Chapter 1

Derek's POV

There are some moments that I realized that I am neck deep in trouble. It doesn't happen often, since I usually have a pretty good control of my life. But now, seeing Chloe past out in the chair next to mine, I can't even begin to describe how much trouble we are in.

I have no clue where we are and why we are even in this old basement. Although, there is one thing that I know for sure: they know what we are. If they wouldn't, I would have been able to break out from these restraints 50 times over by now.

The thing with my kind is that there is not a lot that can hold us back. But silver sure does hold a werewolf down. I know how cliché this sounds believe. How I wished this myth was exactly what it was. But no, some dickhead let the word slip and now it was the most believed rumor out there. It even affects my abilities to shift. I can call on my strength, no issues with that. But, there is no breaking the kind if ties they put on me. Even I don't know what it is, there are too many smells coming from it that the best description I could would be a big piece of multiple types of metal melted together.

Just as I was becoming annoyed with my inability to get the hell, I saw Chloe flinch. Not that her powers are going to be of a better use than mine. See, Chloe is a necromancer. Which means that she can raise the dead and talk to them. Since her powers, as well as my own, has been juiced, she could raise them without using a spell of any kind. And they listen to her instructions. To the letter.

My brother, Simon, named them the Deadwalkers. He is a fan of comic books, so my best guess is that it comes from there. But, it stuck and now everyone that is in our close circle calls them that way.

"Derek?" Chloe said. "What are we doing here?"

"I have no clue. I don't even remember being grabbed or being attacked. You?"

"The last thing I remember was driving to my work this morning. I stopped for a coffee, but the memories end there. And according to my shirt, so did the coffee."

As, she turned to face me, I could see that her shirt was full of coffee. Just like if she had spilled the whole thing on herself. I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"That doesn't mean that whoever has us did this to you."

I really couldn't stop laughing and the disapproving look she gave me certainly did not help the situation. She was clumsy to the point that it happened at least twice in the past week. I have no clue how she does it and according to her she is as clueless as I was about that.

No one came in to pay us a visit for at least 2 hours. I couldn't be sure of the time that had passed because the room we were locked in didn't have any windows. So, impossible to track the sunlight and all. Also, it was impossible to tell if it was night or day.

The person who entered the room was not someone I knew. That was the bad news. Good news is that there are stairs that were visible for a few minutes behind that door and it looked like we were in a house. Which means that hiding somewhere outside could be tricky, but doable.

The guy that came in the room was bald and seem quite weak. It was not evident in his appearance. Even thought he was bald, he was muscled and looked able to fight. But, there was something about him that made me think of him as a weak pray, an easy one. I just had to listen to my wolf side and find out what was his weakness.

"Well, hello." Said the new comer. "Sorry to have made you wait so long. But, we were busy with your friends in another room" Lie "and they have been pretty chatty." Lie again.

I could tell when people were lying because their odors changed enough for my nose to pick it up. Of course, a normal werewolf wouldn't be able to detect such odors. But I have been modified to be better after all.

"Here are my rules." He continued. "No talking unless I ask you a question first. You answer said questions without talking forever. And no trying to escape. It can only end badly. There are enough people up there waiting for you to try it. And let me tell you that they get off on hurting people."

Lie again. There was not as many people as he pretended there was then. Interesting.

"So, Chloe, I need to know where your other friends are hiding."

"If my friends that you have detained in the other room were so chatty, you wouldn't need to ask me this question at all."

Shit! She did not need to piss him off right now. Right now, he seemed pretty contained. But with this insult, he is probably not going to stay calm for long. And I kind of need her to stay in one piece.

And… here we go with the bad temper. I though just as he hit Chloe.

"Stop fighting your restraints, wolf." He said as soon as he noticed that I tried harder than usual to get free of them. "Nothing can help your little friend here." He aggressively took her chin in his hand and forced her to look into his eyes. "I am going to keep it up until she tells what I want to know. If you are the one to break first, then you will be the one providing the answer. We heard all about your protective streak. Now, I can't wait to see who will bend to my will first and …"

I jutted out of my seat and went straight to him. Lucky me, he wasn't expecting me and with a quick punch to the jaw, he was out cold.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered still a bit shaky. "Just get me out of these. Please."

