
Of course, sweetie, but first I have to get what I came for.  Asshole, move out of the way,” Syd said to the man behind the desk who was suddenly lifted off his feet by the woman in black.  Syd rolled her eyes, rounded to the computer, and used the badge from the desk the man took and did exactly what Rissa told her to do.

It only took moments for the noise in the building to become ear splitting as the alarm went off.  “
Syd?”

“
Almost there, babe, hit him a few more times, he grabbed my breast,” Syd called out.

“
WHAT?!” Thomas roared again and began to hit the already unconscious man. 

Gio pulled him back, then turned and said, “
We have to go.”

“
Got it,” Syd said and then turned to the woman who was blocking her way.  “Move, thunder thighs, I don’t have time for this,” she ground out.

“
Hey, my thighs are fine!” the woman yelled.

“
Whatever, we are in reality and we need to get the fuck out of here,” Gio said as they heard the thunder of shoes coming down the hall toward them.

“
Fine, but Tink and I are gonna have a long talk soon,” the woman said and grabbed them all and they disappeared.

*****

Kiki huffed and puffed as he dragged the man who half walked, half crawled back through the vents.  When they finally came to the end of the shaft, Kiki yelled into his mic, “Guys, I have a wounded man, and the others are still in there, all hell is breaking loose by the sound of it.”

“
Calli and the others are on their way, go to the elevator and wait, it will take you to the platform,” Declan ordered and Kiki nodded, like they could see him.

He pulled the man around the corner and pushed the button on the elevator that only went down.  Everyone had forgotten the damn thing even existed since it went to the old subway, but it only went down not up, which royally sucked.

When the elevator dinged, he almost cried with relief when he saw his friends waiting for him.