I tried to lift my arms to grab them, but my limbs wouldn't respond. The waif's eyes flickered to me. "Just relax. You can't win against that stuff."
My mouth flopped open like a gasping fish. The world around me darkened. My head lolled back and I lost consciousness.
2
My alarm sounded funny.
"Wake up already!" a voice snapped.
My eyes fluttered open. I found myself seated in a hard, armless wooden chair. My ankles were tied together with rope, as were my wrists behind my back. I appeared to be seated in a large abandoned factory. The room stretched for fifty yards on either side of me, and fifty yards wide. The walls were sheets of steel and the floor was cracked concrete. A few evenly spaced square pane windows high up on the walls let in enough light for me to know it was still morning. The only entrances were two doors placed on opposite sides of the building along the short walls.
The only other furniture in the dusty place was a matching chair and table. The waif sat in the chair opposite me and some six feet away. Their cap lay on the table. Long brown hair spilled down their back, and narrowed eyes stared back at me.
I blinked at her. "You're a woman?"
She smirked. "Clever disguise, wasn't it?"
The woman pulled off the worn jacket and tossed that onto the table. Her pants soon joined her, and she stood before me in a black leather outfit that sat snug against her curves. A small leather jacket finished the ensemble. She was on the good side of thirty, but just barely. Her skin was pale, but not unhealthy, and when she walked her boots clacked against the concrete floor as she stalked around me.
I turned my head left and right to follow her. "Why the hell did you kidnap me?"
She paused beside me on my right and sneered down at me. "You know why you're here."
I rolled my eyes. "How many questions do I have to ask before you believe I don't know anything?"
"You know David Dives."
I narrowed my eyes. "What about him?"
The woman walked past me and plopped herself into the chair. She leaned one arm over the back and sat at an angle. "Good, you admit it. I would have shown you the pictures I took of you this morning if you would have refused."
I arched an eyebrow. "What pictures?"
She smirked and reached onto the table where a few photos sat on the table. The woman tossed them at my feet. I looked down and saw they were of my car leaving the front gates that morning.
I snorted and my eyes flickered up to her. "You still use film?"
The woman frowned. "That's not important. What is important is that I stop both of you from hurting more people."
I blinked at her. "Come again?"
She leapt to her feet and clenched her fists at her sides. Her eyes flashed with fury. "Don't start acting stupid now! I know you're in league with that demon!"
I stiffened. "What demon?"
The woman slammed her palms on the seat on either side of my legs and stuck her face in mine. I leaned back and felt the front legs of the chair tip off the ground. Her breath was awful, and her clenched teeth were in need of dental care.
"You will tell me where you have taken those girls or I swear to God I will-" A terrific crash above us interrupted her ungodly threat.
We both whipped our heads back and stared at the ceiling. The woman straightened and stepped back. Her lack of weight on the chair meant I lost my balance. I yelped as the chair fell back and carried me with it. We both clattered to the floor and my own weight pinned my hands between the wood back and the hard concrete floor.
I looked to the gaping woman. "A little help here!"
Her eyes narrowed. She reached back and brushed aside her short coat to reveal a holster. In the holster was a small pistol that she removed and clutched in one hand. Her eyes never left the ceiling.
There came another clanging noise. Rivets appeared in one of the panels. The rivets flexed, and my eyes widened when I realized the rivets were really long, sharp claws. The fingers gripped the steel roof panel and tore it away from the building. Light poured into the dingy place and a furry head stuck through the opening.
"David!" I shouted.
He was transformed into his werewolf self. Those bright yellow eyes swept over the building. They softened on me, but hardened when they fell on the woman. The woman clasped her weapon in both hands above her head and pointed the barrel at David.
"Come on, monster!" she yelled. "Come down and fight like the dog you are!"
David curled his lips back and snarled at her. He dove head-first through the hole of his own making and slammed down on all fours. His heavy, sharp claws dug deep into the concrete and cracked the hard material.
The woman fired off a shot. He dodged to the side. They played that game again and again, neither one getting any closer to the other.
I wiggled in my bindings. The rope didn't loosen, but the position of the chair meant I slid down the back until my arms slipped out the back and pressed against me. I flopped onto my side and used the chair to climb to my feet.
The woman had her back to me. I hopped over and slammed my shoulder into her back. She and I crashed to the ground. I couldn't grab her, but I wiggled all over her. Somehow her gun got loose from her hands and slid away from us.
She grabbed my shoulders and shoved me off. "Traitor! Monster lover!" she snapped.
I sat up and glared at her. "What the hell is your problem?"
David stalked between us. He faced the woman and turned his, short bushy tail in my direction. I couldn't see his face, but I saw the woman's. Her eyes were as large as saucers and she cringed away from him. She covered her upper body with one arm and defiantly glared at David.
"Do your worst," she dared him.
I heard him snarl. "David!" I shouted. He took a step towards her. His clawed hand grabbed her by the collar and lifted her off the floor. "David!"
The only reply I received was a tail in the face. I growled and bit down hard on the furry limb.
Turns out werewolf tails are pretty sensitive. David yelped and dropped his prey. He spun around. My grip was strong and he ended up dragging me into the woman.
