The Wolf Prince (27 page)

“No, I think I should call them.” Excoria paced back and forth, plucking at her clothes as if they scratched her. She stopped to glance nervously out the window. “This was a bad idea,” she mumbled. “Nivla will be really mad if he discovers I didn’t kill you.”

Darcy had to distract the other woman so she would stop worrying about what would happen if the others found out she hadn’t carried out their orders. Excoria was clearly off her rocker. Darcy would never understand why a bunch of terrorists would even enlist this woman’s help. She kept talking about impures.

Apparently, everyone thought Darcy was an impure. They were all lunatics. Maybe they were against people who weren’t virgins and still unmarried. A weird religious cult. Wow, they were going to have their work cut out for them if they planned to destroy all the unmarried non-virgins.

Right now, fear and indecision were written all over the woman’s face. Darcy certainly didn’t want Excoria to regret not killing her.

“You know, there are a bunch of places to hide,” Darcy said. “You could go anywhere you want with the money my parents are going to give you for returning me
safe
and
unharmed.”

Excoria was thoughtful. “Yes, I can, can’t I?”

“You won’t have to take orders from anyone.”

Excoria sighed, then plopped down on the sofa. She’d removed most of the sheets that covered the furniture. Ms. Bishop was going to be really pissed that Excoria was staining her expensive white sofa with her dirty boots. Not that Darcy would mention that to her.

“You could easily afford a house like this,” Darcy said.

Of course, by the time Excoria paid all the taxes, and bought furniture, and paid any HOA fees, there wouldn’t be much left. Besides the fact the IRS would want to know how she’d acquired
so much money in the first place. No, she’d let all that be a surprise. That is, if Excoria even had a chance to spend any of the money.

Excoria looked around with a dreamy expression. “I could have all the jewels I wanted, too.”

Obviously, she’d been living in a cave and hadn’t heard the economy was in the crapper.

“Oh, well, yeah.” Darcy nodded her head. “You could drape your body in jewels. Diamonds and rubies. Emeralds as big as your thumb.” Mostly paste, of course. Two mil just didn’t go as far as it used to.

Excoria sighed. “I’ve heard that on Nerak they have jewels just lying around. Can you imagine that?”

Nerak? Darcy had never heard of the place. “Is that somewhere in Australia?”

Excoria snorted. “You still don’t have a clue, do you?”

No, and Darcy doubted she ever would. But, just to play along, she shook her head. “I don’t guess I do.”

“Nerak isn’t another country,” Excoria smugly stated. “It’s another planet.”

Great, the woman was crazier than she’d thought. What? Had they all escaped from a loony bin? Had they taken Surlock because they wanted to break out this Zerod guy? He was probably crazier than all of them put together. Maybe Surlock was a doctor who worked there or something.

A cold chill swept over her. What if Surlock was one of the crazies?

Surlock was not crazy! Just because he had humming in his ears didn’t make him crazy. She had humming in her ears that was steadily getting worse, but that didn’t mean she was crazy. …

Lord, she hoped it didn’t mean she was crazy.

She had to think, and keep Excoria talking. The woman was clearly off her rocker. But if Excoria was busy talking, maybe she wouldn’t be thinking about killing Darcy.

“So, does that mean you’re an alien?” Darcy asked as nonchalantly as she could.

Excoria chuckled, leaning forward. “I’m an alien. You’re an alien.”

“I’m an alien,” Darcy repeated. The situation was worse than she’d thought.

“Part alien, which makes you an impure.” Excoria crossed her legs at the ankles. A clump of dirt fell off one boot and landed on the sofa.

“Oh, I thought it meant I wasn’t a virgin,” Darcy mumbled.

Well, at least now they wouldn’t be going around killing off the non-virgins who weren’t married. That would save a lot of lives.

“And my parents were aliens?” Darcy asked. Uh-huh, sure.

“Only one of them. I know that much about your ancestry. They were disposed of by rogues.”

Disposed of.
Hmm, she supposed that meant they were dead. “How sad. Did you kill them?” It was best to play along with the lunatic.

Excoria frowned. “No, of course not. I didn’t become a rogue until a couple of years ago.”

“Up until then you were just your run-of-the-mill alien.”

