RISE OF THE LYCANS - Mates and Bonds

Selena

“I think I just stepped on a dead rat or something,” Grandma said as we continued through the claustrophobic tunnel. “I better not get Lyme disease.”

We had been walking for at least half an hour, and I was just about out of breadcrumbs. If this tunnel had rodents living in it, and I was almost certain it did, the breadcrumbs might not be around for very long.

“We’re almost out of bread,” I told Grandma.

“I’ve got toilet paper, but I want to save that in case we need it,” she dug around in her purse. “Here, I’ve got some lottery scratch-off tickets.”

“Are they winners?” Zane asked.

“Just another free play,” she said. “That’s how they hook you into playing over and over again.”

I took the tickets from her and started tearing off small chunks as we continued. We came to another fork in the tunnel, but just like the last four, one had been caved in with dirt. It was almost as if the tunnel was guiding us somewhere.

“What if it’s a never-ending tunnel?” Cynder asked, and she sounded like she was on the brink of tears. “We don’t have any food or water. How long can we survive?”

“I have a box of macarons in my purse and a bottle of water,” Grandma said. “I also have some butterscotch candies, fruity tic-tacs, and orange-flavored tums.”

We continued walking for a little while longer, and the air felt stale. There was nothing but dirt tunnels and darkness. Cynder was on the verge of panic, and my wolf let out a low whimper.

“I don’t think there’s enough air down here,” she cried. “Maybe we should turn back?”

“Every tunnel dug has served a purpose at one point,” Zane said, pulling her to his chest. She pressed her face into him and stifled a sob.

“I once heard the Kings of the past built tunnels under Paris to travel from their castles to church and other places of interest,” Sol said hopefully. “Maybe this leads to a palace?”

“It’s possible,” I told her. “There have been numerous palaces in Paris over time. Many are still here, and they’re used as hotels, museums, and government business.”

“Like the Louvre,” Grandma piped. “It even has the old palace under it.”

Zane shifted the candle, and I saw something I hadn’t seen before. “Is that a ladder?” I pointed at the iron bars.

“I think this is the end!” Zane rushed over to the end of the tunnel and looked up.

“Well, it sure as hell isn’t the end just yet,” Grandma said and shuffled forward. “How high does that ladder go?”

“I can’t tell. It’s at least sixty feet high,” Zane replied. It was a vertical tunnel that appeared to be the exit point. “Maybe I should go up first and make sure there’s an opening that opens? No sense in having everyone climb up if we can’t get through.”

“This is a dead end, and there is no other tunnel,” Grandma said. “This has to be the way out.”

“What if he goes up and gets sucked into the other side, and we’re left here without him?” Cynder asked.

“The recent earthquakes could have collapsed the other tunnels, and maybe that’s where the exits are?” Sol suggested.

“I’ll go up,” I volunteered. “There’s only one way to know for sure.”

“You can’t,” my sister protested. “You’re pregnant—and what if the ladder isn’t secure? Or what if there’s a bomb at the top?”

“I’m going,” Zane said. “If something happens, I know Lukas will find you soon enough.”

“You’re not leaving us alone down here,” Cynder cried.

“Okay, Okay,” Zane sighed. “We’ll all go together.” Zane went up first, followed by Cynder.

Grandma hoisted herself up onto the bars behind Cynder. “I love a good adventure.”

“I’ll go behind her to make sure she doesn’t fall,” Sol whispered.

“Don’t you worry about me,” Grandma started to say. “I’ve been chasing after pups my entire life, and I’m the most active elder in the pack. Hell, last month at the casino, I jumped over two people and a chair to reach the giveaway booth first and claim the free poker chips they were giving away.”

“Free poker chips?” I asked as I slowly climbed up.

“Five hundred dollars worth of poker chips! Good old Nooker never stood a chance against me,” she continued as we scaled up higher. “I was like Spiderman.”

“Well, don’t stop now, Spiderman,” Zane’s voice floated down. “There’s still a way to go up.”

“We must have been really deep below the ground,” Cynder said.

My hands and feet moved on autopilot while my mind drifted away to Lukas. Lycans weren’t wired like werewolf shifters. The beast inside them was more feral and territorial, ruled by instinct and strong emotion. I had just disappeared with his pup, and he was probably tearing down the cathedral looking for me.

“Mate,” Stella let out a low whine.

When I was fifteen, I refused to attend Lukas’ sixteenth birthday party because Whitney told everyone Lukas had a crush on her and promised to play spin the bottle with her. She bragged about the new leather wallet she bought him and its cost.

“The party has started,” my mother announced. “I wrapped his gift for you.”

“I’m not going,” I insisted.

