Filed to story: The Healer and The Wolf PDF Free
Sure enough, he flipped a switch, and the keypad in front of me beeped before the little light in the corner turned green.
“Good job.”
I didn’t make a big deal of it, but I was more than a bit proud. Even after everything Chadwicke had put Ricky through, he’d made it to the other side and was starting to thrive. Maybe once we were all united again, he could do some online classes in security or tech. Ricky had always wanted to expand his education, but he never got the chance with our pack often being in a fraught position. It would be wonderful if that could finally change.
First, however, we actually had to reunite with the rest of pack. Taking a breath, I opened the door, half-expecting some alarm to go off or a trap to spring up.
But no. Nothing but silence.
I checked the labels. They weren’t written in English or anything remotely similar. I didn’t recognize any of the symbols. Once I was sure the area was clear, I’d get Ven to take pictures on her phone. That thing sure came in handy.
I was nearly done with my inspection when I heard the door behind me suddenly close with a more definitive thud. I had left it cracked, so I suppose the sheer weight of it had eventually forced it closed. I wasn’t too worried. At least I wasn’t until I heard it give an ominous beep.
Shit.
“Wait, what was that sound?” Ven asked, her voice dulled from being on the other side of the wall.
Both of us hurried to the door, and I wasn’t exactly shocked to see the little light had turned red.
“Hey, Ricky, some help here?”
“No problem. I got you!” He flipped the switch again, but nothing happened. Instead, another door on the opposite side of the room let out the same positive beep, and when I glanced over, its light was green. “Huh, okay. Let’s try something else.”
Ricky began to fiddle, and I tried to keep my patience, I really did, but after a couple of minutes and several button pushes and switch flips, it felt awkward to stand there staring at him.
“I’m going to check out the next room,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. I could tell by Ven’s face that she was incredibly worried, and I wished I could soothe her. But for the moment, I’d pretend everything was fine. Who knew? Maybe it was. “Don’t worry, I’ll put something in the door so it can’t close behind me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Just stay safe. Guard Ricky for me, will you?”
Her smile was tenuous, but it was there, so I headed over to the door. Before I opened it, I grabbed an empty tube tray from a lower shelf to wedge it between the door and the wall. I didn’t want to get locked in another room.
I opened the door, and at first there was just darkness, the only illumination coming from the room behind me. After setting up my little fail safe for the entrance, I felt along the wall for the light.
My fingers brushed a switch, and I flipped it on, wondering what sort of strange, scientific display I would see next. Half of me wondered if it would be cages of cute and pathetic-looking animals, and if maybe I could free them all, but that idea died pretty much mid-thought.
There were cages all right, but they weren’t filled with animals. Instead I saw dozens upon dozens of what had to be magical test subjects, all clearly being tortured and neglected. Some were unconscious, some seemed to be in a trance state, and others were so chained up and gagged they probably couldn’t do anything even if they wanted to. Their wide eyes all landed on me at once, their pupils dilating as they realized someone who didn’t belong had entered their prison.
Fuck. We had really crawled into the belly of the beast.
I had to free them, but I also needed a full assessment of the situation. Were there more? Were there others in even worse distress? Were the restraints enchanted, or could I break them like the doors on the loading dock?
“Ricky,” I called, trying not to let panic seep into my voice. “I need you to hurry up with that door. This shit’s bad.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“You’ll see it when you get here.”
It was cruel to be so vague, but I didn’t want to waste time explaining. I moved to the door on the opposite end of the room, wondering what hell it would lead me to.
It would have been better to wait for my friends and make sure our exit was secured, but the creatures around me were beginning to grunt in distress. I couldn’t just stand there staring at them.
I found another empty test tube rack and went through the second door, making sure to prop it open. I really wasn’t sure what to anticipate, but what was waiting for me was surprisingly banal. Just a long, empty hallway lined with simple brown doors on either side. For a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming, because it seemed like the nonchalant sort of logic such things used, but then I heard the faintest sound all the way at the end of the hall. Muffled, as if it was in a soundproofed room. Soundproofing had never held up to shifter senses.
I didn’t need the lights to turn red or an orchestral score to tell me that wasn’t a good sound, but I found myself creeping toward it anyway. I tried to move as quietly as possible, keeping my heart beat low even though my heart wanted to ricochet out of my chest. My sense of dread grew with every single step. The tension in the air seemed to crescendo all around me.
When I finally reached the door, the sound was more consistent, but not more identifiable. It almost sounded like a shrieking wind from miles away muffled by a door stopper trying its best.
I had to find out.
I turned the knob quietly, carefully, then stepped inside.
Right into an operating room gallery.
The room was small, basically the equivalent to a box seat, and it looked over what I could only describe as a scene out of some sort of medical horror movie. Wizards-not warlocks, this time-and a couple of mind-walkers were actively carving out the chest of a subject who was very much awake and alive, screaming at the top of their lungs and trying to fight the restraints that bolted them to the table. They were in so much pain. Even if I couldn’t smell it, I could see it, I could hear it. Every ounce of calm I possessed vanished. I had to get that person off the table.
The group hadn’t noticed me yet, and I used that to my advantage. Without so much as another thought, I launched myself through the window, tackling one of the surgeons.
It was pandemonium. The whole room filled with steam as I rapidly shifted into my wolf form. Although I did keep in mind my promise to Vanessa, I was sure she wouldn’t object to me making sure I did whatever I needed to do to free the test subject.
And what I needed to do was rip some throats out.
I had long since learned that speed was key when you encountered magic casters, so I tried to blitz them as best I could. It worked to my advantage that wizards were more scholarly. Their magic didn’t come to them as naturally as it did to witches, warlocks, enchanters, and people otherwise born with inherent magic. I was able to tear through three before one got a fireball off. It hurt like hell, but it took me close enough to the subject for me to bite at one of the chains around their ankle.
It didn’t break right away-I hadn’t thought it would-so, I kicked out at another wizard who was muttering the base of some spell, sending him flying into a wall. I returned my attention to the chain. My instincts told me to yank it, but I didn’t want to accidentally rip the victim’s foot off. That would make escape a whole lot harder.
Luckily, it broke, but as I went to work on one of the restraints holding his wrist in place, a wizard threw himself toward the wall and hit a red button.