"Pony?"
"Max! What are you doing here!" I shouted, jiggling the locked handle of the door.
Even in a place like this she hadn't lost her optimism. "Surprise! I was originally on my way to rescue you, but as you can see I got a little - hung up?"
I frowned," really? Now is not the time for horrible puns!"
"Better now than any," she frowned along with me. Dam, I really did miss her.
"I'm going to get you out of here, just hang on," I murmured, analyzing the runic door.
"Now who's making puns!" She teased, getting on her knees inside her steel cage.
"It wasn't intentional," I groaned, skimming my finger over the lock in the door. "By chance, would you know where the lock to this door is?"
"If I knew do you think I'd be in here?" She glared at me, obviously not finding this as amusing as I did. "But there may be - no never mind."
"No, what!" I half yelled. "Any idea is a good one right now!" We were running out of time, soon the guards would know I was missing, and then no one would be around to tease Max.
Inside her cage, her hair had fallen around her shoulders like vines of brown curls. She looked like she was weak with her translucent skin from little sunlight and sunken eyes from lack of sleep - but the glint in her Hazel depths said otherwise. "Can you break your wrist?" She asked.
***
Tristan's POV:
"Cursed? What do you mean cursed?" Percy growled in restrained fury. As it was, Percy's father was the only man keeping him from breaking down the castle walls. With a little magic from the Kytani and the help of google maps, we were at the castle within three hours of receiving the information. Of course, with an army at our backs.
While the supreme council wasn't pleased with this detour during the middle of a world war... they knew they needed Percy's strength if they were to win. For Percy to have strength he needed his source, and that was currently held hostage in a castle.
"Sir, Prince Silviu was cursed two hundred years ago. He can not leave the castle gates, he's trapped in there and we have reason to believe that what ever the deal he has made with the Charm Speaks is... he will receive freedom in return," the scout reported. Prince Viorel had informed us of his brother's condition. He would be greatly rewarded when the time came.
Everything clicked at once but I was the first to turn it from thought into words," Freedom for a Supreme Alphas mate, that could possibly lean the balance of winning in the Charm speaks favor. Not a bad deal."
Percy's eyes trained on the castle, his veins bulging with each pulse of hungry blood lust. "Sector C will storm the east part of the castle, a diversion for Sector B to climb the west side of the castle. Once they are inside, they will set a bomb in the underground oil wells. The explosion will cause the entire second floor to collapse and destroy most of our enemies that will be attempting to barricade the castle from Sector C's attack.
After the explosion, we will use Kytani magic to take myself, Tristan and eight of my best men to the center of the castle. We will find my mate, or that blood sucker will paint her tombstone in his blood."
"Wait!" A small but determined voice squeaked from behind the wall of warriors inside the Alphas tent. Muscling his way through the crowd, my chest flickered at the sight of my mate's Hazel orbs. "I am coming too."
At those words, I didn't need Percy to order me to do what I was already in the process of doing. I grabbed Parker and threw him over my shoulder. While I could think of a scenario where this would be fun in - now was not the time for such thoughts. He pounded against my back as I hauled him out of the tent and into the very edge of the forest, out of the tents ear shot.
Tossing him on his bum, I hissed," you stand up, I slam you back down."
He snarled at me and climbed to his feet regardless, just out of my reach... like that would stop me. "She's MY sister! I have a right to be there!" He cried in a voice so heart broken I wore his pain as my own.
"You said it yourself, your a lover not a fighter."
"I found her, I made promises I have to keep, to the Prince - to my parents!" He cried out once again. His face reddened and his eyes squinted, hiding the gloss under the frustration.
"What promises?" I clarified, softly as to prevent the conversation from heating.
"I know how it feels, to have your world and your siblings ripped away from you. I'm a older brother and that means it's my responsibility to protect my sister. Viorel wants the same, he doesn't want his brother harmed. And if a undead man like Prince Viorel can understand the fight for love then why can't you?"
"I can understand love just fine. What I won't do is let you into that castle just because you love her. Love doesn't end wars. It starts them," I huffed. Every time I wanted to believe he's part of our world, I'm reminded he is still very human. Maybe too human for this setting. Which is why I couldn't have him in that castle or in any danger.
"She's all I have left," he sobbed, tears on the verge of spilling over. I wanted to shout,"no she's not, I'm here!" But I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth. Not yet. "I can't stand by and do nothing," he whispered.
I had to look away, there was no greater pain then watching your mate cry. Especially when your mate's lower lip quivered and his face crumbled like the world had split open and took his will with it.
"There will be monsters in that castle -"
"Your not a monster," Parker blurted out, I froze in surprise. "You'll be in that castle among monsters, and you are still fighting with your humanity. Your my friend and I don't like watching you fight. I fucking hate it -"
"Parker, don't -"
"But you are fighting for your Luna and your pack, and for me. What kind of friend or a brother would I be if I sat back and watched?" He had managed to turn his tears into war paint, he was ready to fight and die for his family. I suppose humans and monsters have that in common.
"Let me fight..." he whispered.
"I can't let you fight," I told him, my own pain lacing the vowels. "But there is a way you can help protect us and your sister."
He took a step forward, eyes now filled with the sheen of hope. "How?"
I shrugged," how do you feel like driving an armored truck?"
He face stretched into a grin, slamming me into a hug. I could feel his heart pounding through the thin shirts we wore. The tingles washed over my skin like the rain does on flower petals during a spring morning. There was a completeness to having my mate in my arms, it made me feel humanly warm.
"That would be awesome," he whispered, still holding me, even when he could have let go.