Excoria cocked an eyebrow. “A Symtarian isn’t an average alien, and New Symtaria is far more advanced than Earth. And we’re not aliens where I come from. You would be the alien.”

“And New Symtaria is a planet.” Wow, now this was getting strange. How could this chick know that she and Surlock had been searching for New Symtaria?

“Of course it’s another planet.”

“And Surlock is a prince.”

“Exactly.” Excoria smiled as if she was a teacher and her dumbest student had just figured out how to add one plus one.

Time to make her worry just a little. “Then since Surlock and I care deeply for each other, if you harm me in any way, he will probably hunt you down and squash you like a bug.”

Excoria’s mouth opened and closed, then her brow wrinkled in thought. Suddenly, she brightened. “I’ll have a lot of money, and I’ll make sure he never finds me.” She stood up. “I’m going
to get some air and check the perimeter. You’d better not try to escape or I’ll squash
you
like a little bug.” She sashayed into the other room.

A few minutes later, Darcy heard a door open, then close. She might have ten minutes or so to make her escape. Thank goodness, Excoria had left her hands and feet tied in front.

As she tried to wiggle loose, Darcy realized Excoria was pretty good at tying knots. All she had accomplished so far was rubbing her wrists raw.

She began to gnaw at the ropes with her teeth, cringing at what her mother would think if she could see her, especially since she’d forced Darcy to wear ugly braces until she was fifteen. It had not been fun when the kids tagged her with the nickname “Metal Mouth.”

Her teeth were not strong enough to even gnaw a strand of the rope. Frustration filled her. She was only two miles from home, and the thought was killing her.

Was Surlock looking for her? Was he even alive? Her stomach clenched. His captors were as crazy as Excoria. Were they both doomed?

No, she wouldn’t think about the lunatics who’d taken him prisoner. Or the fact that terrorists usually killed their hostages. But if he was really a prince, would that make a difference?

She didn’t know what to think anymore and this infernal humming in her ears was driving her up a freakin’ wall! She couldn’t stand it. She struggled to her feet and began to hop toward the front door.

“Where are you going?” Excoria said behind her.

“Out of here.”

“I don’t think so.”

Darcy knew she was screwed when she heard the click of the tranquilizer gun. Ah, hell. It popped her right on the butt. Tears filled her eyes as she sank to the floor, thankful the carpet was plush. The Bishops had spared no expense. Still, it wasn’t the most comfortable landing.

Excoria strolled over, then rolled Darcy onto her back.
“Think of it this way—you can take a nice long nap. You don’t have to worry about getting free. I loaded this one with a little something extra, so enjoy all the colors and pretty lights.” She laughed as she moved out of Darcy’s line of vision.

Excoria was right about one thing, Darcy didn’t feel the urge to run. No, she was just going to lie here and trip out. Her mom would be so pissed when Darcy told her Excoria had given her drugs. Darcy had never even experimented in college.

Wow, what an intense shade of blue. This was really cool. Her mouth was so dry, though, and she was getting the munchies. Maybe some chips and French onion dip and chocolate cake.

Yep, she was screwed. But the lights were pretty.

“D
on’t move or I’ll blow your brains out,” Ralph repeated, the gun aimed at Surlock’s head.

Surlock vaguely heard Ralph’s voice. The words kept repeating over and over in his head that Darcy might still be alive. If there were any kind of chance she might be …

Surlock squared his shoulders and looked Darcy’s father straight in the eye. “I may be the only one who can save her,” he told him.

The man studied him for a moment, then sighed warily. “Put the gun down, Ralph. Even if this is a trick, we have no choice but to go along with him. I want my daughter back alive. Let’s go inside.”

Ralph didn’t look happy about taking the gun off Surlock, but he did. Mr. Spencer and Surlock went inside. Ms. Abernathy was in the hall, arms crossed in front of her.

“Do you know where our girl is?” Her words were cold and hard, but Surlock noticed her bottom lip tremble.

“No, but I’ll find her, and I’ll make sure she comes home safely.”

She nodded. “I’ll put a pot of coffee on.” She looked at Surlock. “And I’ll make some fresh juice.”

“I know you’ve been staying here, but I’m not sure why,” Mr. Spencer said. “I think I need more of an explanation than what
I’ve been told.” He looked at Ms. Abernathy. “We’ll be in my study. Make sure Mary isn’t disturbed. She was up most of the night and this is the first decent sleep she’s had.” His hard gaze landed on Surlock. “The doctor had to give her a shot early this morning.”

