Chasing a Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Four (8 page)

“Tomás said he would help me find her.” Lani stepped toward Maggie. “He said you would help me find her. But now he tries to take me away from here, when I can feel that she is here.”

“But there’s a wrinkle.” He smiled at a big blue-coated bellhop who passed them and stopped until the man was out of earshot. “Adrian must have her mother, or she wouldn’t be here, when she was trying to run from him. So he must’ve caught her, which likely means he’s holding her here hoping that Lani will come looking for him.”

“Why would he do that?” Maggie asked.

But Tomás saw the truth land on Alex’s face. The Miami wolf cursed below his breath and gazed at Lani with glassy eyes. “She’s his daughter.” He poked Maggie with his elbow. “See the features. She’s Marco’s sister.”

Lani pointed back at the elevators. “I felt her the strongest when I was in that place with the tiny moving rooms.”

“She doesn’t know what an elevator is?” Maggie’s brow arched. “Really?”

“She was raised by the Huichol, up in the mountains.” Tomás rubbed Lani’s bare arm, feeling a chill run across her skin. “She probably doesn’t know any of this.”

Maggie slung the pack off her back and dug through it. She pulled out a tablet and swiped a few times. “If I know hotel owners, then I’m going to guess that he probably has her in a highly secured area, which means penthouse level.” She kept swiping. “The elevators are floor-specific and key-card operated. Only certain elevators can get to the penthouse level, and they’re all accessed from here, or the parking garage level.”

Zolin walked around the circle and stood behind Maggie, looking over her shoulder. When she sensed him, she turned her head and Tomás could almost see her hackles rising.

“Do you mind?” The bite in her tone would have felled a lesser man.

“I never mind.” Zolin crossed his arms. “I want to know what you are doing.”

She grunted, like that was the stupidest question ever. “Getting us into the penthouses, genius.”

“Take it easy on him, Mag,” Tomás whispered, avoiding the Huichol’s gaze. He wouldn’t like the interference, but they didn’t have time for fifty shades of angry flirting. They needed a plan, so Tomás could get Lani far away from this place.

“I’ve been working in the car on hacking the system.” Maggie turned the pad so Tomás could see it. The screen had a square on it that looked like a QR code, all different sized blocks of black that formed an intricate, scan-able pattern.

“I can’t actually make a card. But if the reader operates the way I think it should, I can at least get us into the elevator.” She nodded at Lani. “Can she find her mom from there?”

Lani perked up. A shard of hope cascaded through her and it was the first time Tomás had felt any peace from her since they’d entered Choaca.

He let out a long breath through his nose. “Fine. But understand me. The first whiff we get of Adrian Rossi, and I’m pulling her out of there.”

“Fine.” Maggie took off for the elevator bank.

Tomás slipped his hand into Lani’s cold one and pulled her along behind Alex. If they were lucky, Adrian was out in the city somewhere and they could bust out Lani’s mom before he returned.

He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if they weren’t…lucky.

C
itlani followed
Tomás and the spritely female toward the tiny moving rooms—elevators. Zolin and Tomás pushed her into the back corner and stood in front of her. She peered between them and watched the tiny woman with a brightly lit device in her hand fiddle with something on the wall of the room. A couple of strangers tried to get on the elevator with them and the big man Tomás had called Alex had told them to ‘
catch the next one
.’ The doors slid shut and the room shook.

She grabbed Tomás arm. “The volcano is shaking the earth. If she wakes we will die.”

Tomás covered her hand with his. “It’s just a machine. No volcano. I promise.”

“Is she for real?” The one called Maggie glanced over her shoulder with a look of disbelief.

“She is very real.” Zolin leaned down until he was at eye level with Maggie. “And neither of us has ever seen this kind of machine before. What moves it?”

“There’s no time for schooling the natives on the inner workings of elevators,” Alex growled. “Maggie, what’re we looking at once the doors open?”

Maggie smirked as Zolin straightened to his full height and faced Alex, a growl rumbling in his chest. “Cameras show two guards on the top penthouse level.”

“Get out of my face and stay out of my way. Why are you even here?” Alex said.

Lani sucked in a breath. No one spoke to Zolin in such a disrespectful manner and remained standing for long, especially when they were smaller. And most people were smaller than Zolin, Alex was not an exception. He was taller than Tomás, but the big tribesman still dwarfed him as well.

“I am here to help Citlani. If you speak rudely of my princess again, I will not be, as you say ‘
in your face
.’ Your face will be firmly pressed between my foot and this floor.”

“Zolin, he’s here to help,” Tomás said, inching himself toward the standoff.

Lani tightened her grip on his arm and pulled him back. “Do you want your head under his foot instead?” she hissed.

“Geeez, testosterone much guys.” Maggie made a gagging sound and turned around to fiddle with the buttons on the wall again. A blue light flashed on the screen and she held her tablet to the light. “Alex, you take the one on the left. Zolin, big guy, you take the ugly fucker on the right. Got it? Good.”

