Callum: Trillionaire Shifter Club Book Four Page 2

  Kirsten looked up silently towards Ruby.

  Ava followed her gaze.

  “Is this some sort of a joke?” Ava demanded. “Or have you just been messing with me this whole time?”

  Ruby opened her mouth, but no words followed.

  “Evan’s little brother has a mate named Callum,” Donna offered. “Do you want me to set you up, Ava?”

  “Fuck you,” Ava said standing up. “Fuck off the lot of you.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  A few minutes later Ava was in the downstairs bathroom, one hand on the edge of the basin, the other wiping tears from her eyes.

  So that’s what it had all been then. A joke. A way to make fun of her for having the only guy she ever cared about walk out on her. She didn’t know if Callum really had been taken by the park, of if he was off somewhere else entirely, living a glorious life – but in any case it didn’t matter. Because she’d never see him again.

  Her train of thought was broken as someone knocked softly on the door outside.

  “I’m in here,” Ava called. “Go away.”

  “Open the door, please.”

  Ava squinted. She didn’t recognize the voice.

  “I’m not finished.”

  “Ava, I need to talk to you.”

  Ava stepped away from the basin and proceeded to unlock the door.

  A young woman with auburn hair entered, and closed and locked the door after her.

  “Who are you?” Ava said backing away. “What do you want?”

  “I’m Maisey Newfield. I know Evan from work.”

  “So?”

  “I wanted to warn you, about the Shifter World. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

  “What do you know about it?”

  Maisey lowered her eyes and put her hand against the wall. “Your story sounds similar to mine,” she said. “The bits I’ve heard. You met Callum at the club, didn’t you?”

  “Trillionaire Shifter Club?”

  “Yeah. That’s where it all started. Somehow, they were able to convince the leader of the club to join their cause. Perhaps they brainwashed him. I don’t really know. Since then everyone who has gone out looking for him has been taken by the park. There are creatures who run things there. At times they can appear human … but they are anything but. They’re monsters, in the purest sense of the word.”

  “How do you know all this?” Ava demanded.

  “One of my friends got wed to the club’s leader, just before everything went wrong. My other friend, my best friend, who was involved with the second in charge went after her and disappeared. There was only one good shifter left there, a panda named Declan. He had feelings –”

  “I met him.”

  “What?”

  “I met Declan … the same night I met Callum. He was one of the nicer ones.”

  “I never really got a chance to know him,” Maisey confessed. “But in the small amount of time I was with him, I knew we were meant for each other.”

  Ava swallowed. “I felt the same way about Callum. But … I’m just … crazy…”

  “He could feel the same way. And if he was taken by the park then you’d have no way of knowing.”

  “What happened to Declan?”

  “I don’t know. The last time I saw him…”

  Maisey’s face paled and her hand on the wall slipped.

  Ava quickly moved to break her fall.

  “Oh shit,” Maisey said stepping away from her. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “It was during our night together. We set off to find my best friend Cordelia, and instead came across that wretched theme park. Declan ran in before me. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen. I chased after but … I never saw him again. The police found me a few hours later, lying somewhere in the middle of it, unconscious. I came to in the ambulance. Screamed for them to take me back there … but…”

  “But what?”

  “It was too late. They searched the entire place for Cordelia and Harper and Chilton and … Declan.”

  “They didn’t find them?”

  “No. There was no proof they were even there at all.”

  “Did you go back there?”

  “Yes,” Maisey said in a quiet voice. “But I wish I hadn’t –”

  Someone started pounding on the bathroom door.

  “Ava?” Ruby called from outside. “Are you in there?”

  “I’ll just be a minute,” Ava fired back.

  She turned to Maisey. “What happened when you went back there?”

  Maisey grabbed hold of Ava’s wrists and stared into her eyes.

  “I saw the creatures,” she said.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  As soon as the bathroom door was opened, and Ruby entered, Maisey stormed out in a tearful mess.

  “What the hell was that?” Ruby asked suspiciously.

  “She’s been to the park,” Ava said. “She lost someone there too.”

  “Oh come on,” Ruby replied. “You don’t believe all that nonsense do you?”

  “What’s the alternative?”

  Ruby shook her head. “Look, that was – that was stupid of us before. Having a go at you and that.”

  “Is that what it was?”

  “I didn’t mean to, it just sort of played out that way.”

  Ava looked at her friend stiffly. “Are we getting those passes or not?”

  Ruby pointed to her handbag. “Got them.”

  “All three?”

  “Kirsten’s not coming. But I convinced her to give them to us.”

  Ava took a step forward. “So you’re with me now?”

  “Of course I am, silly,” Ruby beamed.

  “Cause this could be dangerous.”

  “What, is that what that headcase told you?”

  “Do you know her?”

  “Who?”

  “Maisey.”