She shoved me away. "Stay off me, you traitor to your own kind!"
"You're welcome," I snapped back. I wiggled my chafed wrists and ankles. David glanced over his shoulder and snarled at us. "Less snarling and more getting me out of these things!"
David paused and blinked at me. A teeth-filled grin slipped onto his wide lips. I was glad when he partially reverted back to his human self. He still had some sharp teeth and claws, but there was less bite to his bark.
My mate sheepishly smiled at me. "Sorry about that. I guess I lost myself when I found your scent in here."
I twisted around to show him my bound wrists. "No kidding, but could you get these things off?"
David stooped. The woman beside me scuttled away. He cut away the ropes, and I pulled my arms forward and rubbed my raw wrists. My eyes flickered to the woman. She sat on her butt and glared at us.
"Do your worst, you m-"
"Monsters. We know," I finished for her. I stood and put my hands on my hips. "What the hell's your problem, anyway? Why'd you kidnap me?"
David stepped up beside me and chuckled. "It's because Latro has a special spot in hell picked out for me. Isn't that what you always say?"
"And it's the truth!" she snapped.
I looked from the woman to David, and pointed at the stranger. "Latro? As in the hunter who was bothering that paranormal dealer?"
David nodded. "The very one."
I glanced back at the scowling woman. "Latro's a woman?"
"So what if I am?" Latro challenged me.
I shrugged and folded my arms. "I guess it makes sense. You sounded like a pretty stubborn person."
She scrambled to her feet and clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "I'm dedicated!" she argued.
I held up my hands. "All right, you're dedicated, but do you have to be dedicated to kidnap
ping me just to get at David?"
David looked to Latro and arched an eyebrow. "Why have you been so persistent in tracking me?"
She sneered at him. "Don't play stupid with me."
I snorted. "He's not playing."
David's face fell as his eyes fell on me. "Why's side are you on?"
"The side that gets me out of this mess," I quipped.
Latro stomped her foot on the hard floor. "Enough!" She reached behind her other side and pulled out a smaller pistol hidden in a second holster. I raised my hands, but David frowned at her. "Tell me where you've taken the women, and I'll think about sparing your woman."
3
David blinked at her. "Women?"
I whipped my head to him and my eyebrows crashed down. "What women?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea." He looked to Latro. "Who do you say I've taken?"
Latro furrowed her brow. "The women from the bars."
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at David. "Bars?"
He held up his hands and took a step back. "Believe me, I have no idea what she's talking about."
Latro lowered her gun a little and arched her eyebrow a lot. "The women who have disappeared from the bars the past two months."
David shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."
Latro dug into her pocket and pulled out a sandwich bag. She tossed the bag at him and it fluttered to his feet. "Does that ring a bell?"
He stooped and picked up the bag. I slid up to him and we both looked over the contents. It was a tuft of brown, curly hair.
"Hair?" I guessed.
"Werewolf hair," Latro replied.
I blinked at David. "Your hair's curly?"
He shrugged. "Beneath the overlay of werewolf fur it is rather curly." His eyes flickered to Latro. "But only when I'm transformed. Otherwise, this happens." He handed the bag to me, and reached up and sliced off a small bit of his long hair. The fur shriveled and reverted to his dark, short human hair. He opened his fingers and let the hair flutter to the ground, and then he tossed the bag back to her. "So if you're thinking this is mind, it isn't."
She frowned and raised the gun. "I analyzed that hair myself. It doesn't react well to silver."
He raised an eyebrow. "How does it react to silver?"
She pursed her lips. "It. . .it does things to it."
David frowned. "What does what to what?" Latro half-turned her face away from us and mumbled something. David cupped a clawed hand to his pointed ear. "I've got great hearing, but could you speak up for the benefit of the lady beside me?"
Latro growled, but dropped her arms so she pressed the gun against her front. Her booming voice echoed across the entire area. "I said the hair clings to the silver!"
I tilted my head to one side. "Clings? As in doesn't dissolve?"
She curtly nodded. "Yes. It wraps itself around anything silver and won't let go."
David chuckled. "Then I'd say looking for a werewolf is the opposite of what you should be doing, but I'll make you a deal." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pressed me against his side. "You promise to leave me and mine alone for the rest of your life, or even unlife should that happen, and we'll help you on this case."
I whipped my head up to him. "What? She just kidnapped me and you want to help her?"
He smiled down at me. "I want to avoid future kidnappings. Besides, you were always in good hands. I had Puer install a tracking device in your car yesterday while we were out on the island."
I pushed him away and glared at him. "You what?"
Latro grinned and holstered her gun. "Now this is getting interesting."
I marched up to him and he backtracked. "Why the hell did you do that?" I growled.
He sheepishly grinned and held up his palms. "We're supposed to be on the same side, remember?"
I stood on my tiptoes so I was even with his face. That is, more even with him. "Allies aren't supposed to bug each others' cars!"
David gestured to Latro. "But it helped me to find you here and with her."
Latro leaned to one side and folded her arms across her chest. "And if you two are done squabbling like an old married couple, I'd like to get back to business."
I spun around and glared at her. "Why should we help you?"