Ms. Abernathy dabbed at her eyes with the hem of her apron, then quickly left the room.

Surlock followed Darcy’s father into his office. Once he was seated behind his desk, he began firing questions so fast they all ran together.

Surlock held up his hand. “I think I need to start from the beginning and tell you everything.”

Mr. Spencer frowned, but motioned for him to take a seat. “It will be nice to hear the truth. Just make sure it is the truth.”

“I was sent here to protect Darcy,” Surlock said.

“My daughter doesn’t need protection. At least, she didn’t until you arrived.” When Surlock didn’t speak, Mr. Spencer waved his hand. “Go on, go on.”

“She was walking in the park behind your home when she saw a wolf. The wolf left, and when I stepped from behind a tree, I startled her. She held a heavy branch and acted on instinct, hitting me over the head.”

“Good for her! I made sure she took self-defense classes before she went to college. It served you right for scaring her!”

Surlock wasn’t so sure in this instance.

“Go on,” Mr. Spencer urged.

“I lost my memory and only recently did it return, but too late to protect Darcy.”

“You know who has her?”

“I do.”

“Then we should call the authorities.” He reached for the phone.

Surlock shook his head. “That’s the last thing we need.”

His hand stilled. “You can’t get her back by yourself unless you’re some kind of James Bond. Are you?”

“No.”

“One thing I don’t understand—why does my daughter need your protection?”

He hesitated. “Because of who she is.”

“You mean because she’s rich?”

“No, because of her mother and father.”

Mr. Spencer sat forward, resting his hands on his desk. “She’s adopted. If we couldn’t find out any information on her biological family, then why would I believe you could?” His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you’re in on the kidnapping and you want to make sure I deliver the money. Who are you exactly?”

Surlock rose to his full height, bowing slightly. “I am Prince Surlock Valkyir from the planet New Symtaria. We’re a race of shape-shifters. Darcy was born to a Symtarian mother and a man from Earth. Because she’s an impure, rogue Symtarians want her dead. That is why I was sent here to protect her.” He downed his head in shame. “Except I failed.”

Mr. Spencer came to his feet, his chair slamming against the wall behind him. “Now you listen to me, you fruitcake. If my daughter isn’t in this house within the next hour, I’ll have so many FBI agents crawling all over you that you’ll wish you had never heard the name Spencer.”

He wasn’t taking the news as well as Surlock had hoped.

“I can prove it,” Surlock told him.

Mr. Spencer clamped his lips together.

Surlock figured he only had a short time to actually prove his words. This might be too much information, too soon, but he didn’t have time to break it to Mr. Spencer gently. “The wolf Darcy saw was my animal guide. It lives within me.”

Chinktah, I need you.

Of course you do. I don’t know how you survived so long without me.

Chinktah, I really don’t think we have time to argue the point.

Okay, okay.

Surlock felt the familiar pain grip him, but held steady. The pain wasn’t so bad he couldn’t stand it. Over the years, shifting had become more of a discomfort.

“What’s going on? Where did this fog come from?” Mr. Spencer jerked his gaze from side to side.

“This is what happens when a Symtarian shifts,” Surlock managed to tell him before everything went dark. He closed his eyes. The change was taking place. Hands became paws, a thick coat of fur covered his skin.

It is good to be out again,
Chinktah said.

Surlock opened his eyes and blinked. As always, it was as if he saw through Chinktah’s eyes.

Mr. Spencer eased behind his chair, using it as a shield. “How did a wolf get in here? If this is some kind of trick—” He rubbed his hands over his eyes. “This isn’t happening. Lack of sleep, that’s all it is.”

Chinktah jumped to the desk, and papers scattered to the floor.

Don’t scare him to death,
Surlock warned.

Well, I don’t see what’s so hard to believe. You told him the truth, and now here it is, staring him in the face.

I think that’s the problem. Can you look a little less menacing, and stop staring him in the face?

Whatever.

Chinktah lay down on the desk, then lowered his head to his paws.

“There’s a wolf on my desk. A really big wolf. This isn’t a trick. It is real.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, I believe you, I think.”