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Watching her?
That thought sent tentacles of cold down her spine.
She stayed there, looking around, not wanting to make a move or draw attention to herself in a way that would stop her from getting inside. She was there for the Blood Opal, and she wasn’t leaving without it.
What she needed was a plan, and not to go barging in since she didn’t know what might wait for her inside.
Tamaska had at least expected to see a security guard pacing around the warehouse, but she was the only person outside. At least, it seemed that way.
If there had been a guard, she could try to sweet talk them, something about losing a credit card or a piece of jewelry, or even leaving her jacket.
People always turned up looking for those things.
A guard outside would mean that person was…human. She swallowed hard.
But all the doors on the place seemed shut.
Of course, she’d been out here long enough that someone would have noticed her—if someone happened to be on alert for visitors or deliveries.
Not wanting to let her guard down, she needed to assume there were people around, she amended.
So whatever she did, she had to be careful. The other problem was that she couldn’t tell if they were really even people.
She’d experienced first-hand what the creatures were. Lie to herself as much as she wanted, there was no way around it. Because even if she tried to explain the vampires away, what about Kodiak, the man she thought she’d fallen for?
Man?
He’d transformed into a wolf.
A wolf was worse than a dog, far more dangerous. And… She blinked hard as a tremor of horror raced through her. And she’d wanted him, trusted him. He’d lied.
So who knew what else waited for her inside? Who knew what other strange and evil creatures pretended to be human were around?
The sooner she got the damn opal and returned it to the right hands, the sooner she could turn her back on all this. The sooner she could walk away and pretend none of this had happened. That things like Kodiak and vampires and wolves that turned into men didn’t exist.
“Get it together,” she muttered, wiping her sweaty palms on her thighs.
Tamaska glanced at the front entrance of the nightclub. She’d entered that way before, but now the door was closed and bolted with a huge padlock.
A memory surfaced from the other night when fleeing from the horrific sights of a world she’d never thought would be real. The service door had given her a way out, and now that might be her chance to get inside and get the opal back.
So…
With a deep breath, Tamaska strode down the alley, her sneakers silent on the concrete. She kept glancing at the building to her left for any hint of an easy, invisible way in.
The windows along the length of the building were shuttered and closed, which meant they weren’t an option for entry. She spied the door and shivered wanting to forget what she’d witnessed.
Casually, she moved closer, put her hand on the handle, and tried to turn it. It was locked, so she was forced to keep moving.
It wasn’t like she expected differently, not with all the stillness and seeming lack of life. But she had to try, and the sooner she got, in the better.
The urgent need to get inside ate away at her. She didn’t know what she’d do if she left without the Blood Opal.
I will get it, she told herself in an attempt to refocus.
Tamaska reached the back of the building. The end of the alley was blocked with a high fence, the top decorated with large loops of barbed wire. This time she studied it, but the longer she looked, the more formidable and insane it appeared. There was no way she would ever attempt to climb that, so she turned to her left. The fence continued right up to the wall of the warehouse.
A bend in the wire encouraged her closer. Someone had cut it and removed it from the building, then put it back so it still appeared intact.
