“He trains wolves there,” Natalia replied dreamily.
Ansuya heard a footstep outside the door. Her time was up. She left the vampire standing there and ran down the hall. She opened the French double doors just as the front door was opening. There were a few shouts and a few gunshots rang out. Ansuya threw the door closed behind her and dove to the side of the house. She didn’t have to guess who had won the firefight.
Ripping her clothes off of her body, she ran towards the side wall that she had scaled to get in. Gripping her clothes in a wad in her fist, she shifted forms. In werewolf form she easily cleared the ten foot high wall. She ran on all fours to the car.
She shifted forms again and threw open the door to the car. Turning the keys in the ignition, she peeled out of the driveway and shot off down the street away from Kenneth’s house, leaving the dead body of the vampire behind.
She turned into a side street and immediately slowed down. She was out of sight of Kenneth’s house and she hadn’t seen anybody following her. Pulling the car to a stop, she slipped her clothes back on. Grabbing the GPS from the dashboard she redirected it to give her directions back to the origin of the last trip. From the parking garage she would be able to back track further to Alexander’s house.
She calmly drove back to the garage where the four of them had met. She drove the car up to the roof level and coasted the vehicle to a stop. Alexander and Hagen both stood looking at her. She quickly got out of the car and stood there looking at both of them, the unasked question written plainly on each of their faces.
“Where is Hanna?” Hagen asked slowly.
She lowered her head and looked down at her feet. “We…we were caught at the back gate by some men with guns,” Ansuya began in a weak voice. “Hanna wanted to help you and she tried to storm through the back. I tried to help her but she told me to stay in the car. She…” Ansuya looked at Alexander and fell silent. Letting the two men fill in their own details with their imagination.
Hagen took a step towards her, “And you left her there to die? You left her?” There was anger in his voice and a very real threat in his stance. Ansuya watched his movements carefully. If he was going to attack, his legs would be the tell that would allow her to defend herself.
Alexander reached out and held his compatriot with an arm, “It wasn’t her fault. You want someone…”
“How do you know?!” Hagen yelled back suddenly very hostile. He grabbed Alexander’s arm and threw it away from him. “Were you there? How do we know this canine bitch didn’t kill her and steal her car? How do we know anything about this woman? She’s a shit eating dog, man! Have you forgotten that?!”
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Alexander seemed very calm. He took a half step back from his friend. Hagen looked like he was going to say something else. Alexander’s fist flew and landed squarely on Hagen’s jaw, sending the vampire careening to the floor.
“Is there anything else you want to say to me, Hagen?”
Hagen swiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he pushed himself off the ground. “Is this how you want it, Alex? There ain’t no going back after this.”
Alexander stood very still, “I want Kenneth dead! He has a lot to answer for and now for Hanna’s death as well. I need your help, Hagen.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, “But I’m not going to beg, and I’m not going to worry about if you’re going to follow my lead. Either you’re with me, or against me. Just like it’s always been with us.”
Hagen stood there, blood trickling from his split lip, looking at Alexander and then at Ansuya. He held the gaze of the Shape shifter for long moments. He looked back at his friend, “I don’t like having her around, Alex,” he said motioning to Ansuya, “I’m with you, but she will never be at my back, you hear me, man?”
Alexander took a step towards the blond-haired man, leaning towards him with a shoulder, “She’ll be wherever I put her, you got that?”
Hagen looked up at his friend. He didn’t move. Ansuya thought that he would walk away. Instead, his shoulders slumped just a touch and he lowered his eyes, “Yeah man, whatever you want. I get it.” He let himself fall back against the hood of his car and sat down.
Alexander looked at both of the other two, “There’s no point in us standing around here arguing with each other,” he looked up at the night sky, “It’ll be daylight in a few hours. Hagen just go home and I’ll figure out something,” Alexander said running his hands through his hair shaking his head. “I’ll get a hold of you tomorrow night.” He caught the other man’s eye, “This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”
The drive back to Alexander’s apartment was quiet. Ansuya didn’t want to push Hagen any more than he had been and he was going to take care of the late vampire’s car.
Ansuya didn’t really care one way or another. The car was unimportant. What was important was her figuring out just what Natalia had meant. She was certain that the Zoo was not any conventional zoo. But she had said it was where Kenneth trained the wolves. What in the name of the Gods did she mean by that? You can’t train wolves. It’s a proven fact.
But for the moment she would have to take Natalia’s word that Kenneth was at least holding wolves. And if that was the case then the Zoo would have to be a fairly sizable place. He wouldn’t be able to stuff wolves into pens like where he had kept her. But then again, he was just the type of man to give only what was required for life. If that was the case, depending on how many wolves he was keeping the place could be any size, with no consideration for habitable living space.
For a moment she thought about asking Alexander about it. Natalia hadn’t even known and she was Kenneth’s mate. If Kenneth didn’t trust his mate, then why would he trust anyone else with something that was obviously very important to him? No, Alexander would be less than useless in the search for the Zoo. This trip had been almost a complete waste, almost.