Page 66 of Curse of the Wolf
Duncan grunted as he slung the pack over his shoulders, then gripped the bars and climbed the gate. Like the wall, it had barbed-wire at the top, but he managed to navigate over it without scraping himself to pieces—or fainting.
“Not going to rip anything off the hinges tonight?” I waved toward the side of the gate, then grabbed the bars to see if I could emulate his climb. There weren’t any decorative curlicues that would have made ideal footholds, but a horizontal metal bar in the middle helped.
“There might be a security system.” Duncan hopped down on the inside of the gate. “If so, ripping doors and gates asunder is the kind of thing that sets alarms off.”
“Have you experienced that in your various adventures?”
“I might have, yes.” Duncan pointed out a couple of security cameras mounted on the cement walls as I climbed down beside him. “It’s human nature for people to want to protect their valuables.”
“Have you gotten caught before trying to get into a secured compound?”
“Usually, the treasures I hunt are in a lost-at-sea or buried-underground state and rarely secured, but I might have hadto skedaddle at a rapid pace a few times to avoid Dobermans, Rottweilers, and brutes with tasers.”
“Those sound like harrowing experiences,” I said, though a werewolf shouldn’t have trouble handling any of those foes.
“A little harrowing, a little exhilarating.”
“Apparently, nothing untoward enough happened to change your life, or you wouldn’t be fishing for coins in private koi ponds.”
“Thoseare rarely surrounded by cameras and alarm systems.”
“Strange that people don’t value their fish more.”
One of the security cameras on the walls swiveled on its mount to face us. Though I doubted anyone was on the premises, I wouldn’t be surprised if those were transmitting back to one of Radomir’s paid people. We would have to do our snooping swiftly, before someone arrived to stop us—at gunpoint.
Perhaps thinking the same, Duncan trotted for the door we’d observed. It was locked, and 1-2-3-4 did not open the keypad.
He jogged around the building to check for other entrances. I eyed the second-story windows. From below, they were larger than I’d thought. Imightbe able to squeeze through one. Duncan, with his broader shoulders, was iffier. Not that I saw an easy way up to and through them from the outside regardless. They were flush with the flat and unadorned cement walls.
“There’s another man door and a large roll-up garage door on that side of the building,” Duncan said when he returned. “But they’re locked and very sturdy. There aren’t any lower-level windows, and the walls are smooth, not conducive to climbing.”
He gripped the door handle in front of me, planted a foot on the wall, and tested it by pulling. It didn’t budge.
“I’ve lost a wee bit of my strength,” he admitted reluctantly, releasing the handle. “Or it might be that this door is a little sturdier than the one at the other compound.”
“For the sake of your ego, I’ll say that it’sclearlymuch thicker and better made.”
“You’re a good woman.” Duncan shrugged off his pack and pulled out a grenade.
“Are we giving up on the plan not to trigger the security system and going forward with ripping things asunder?”
“I’ve caught the cameras tracking me. I believe someone already knows we’re here.” Duncan waved for me to back away, armed and set the grenade against the door, then ran to join me.
We ducked behind a well house a second before it blew, the explosion thunderous as it echoed across the mountainside. I imagined someone at the resort community pausing in putting away their kayak for the day to look curiously in this direction.
“I hope we have the right address,” I said when the noise of the explosion faded.
“We do.” Duncan peered toward the entrance.
“The GPS was less certain.”
“The GPS couldn’t sense magicalpotion ingredients inside.” Duncan cocked his head as the smoke cleared, revealing the door blown open. Surprisingly, the wall around it hadn’t been damaged. That had to be made from something sturdier than the cement it looked like. “And notonlyingredients, I think. I can pick up more magic now that there’s a hole in the wall.Strongermagic. Lots of it. It’s below ground, I believe.”
“I’m ready.” I flexed my fingers, surprising myself by again wishing I had the sword. Maybe I just wanted somethingwith which to defend myself. But, with night deepening, I trusted I could easily turn into a wolf inside, if need be.
“Something a man always enjoys hearing from a lady.” Duncan saluted me, then led the way toward the entrance, the smoke mostly cleared, though enough lingered to make my nostrils itch.
“There wasn’t this much innuendo when I went on a mission with Bolin and my niece.” I followed him to the doorway.
