Dani Harper - First Bite

You’re right, but she also doesn’t take the main elevator very often. Neva rounded the corner and ducked behind a thriving group of tall potted palms, and voilà—another elevator. She’d been in it many times over the three or four weeks she’d been held here. It was large and bright, more like a room than an elevator, with mirrored walls set in such a way that she and Meredith had been reflected into infinity. And still Neva had felt claustrophobic, as if her twin sucked all the air and the energy out of the confined space.

Ow! Baker hadn’t gotten clear before she punched the down button, and he left a handful of hair from the tip of his tail in the door. You could have waited a fucking second.

She shook her head. She had to stay in character. Meredith wouldn’t wait. Her twin wouldn’t spare a thought for anybody or anything. Her underlings had to fend for themselves—and if they weren’t fast enough to get out of the way of a door, a car, or an oncoming train, that was simply too bad. So if someone happened to see her pause even a fraction of a second to allow Baker’s tail to get clear of the elevator, it would be shocking enough to be memorable. Neva didn’t need the staff to start comparing notes on Ms. Meredith’s behavior.

Not until she found Travis and got the hell out of this place.

Baker slapped the stop button with his paw when they were just two floors down. I think this is where it is. Us newbies were kept one floor belowground. But anyone who got out of line was taken down to the next level for a while. Solitary confinement. Riley went there twice.

What about the rest of the floors? She had no idea how deep the mansion actually went. It was like Bruce Wayne’s house, dwarfed by the Batcave beneath it. Because holy crap , there were at least three more levels below this one. Maybe even more, because there were two keyholes directly below the row of buttons. She hoped fervently they didn’t have to search them all.

The big gray wolf shook his head. All I know is that anyone who went to the bottom floors didn’t come back. Ever.

Thanks for that perky little thought. I feel much better.

Sorry.

The sumptuous elevator opened onto what looked more like a subway station than a floor in a luxury home. Floor, ceiling, and walls were lined in glaring-white tile that looked both antiseptic and cold under the fluorescent lights. Neva’s gaze fastened at once on two small red spots that marred the otherwise snowy tile grout. The color told her the stains were fresh—and although she didn’t know the source of the blood, she was chilled to the marrow just the same. Meredith had dragged her to many courtyard, and even poolside , demonstrations of power. Plus she’d killed casually in whatever room she happened to be in at the time. But her twin had never brought her to any of the floors belowground. Why?

Corridors stretched away in two directions, lined with white metal doors. Cells. Each door was plain, boasting only a keypad above the handle and a metal grating on a six-inch window that was five feet above the floor.

Mimicking her sister’s runway gait on the tiled floor made a horrendous noise that echoed and reechoed throughout the entire story. She’d much rather have tiptoed, but it was too much out of character. Her twin never, ever tiptoed anywhere—and making noise that called attention to herself would simply be a bonus. Neva was just thankful she’d chosen the riding boots over the stilettos.

There didn’t seem to be anyone occupying the cells on this end. Baker was casting his nose back and forth like a bloodhound, occasionally standing on his hind legs and peering into cell windows. They detected nothing until they rounded a corner and entered an entirely different wing. Baker was just ahead of her when he suddenly broke into a gallop.

Riley! Hey man, are you okay?

Stop broadcasting! Dammit, I’m going to make you a tinfoil hat and glue it to your—

Neva stopped abruptly, drawing air along her palate, trying to sift a sudden mix of scents. Travis! She could smell Travis, that unmistakable all-male blend of earthen elements—mountain trails and high lakes, summer days and sex-filled nights. He was here!

She knew it was better to stay in character, at least until she got a better look at the situation. Couldn’t she just walk very briskly? But there was no holding back her inner wolf. It was determined to get to Travis no matter what she had to say about it. Neva managed to hold back from shifting to her animal form by her fingernails, but she couldn’t stop herself from racing down the bleak, white corridor at top speed. Her heart pounded in her ears; her boots pounded on the tile until she couldn’t hear anything else.

Which was probably why Neva collided with a small Latino woman wearing a white lab coat.

The impact of the collision sent the women careening against opposite walls of the corridor, even cracking a couple of the stark-white tiles before they both landed in heaps on the cold floor. Neva recovered first, getting to her knees and shaking her head to clear it. It felt like she’d hit a granite pillar, not another human being. Correction, she’d hit another werewolf . No wonder she’d gotten her bell rung. She held onto the wall as she got to her feet, and had to take a couple of breaths before she could spare a glance at whom she had run into.

Recognition made her heart sink to the very soles of her expensive boots. Meredith’s doctor, Zarita, lay unmoving, and Neva could see that her lip was split and bleeding badly. A red plastic tote had burst open, and she scooped up some of the gauze pads, tearing open packages until she had a thick bundle to press against the injury. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaning over and gently shaking the woman’s shoulder. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Zarita’s dark eyes flew open and then widened considerably. The worst of all possible words spilled from her bleeding lips. “You are not Ms. Meredith!”

Crap. Neva had forgotten to stay in character—obviously she should have kicked the woman when she was down or something. Looking to save the situation, she adopted Meredith’s trademark smile. “Of course I am, Zarita, darling. You poor thing, you’ve hit your head. Now you know I simply can’t do without you, so please tell me you’re all right.”

Slowly, Zarita took over holding the gauze pad to her lip, staring at Neva’s face the entire time. Gradually she sat up and leaned against the wall, but suspicion still flickered in her eyes. “Are you all right, Ms. Meredith? I checked on you not long ago and you were sound asleep. You asked not to be disturbed until nightfall.”

Play along, play along. “I remember dreaming that I was looking for something.” Neva put a hand to her head. “But I just found myself walking and walking along all these hallways, and I didn’t know where I was going. I don’t even know what I was looking for. It was very strange.”

“It is indeed very strange, miss. You never come to this floor. Ever.”

Great time to find that out. Well, it might be out of character to show concern for anyone else, but it was totally like Meredith to be worried to the point of hypochondria about herself. Neva turned it on full. “Oh, Zarita, dear, I’m not sleepwalking, am I? I’m so glad I met you before anyone else saw me like this. Please take me back to my suite now.”

To her surprise, Zarita shook her head. “You are very good. But you are not Ms. Meredith.”

Neva promptly folded her arms and mimicked one of Travis’s custom frowns. “You bet I’m good. I’m her bodyguard, lady. She pays me to act as her double.”