Stories of the Otherworld: Chaotic Part 3

When the wave hit me this time, I only rocked on my heels. Half the strength of the slap I'd felt in the main room earlier, even though I was at the apparent locus of the trouble. I filed this away as a lesson in separating residuals from current chaos, then closed my eyes and pivoted, trying to find the exact location- There, around that next corner. I hurried to it, then walked into a wall of darkness. I braced myself as the visions flashed past.

Metal glinted. A blade winked in a flashlight beam. The flashlight clattered to the floor. A plea. No! Please-! The blade sheered down. Hands flew up. Blood sprayed.

I froze the vision there as I panted, my heart racing. I struggled to hold that last thought... and wondered why I was holding it.

Blood sprayed.

Blood.

I fumbled in my purse for my keys, took them out, and turned on my penlight. I waved the weak beam over the walls. There. Blood droplets, invisible in the near-darkness.

6.

Were the blood drops still wet? I almost reached up to one before s.n.a.t.c.hing my hand back. Look, don't touch, stupid. Standing on my tiptoes, I moved the light closer to the specks. They glistened. Still wet, but drying.

I swung the beam to the floor and found faint smears of blood that would go undetected until they turned on the lights in the morning... or noticed they were one security guard short.

So where was...? Follow the trail.

I stopped at a door a few yards away. Tissue over my hand, I turned the k.n.o.b.

I half-expected a body to fall out on top of me. Too many horror movies, I guess.

The door opened into an office. I shone my flashlight around. Nothing.

As the door closed behind me, I grabbed it and twisted the k.n.o.b, to make sure it wouldn't lock me inside. Rea.s.sured, I eased the door shut, and moved toward the center of the room.

As I walked, I picked up a twinge of trouble. Yes, this had to be the right place. So where was the...?

A booted toe protruded from behind the desk. I hurried to it. The desk faced the wall, with a wide gap for computer cord access behind it, and that's where the killer had stuffed the body. One end of the desk was against the adjoining wall and the other against a metal filing cabinet, so I had to crawl onto the desk to peer behind it.

I shone the flashlight beam into the gap, and bit back a yelp.

I resisted the urge to pull away. With something like this, I was sure the council would expect a report, so I had to get a good look.

A man lay faceup in the gap. His eyes stared at me, wide with that last minute of "I don't believe this is happening" horror. His security uniform shirt was a mess of gaping holes, the edges torn, shredded, unlike anything a knife would do. The flesh beneath the holes looked... mangled. Chewed. It looked as if he'd been- A hand clamped over my mouth.

"Found something you were missing?" a voice hissed.

I kicked backward. My foot connected, but a second arm clamped around my neck, and yanked me off the desk. It spun me around, and I found myself looking into a pair of blue eyes so cold and hard that my heart leaped into my throat. Karl Marsten.

"Did you think I wouldn't smell the body when I walked by?" His voice was as cold and hard as his eyes, all traces of smooth charm gone. "You would have been wiser to let me leave through the front door."

I pulled back my fist and plowed it toward his gut. He caught my hand easily and squeezed. Tears of pain sprang to my eyes. Oh G.o.d, you stupid, stupid- He brought his face down to mine, and the thought dried up.

"I'm going to let go," he said, his voice calm. "If you scream, I will crush your fingers. Do you understand?"

I blinked back tears and nodded. He took his hand from my mouth and released the other one just enough to stop the throbbing pain, but still gripped it so tightly that I didn't dare even try to wiggle my fingers.

"I will only ask you this once," he said. "Who do you work for?"

"The-I told you-the-"

"Interracial council," he interrupted. "Is that so? Then tell me, which delegate of the council hired you?"

"I was approached by a representative-"

"Which delegate?"

"He's not a delegate. He works for them."

He exhaled, as if in frustration. "All right, then. Which delegates have you met?"