***
Gabe's POV:
"Ok, now slam the piece of bone into the lock!" She shouted supportively.
Just because I'm a werewolf doesn't mean I don't have that little voice in the back of my head that tells me not to do things. Such as break my wrist so the bone is stuck out, insert it into a lock and use my Werewolf healing to mold the bone into the shape of the key in lock. I have that voice, but it's in circumstances like these, I just elect to ignore it.
Like Max predicted, a simple twist of my wrist and the door swung open. Upon opening the door a steel ramp shot out and gave me safe passage across the empty tower. Taking a deep breath I removed my wrist from the lock, while breaking my arm does still hurt... it's doesn't effect me as much as it used to. Percy hated me as a kid, he would break my arms and legs for fun during our training lessons. Now I couldn't be happier he had, or this would be extremely agonizing to do.
Once I approached her cell, she grabbed my unbroken hand, bringing it through the bars to touch the surface of her cheek. My heart skipped a beat seeing her savor the roughness of my dirty hands. Max's Hazel eyes met mine," this isn't a dream, is it? Your really here Gabe."
I brushed a tear away with my thumb, ignoring the pain throbbing through my opposite arm to appreciate this moment. "It's me darling, you were never alone in this castle." I looked down at the steel ramp. "I had begun to think you stopped looking for me. I know how Percy can be and I -"
She placed her hand over the one that was still around her cheek. Her touch seemed to hum in approval across my skin. "Never," she stated. Max was fierce, she never gave up on the people she loved, and she never lost hope.
Having renewed confidence I looked down only to lose it again. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Turns out there was another lock.
After repeating the same process as before, her cage was opened. Before I could even remove my wrist, she had thrown herself into my arms. I stumbled back," ow wrist! Ow wrist!"
She hugged me tighter, tucking her head into my shoulder," I don't care, you deserve it for abandoning me."
I wrapped my arms around her in return," I would never leave you. Who else is going to drink hot chocolate with me?"
She released me,"first things first, we get out of here." Dirt came barreling into the room leaping into my arms. He barked happily licking Max's face. Her eyes lite up like the Fourth of July," you brought him?"
She stroked his head, earning a purr from him. "He helped me escape, and he lead me back to you."
She elbowed me in the gut," and you hated him at first."
"Yeah well - so what now. If you haven't noticed we're still stuck in a castle." As if to urge us to escape, sirens rang and red lights flashed in the halls. "We have to go!" The three of us ran across the steel ramp and into the hall.
Carrying Dirt on my hip, I lead us down the hall at race worthy speed. The rock in the walls were blurs in my desperation to find us safety. Halfway to the secret passage we ran into our first guard. He wore thick armor and carried a gun on his hip. Before he could reach for it I had him on his back with my fists connecting with his helmet. I didn't stop until his helmet rolled across the hall and he was left unconscious.
"Let's go," I breathed heavily. Max helps me to my feet, carrying Dirt in her arms. He whimpers seeing me out of breath and winding down from my adrenaline rush. "Were almost there."
Finding the wall was easy, finding the hidden button again was a different story. Max and I slapped everywhere we could reach, even Dirt threw himself at the wall a couple of times before we found the release. Once the door was open the over whelming scent from the torches inside burned my nose. I groaned in agony, the strength affecting my senstitive nose.
Doubling over, I whined in pain. The scent drifted up through my nose and wrapped around my brain like a noose. I couldn't function or even think. The smell brought me to my knees, holding my nose and begging for it to stop. Before I could process anything around me, Max had ripped her shirt and stuffed it up my nose as if to stop 'bleeding'. She blocked the scent enough for me to bare the disabling migraine in my head.
A guard appeared from behind, he lunged for Max, her reaction was to break his nose with her fist. It proved effective when he collapsed to the ground and she kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Where did you learn to punch like that?" I asked, prodding him in the ribs with my finger.
"Tristan taught me, I believe you were there... hiding in a tree," she recalled, hauling me to my feet.
"Ah yes, good times don't you think?" I joked with her. She had no words to say but a smile to show.
Helping to support my weight, Max helped me travel down the tunnel deeper and deeper until fighting could be heard. She exchanged a fearful look with me,"is someone attacking the castle?"
I looked around the tunnel for a exit or a weapon,"something tells me we don't want to find out."
I attempted to nudge her back to where we came. "But what if it's Percy? What if he's here to save us."
"Max-"
"There they are!" Both our heads snapped to behind us where a group of guards marched in our direction. Leaping out of the carrier, Dirt launched himself at the guard like a German Shepard does to a criminal. He was magic Dirt and I wasn't exactly concerned about him getting hurt.
Max read my mind, assisting me in shuffling away from the scene. Even if it only bought us a few seconds before the other guards pursued. Her fragile arms gripped my body tightly, trying to get leverage to haul me forward. My head felt as though it would burst, the oil scent was still too great for my sensitivity.
Before we heard the thundering boom, we felt it's force tremor through the secret passage. Even the guards behind us stopped, fearful of what was just ahead. All too shorty we all realized, the boom wasn't ahead of us - it was below us.
The rock beneath our feet began to give way, it wasn't until we were already collapsing among the stone that I processed Max's terrified face. In a fraction of a second we were below, deep in the oil wells that were networked under the castle.
I bellowed at the feeling of Max falling on top of my torso and sandwiching me between the rumble and her. As if the fall itself wasn't painful enough. Alone Max and I shivered, finding ourselves trapped in a hole thirty feel below the ground.
Max glanced at me before looking back up to the surface,"Now were really in a ditch."
All I could say to her pun was,"Oh my goddess."