A bell rang and the doors opened. Alex and Zolin surged out and each disappeared from view.

Lani held her breath and squeezed Tomás’ arm. Pain surged into her mind and she whimpered at the overwhelming flood. She’d put walls up years ago to block the emotional pain her mother was constantly troubled by. But this was different. This pain was fresh and the bond between them was weakening…fading. They needed to hurry.

A couple of growls and then two very large thuds echoed from outside the elevator.

“Come on out,” Alex’s voice called. “They’re down.”

Tomás grabbed Lani and followed Maggie into the quiet hallway. Two large guards lay on the floor, one on each side of the open elevator doors.

“Lets find her mom, find that sonofabitch, and get the fuck out of here.”

“She’s there.” Lani pointed to a large door on the other side of the hallway.

Tomás rushed toward it and laid his ear against the wood.

“How many heartbeats?” Maggie asked.

“Only one. It’s weak.”

“She’s hurt,” Lani cried, running toward him.

He held his hand up to stop her.

She paused, sobs racking her body. His emotions swirled through her mind, mixing with the chaos filtering through her bond with her mother. She was safe with Tomás and his friends. They were helping her. Even Zolin was doing everything in his power to assist when he’d much rather take her back up the mountain and hide her away forever.

That wasn’t how she wanted to live. Not like her mother. She couldn’t stay there forever. She wanted to be with Tomás—wherever he wanted to be. Wherever his home was, that would be her home. But she needed to make sure her mother was safe. Zolin and the chief would make sure she stayed that way.

“Are you sure there’s only one heartbeat?” Citlani gasped for air. Each breath was harder and harder. Something was reaching inside and strangling her from within.

“Move, outsider.” Zolin roared and charged the door. It splintered around him. Alex and Maggie followed. Tomas ran to Lani’s side and lifted her from the ground. “I need to get you out of here.”

“No,” she hissed. “You promised.”

He glanced at the splintered doorframe and then at the elevator behind him. The choice to honor her wishes warred in his heart and reflected in his eyes and mind.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself down from his arms. “I have to.”

He nodded. Taking her hand, Tomás led her through into the home of the man who’d stolen her mother—now for a second time. A wave of pain slammed into her chest, but she kept walking, pushing it back the best she could.

“Mama!” Her mother was on her knees in the corner of the enormous living space. Chains on her wrists shackled her to the floor. Blood dripped down her face from open wounds. Her tunic was stained with dried blood.

Lani tried to wrench free, but her mate’s vise-grip didn’t relent. She pulled him forward and he moved cautiously, his gaze swinging from one side of the room to another.

“No one is here,” she whispered.

“They’re close,” Tomás whispered.

Alex cursed under his breath behind them.

Zolin passed Lani and went directly to her mother’s side. He yanked on the chain, pulling against the anchor in the floor. The links clanked loudly and Lani’s mother growled.

“How dare you let her come here,” she hissed. “You promised me.”

“Mama, I couldn’t leave you. How could you think I would leave you?” She knelt and tucked a ratty lock of her mother’s hair from her face.

“Your daughter mated a stranger to escape my protection.”

Her mother’s gaze fell to Citlani’s arms. “You gave yourself to a man? How could you? After everything that happened to me. I told you never to bond yourself to a man. It makes you weak.” Her mother snarled and gold flashed in her eyes. “You need to go. He’s almost here. He will kill me and take you to his island and kill you or worse.” She glanced past Citlani to Tomás and the others. “You’re all idiots. I’m bait. Couldn’t you see that? Get her out of here.”

“Island?” Alex asked.

Tears burned Citlani’s eyes and she wiped them away with the side of her arm. She drew her knife and cut the ropes binding her mother’s ankles.

Zolin and Alex pulled on the chains, but they didn’t budge.

“Stop trying to save me. Get her out of here!”

“Ma’am, we are hunting the man who’s holding you,” Alex said. “If you have information about him, we need you, too.”

“The only information you need to know is that he will do anything to get what he believes belongs to him. My daughter and I are possessions, just like all the others. It’s Guadalajara all over again, except he’s learned from his mistakes.” She yanked the chain out of Zolin and Alex’s hands. “Take my daughter and run! Now!”

“He’s coming,” Tomás shouted. “I can feel him through Lani’s bond.”

The sensation of the air in her lungs being squeezed out started again. She stood and clung to her mate’s arm. “The d-d-doors,” Lani gasped out her last bit of air, pointing to the elevator at the back of the room.

No warning. No arrival bell. The doors slid open and a big, dark-haired man walked into the room.

He raised a metallic object and aimed it at her mother.

Lani lunged as he shot. Fire slashed through her shoulder and she opened her mouth to scream, but no air meant no voice.