"None. I only work through my contact-"

He cut me off with a humorless laugh. "Oh, they have you well trained, don't they? I'm sure this story has worked well for you in the past, but it falls a little flat when dealing with someone who actually knows the interracial council, knows most of the delegates, and knows, beyond any doubt, that they do not have employees or recruits or 'agents'-"

A noise from the hall. Voices. Marsten half-turned, his attention diverted just long enough for me to ram my spiked heel into his shin and wrench my hand free.

He grabbed for me. I kicked and lashed out at the same time, my nails clawing his face. He fell back. I ran for the door, threw it open, and raced into the hall.

A split-second decision: run toward the voices or away from them? Running to them might have been safer, but I couldn't-wouldn't-endanger others. I'd already underestimated Marsten once.

I tore down the halls. Marsten's soles squeaked behind me as he wheeled out of the office. That reminded me that he was in flat dress shoes... and I was in heels-with no hope of outrunning him.

I grabbed the first doork.n.o.b I came to. Locked.

I dove for the one across the hall. As my fingers closed around it, I saw Marsten running toward me. The handle turned. The door opened. I darted through, and slammed it.

Even as I turned the lock, I knew I might as well not have bothered. It was a flimsy household privacy lock, one that could be snapped by any strong man, let alone a werewolf.

I reached for my purse but it wasn't on my shoulder. It must have fallen when Marsten yanked me off the desk. No purse... no gun.

Marsten's footsteps had slowed to a walk. Of course they had; he didn't need to hurry. I'd trapped myself in an office with no second door, no windows, no way to escape.

Blockade the door.

The council backup team was on the way. If I could slow Marsten down long enough to call Tristan- The footsteps stopped inside the door. The handle turned.

Someone laughed-the sound close by-and the handle stopped turning. A drunken giggle. A voice, growing closer.

I grabbed the sides of the metal filing cabinet. It didn't budge. The printer stand? Like that would slow down a werewolf.

"Oh," someone said near the door. "Didn't see you there."

"Unless you're staff, this hall is off limits," Marsten said.

"Oh, right, we were just-"

"Lost," the woman giggled.

"Then I suggest you turn around, go back to the end of the hall, and follow the sounds of the party. You can't miss it."

I looked around for something to block the door, but anything big enough was too heavy for me to move. Outside, the man was telling Marsten to mind his own business, but his companion was already moving away, and calling to him to do the same. No time to phone Tristan. I needed- My gaze rose to the ventilation shaft over the desk.

Oh please. You have seen too many movies.

I silenced the inner voice, and climbed onto the desk as Marsten threatened to call security. As much as I appreciated the distraction the couple was providing, I prayed they moved on before Marsten gave up trying to handle them discreetly.

As the woman cajoled her partner away, I quickly unscrewed the ventilation cover with a quarter from a dish of coins on the desk.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the man slurred, then muttered a parting obscenity at Marsten.

As the man's footsteps faded, I yanked on the cover. One side came free. I tugged again, but the other side caught.

The footsteps were almost gone. Palms sweating, I fumbled for a better hold. The cover popped off with a ping that I was sure could be heard throughout the museum. I shoved the cover into the shaft, grabbed the edges, heaved, and managed to get inside up to my b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Then I found myself stuck, upper torso in, b.u.t.t hanging out, legs flailing, arms trembling with the strain of just holding myself up, with no extra strength for hauling the rest of me through.

G.o.dd.a.m.n it! I'd been spending three evenings a week at the gym, and I couldn't do better than this?

The door handle turned.

s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t, s.h.i.t! I'd never make- "And another thing, a.s.shole," the man's voice boomed from the end of the hall.

One last push, boosted by a wave of relief, and I heaved the rest of my torso into the shaft.

"Come on, Rick!" the woman called. "Do you want me to go back to the party?"

I wriggled and twisted, getting my legs in and my body turned around so I was facing the shaft opening. I tugged the cover from under me, hooked my fingers through the slats, and pulled it into place just as the doork.n.o.b twisted, and the lock snapped.