“Amor, you’ve shared every birthday with him, and sixteen is a big deal. Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”

“I’m sure,” I sighed. “He’ll be too busy with Whitney to notice I’m not there.”

I slipped out of the mansion and went for a walk to my favorite waterfall. The sun was setting, and my parents didn’t like us out in the woods after sunset. They used to tell us it was for our safety, but the older I got, the sooner I realized it was because adult shifters did adult things in the woods.

I decided to explore a cave near the waterfall, which I had often heard the older kids call The Kissing Cave. There was a big, smooth boulder in the center of the cave, and I sat on it. The walls on the inside of the cave were riddled with carved initials, and I couldn’t help wondering who they belonged to. There was one that I was sure of M.A.C. & C.L.T. I had grown up calling Lukas’ grandparents Uncle Mac and Aunt Cassi.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Princess,” his voice floated inside the cave, startling me.

“Shouldn’t you be at your party?”

“Someone important was missing. I thought I’d come find her.”

My cheeks flushed. “You left your party to look for me?”

“I’ll always find you,” he smirked as he lowered his mouth to mine.

That was the night he carved our initials in the cave with a single claw. The night Whitney left the party disappointed when Lukas returned with me. And the night he promised always to find me.

Please find me now, I thought to myself.

“He will,” my wolf whispered.

“I see the last handle,” Zane told us.

“I wonder if we have to touch something to open it?”

“There’s an eight-point star etched in the last rung,” Zane said.

He must have touched it because the vertical tunnel opened up above us, and the glow of light filled the chamber. I took a deep breath of the fresh air that flowed down to us, and relief filled me.Zane moved cautiously and poked his head out of the tunnel.

“It’s an elevator,” he said as he climbed out.

“An Elevator?” Grandma echoed. “What kind of freaky fun house is this?”

Zane reached down and helped each of us out of the tunnel and into the elevator. We stood against the elevator’s walls to avoid the open tunnel we had just climbed out of. As if by magic, the opening to the tunnel disappeared, and the elevator floor turned solid.

“There are no buttons,” Cynder noted just as the elevator started moving.

A few moments later, the elevator stopped, and the doors slid open. We entered a hallway that resembled an upscale hotel or office building with marble flooring. The elevator disappeared behind us, and a large painting hung where it had once been. I didn’t need to look closely to know the eight-point star was probably etched somewhere on or behind the painting.

I couldn’t help feeling like I had seen this deep green velvety wallpaper somewhere, but I couldn’t recall where. Gold wall sconces lit the hall, which was lined with sculptures and other art pieces. I took in the priceless-looking vase, which sat on a marble table with fresh flowers in it. Grandma leaned in for a closer look at the flowers.

“Have you ever seen something like that?” I asked her.

“I saw something similar in Egypt,” Grandma started to say. “But those were flowers from the underworld.”

“Don’t touch them,” Zane told us. “They could be poisonous.”

I reached for my phone, hoping to call my mate. “My phone is dead.”

“So is mine,” Zane replied.

All the phones were dead, and I suspected the building was being protected by magic. Much like the tunnel, there seemed to be only one way to go. The portion of the hall to our left had been closed off with heavy metal doors, and I wondered what was behind them.

“You know, these doors remind me of the partitions on that Senior’s cruise I took to Alaska a few years back,” Grandma said. “They can seal off sections of the ship to keep fire or a flood from spreading to other areas of the ship. It comes in real handy when you’re cruising around icebergs.”

“Is that a window down the hall?” I raced closer to it, wondering if we could climb out of this nightmare. I hoped that my phone would miraculously work if I stood by a window. Maybe someone outside could call for help.

“Look at all of these statues,” Cynder said. “It feels like we’re in a museum.”

I reached the window and felt the bottom of my stomach fall out when I looked outside.

“That’s because we are in a museum,” I told them.

“We are?” Zane asked and rushed over to see what I was looking at.

“Holy hell!” Cynder gasped. “Is that?”

“It couldn’t be?” Sol replied.

“Well, will you look at that,” Grandma whistled. “The Louvre pyramid sure looks nice lit up at night.”

“The Louvre has the most sophisticated security system LaRue Enterprises offers. It’s one of the most secure buildings in the world,” Zane shook his head. “This has to be an illusion.”

“Look! There’s a security guard walking in the courtyard below.” I looked for a way to open the window but couldn’t. I banged against the glass, but he noticed nothing. Zane shifted a claw and tried to punch out the glass, but his hand had been propelled back by an invisible defense.

“Maybe it is an illusion,” Sol agreed with Zane.

“If this is the Louvre, the alarm would have already sounded,” Zane insisted.

