Drown Under Earth - Shadows of the Night 3

Chapter 9

Hey!

Don't know if it's the same for you, but the last few weeks have been crazy - they just flew by. Now, back to Drown Under Earth: this one's about Anna and Blaze. I really love to see them working as a team, because in a way I think they're a lot alike. Anyway, just read this and please let me know what you're thinking.

Lara

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Chapter 9

I turned the car off and eyed him speculatively. Blaze folded his arms in front of him, a relief of muscles bulging and moving underneath his leather jacket in inhuman ways. As if I needed a reminder of what and who he was.

We were about to visit the Fade pack, one of the inner city's wolf packs and a pack our latest victim, Christopher Hall, had been a member of. Something told me this was a lead worth investigating, but the longer I thought about it, the more I couldn't help thinking there was more to it than Blaze was letting on.

He hadn't really made an effort in dressing up. The shape shifter's jeans were worn out, torn at his knees and frayed at the edges in a way that made you think it wasn't done on purpose, but that the fabric had grated against skin and asphalt repeatedly, and for years. Held back in a low ponytail, his blond hair was messy and unkempt in the way most shape shifters' hair was.

"Are you going to tell me why we couldn't simply tell Brown about this?" I said.

He shifted his gaze to me, brown eyes coming alive in the darkness of the car. More than human.

"You know how this works, Anna. Shape shifter packs are autonomous. It's within the Alpha's right to refuse the authorities entrance to his territory. Knowing Marrok, he'll do just that – and more – once it comes to it. Tonight we're not going in there as TF3 members, but as individuals. This is our best shot, and the only way he'll fucking even talk to us."

"Okay. So, you know their Alpha, Marrok, right?" I offered. He'd been terribly tight-lipped about the Fade pack's Alpha so far. I didn't like it. Not a bit.

Blaze got out of the car without looking at me. I got out myself, and scowled at him over the battered car roof of my Ford.

"Hey, I was talking to you!"

I locked the car and hurried up to him, zipping up my leather jacket and stuffing my hands in my pockets. No bag, no weapons this night. Holy witch, I hated this already.

"Marrok's been the Alpha for almost twenty years now," Blaze finally said. "No one fucks with him. Never lost a single fight. Some say he's the most powerful shape shifter in the city. Others say he was lucky. I say he's dangerous. He knows the city and the Circle inside out."

I raised an eyebrow. "The Circle?"

Blaze made a dismissive motion with his hand, moving along the sidewalk with forceful, powerful strides. "He was working within the borderline control. According to rumors he was one of the best."

"Just how good was he?"

Blaze shrugged. "Good enough to come close to catching Raphael Medici himself once. Marrok has spent a longer time in wolf form than anyone else I know. He pushed and trained himself to the point where he was more wolf than man. His senses are so heightened and accurate, rumors have it he can sniff out a vamp within a mile without even trying hard. Accurate hearing and a sight that allows him to see better in the dark than most vamps – put two and two together and you know just what he's capable of. I heard there was some sort of incident a few years ago and Marrok quit. No one really knows why. Not that I fucking care."