Marsten threw open the door, fast-as if he expected me to be standing there armed with a heavy stapler. Door wide, he paused in the opening, gaze tripping across the room, nostrils flaring.

Nostrils flaring... Werewolf... He could smell me.

d.a.m.n it! I tried to twist around. My shoulder knocked against the metal. A dull thump, but he heard it. Of course he heard it.

Werewolf. Heightened smell, heightened hearing, heightened strength...

I knew all this, so why did I keep forgetting until it was too late? I was out of my league. Way out of it, and I would pay for my hubris- "Let's make this easy," he said, his smooth mask back in place. "You don't want to play hide-and-seek with me. I have all the advantages, and a low tolerance for frustration. So we'll skip the games. If you feel safer in your hidey-hole-" He scanned the room. "You're welcome to stay there. You can hear me, and that's all that matters."

He turned slowly, searching for me even as he said he wouldn't. b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

I shifted my shoulders, testing my s.p.a.ce limits again. Too tight. I'd been able to turn around with the vent open but, without that added s.p.a.ce, I was stuck. No, not stuck. I could move backward. Awkward, slow, and probably loud, but if it came to that, I would. He'd barely fit in here-if at all-so I could still move faster than he could.

"Whoever you are, you're of no interest to me," he continued. "That means I have no particular desire to hurt you. So you have a choice. Tell me who you're working for, and I'll step aside and let you out this door. Refuse, and I'll use you for leverage. That's not a position you want to be in."

I stayed still and quiet.

"I don't have all night," he said. "Nor do you. When I hear your a.s.sociates approach-which I'm sure will be soon-I'll sniff you out, and the choice will be made. After that, whether you walk out of here depends on how willing your employer is to negotiate."

I said nothing. As he moved, his nostrils flared, still searching. Then he stopped and smiled. His gaze lifted to the ventilation shaft.

"Ah, there you are."

A quick leap and he was on the desk. As he pulled off the cover, I scrambled backward. I got about five feet before my shoulders. .h.i.t the sides, stopping me. While I struggled to back up, he peered into the shaft and smiled, his teeth glinting in the dark.

"I do believe you've backed yourself into a corner."

I wriggled, but the shaft had narrowed, and the more I moved, the tighter I wedged myself in.

"Are you going to tell me who you work for?" he said.

"I already did," I snarled.

"And I told you, I know better." His voice was calm, conversational, no trace of the cold fury from earlier. "You're obviously a bright young woman, and quite capable of thinking on your feet, as you proved earlier, so why you insist on sticking to this story-"

"Don't bother. I know who I work for, and nothing you say is going to make me second-guess that-or betray them."

He lifted his hand to his mouth and rubbed it, his gaze searching mine.

"You didn't kill that security guard, did you?" he said.

"Kill-!" I gritted my teeth. "We both know who-and what-killed him, so don't try pinning that on me."

"That spot on your dress. I suppose you'll tell me it isn't blood."

I snorted. "It's the marinara sauce from the d.a.m.n mussels you threw at me in the buffet line."

"I threw-?"

He rubbed his mouth and growled. Or I thought it was a growl, until I saw his eyes dancing and realized he was laughing.

"All right. Here." He reached into the shaft. "Come on out of there. I believe we both have a problem, and we'd best set about resolving it before your 'a.s.sociates' arrive."

"You really think I'm a fool, don't you?"

He tilted his head, as if considering it. "A fool? Young, yes. Reckless, yes. Naive, probably. But foolish? No. Not foolish. You-"

A sound from the hall. A door opening, then closing. He swiveled, his eyes narrowing as if tracking something I couldn't hear. His gaze shot to the door handle and he mouthed a silent oath.

"Couldn't lock it, could you?" I said. "That's the problem with breaking things. They tend to stay broken."

He shushed me, grabbed the vent cover, and knocked it back into place. Then he peered through the slats and whispered, "If you want to find out whether I'm lying-and I think you do-stay there and stay quiet."