Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete (9 page)

CHAPTER TEN

The grasslands, the mountains, the
forests – it was all long gone. Overhead they passed underneath a bridge which
joined the suburbs to the inner city mainland, which is exactly where they were
headed. At one point in the car, Jasmine realized they were only ten or fifteen
minutes away from her house. She wondered where her brother was now, and if the
police were perhaps looking for her.

She had no
idea what these black bears were going to do with her.

Gabe took them
out to the north side of the city, and passed through a few side streets to
reach their destination.

The Destair’s
hideout consisted of a tall skyscraper building which was barricaded by brick
walls and an electronic gate. Adjacent to it, and on the same property, was a
large industrial warehouse.

Many cars
were parked out the front of the building. Gabe steered them off to one side to
reveal a slope leading to a car park underneath the building. They went down,
the bright lights streaming in across Jasmine so hard she had to squint so she
wasn’t completely blinded. Once parked, Gabe got out his side of the car, and
moved round to open Jasmine’s. She stood in front of him, trying to fend off
the feelings of dread.

“What’s the
matter?” Gabe said, pressing his thumb against her cheek. “Are you feeling
homesick?”

Jasmine
slapped him in return.

Gabe’s hand
fell to his side as the slap echoed, and he nursed his cheek.

Jasmine’s
mouth was slightly open, her hands in front of her in a defensive stance.

“It’s okay,”
Gabe muttered. “I deserved it.”

He gave a
little chuckle and then motioned for her to follow him. “Come on. Your room
awaits you.”

“My room?”

“Treated like
royalty, you are,” Gabe muttered.

They arrived
at an elevator and Gabe keyed in the seventh floor.

Jasmine stood
beside him as they went up.

There was
silence until they reached it.

Upon stepping
out into the seventh floor corridor, they were met with a trio of broad
shouldered, hunky type men, in tight t-shirts and patchy jeans.

“There he
is,” one of them hollered. “And he’s brought the dessert.”

A shiver ran
down Jasmine’s spine.

She and Gabe
passed them as they stood around with expecting looks and gestures. Gabe
stopped outside one of the rooms and used a key to open the door.

“What are you
ignoring us for, buddy?” the ringleader asked before they could get inside.

His sidekicks
moved in behind him.

“She’s not to
be messed with,” Gabe said. “Talk to Hades if you have any problems with that.”

“Hades
doesn’t need to know,” the ringleader said using his shoe to block their path.
“You just wait out here for fifteen minutes and we’ll give her the introduction
she’s craving for.”

Gabe looked
down at the shoe, and then up at the man’s face.

The
ringleader still seemed confident.

He still
seemed proud.

In an
instant, Gabe kicked his leg so hard Jasmine heard it break, and followed
through with a blistering punch which sprayed blood all over the walls. The man
slumped to the ground, red faced and nursing his wounds.

His two
friends started to back away.

“Like I
said,” Gabe declared. “If you have any problems, talk to Hades.”

And then
after making sure Jasmine was safe inside, he slammed the door in their face.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

There was no turning back now. No
salvaging what was left of Brad’s human life. Sergeant Green had made the
choice to use his gun on Spike and Spike had chosen to use his mighty claws. In
the end, Green’s bullets missed, but Spike’s claws sank home. Time froze for a
moment as the cop’s body fell to the floor in the centre of the room, with both
Thunder Brad and Spike looking down on it. Then they looked at each other.
There was barely a movement from either of them before bullets rang out wildly
outside.

Brad threw
himself up against the wall in an effort to dodge them, whilst Spike used his
paw to smash through the back window. The pair launched themselves through it
one at a time, and then their next challenge was to continue their escape on
foot through the forest.

Spike was
leading the way. Brad had morphed into his bear and even with him on his side,
he still found it hard to keep up with his cousin. Something seemed to have
come over him. A force. A presence. Something other than the fact today their
entire world had collapsed.

With no sense
of distance between the road and this part of the forest, Brad finally gave
into his frustration and jumped ahead to block Spike’s path. He shifted back to
his human self and Spike reluctantly joined him.

Tired, both
men tried to get a hold of their panting.

“You didn’t
have to rescue me,” Brad eventually said. “I had the situation under control.”

“You don’t
have anything under control,” Spike snapped back. “You weren’t learning
anything new by allowing yourself to be prisoner to the humans. You’re just
wasting time.”

“Well, what
about your efforts? Did you find out where the Destair are?”

Spike
straightened himself up and approached Brad. He smacked a piece of paper
against his chest.

“What’s
this?” Brad asked, peeling it away.

He then
unfolded it.

“That’s where
the Destair are. That’s where Jasmine is.”

Brad read the
address. “This isn’t a camp. This is in the city.”

“Exactly,”
Spike said. “That’s where they’ve gone now.”

Brad sighed
with dismay. “How did you get this?”

“I asked
around,” Spike said vaguely. “The point is, that’s the best lead we’ve got. So
we have to get back to the road and get ourselves a car so we hurry up down
there.”

“Do you know
where the road is?”

“Sure I do,”
Spike said. “Have you not seen these trees for so long they are unfamiliar?”

“The smoke
confuses me,” Brad said. “So much life has perished.”

Spike patted
him on the back. “We will set things right. Between the two of us, nothing is
impossible.”

Brad omitted
a small smile. Then he suppressed it.

“Show me to
where the road is. And then we’ll find this address of yours.”

