Chapter Twelve:

The Happenings

Riley had enough medical experience to set Calvin Farkas up on an IV blood drip. With the help of the remaining guard, he even managed to have Farkas restrained in case of transition.

After ordering the guard to remain with the young man, Riley left the exam room to meet Michael.

Michael could not control his rage. The scent of blood in the clinic had become too much, fuelling his emerging beast. He sat in one of the briefing rooms, his hands balled into fists, drawing his own small pools of blood on the steel table before him.

One of two things had happened here tonight. Either way, the holding cell chaos was used as a distraction. Knowing that there was only security and one squad on hand, Matthias had made his move at the perfect time. Security would have seen what was happening on the monitors, and left instantly to assist. That was all that was required.

With security no longer manning the cameras, it left him free to go anywhere, do anything, and nobody could stop him.

With that goal met, Matthias had gone to the clinic, taken down those that tried to stop him.

He had reached Selene.

It was what happened next that Michael was unclear about. Either he had taken Selene against her will, or she had willingly gone with him. In Michael's mind, both scenarios seemed likely, both as plausible as each other.

Either way, regardless of how it happened, Selene was gone. She was with that bastard Matthias. He would have control over her in her state.

He had access to their baby…

Growling, Michael punched the table, causing two large dents in the steel. He cursed, ran his fingers through his hair.

And then Riley entered.

"There was no forced entry," he said as he closed the door, walking to take a seat opposite Michael. "He used a full facility access card on everything: the weapons store, the holding cells, the clinic."

"Someone was in league with him," Michael growled. "It would have to be one of the squad leaders. They're the only ones who can access the holding cells apart from us. And Selene."

"The security squad are back at their post," Riley said softly. "They'll be able to see exactly what happened and who accessed the restricted areas. I told them we'd meet them up there."

In the silence, Michael continued to think his dark thoughts, his eyes looking everywhere but at the man opposite him.

"Look, Michael." Riley leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "I know that this is a lot to take right now, and I can't even begin to imagine what's going through your mind."

Michael glimpsed at the commander before looking away.

"But if we're going to get Selene back-"

"If?" Michael growled. "If we're going to get her back?" He thumped his fists on the table once more. The steel buckled under the force. "She is my life, my love. She's carrying my baby. I do not want that fucking bastard anywhere near either of them." He put a restraint on his anger, taking a deep breath. "There is no if in this scenario, Riley. We are going to find Selene, and we are going to bring them back. I don't care what it takes."

Riley's face was stone. "Have you considered that she may have gone willingly with him?"

The question hung in silence; Michael's inner fear externalised.

He shook his head. "No, she wouldn't. Matthias has caused her too much stress. She cares too much about the baby and…" The word 'me' did not come easy to Michael in his current doubt. "She wouldn't leave the safety of the compound willingly, not knowing how vulnerable she is right now."

Riley accepted the answer with a stiff nod. "This is your war, Michael. You can have as many men as you need to find them and bring them back here. But you'll be the one calling the shots."

Now they looked each other in the eyes; hybrid to human.

"I am the commander of the cleaners," Riley continued, his voice still stern. "And I will lead them as dictated by Alexander Corvinus. This mission is out of my jurisdiction. We weren't created to kill; only to clean up and cover immortal hide. It's your mission. I'm not about to make decisions that could mean the death of your child. You handle this."

Michael continued to stare into Riley's eyes. The man was serious. He was not denying help; he was giving Michael full control.

Michael accepted the offer with a nod. "We should go to the security room then, and check out the footage."


The security team were fast workers. By the time Michael and Riley had arrived, joined by Riley's guards and Delta leader Isaac Baxter, they had ascertained who accessed the restricted areas, and found the footage of what had actually happened in the clinic.

"I'll run you through the footage first." The leader of security, Istvan Lurous, indicated a screen separate from the others. "We're still rolling on the rest of the compound," he explained. "We've captured the necessary pieces and put them together."

The small group gathered around the screen, watching as the events unfolded before them.

First, the holding cells.

Matthias entered calmly, with no sense of urgency. He passed unseen by Farkas, who was manning the watch desk at the time. He headed straight for the two lycan cells. There was hushed talk between the trio before Matthias unlocked both cells with the access card. More hushed tones. Matthias left.

Minutes ticked by, and all at once the lycans sprang from their cages, one charging instantly for Farkas.

Two security guards arrived at that time.

Lurous explained: "When we saw him down there, we figured someone had better go and check it out."

The two called for backup, and within seconds the scene had turned chaotic.

"That's what happened in the dungeon," Lurous said. "Now the clinic."

Michael watched the brief but memorable fight in the clinic, watched as he walked out on Selene in her hour of need.

He watched as she dissolved into tears; watched her turn from relieved to scared to inconsolable.

Coran had entered then, and from what the footage showed, injected her IV.

"We checked," Lurous said before Michael could ask. "It was a very mild dose of Ativan."