I ripped her ties apart and tried not to hurt her. Apparently, I didn't do that good of a job because she winced.

"Honestly, I am just glad to be out of these things." She said after I apologized. "Though, I have no clue how you got out of yours."

I looked to where my ties were discarded and saw a mix of metal melted and covered with what looked like cement. I should never have been able to break out of these.

"I am strong. But last time I checked I was not that strong."

"Might want to do another one. Because your previous assessment was not that accurate then." She said.

I could see that she tried to lighten the mood and I was thankful for it. It permitted me to concentrate better on the surroundings. She saw me doing this times and times before. So, she knew not to talk and to stay as quiet as possible.

But, my earing either sucked, or there was no one in this house. I was really not sure and didn't want to risk it.

"How many?" She asked as she pocketed something from the unconscious guy that just questioned us.

"What are you even doing?"

"Gathering information" She answered like if it couldn't be more obvious. "So, how many?" she asked again.

"None." I answered. "But, be careful, I don't know if it's a trick."

"Sure thing. Lead the way."

As soon as I passed the door, it was evident why there was no one else in this house. There was no house. Whatever happened here left a big hole at the top of the stairs. Making it the only entry point. So, if there was someone else, it would be easy to spot them. Just as it would be easy to spot us. Great! This day couldn't get any better.

I explained my plan to Chloe and we hightailed it out of there as soon as we could. The weird thing was that there was no one else.

Why put all these efforts into kidnapping someone if the goal was to facilitate their evasion? It didn't make any sense. They knew what we were capable of and yet whoever planned this never thought of backup? This was not right.

"I just want to stop somewhere on the way back to make sure that this wasn't a set up."

"Damn! I thought I was the only one who found it too easy to get away. What are you thinking?"

"Probably tracking devices. It wouldn't surprise me with the I-want-to-meet-your-friends thing he had going on."

"You know what I thought was weird?"

"What?" I said immediately.

"He never called them by their names. Always just called them friends. At the beginning, I thought that it was because he didn't want to give up who he didn't have. But, to have more leverage on us, it would have been in his interest to tell us names. You know, the villain always does."

"You are right." I said

There was a silence as we were walking. We both were lost in thoughts over what all this involved. It's like we were back at 16 and were chased by The Edison Group again. We know they stopped at one point, but we sure don't know why.

"We'll go see Edward to make sure that we are not chipped." I said after a few minutes. "And, if there is some info out there, he'll know."

"I haven't seen him in so long!" She said.

Edward and she were good friends. We met him almost right after we escaped the Edison. He was one of the kids that dad knew about that used to be in the Edison group but escaped. He is only 2 years older than us and has always helped us without question. It also helps that he now is the CEO of Merchant Industries, one of the most influential energy enterprises in the US. Rare are the people that want to mess with him.

"We just find a way out of here first." I said.

After 30 minutes of walking around, I saw something that we could use to get the hell out of here. But she is not going to like. And I certainly don't like it either. But, right now, it was out only.

"Chloe" I sighed. "If we want to get out of here, we are going to have to steal this car."

"Nah-ah. Out of question. No. I will not steal a car, or stand beside you while you do it."

"Unless you see another solution. Then I am all ears."

"You know, we didn't just get out of this weird deserted part of town. We are far enough that it's safe to ask for someone to call a taxi for us."

"Oh! And with what will you pay, Fairy dust?"

"No, my damn credit card." She got her card for her bra. And almost shove it in my face.

"I didn't knew that you used that as a storage space." I said

That got her laughing. Got thing too because even though I like her a lot, she is hell when she is pissed.

"Alright, let's go ask for that taxi" I said. "How about this house, there seem to be someone in there."