“This way,”
Spike said.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

The room Jasmine and Gabe had entered
was unlike the white, fraying corridor they had come from. The soft carpet
underneath their shoes shone a wonderful royal blue, while the wallpaper was a
deeper shade of green. Between those colors and various glass balls sparkling
on the mantle and coffee table, there was an almost aquatic feel to the room.
It was only when Gabe opened the door to the next room and there were wooden
plankings in place of the carpet, that Jasmine realized these were the colors
of the forest.

She sat down
on the sofa in front of the coffee table as instructed, whilst Gabe retrieved a
bottle of wine from the cellar. He came back and sat next to her, placing the
bottle on the table with two glasses. Jasmine shifted away from him.

“You don’t
have to be afraid of me,” Gabe said, expressing his discomfort at her aversion.
“I’m under orders to protect you.”

“But for how
long,” Jasmine whispered. “If your leader asked you to kill me, you would do it
in a heartbeat.”

“Nobody’s
killing anybody,” Gabe muttered. “Now please have a drink with me.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Only if you
promise to answer my questions.”

“Before or
after we drink?”

Jasmine
blinked. “Up to you.”

Gabe reached
over and poured each of them a glass. He clinked hers as he gave it to her, and
then took a sip. “Fire away.”

“Have you any
idea what’s going to happen to me?”

“It appears
Hades is going to use you as a means to entice Thunder and Spike to join us.”

“And how
might he do that?”

“He’ll reach
out to them probably in a few days. When they’ve calmed down. What Hades does
with you from there will depend on their reaction.”

“Has anything
like this happened before?”

“You mean
with the Destair? Or just bears in general?”

Jasmine
lowered her eyes. She took a sip of her wine. “Forget it.”

Gabe leaned
back in his seat. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Were you
really into those bears? Or did you just think you were?”

Jasmine
frowned. “What happened is private.”

“But do you
really feel connected to them? Even though you just met them?”

Jasmine
didn’t need to think about the answer. Only what to tell Gabe.

“Yes, I do.”

“Well.
They’ll be tested.”

Jasmine made
a face at him. “Don’t you feel bad about keeping me here? Against my will?”

“To be
honest, I’m quite enjoying our time together,” Gabe confessed.

He winked at
her.

“Oh come on,”
she said. “It will never happen. I can promise you.”

“Never say
never,” Gabe replied and drank his wine.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

At the foot of the road, Brad could
hear the sound of crunching tires.

He slapped
Spike across his arm to get his attention, and they both turned at the same
time.

The car’s
headlights bore down on them.

Spike stepped
out into the middle of the road and put his hand out, indicating for the car to
stop.

It sped up
instead.

Brad morphed
into his bear and sprung from the gravel into midair. He landed on the hood of
the car with a gigantic bang. The driver lost control and they swerved to the
right straight into the bramble.

Brad regained
his footing on the bottom and stared through the glass to observe the car’s
occupants. They were stunned but unharmed.

“Everyone
alright?” Spike inquired walking over.

Brad morphed
back into human form and pounded his fist on the bonnet. “Out.”

The driver’s
door opened first. Jasmine brother managed to get his legs out before a
revolver appeared and slid unintentionally across the road adjacent.

“Oh crap,” he
whispered.

Spike picked
it up and pointed it in his direction. “Hold still.”

Brad leaned
down to see what the passenger was doing. She appeared to be talking shrilly on
her cell.

“Give us the
phone,” Brad droned.

“Alright,
alright, relax,” the brother said, and yanked it from the girl’s hands. He
threw it to Spike while the girl squealed angrily.

“Shut her
up,” Brad commanded jumping to the ground.

He stood
directly opposite the brother who was now engaged in a fist fight with his
girlfriend.

Spike walked
forward and pointed the gun menacingly.

“Last
chance,” Brad said.

“Okay,
Jesus,” the girl shrieked.

Brad turned
to his cousin. “I know these people. They’re friends of Jasmine’s.”

Spike glared
at them untrustingly.

Brad turned
back to them. “I’m sorry about your brother. But he was a murderer and he
deserved what he got.”

“You’re the
murderer,” the girl hissed back.

“Where’s my
Goddamn sister?” the man said, trembling. “Is she still alive?”

“She’s been
taken by the bears who set fire to the forest,” Brad explained. “We know where
she is, but we need your help to get her back.”

“Why so you
can kill her?” the girl snapped.

“No,” Brad
said, expressing hurt. “We would never do anything to her.”

“You’re the
ones who kidnapped her in the first place,” the man said.

“I’ll tell
you what,” Brad said. “If you help us rescue Jasmine, then she’ll be free to
choose where she goes after that. The debt will be considered paid.”

There was a
sharp growl in his right ear.

Brad turned
to see Spike looking enraged.

He waved his
hand to calm him. “Please cousin. Our needs must come last this sorrowful day.”

Spike
blinked. He lowered the gun.

Brad turned
back to the car. “I’m Thunder Brad, as I may have said earlier. This is my
cousin Spike. All we want to do is rescue Jasmine while there’s still time.
Will you help us or not?”

The man
sighed. He looked back to the girl. “If they know where she is…”

The girl
scrunched her face up. “I’ll never forgive them for what they did,” she
whispered.

“But we
should work together for now…”

“For now?”

“For now.”

The man
turned back. “I’m Dennis. This is my girlfriend Dara. If you have the address
I’ll drive you there. Get in the back. Just don’t speak to Dara as you’ll upset
her.”

“Too late for
that,” Spike said marching past Brad, and getting into the car.