~21~
Seth shook me awake when the sky was still dark. A vague memory of the morning Hunter was captured passed through my mind as I sat up in the cold air. “Seth, this is about the exact time we attacked before,” I said with a yawn, rubbing sleep out of my eyes.
“Which is why they won’t be expecting it again,” he hissed. “They’ve opened the gate, if we want to sneak in discreetly, we need to go now.”
It took me a moment to process that information before I nodded and pushed myself onto my feet. Ebony was already packing up our things and tying them to the horses in case we needed a quick getaway.
Scrambling down the side of the hill on foot was a lot quicker and easier than on horseback. Scurrying in half-crouches, we made our way to the edge of the stone wall, the shadow hiding us well against the just-rising sun. The gate was indeed open and the bars were up. It seemed so simple to enter that we hesitated; there had to be some catch.
We flattened ourselves against the wall as a horse protested with a squeal against the crash of a whip and a cart came flying out of the door, the great wooden wheel missing Seth by inches. The horse was heavy set and mouse-grey with white feathered-feet. I decided I didn’t want to know what it was transporting, but the cart wasn’t big enough to hold a person. I was watching it disappear round the side of the hill when Seth grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the door as it rose off the ground. We slipped through the gap and scurried round the inside of the wall. I could see the charred wood that lay in heaps and Seth brought us to a halt behind it.
“What do we do now?” I asked in a whisper.
“Uh, I haven’t really thought this far,” he admitted quietly. “Find a couple of them and question them, I guess.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Seth, they’re not going to come willingly,” I muttered impatiently. “If we can get into one of the buildings without drawing attention to ourselves, we might be able to isolate a few for the best part of an hour.”
“Well, let me know when you figure how to get into one of them without drawing any attention,” he said sarcastically, sitting down against the wall with his hands behind his head.
I watched the scene in front of me as the sky got brighter. Most of the time, the grounds were empty but every time I thought we could slip through one of the doors, someone appeared carrying a very dangerous-looking gun. Only humans used them; supernaturals didn’t like the noise. All of them, I noticed, wore either black or red.
The next time someone walked out of a building and across the grounds, I counted the time between their disappearance and someone else reappearing. I repeated it several times and gathered an average of about twenty-one seconds in which we were completely alone.
Dragging Seth up by his sleeve, I raced to the nearest door once the human had disappeared and tested it cautiously. It swung open to Seth’s surprise and we entered, pausing just inside to make sure the corridor was empty.
“Now what?” Seth asked, barely breathing the words.
“We be careful,” I whispered back firmly. Proceeding as quietly as we could, I read words carved into pieces of wood beside each door; names I didn’t understand and were completely silent when I leant my ear against them.
“What are we looking for?” Seth breathed in my ear as we continued.
“Somewhere promising,” I hissed back. A scream sent us clinging to each other’s arms and freezing in place. It was a male voice, sounding like it was coming from one of the rooms we’d passed.
Seth slowly turned to face me, terror etched on his face that I was sure mirrored mine. The screaming was silenced after a few seconds but neither of us moved for at least a minute. The black of the walls hid us well if anyone were to pass without knowing we were there. I glanced upwards and saw the word ‘office’ written in wood beside the next door along.
Half-dragging Seth up with me, I put my ear against the wooden door, listening. Seth’s heavy breathing masked most of what I could hear and I scowled at him quickly.
Faintly, I could hear the voices of two men; one much older than the other. I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it was about shifters – obviously – and they were intent on not being overheard; even by their own men.
I clicked my fingers in front of Seth to get his attention and pointed to the door. He nodded and stood up, drawing his knife as I tested the door carefully. It was unlocked.
Using his fingers, Seth silently counted to three and entered speedily but quietly. I was close behind him. Without the older man with grey hair even noticing him, Seth was stood behind him with the knife at his neck. He stopped talking as soon as the metal touched his skin and I pointed my dagger towards the other man without looking at him. The older man was cloaked in a brown overcoat; he had a hooked nose and small black eyes. He looked like he’d almost been expecting our attack.
“Don’t try to call for help,” Seth murmured threateningly in the old man’s ear.
“Stay there, Alec,” the man said loudly and my attention was drawn to the boy on the other end of my knife; messy blonde hair and brown eyes that was both cute and dangerous. He seemed at ease as he leant back on the table when my knife jabbed towards him.
“I should have guessed,” I said quietly.
“I knew you were lying,” he replied with a casual tone. “Blue suits you.”
“Impressive, for saying you spiked my drink with truth serum,” I said with a humourless smile.
“Yes, actually, how did you manage to lie?”
“That’s for me to know.”
“You didn’t tell me you met one of them,” the older man said, a hint of anger in his voice. “And you didn’t even bring her back?”
“I couldn’t,” Alec said neutrally. “She managed to defy the truth serum I gave her.”
“Stop talking,” Seth snapped, jabbing the blade closer into the man’s flesh. “We’re not here for a chat, we have questions.”
“Of course you do,” Alec said. “Like you’d just leave your friend here.”
“Shut up,” I said coldly.
“Where’ve you taken him?” Seth asked, moving so he was standing in front of the old man and directed him to sit down. “The shifter you captured yesterday morning, where is he?”
“Like we’re going to tell you,” Alec muttered with a confident chuckle.
“Shut up,” I repeated, stepping forwards so the point of my blade was touching his chest. “Let me see your hands.” He rolled his eyes and held them in front of his chest.
“Where is he?” Seth asked, a growl tinting his voice as he glared at the cloaked man.
“Far away from here,” was all the man said and Seth slashed his arm angrily. The man made a noise that sounded like he was trying to avoid screaming. Blood poured down the rip in the coat and the man clutched it tightly. Alec hissed slightly and I turned my attention back to him, drawing my sword as I did so. He settled with the prospect of facing two blades but continued to glare at Seth.
