The Song Of The Wolf (Unedited)

Chapter Twenty-Three

In spite of having been there before, it took Maebh a modest hour to locate the castle's garage and a further 5 minutes to figure out where all the car keys were kept. Thinking herself clever, she'd gone for a smart key and was now aimlessly roaming about the lot pressing the damned button, on the lookout for flickering backlights or an audible indication of an unlocked car.

"Miss Maebh?"

Maebh gasped and nearly strained a muscle with how fast she whirled around. "In ainm dé, Ben, you scared me."

"My apologies, Miss. But you triggered the alarm. Security notified me you had been wandering around for a while. May I assist you in anyway?"

She raised an eyebrow at the formal talk, "Are you taking the piss?"

"His Majesty the king has reminded me of my duties, specifically of my role as Second in Command. Please accept my sincerest apologies for showcasing any inappropriate behaviour."

Maebh glared in silent contempt. "This is fucking ridiculous." She pushed the car keys into his hand. "open the car for me please, you're coming with me."

"May I ask where-"

"No, not yet. Let's get out of here first."

"His Royal Highness will-"

"I don't give a flying feck. Off we go."

Benjamin wordlessly unlocked the car. Embarrassingly enough, the beeping that rang through the garage belonged to the vehicle she'd had her back turned to this whole time.

Once they were en route, she started interrogating him for details.

"Spill."

As opposed to answering, the red haired man discreetly pointed at the rearview mirror. Confused, Maebh followed his finger and had to take a closer look before realising what he was trying to draw her attention to. It was a dashcam, built into the mirror. But instead of recording the view through the front windscreen, the camera was angled towards the interior of the car.

He leant in, simultaneously keeping his eyes on the road as he spoke barely above a whisper, "It's a live stream."

That was all the encouragement Maebh needed to detach the mirror by ripping the entire thing off of the roof. Benjamin witnessed the action with perplexity as it was immediately trailed by the passenger window going down, and then back up after the mutilated mirror had been chucked out.

Maebh clicked her tongue. "Plain sailing."

Benjamin gaped at her. "You could have just turned it off, Maebh. What the fuck?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she said, before quickly adding, "Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to come off so easily."

He shook his head. "You're nuts."

She rapped her fingers against the side of her leg and noted how they were fast approaching the tunnel. Darkness surrounded them, the headlights guiding them towards the other side of the mountain range.

"Are you worried about Zahra and Ghaleb?"

"Why?"

"Because Maccon threatened you."

Benjamin swallowed visibly, not even bothering to deny it. "Not directly."

"Thought so. He's all bark but no bite."

Daylight returned as the car exited the tunnel.

"You underestimate how protective they are over you, especially Filin. He's like giant metaphoric hornet's nest waiting to swarm," he countered, clearly in disagreement with her.