  Ruby chuckled. “She told us off for joking about the park just before. And then chased after you. I assume she offered some insight.”

  “More than that.”

  “I wouldn’t pay any attention. She has like no friends here, so…”

  “Do I?” Ava challenged.

  “Do you what?”

  “Do I have friends here?”

  Ruby groaned. “I’ve got the passes. I’m coming with you. I dragged you out of work for this instead of trying to have a good time here – is there anything else I can do for you, your highness?”

  Ava inhaled sharply. “Sorry.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m sorry. I know you’re my friend.”

  Ruby crooked her head to one side. “What exactly did she say to you?”

  “She said I shouldn’t go to find him.”

  “But we are going then?”

  Ava stepped away from the basin and walked past Ruby out of the bathroom. “We don’t have a choice.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  As the roads turned and waved outside the car around them, Ava looked out the side of her window, and thought about her night with Callum again. This could have been it. The air was cold, but not to the point of being brutal. The wind was still. The sounds of other people faded into the background, almost as though they weren’t really there…

  Ava’s hands were tightly wrapped around Callum’s waist as they steered out into the starry horizon. A few members of his pack had approached as he fixed her with a helmet and set her on the back of the bike. Callum had told them he was taking off for the night, and that they were not to follow him. He didn’t say where they were going. Ava didn’t even know herself.

  After a timeless forever, Callum brought them towards the base of an isolated mountain, far from the city and the club. Stepping off the bike, Ava put her helmet aside and saw the terrain was rich with forest. With little more than the light of the moon to guide them, the pair set out into it, holding hands together.

  “I assume you’re leading us somewhere specific,”
Ava said after a moment. “And you don’t mean to bury me out here.”

  “Well, I’m glad you think so highly of me,” Callum replied.

  “You have to admit on the face of it, I’m taking a risk here,” Ava said. “Letting a tall, handsome stranger drag me out into the middle of nowhere. At your disposal. Completely helpless.”

  “If you wanted to be around other people, we could have stayed at the club.”

  “Why didn’t we?”

  Callum stopped and turned around, placing his hands on her shoulders.

  “Because who you are around them… Who I am around them… Is not who we really are.”

  “So who are we?”

  He didn’t answer her. Not with words.

  His hands moved around her back as he pulled her in to kiss her.

  Ava closed her eyes. Their lips melted together in an intoxicating blend of the atmosphere around them.

  Nothing before and nothing since…

  Could compare to the moments that followed.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The theme park was flooded.

  Ava and Ruby sat in a ten car pileup outside the entrance, where security guards appeared to be checking to see if whether people had already prepaid for their tickets and car space, otherwise to be directed away.

  “We should be fine, shouldn’t we?”Ava asked. “Can I see the passes?”

  “They’re in my bag,” Ruby said.

  Ava reached round for it and pulled them out. When they finally made their way up to the entrance, she handed them to Ruby. Ruby wound down her window.

  “Do you have passes?” the guard asked, leaning in.

  Ruby passed them along.

  “Our apologies, but you’ve come to the wrong entrance,” the guard said handing them back. “VIP is permitted entry to the underground parking, which can be located at the North West entrance. Do you know how to get there?”

  “No, we haven’t been here before.”

  “Okay just keep going straight down this road, and then take the first left you see. Then go along that road for a bit, and take the first left. Keep going for a bit and you’ll be there. Okay?”

  Ruby nodded and wound up the window again.

  As they drove back out to the road, Ava observed the colorful light display being projected from the park. She wondered exactly where this party was taking place.

  “Passes,” the guard said at the next checkpoint.

  Ruby handed them over and the guard took them back to his little station situated in the middle of the barricades. He appeared to be getting on the phone with someone.

  “So is there anyone we know at this party?” Ava asked. “How did you say Kirsten got the passes?”

  “She got them off her shifter friend.”

  “Is he going to be here?”

  “She didn’t say.”

  The guard returned to the vehicle.

  “Once you’ve found an adequate parking space, you’re to wait there for someone to come see you.”

  “What for?” Ruby replied.

  “Standard procedure, Miss.”

  She wound up the window again and they ventured into the dark tunnel before them.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Outside of the car, the underground parking was full of blue lighting emitted by crystals mounted to the walls. Ava walked around to stand beside Ruby who was peering around to see if anyone was coming. Instead of following her gaze Ava made an effort to make eye contact with her friend, searching for clarity.

  “Second thoughts?” Ava questioned.

  “Of course not,” Ruby replied. “Having the time of my life.”

  Ava winced, having seen the response coming.

  “Please tell me you have a hidden agenda here.”

  Ruby smirked. “Well, I did meet Kirsten’s shifter fella on one occasion.”

  “And?”

  “The heat level is out of this world.”