T
omás seemed
to see his entire life in the moments that passed as he watched Lani fall. Warmth sprayed across his body and he had to look down at his splattered shirt to know it was blood.

His mate’s blood.

A roar tore from his throat and he jumped at the giant man whose face carried echoes of Lani. His shoulder landed in the soft flesh of Adrian’s stomach and another shot fired behind him while they tumbled to the floor.

The gun knocked against the ground and slid across the slick wood. Adrian growled and flipped Tomás onto his back. He landed a punch in his gut, then both sides of his face.

Tomás punched back in fury, gripping the psycho with his legs and pitching them both forward.

“Tomás!” Maggie’s voice rang out. “Move.”

He rolled off Lani’s father and two gunshots split the air nearly at the same time.

Adrian’s body jerked as bullets struck him, but he immediately pushed himself to his knees and let out another growl. “Juarez! Willis! Get in here.”

“Your lackeys are dead.” Maggie aimed her gun, holding it with two hands and staring at him with wide, angry eyes. “You are at our mercy.”

Adrian wiped blood from his mouth and spat. “I am at no one’s mercy, let alone yours, you filthy whore.”

“Does anyone have handcuffs?” Alex held the other gun and looked around the room.

Tomás shook his head, crawling toward Lani.

Zolin was crouched on the ground beside her.

Tomás’ face throbbed and he could only see well out of one eye, but he had to get to his mate.

“I have a pair in the car.” Maggie nodded at Tomás and handed her gun to him.

The large revolver felt heavy in his hands, but he pointed it at a panting Adrian, nonetheless, while Maggie rifled through drawers.

“There has to be something here we can use.”

“What do you think, she-wolf?” Adrian wiped at his mouth again. “You think you’re going to take me down? I am a god here. No one will allow you past the front desk.”

Tomás reached out to Lani. She was breathing, and Zolin was helping her up, but she had her eye on the chained woman in the corner. Her mother.

They’d found her.

“We never said it had to be alive,” Alex growled, advancing on Adrian.

“Everyone, shut up.” Maggie walked toward the monster, pinning him with an angry gaze. “You must have the keys to those shackles.” She pointed to the corner. “Where are they?”

The whites of his eyes flashed in a psychotic laugh. “You think that freeing her will do anything?” Adrian made to stand, but Alex clicked off the safety on his gun.

“You just try to move,” he said. “I’m happy to tell my father that I had to put a bullet between your eyes. And don’t think I’ll miss.”

Maggie stepped on Adrian’s ass and forced him down onto the floor. She dug around in his pockets and pulled out the keys, which she threw to Zolin. “Unlock her chains and let’s get her the hell out of here.”

She kept her foot on Adrian, pinning him on the ground. His teeth ground and something crawled across Tomás’ skin like a slimy memory. But he couldn’t latch on to exactly what had bothered him.

“Don’t worry,” Maggie sneered. “We’re going to put the chains to good use.”

A loud click sounded and Lani’s mother collapsed to the floor.

Zolin dropped the keys and picked her up, settling her into a nearby chair. His hands grazed places on her limbs that had been injured. “She needs a healer,” he said. “Some of these wounds could take her life.”

Adrian chuckled deep in his throat and the ground nearly shook with the force of his laughter as it grew. “You will never get her out of this building, either. My gua—” He bit his lip. “You will have been seen breaking in to my room.”

Tomás kept his gun trained on Adrian and crossed in front of Alex, on his way to Lani’s mother. He reached out to his mate, trying to send comfort .

They had him. They would soon all be safe together, on their way back up the mountain.

“Can you carry her—” he began, but Zolin had hoisted Lani’s mother into his arms in one swift movement before Tomás could continue. “Right. Of course you can.”

“Wait.” Maggie stepped down on Adrian’s ass again. She was enjoying this. “If his guards are watching us, then we can’t go out the front.” She turned to the elevator and left Adrian wriggling on the floor.

“Careful, Mag,” Alex said, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t know what he might have in here to protect himself, and there are only so many guns.”

Adrian’s eyes shifted around the room and something jumped inside Tomás. He knew where he’d seen that look before. It was the same one Lani got just before she was about to pull something. He opened his mouth to speak when a voice echoed in the hallway. He and Alex both turned at once.

Three large men in black suits came barreling through the door, guns raised and shouting in Spanish.

Tomás lunged at one of them and Alex at the other two. He could feel the push of adrenaline surge through him as he dispensed with the guard in quick order. The guard wasn’t a wolf, and the man had gone down without any problem.

Lani’s scream tore through the air and caught Tomás by the throat. A shimmer of magick followed and Tomás whipped around, running toward Lani.

But he looked on helplessly as Zolin lay crumpled on the floor in front of Lani and her mother, a large black wolf chewing on Zolin’s neck and shaking his rag doll body while two women wailed in horror.