WILD Security- The Complete Series Read online

  It took Janet a minute to catch up, anger flooding her system hard and fast, “What? I’m not going anywhere…except to that meeting.” There was a no-nonsense bite to her voice and she hoped that Fang had noticed it.

  He shrugged, “It’s not safe, Janet.”

  “So, what, you’re just flying me back to America and that’s it?”

  “Well, I’m staying here.” The tone of his voice told Janet everything that she needed to know.

  She felt anger, shame and horror grow inside of her. She was being sent back to America, to abandon her father’s dream and Fang wasn’t coming with her. He was dropping her. Leaving her before that had even made it official.

  There was a coldness in his eyes and Janet blinked back the tears that had threatened to spill, “All in my best interests, I suppose?” Her tone was cutting and she didn’t care.

  Fang nodded slowly, “All in your best interests.”

  Janet felt a sneer curl her lip, “Well maybe you should have thought about my best interest before you fucked me over.”

  She saw a flicker of pain in Fang’s eyes and felt a second of savage satisfaction. If he was going to just toss her aside, he deserved a few choice words, at least.

  Turning, she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She wasn’t going to beg, to let him see her cry. She wasn’t going to argue. She had a business to run, even if her heart was being crushed beneath his boot.

  “Janet…I’m sorry.” The sound of his words, genuine regret seeping into them, almost had her running back to him in tears. She straightened her shoulders and grabbed her phone.

  She tapped in the number of a taxi service, “Taxi to SurgeCorp Industries.” She said, clipped, “Yes, yes, the hotel, that’s right. Thank you.” She flicked off the phone and stuffed it back in her bag, heading to the lift.

  “Janet, don’t be irresponsible.” She heard Fang behind her, anger in his tone, “We’ll have your plane read in a few hours.” His hand rested on her arm.

  She whirled on him, pulling her arm out of his grip, “Cancel it.” She hissed, “I will be attending this meeting and I do not need your consent to do so. You forfeited that right.” She wheeled around, ignoring the hurt in his eyes and the tears already spilling down her own cheeks. She hurried into the elevator and didn’t turn around until the doors were shut. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and cried.

  Chapter 10

  The taxi was waiting for her outside of the hotel. She stepped in, sitting in the back seat, and checked the time. Her eyes were still blurred by tears and she muttered the address to the driver, wiping away the streaks on her cheeks packing her phone back in her bag.

  She felt miserable. She couldn’t believe that Fang had just dropped her like that. She swallowed the pain that was threatening to consume her whole, to overwhelm her in the worst way. She felt sick, felt shaky, but she wasn’t about to lay down and die. Janet took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. She was a business woman. She was the head of her company.

  She wasn’t about to lie down and die because of some man. She wasn’t about to let it all get to her, not like this, not in the worst way possible. She needed to make sure that she stood up for herself, stood up for the company. She could do this, with or without Fang. Although she had to admit that she would have been happier doing this with him.

  Janet was so lost in her own thoughts, that she didn’t realize that things were changing rapidly around her. It was subtle at first, an extra turn here, and a missed set of lights there. By the time Janet realized that they were going the wrong way, they were nearing the outskirts of the city.

  Janet bit her lip, wondering, for a moment, if maybe they just knew a better way. In some ways, this city was like a rabbit’s warren, with lots of streets that only went one way. Maybe they knew the best and quickest way to the center.

  But as they turned off onto the highway and veered sharply into the twisting, turning roads that lead east, Janet started to feel real panic rush through her body. She bit her lip hard and peered through the windows. She didn’t know where she was, didn’t know which way she was going, didn’t know what they were doing. She didn’t know the driver, but she had just assumed that it was just another taxi driver that she didn’t know, just another person that didn’t really matter in her life. She was now realizing, with a mounting sense of horror that this person mattered very much to her story, her life and what happened in the next few hours. They mattered very, very much indeed.

  Janet shuddered, feeling the panic start to creep up on her, working its way through her skin and across her body.

  She slid her hand across the door and brushed the handle. It was locked and when she tried the lock itself, it held fast. Child locked. So she couldn’t just jump out that way. They were getting further and further from the city itself. She shuddered, feeling the worries and the panic crawl beneath her skin.

  She took a deep breath and fished in her bag for her phone, trying to act casual. She glanced down, only to find that it had no signal. So she was trapped.

  She swallowed hard. Okay. Maybe Fang had been right that she was in danger. She felt a flush of anger move through her. He should have driven with her instead of leaving her feeling stranded, and like she had no other choice.

  She shook the anger off. It wasn’t his fault any more than it was her fault and playing the blame game was not going to help anybody get through this in one piece.

  She needed to stay calm.

  She looked around herself for a weapon, trying to find something, anything that she could use to fight him off. She couldn’t find anything. She supposed that she could swing her purse, try and make a run for it.

  He probably had a gun. The thought was like ice through Janet. She knew that this was the likely ending of the story, and yet it terrified her to no end. She bit her lip deeply, drawing a tiny bit of blood.

  She had to figure a way out of here! No one else would know where she was. They would report it when she missed her meeting and never returned to her hotel, but that would be far too late for Janet, too late for her.