  Ava turned away, keeping her smile concealed. “You’ll have to dumb it down for me.”

  “The dude’s hot, what can I say?”

  “Classy.”

  “Well, regardless of that he’s going to be better than those loser friends of Evan’s right?”

  “Is it just cause it’s New Years you feel like you have to hook up?” Ava blurted out. “Or are you truly going through a slutty phase?”

  “Mind your language,” Ruby replied. “I’m not making fun of you for ruining yourself over a guy who ditched you.”

  “We don’t know he ditched me,” Ava said.

  “Well, regardless.”

  Ava nodded. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. It just slipped out.”

  “I forgive you,” Ruby said. She stepped away from the car. “Come on, let’s take a look around.”

  The pair moved out into the pathway and began trekking through the parking area.

  There were several vehicles parked in spread out locations, giving the impression that while there were some people here, the numbers were running a bit low. They couldn’t see parking’s entirety, as it spread around various corners and the like, but judging from here, it would be much of the same. Eventually they came to a small set of stairs leading up to a pair of glass doors. An entrance to the park. An exit out of here.

  Ruby looked around to make sure no one was following them. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

  They went up the stairs and the doors automatically opened leading out to a warm, carpeted area. The room branched round to the right where various posters on walls displayed the park’s attractions. Ava glanced at them, taking in the letters and the colors, but not really accepting their full meaning. There was another set of steps leading up to the left.

  “Are you sure we want to go up there?” Ava asked as Ruby began to ascend. “What if we get lost?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  Ava frowned, not really understanding how that countered her question, but then proceeded to follow her anyway.

  At the top of the stairs, they had the choice of continuing down a long reaching corridor that traveled out of sight … or to exit through another pair of glass doors a few feet to the right.

  They stood in front of them and peered out.

  The doors opened breathing in a gust of icy wind, and their eyes searched beyond it into the various lights, colors and sounds of the whirling amusement park before them…

  Ava stepped out and lent against the railing and watched it all…

  The crowds of people shuffling about…

  The enormous rides…

  The circus tents…

  The explosions in the sky…

  Are you out there? she wondered. Are you hiding amongst this?

  She glanced over her shoulder to see where Ruby was, only to find her not there. Ava quickly stepped back through the doors into the carpeted area.

  “Ruby?” she called.

  She looked down the stairs. No sign of her.

  She looked up the far reaching corridor.

  Still no sign.

  “Ruby!” Ava shouted.

  She turned around half expecting to see her standing behind her – but alas, she was not there either…

  Ava bit her teeth together and began sprinting down the corridor, her heart racing. Soon she was met with a maze of doors, pathways, entrances and exits. She stood in the centre of it all, completely dumbfounded.

  Ava then moved to the closest door and forced it open.

  The carpet immediately broke away at the edge of the room, replaced by cold, stone tiles. The room was dark, only dimly lit from the barred window breathing in the fierceness of the night. Ava fumbled for a light switch could find none.

  As she began to close the door again, a voice startled her: “Who’s there?”

  She opened the door again and peered round, trying to get a better look. There was something crouched in the far right corner.

  “Hello?” Ava called.

  “Please help me,” the li
ttle girl said. “My foot is stuck.”

  Ava stepped forward and the door behind her immediately blew shut.

  “Quickly,” the girl said.

  Ava walked forward and crouched by the ground near her. She still couldn’t see the child’s face.

  “How did you get in here?” she asked. “Where are your parents?”

  “My parents…” the child whispered.

  Then her tone changed entirely.

  “My parents were born in the fires of hell,” she said in a monstrous rasp.

  Ava shrieked and fell backwards, as the child began to ascend, four, five … eight feet into the air.

  Ava looked to where her feet were and saw they had grown like a pair of stilts. Her arms had grown likewise, now reaching with her with sharp black claws.

  The girl’s face was still shrouded by her long dark hair, her eyes unseen…

  Until the claws parted her fringe…

  And the red eyes stared back at her –

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The creature growled and hissed and clawed at Ava, but something else had entered the room without her realizing, and before she knew it, Ava was on her feet and being pulled away from the monster. Only once they were safely outside of the room was she released to fall to the carpeted floor. The man behind her moved quickly back to the door to close and lock it.

  Ava quickly climbed to her feet, startled. “What the fuck was –?”

  “Shut up,” the man said in a nasty tone.

  She swallowed her voice as he approached her in an intimidating fashion.

  “Where’s your friend?”

  “I don’t know,” Ava stammered. “I was trying to find her.”

  “You shouldn’t have wandered off,” the man scolded. “You were given specific instructions to wait at your car.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ava said, blushing. “Who are you?”

  “I’m the one who got you your passes,” the man said.

  “So you know Kirsten?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Which way did she go?”

  “Oh,” Ava murmured. “Oh… I’m… She’s…”