We walked to the end of the hall and turned right. It was like stepping back in time. The hall was trimmed with gold ceilings and rich red velvet curtains with gold tassels pulling them back. Beyond the curtains stood double wooden doors that were wide open. The wooden doors had been painted black with gold trim and gilded finishings. They stood at least twelve feet high and reminded me of the grandeur of Versailles.

“Look at this posh parlor,” Grandma Dori shuffled right past us and reached for the chair. “It’s like never-ending velvet.”

The furniture was beautifully crafted and appeared to be a few hundred years old. Everything was plushy red and richly gold. I looked up at the enormous chandelier in the center of the room, and then took in the painted fresco ceiling.

“The Louvre was a palace before it became a museum,” Grandma said. “I think we’re in the secret apartments section.”

“Secret apartments?” Zane asked.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Finally… Someone with common sense,” a female’s voice sounded, and we all turned to find a cloaked female standing in the doorway we had just entered.

Her lips were a deep red, almost black, and a similar color shadowed her eyelids in a dramatic way. The clothing exposed from the front of her cloak was dark, leathery, almost… otherworldly. Her skin was a milky white, but the hair peaking out around her face was dark.

“Where the hell is Caspian?” Zane asked.

“Caspian?” She smiled wickedly. “Is that his name? Poor little wolfie has been sulking ever since he arrived.”

“You have my grandson?” Grandma asked.

“Of course,” she smiled, the gold in her eyes flashing. “Forgive me; I’m being a terrible hostess.” She reached up for the snap of her cloak and removed it.

There was a sharp inhale of breath from all of us when she exposed the half-curved horns on the top of her head. This was the demon that had been stalking us, and everyone seemed to realize it.

A man who didn’t quite look like a man entered the room behind her. It was Father Fontenay, without the priest’s get-up. His skin resembled scaly leather, and his small horns reminded me of a young goat. My eyes took in his grotesque hands, which were big like bear paws, and his yellowed fingernails looked like they had been gnawed. His beady, dark eyes narrowed on us, and he met Grandma’s scowl.

“Hello again, Father Phony,” she greeted him.

“I’m no more a priest than you are a member of Saint Frances in New York,” he rasped with a low chuckle.

“Why are we here?” Zane asked.

“I thought it was to rescue Caspian? Or are we waiting for the mighty Lycan King to do that?” The she-demon replied.

“Where is he?” Grandma demanded.

“Wait no longer,” she pointed. “They’re in the next room with a special guest.”

“Special guest?” Grandma questioned as she marched to the door. “We better not have been warped back in time. They didn’t even have toilets back then.”

A force seemed to suck us into the next room, which wasn’t a room at all. It was a cage I didn’t remember walking into.

“Grandma!” I heard Caspian’s voice call out. “Zane… how did you get here?”

Caspian was seated on the floor of the barren cell with a she-wolf and Jose. They looked unharmed, but Caspian was radiating frustration. He stood to hug Grandma.

“Granny!” Jose cheered and greeted her before turning to me. “SELENA! Girl, you are not going to believe what’s going on here.”

“Jose! Are you okay?” I whispered.

“I’m not dead yet,” he replied. “But there’s a good chance I’m having a wild dream, or I’m lying in a coma somewhere because I met the moon.”

“Who’s the Omega?” Zane asked, scanning the space we had been transported to.

“This is Eloise,” Caspian told us. “Ericks mother.”

“Well, where the hell is Erick?” Grandma asked.

“That’s not your concern,” the phony priest replied.

“You don’t need to worry about what concerns me and what doesn’t,” Grandma snapped back.

“You should get comfortable,” the she-demon spoke. “You might be here for a while.”

“I wish we had the time, but we’re in a bit of a hurry,” Grandma told her. “I think we’ll just be taking the boys and calling it a night, so if you can just unlock this door, that would be great.”

A high-pitched laugh sounded as she tossed her head back. “I really like your grandmother, Caspian.” The moment she spoke his name, rage filled his eyes, and his wolf pushed forward.

“This is the Louvre,” Sol said. “I’m sure the silent alarms have been triggered.”

“The enchantment around this section of the wing keeps everyone away. Even as the tourists flock to see Napoleon’s secret apartment a few meters away, they can’t see, hear, or access this section of the palace,” she stated with satisfaction.

“Lukas will find us,” I shot back.

“I hope he does,” she smiled. “It might give me more leverage in my quest.”

“Hello, Eloise,” Grandma extended her hand to Erick’s mother. “I’m Dori Crow.”

“Jose’s been telling me all about you,” Eloise spoke gently.

“Well, it seems I know everyone in this room now,” Grandma turned to face the she-demon. “Except for you?”

Her smile widened as she assessed Grandma Dori. Even with the horns, she had an eccentric and haunting beauty about her. “Most humans who believe in the almighty know me as Lilith.”