  They drove for a little bit longer, eventually slowing down, pulling over to the side of the road. The area seemed deserted, a cross between rich bushland and empty stretches of road. There was no one else coming this way. No cars, no houses, nothing at all. Janet swallowed, feeling the shudder move powerfully through her.

  The man in the front got out after stopping the car. He moved towards her door and Janet felt her body tighten. She would have to jump for him the moment he opened the door, knock him flat and run. She only had the element of surprise. She had nothing else to use and she had to get away.

  Determination filled her. She would not die here. She pushed the terror down. She would not die here, in the back of a car, where her body could be swept away. She would not be forgotten. Unbidden, the thought of Fang rose in her mind. No matter her anger at him, the thought of his calm, unwavering eyes and strong arms gave her strength.

  He had braved impossible odds. Now it was her turn to do the same, to brave the same impossible odds and get out of here alive, get out of here in one piece. She could do it. She had to do it. What choice did she have?

  The door opened with a click. Janet lunged at her would-be attacker.

  The man gasped in surprise and before Janet knew it, his arms were wrapping around her. She shrugged him off, kicking him hard. She felt her foot connect and he gasped, a sound of pain. She shuddered and thundered past him, slamming her shoulder into his. He stumbled backwards and Janet saw her chance.

  She ran. She ran with everything that she had, kicking off her shoes and tearing across. She remembered being told to run in an off-beat pattern, in order to dodge and avoid a bullet. Janet felt the air tug at her lungs, tighten and threaten to squeeze what was left of her out. She heard footsteps and shouting behind her and she felt panic flood her system.

  He was faster than her! He was already on his feet and
she could hear him getting closer and closer. He was obviously fit and she was not, no more than a few days in the gym worth. He was catching up with her! He was on her tail and Janet didn’t know what to do!

  She bent her head and ran harder, ran with all of the strength and speed that her body possessed. She didn’t dare look behind her, to the side or even up. A shadow passed above her head and, for a fleeting moment, she found herself convinced that she was going to get chased down by a plane as well.

  It didn’t take long for Janet to trip. With the uneven terrain and the rocky ground, Janet was lucky not to have tripped earlier. She stumbled, not quite hitting the ground. By the time she had regained her footing, it was too late.

  A powerful figure was barreling into her and slamming her to the ground. Janet tried to scream but there wasn’t enough breath left in her lungs. She felt his crushing pressure, the pain of her injuries, the bruises nursed into her skin. She was so close, and yet….he’d caught her anyway.

  Tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked them away furiously. She would not give him the satisfaction. Janet fought, twisting in the dirt, furious and desperate to move, move, move!

  “Get off me!” She managed to gasp, twisting with all of her strength.

  “Shut up!” His voice was hard, like stone, “Shut up!”

  Janet felt a fearful sob catch in her throat as the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of her neck. She didn’t have to know guns to realize that the thing pressing into her neck was deadly.

  “Shut up.” He sounded calmer now and Janet did as he said.

  “You deserve this. Your whole company deserves this.” He spat the words, “You exploit good, hard-working people. You send them to early graves. And for what? For money!”

  Anger was seeping back into his tone and Janet could hear it mingling with a distinct shade of hurt, or anguish, “What right do you have?”

  Janet felt her heart twist. For a second, just a fleeting second, she felt pain for this man, this man who was threatening her in the worst way.

  She didn’t speak, feeling her words get stuck to the sides of her throat. What could she say that wouldn’t just provoke him further? What could she do that wouldn’t get her killed?

  “It ends now.” The hard edge to his voice was back and Janet felt shock hit her, numb and empty. She was going to die. There was no one here to save her and there was a gun pressed into the flesh of her neck. She was about to die for a crime she didn’t even know she was committing. She wasn’t being given a chance to fix things, a chance to make things right.

  Not with these people, not with the company, not with Fang. She felt a tear spill down her cheek. Fang. She pictured him in that moment, saw the smile that graced his features, the sparkling color of his eyes, almost inhuman. She thought, fleetingly, of the clever fox in the book.

  If Fang was the clever fox, she was the fool, the fool who hadn’t listened to a word that he said. She was going to die here. It was all over. Janet squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the shot.

  It never came. Instead, the man above her uttered a curse. Then the weight was lifted from her back and she heard an unearthly sound. She heard a roar, a roar so fierce and so terrible that it echoed around the empty land, made the very ground shudder and Janet cover her ears.

  It was terrible and beautiful all at the same time. A great shadow descended on them, covering them and blocking out the light. Janet didn’t dare to move. Then the ground rocked and her hand was forced. She stumbled back, pushing herself up onto her knees, scrambling back, doing everything she could to get into a better position.

  She ignored her stinging skin, her bruised body, the pain that coursed through her. Instead, she looked up, and Janet’s mind went black. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at, the image was just too unreal, just too unbelievable, too overwhelming and incredible to imagine. It was just too much.

  Standing over a cowering man, was a dragon. He was massive, his wings spanning across the air like a massive tent. He was huge and powerful and he was bearing his huge teeth. He was menacing the man who had threatened her. His scales gleamed in the sunlight, a beautiful white, so white they almost looked silver. Unearthly, like nothing she had ever seen. Terrifying, absolutely terrifying.