She smirked and shrugged. "Because I'm the good guy, and there's a half dozen young women out there who need my help."
"Our help," David corrected her.
Latro looked past me and frowned at him. "We'll see what help you can give on this case, monster, and then I'll decide what I'll do with you and your woman."
David's eyes narrowed. "We make the deal now, or it's nothing."
I stepped between them and held up my hands. "I think we're getting nowhere fast." I looked to David. "You agree to help her as much as you can-" I turned my attention to Latro, "-and you agree to leave us alone as much as you can. Deal?"
The pair furrowed their brows, but David sighed and shrugged. "Why not?" He stepped past me and held out his hand to Latro. "Deal?"
Her eyes flickered between his face and hand, but she grudgingly gave her own hand for a shake. "Deal."
I clapped my hands together. "All right, now why did you kidnap me to help some kidnapped girls?"
Latro folded her arms and pursed her lips. "Some two months back a woman disappeared from a nightclub. Her friends and the police only found her purse in the washroom. Three weeks later another woman disappeared from a different nightclub, but also from the bathroom. Then two weeks ago two women disappeared within two nights of each other, and this last week two more vanished. All of them were last seen in the washrooms."
David shrugged. "Doesn't sound like such a hard case. They were probably taken out a window."
Latro shook her head. "That doesn't cover all the washrooms. Some of their windows are too small, or are barred, or both. They couldn't have gone out that way, and they didn't walk out the door, either. They usually had a girlfriend with them, and they would've noticed them leaving."
David crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Nightclubs are busy places. Their friend might have left without their knowing."
Latro glared at him. "And then where did they go? And without their purses? Their phones? Their-" I held up my hand.
"We get the point," I agreed. "They left without all the things they wouldn't have left without, so why did you expect a werewolf to be a master at kidnapping."
"The hair," she reminded me.
I raised the bag I still held and inspected the furry contents. "Where'd you find it?"
"In the sink drain at one of the crime scenes. It was buried pretty far in the pipe, which is why the police didn't get at it," she explained.
David stared at her, but nodded at the bag. "Can you show us how it reacts to silver?"
She shrugged. "Why not?"
We crowded around the table for the demonstration. I dropped the hair out the bag, and Latro pulled a bullet from a pack she had in her pocket. David's eyes narrowed.
She smirked at him. "Easy. I won't use them on you while we're partners."
Latro set the bullet on the table close to the hair. David and I started back when the hair started forward. It wiggled its way over to the bullet and hugged its furry body against the silver casing. Latro pinched the hair and picked it up. The bullet rose with the thing.
She held it out to us. "See?"
I snorted. "I've heard of hair clinging to faces, but never the face of a bullet."
David poked at the hair. It hugged the silver tighter. He arched an eyebrow. "Very strange. Have you taken the hair to Cotio?"
Latro frowned and dropped the bullet onto the table. "No. He threatened me with his vial of acid if I ever came in there again."
The bullet rolled over the hair and fell away from its furry grasp before it rolled off the table. I caught the bullet. "Then we'll go in there and ask him."
Latro dropped the hair back into its back, but kept it to herself. "Fine, but I'm going alon
g with you."
4
We climbed into my car that sat on the road just outside the bunker. The old building turned out to be a manufacturing plant near the river. I wrinkled my nose as we passed by the smelly Cam River.
Latro sat in the back and David was beside me. I looked at my back passenger through the rear view mirror. "Nice place you took me."
She scowled. "It wasn't meant to be paradise, it was meant to throw him-" she nodded at David, "-off our trail."
He smiled. "And it would have if I hadn't bugged the car."
My eyes flickered to him and I pursed my lips. "Speaking of that, where's the bug?"
He folded his arms and shook his head. "I'm afraid that's on a need-to-know basis, and you-"
"-need to know because this is my car," I growled.
He chuckled. "Then you'll get to know it intimately trying to find the bug because I'm still not telling you." He tilted his head back and glanced at our rear passenger. "And speaking of bugs, something's been bothering me. How did you know that hair was important enough to keep?"
I snorted. "How'd you even know a bunch of kidnappings would lead to a paranormal piece of fuzz?"
Latro leaned back and glanced out the window. "You can't sneeze in this town without some paranormal creature having caused it." Her eyes flickered to David and her scowl deepened. "For some reason creatures of the night seem attracted to this place."
He smiled and bowed his head. "I'll take that as a compliment. I much prefer that over being called a creature of the morning."
I arched an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
He chuckled. "Because nobody likes mornings, but the night is fun."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry I asked. . ."
David returned his attention to our new 'friend.' "But what about my question?"
"A few women in the stalls heard a struggle before one of the women disappeared. The police found a few stray hairs around the sink near her purse." She held up the bag and shrugged. "I figured there might be more in the drain, and found that."
"So that's when things go hairy?" I quipped.
David turned to me with a fallen face. "That was terrible."
I grinned and shrugged. "I couldn't help it."
We arrived at Cotio's small shop a half hour later. The scent of musty books and formaldehyde greeted us, as did the owner. The bell over the door rang and the short, strange little man hurried up to us, his hands clasped together.