The Tycoon Beast

PART XII

Kendra sat in the waiting room. Her head was bent so she stared at the floor. Around her were the anxieties of half a dozen other people, but she couldn't focus on anything other than her thoughts. The gurney, the ambulance ride, all were fresh in her mind.

She glanced at her watch. Two hours ago. That's how long it'd been since she'd seen her father. He'd tried to smile for her, but his strength was waning when the doctors took him into the emergency room. She was relegated to await news, good or bad, and stew in her panicked thoughts.

"Miss Sullivan?"

Kendra jerked her head up. Before her stood a young man in an operating gown. A blue bandanna covered his head above his eyebrows.

He smiled down at her. "You are Miss Sullivan, aren't you?"

She jumped to her feet and nodded. "Yes, I am. How's my father? Is he okay? When can I-" The doctor held up his hand.

"He's fine. I came out here to get you and bring you to the room," he explained.

Kendra felt her heart slow. A wave of relief and exhaustion came over her. Her legs shook and she fell back into her seat. "Thank god. . ." she whispered.

The man chuckled and offered her his hand. "Don't thank him yet. Your dad's had quite a shock, but why don't we go see him?"

Kendra smiled and accepted his help in standing. "That would be wonderful."

The doctor led her into the white depths of the hospital. The smell of cleaning formulas hit her nostrils. Open doors revealed empty beds or people in white gowns. Nurses walked the halls. Some of them gave the doctor a quizzical expression, but continued on.

The doctor led her to a closed room that lay in the far right corner of the hospital. He opened the door and she stepped inside. The lights were off and the windows opposite the door were blocked by thick curtains, but she could make out the white sheets on the bed.

The bed was empty.

Kendra frowned and turned to the doctor. "What's going on? Where's my father?"

The man stepped inside and locked the door. He turned to her with a crooked grin as he flicked on the lights. "Did I tell you I was going to take you to your father? How stupid of me. I meant to say I was taking you to have a private chat with me."

Kendra's pulse quickened. Her eyes flickered to the door behind him. He chuckled and strode around the room until he stood opposite the door with Kendra between them. "Go ahead, try to escape."

Kendra lunged at the knob and tried to wrench it open, but the door was stuck. She pounded her fists against the entrance. "Someone, please! Let me out!"

The man's quiet chuckle forced her to look over her shoulder. He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. "You're a sorry excuse for a werewolf, aren't you? You can't even sniff out a silence spell that blocks all noise in and out of this room."

Maggie turned and pressed her back Kendra the door as she frowned at the man. "A werewolf? I don't know-"

"Don't lie to me," he snapped. He grabbed the head scarf and yanked the cloth off him. "I know what you are."

Kendra's eyes widened as she beheld the red eye that was embedded in the man's forehead. It was the same eye as the one worn by the wizard killed by Siell.

The fake doctor chuckled again. "I'm glad to see you recognize the eye." He reached up and brushed his fingers over the eye. The thing didn't blink. "It's a symbol of our brotherhood, you know. A way to watch over one another, and to exact revenge."

Kendra pressed her back against the door and shook her head. "But I didn't kill him!"

The man dropped his hand to his side and glared at her. "No, but your mate did, and that's close enough for me. The Brotherhood may look the other way, but I won't let my brother's death go unavenged." He pulled a scalpel from his pocket. The silver blade shimmered against the weak fluorescent tube lighting. His shadow crept across the floor as he moved toward her. The red eye on his forehead glowed with a hellish light. "Now hold still and this will soon be over."

Kendra yelped when there came a knock on the door. Both she and her captor froze. The young man frowned. "What the hell. . ."

There came another knock. Kendra spun around and pounded on the door. "Please help me! Get me out of-"

"Shut up!" the man snapped. He stalked toward her and wrapped one arm around her neck. The man pulled her back against his chest and pressed the blade against her throat. "I told you nobody can-"

"Hear you," a voice finished on the other side.

The man's eyes widened. "How the hell-" The door burst off its hinges and into the room. The entrance hit the man in the shoulder. He dropped the scalpel and stumbled backward.

Kendra yanked herself free and dove against the wall to the left of the doorway. She spun around to face him, but glanced to her left as someone entered.

It was Siell, and he had a sly smile on his lips as he studied the fake doctor. "Did I interrupt your malpractice?"

The man sneered at the werewolf. The third eye in his forehead narrowed. "That's rich coming from a mad dog that pretends he's human."

Siell stepped deeper into the room. The man backed up. The werewolf's yellow eyes glistened as he curled his lips back to reveal sharp fangs. "I admit I was careless in judging the eye's use, but you are far more stupid than I to challenge me."

The man laughed. "My brother was careless, but I see you don't have your servant with you and this girl is a worthless b***h of a-" Siell moved so fast he was a mere streak. One moment he was six feet away, and the next he stood before the man.

Siell wrapped his hand around the man's throat and lifted him off the tiled floor. The man choked and futilely pawed at Siell's hand. The werewolf drew their faces close together and the fake doctor saw his terrified face reflected in those deep yellow eyes.

Siell curled back his lips in a snarl. "Your insult is one mistake you will not live to regret."

Siell opened his mouth and revealed two rows of long, sharp teeth. Kendra's eyes widened and she covered her face, but she was too late to miss all the goriness as the werewolf bit into the man's throat. A gargled scream poured from the stranger's mouth. He flailed around for a few moments before his body went limp.

Siell pulled his face away and opened his hand. The man's lifeless body crumpled to the floor. He turned and showed off his lower face that was covered in blood.

Kendra gasped and slid out the door. She raced down the hall, not heeding in which direction she went in that rat maze of a building. The young woman rounded a corner and collided with a woman in a nurse's outfit. She threw herself at the normal human and pointed at the way she'd come.

"Someone. . .someone's been murdered!" she gasped.

The nurse's eyes widened. "Murdered? Ma'am, are you sure?"

Kendra grabbed one of the woman's hands in both of hers and nodded as she dragged her down the hall. "Yes! You have to come with me! Please! You have to see it!"

"Ma'am, wait a minute!" the nurse protested, but Kendra dragged her down the hall.