  And at the same time, so very beautiful. A terrible creature. A perfect savior. And when he turned his head towards Janet, she knew with a startling clarity that this dragon was not here to hurt her.

  He was here to save her.

  Chapter 11

  The dragon roared again, a great, bellowing sound that filled the air and flooded the place with majesty and splendor. The man who was below the dragon screamed and pushed himself up. The gun lay forgotten as he frantically scrambled to his feet. He grabbed at the ground and Janet could see the terror in his eyes, filling him up and causing him to lash out blindly. He stumbled and fell over himself trying to get away.

  For a moment, the dragon didn’t move. Then he took a step forward and it was enough to send the man screaming again. He jumped up and ran with the same fevered terror that had gripped Janet only moments before. He ran like a man who was running for his life, fleeing for his safety, desperate to escape.

  Janet felt a pang inside her. It served him right, served him right for threatening to kill her. Yet she didn’t wish him dead and she stumbled to her own feet. She didn’t want him killed and she didn’t want to die either. She wanted to bring her father’s company up, not drag it down. She wanted to help it prosper, not threaten people, or herself. She wanted what was right. She knew that now, with a sort of powerful certainty.

  She wanted what was right, “Stop!” The dragon had been rearing back, poised to strike, as if it was about to kill the man where he stood, strike him down by some means, be it his weight, his claws or his fangs. At Janet’s cry, he stopped and his eyes turned slowly on her.

  Janet felt a fresh wave of terror tearing at her heart and her mind. Had she made the wrong choice? Was he really just going to kill her too? Had she just put herself in more danger by calling out? She didn’t know. She was lost in a strange situation, in a strange country, all alone.

  The dragon had saved her, but there was no guarantee that he would spare her a second time. She shuddered as he approached. He didn’t seem to be after her like he was after the other man, with a deep desire to hurt and kill. He moved slowly and Janet swore, just for a second, that the flashing blue of his eyes seemed so startlingly, achingly familiar. She could have sworn that she had seen those eyes somewhere.

  Those eyes would never let her get hurt. Those eyes had saved her before. The recollection stuck her with startling clarity and she stumbled back. She was losing her mind. She was going insane. This dragon reminded her of Fang. A dragon!

  She almost laughed. She was going crazy, cracking under the deep and persistent stress that was beating on her mind, body and spirit. She was going crazy. Janet almost laughed, but the situation was terrifying, not funny, and not funny in the slightest.

  The dragon moved and for a second, Janet thought that he would roar again, but he didn’t. Instead, he shifted, kneeling down and lowering his great and powerful height. Suddenly, this towering creature wasn’t standing so far above her, so overwhelmingly, threateningly tall.

  There was a low rumble in his chest, almost like a purr and Janet was filled with a bright, unexpected surge of warmth in her own chest, fluttering through her and leaving her breathless. It was perfect. In this strange moment, in the middle of nowhere, with a dragon, she felt safe. So safe.

  The dragon snarled, a low sound. It was comforting in a strange way, and Janet bit her lip. She could feel the breath ghosting her skin, brushing against her and filling up her senses. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the flood of movement through her.

  She breathed in the feeling, the odd sensation of both fear and peace tingling through her. There was a whoosh, the sound of air rus
hing around and through her. For a moment, she just kept her eyes shut, accepting of whatever came next.

  Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and her eyes flew open in shock. Her eyes struggled to take in the shock of what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe it.

  It was Fang. The huge, towering dragon was gone, nowhere to be found, not even a whisper of movement or a shadow in the distance. Instead, Janet was face to face with Fang, looking calm and concerned, like it was no big deal that he had shown up out of nowhere.

  His hand was on her shoulder and he was grabbing her gently, “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” There was real worry in his voice, real concern seeping into his tone. For a moment, Janet found herself unable to answer, unsure what she was seeing, unsure what to say. Fang was here.

  The shock shuddered through her system. Fang was here and the dragon was gone. Had she imagined the whole thing? Was she losing her mind completely? Janet felt her knees go shaky and she almost fell to the ground. In an instant, Fang’s arm was wrapping around her. He pulled her close to him and she almost fell against him.

  She took in a great, deep breath and took a moment to try and make sense of it all, make sense of everything that was happening to her, flooding her senses. She bit her lip and heard Fang’s voice in her ear.

  “Shh, it’s okay.”

  He was warm and comforting and Janet nodded. He led her towards one of the sparse trees that was dotted along the landscape and helped her sit down. She sank gratefully to the ground, curling her legs beneath her. She took a deep breath, feeling the shakiness flood her system again.

  Everything had been so normal up until this point, so comfortable, almost okay, even with the terror of the previous meeting. But this, this was something else and it had left Janet feeling very shaky and unsure of herself.

  Fang’s voice was soothing and soft in her ear, his hands stabilizing her as he murmured, “Just take a moment.”

  Janet followed his advice, taking a moment to just breathe, just let everything sink in and settle in her chest. It was a lot to handle, a lot to take in, but it was important that she calmed down enough to talk it through with Fang.