“All bets are off with the show at the arena,” Kade growled. He handed Cara his phone. “Tell Neil to let the others know where we’re headed. Trying to corner Braden downtown, in this mess, is going to be tricky as hell.”
The Hudson’s Bay Company store had existed at the western edge of Winnipeg’s downtown core for a hundred years. For much of that time it offered a multilevel shopping experience featuring everything from pets to clothes to meatloaf. The modern age and online shopping had resulted in its closure, and the historic building now waited for new tenants.
The attached parkade located just south of the building was also ancient. Despite the store’s vacancy, it was kept busy servicing the surrounding downtown businesses. Vehicles rose through the three-tier structure via a sequence of ramps. Like many older parkades, you had to drive across the entire parking deck to get to the next access ramp.
It was immediately obvious that people had been prepared to walk to the arena event from the parkade. Kade took his ticket from the dispenser and navigated through the packed lower levels to the top.
It had spots available, so he pulled into one. Neil was even able to park beside them, oriented the other way, so they could talk through the open windows.
Jessie didn’t wait to be prompted; she leaned forward and offered her hands. Zach took them. The tether’s power immediately ripped her away. All Zach caught was a swirl of scent from her memory. And an overwhelming emotion.
Lust.
Bloody hell.It made him wish for claws and teeth. His fingers curled around hers.
She was moving so fast—as Zach chased Jessie down, he touched a mind. Muted, not shrieking like a human’s. Maybe not human? Were all Cryptid minds different? These minds were quieter, more subdued. Not calm like Cara’s, but at about the same volume level as the guy he’d run into outside the storage facility. Similar, also, to Kade’s and Neil’s.
He had to work to sense them, to read their emotions. He went from one to another. And then another. And another. From that one, he finally gleaned an image: the inside of a building. But it seemed derelict. Abandoned. Debris lay everywhere. Strange debris—his mind finally clicked. Display units. They were old display units.
“Braden’s in the Bay building,” Zach gasped. “And he’s not alone.”
Kade’sshockwas followed closely byanger, but Zach was too busy to care. He darted among the Cryptid presences, following the pull from Jessie.
He reached for her, but she flitted away. Drawn by something. Something powerful.
Braden.
Jessie surged forward. This was more thanattraction. It was pure and powerful. It pulsed through her and into Zach. She reached for Braden, and he sensed the conflict within her. Herdismaywas overridden by herdesire. And when she made contact with Braden, Zach sensed the Dire’sshock.And then,recognition. Followed by a thrill oflustso powerful, it reverberated through Zach, making his own body tighten.
No. Effing. Way.
He wrapped his mental presence around Jessie’s and wrenched her away.
Braden’soutragewas immediate. And he lunged after them. Zach accelerated, gripping Jessie tight.
Kade’s voice intruded. It had a note in it backed by his primary emotion—concern.
“Zach, how many are with him? Are there others outside the building?”
Zach was occupied with fleeing with Jessie. But Kade’s words penetrated, and he slowed, his awareness skating through the Weres he sensed. Counting those inside before he expanded beyond the building.
Searching those walking out on the street.
Now that he knew what to look for, he found them. Cryptids. More than he would have thought possible, hiding unseen among the humans. Most seemed oblivious to the drama unfolding in the old retail outlet.
But as Braden’sangeranddeterminationchased them, those emotions spiked from several Cryptids that Zach touched. One at a time, as Braden used his phone to call in his reinforcements.
Their changes inintentwere like beacons to Zach. And there were too many.
“Dammit, Kade. They’re everywhere,” Zach gasped. “He’s calling them in on us.”
Kade stiffened. “How many?”
“At least ten in the building with Braden. And he’s got more—they’re scattered all around downtown.”
“Krisk. Disconnect, Jessie,” Kade ordered. To Neil, he simply said, “We’re outta here. Go!”
Jessie pulled her shaking hands away from Zach’s. His reach immediately diminished, but most Dires were close enough for him to sense without her.