She was out in seconds, but not before leaving a final message with Coran.

'If Michael comes back, tell him I'm sorry.'

If. She didn't expect Michael to return to her. Her despair was genuine, the crushing sense of loss she felt almost suffocating even through the monitor.

He never should have left her alone. Damn Matthias to hell, he should have been more in control, more understanding.

He should have listened.

Instead, they now watched as Matthias entered the clinic, a UMP slung over his back, making his way casually past the rooms where Coran and the two nurses sat talking, unaware of their fates. He entered Selene's room and shut the door silently behind him. He crossed to her bedside and ran a hand across her face.

'I'm going to make all of this pain go away,' he said gently to her, before leaning down to kiss her lips.

Michael growled, his anger retreating only slightly as Riley placed a calming hand on his shoulder. Matthias clearly thought that he, that Michael, was the cause of Selene's pain. He had taken her because he believed that she would be happiest with him.

Matthias next unstrapped the foetal monitor, throwing it to the floor. He removed one of the IV cannulas from Selene's arm. Blood had dripped from her wrist only momentarily, before another kiss from the evil mouth of the lycan seemed to stem the flow.

He scooped Selene into his arms, pausing as she moaned a little in her sleep. That pause was long enough to have Coran enter the room.

'What are you doing here?' Coran asked. They were the last full words he muttered.

"We've had to edit the footage slightly," Lurous said, sounding uncomfortable. "It was too fast to tell what was happening."

Michael watched the clock as Matthias placed Selene back on the bed, shouldered the UMP, and shot Coran a number of times in the chest. The doctor slumped. It was then that Matthias moved forward and sliced his throat.

Six seconds.

One of the nurses appeared in the doorway, no doubt aroused by the screams. She was shot several times, flailing backwards to the wall where she slumped, dying instantly.

Three seconds.

The second nurse entered and was also shot. She fell to the floor not far from Coran, face down.

Two seconds.

And then, slinging the submachine over his back, Matthias returned to Selene.

'All safe,' he said softly. 'We can leave now.'

He lifted her into his arms once more, supporting her full weight in one arm, while the other held the remaining IV bag up to maintain blood flow. They exited the room then, bound for the stairwell.

The nurse on the ground beside Coran seemed to struggle, literally using her last ounces of strength to raise the alarm.

The footage ended on a black screen.

"We haven't pulled together the rest of the footage," Lurous said apologetically. "But it looks like he went straight down to the garage."

"That bastard!" Riley said quietly. "Using our systems against us."

"Baxter," Michael called. The leader was on his feet in an instant. "Get down to the garage. See if any vehicles were taken. We may be able to track him."

As Baxter left, Michael ran his hands through his hair, trying to think through his next move.

"So whose access card was used?" he asked, his eyes bearing into Lurous'.

"Security records show that all of the areas accessed by Matthias were from the same access card."

"I understand that, but whose card?"

Lurous looked from Riley to Michael. "Well," he said slowly. "The only other person to access the areas, apart from those of us who went to help-"

"Just tell me!" Michael snapped, turning the heads of the three security guards who were watching the monitors.

Lurous gulped. "It was Selene's card."

Michael sat back in his chair, frowning. "Selene was in the clinic," he said in disbelief. "He hadn't been to see her."

"Would she have given Matthias the card?" Riley asked.

Michael was incredulous. "Of course not! Selene understands the need for security restrictions. I don't understand why he would have…"

His voice trailed off.

They had been in the gymnasium together that day when she had gone into false labour. He had taken her to the clinic himself. Carried her, from what Michael had heard.

Could Selene have given her pass to Matthias in a moment of urgency? So much had happened since that Michael could understand why she would not have asked for it back. She had other things on her mind.

"Oh, no!" Michael said softly. "She gave him the card. She gave him the card to get her to the clinic."

"Shit!" Riley swore under his breath. "He could have held the whole place captive. We have enough ammo here to send us sky high."

"But he didn't," Lurous added.

"No," Michael muttered. "He wouldn't do that." He was standing from his chair, allowing pieces of the puzzle to slowly fit together. "All he wanted was Selene. Once he had her, what would be the point of blowing the compound up?"

At that point, Isaac Baxter arrived at the door to the security room, slightly out of breath.

"Any luck?" Riley asked instantly.

"He's taken one of the Jags," he managed. "We've tracked him to upper Budapest, inner city. We've contacted the road units already, and they're on their way."

Riley laughed. "We've got the bastard!" he yelled, clapping his hands.

Baxter smiled. "He probably doesn't even realise the car was bugged."

"Then the system works," Riley announced proudly.

For Michael, the news was bittersweet. It had already been an hour since Selene was taken. A lot could happen in an hour. Thinking back over the events of the past weeks, a lot of things had changed in under an hour.

Sighing, Michael ran his hands through his hair once more.

"I just hope we're not too late."