Chapter Eight
For the next two days Zuri and Chaz barely said a word to one another. Zuri kept thinking of Rebecca and assumed Chaz was thinking of her as well. A small piece of Zuri was floating off in the distance, a part that had wanted Chaz, had chosen Chaz. But he hadn’t chosen her, she reminded herself over and over again.
At work she kept asking around, trying to find out more details of where Ava was being held captive. Sandy hadn’t surfaced and Zuri knew that she must have been taken too. How many other girls were being held captive by these men?
The Ukrainians were becoming bolder. They came into the Smoke Stack and though Zuri refused to serve them, Greg brought them drinks and let them sit in groups away from the Magus. He was nice to them, too nice, and Zuri wondered about what Chaz had asked,a but she chalked it up to his obvious worry over any more damage to his bar and he kept a sharp eye on any contact between the two groups.
Zuri wasn’t sure if Greg shouldn’t be more worried about her attacking the Ukrainians. Every part of her wanted to confront them. To go and draw her fingernails across them and tell them exactly what she thought of them.
She peppered Kevin with questions and even tried to finagle details out of some of her long time patrons. Anything that could or might lead to Ava was worthy of her attention.
Now that Chaz was barely talking to her she was left with the obsessive burden of Ava’s rescue. Nothing mattered besides Ava. She had to be found, and soon. Zuri knew that the longer a girl went missing the less likely it became that the girl would ever be found.
Zuri took a big bag of trash out of the bin after her Friday night shift. It had been a long night, Zuri was exhausted but she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. The past two nights had been the same. Her thoughts were far too intrusive, and sleep became less and less of an option. Instead she’d turned on her headphones and pace the floor, occasionally her mind calmed enough for her to read. If she was lucky she would wake up a few hours later with the book still in the crook of her arm.
The box in the corner of Chaz’s closet was burning a hole through her heart. She felt seared, scorched by something she couldn’t put a title on.
She opened the door to the back alley and walked the bag down to the giant dumpster, giving it a heaving throw over and in.
Zuri turned and began walking back but stopped when she realized someone stood in front of her.
The Ukrainian wolf shifter, the one who had taken Ava, stood in front of her.
“So we meet again,” he smiled the same cold grin.
Zuri hadn’t seen him since that night. He hadn’t been in to the Smoke Stack with the other mobsters she’d seen. If he had, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to control herself.
She looked at the distance between them and wondered how fast she would have to be to run past this man and make it back into the bar safely. If she yelled, would anyone even hear her in time?
“Where is Ava, the girl you took that night—where is she?” Zuri tried to lift herself, to make herself seem stronger, more substantial than she actually was. She wanted to look past him to get her bearings, make a plan, but she didn’t want to break eye contact either.
“I heard you’ve been asking a lot of questions.” He laughed as if at some private joke and a chill ran up through Zuri’s spine. This was a very bad situation. There was nothing in the alley that she could use to defend herself. Even if he didn’t shift she wouldn’t stand a chance against this man.
“So answer my questions and I’ll stop asking.”
The man began to walk toward her and Zuri immediately began to back up. The thought of his closing distance made panic begin to rise inside of her.
“I don’t think that’s the solution. I think the solution is just shutting you up.” The man moved forward again. His eyes were hard and cruel. Zuri braced her body.
She tried in vain to think of an escape route, a plan. But it was too late.
With a leap he shifted. The huge snarling gray wolf in front of her looked rabid. His teeth were sharp, spit dripping down his mouth, and his eyes sparkled. His hair stood ragged in clumps.
Zuri screamed out at the top of her lungs. Adrenaline pulsed through her body and ran backwards toward the trash bins, stumbling over herself.
This was the end. She would die tonight. She would never find Ava. She would never see Chaz again. Her heart pounded, she lifted a bag of trash and threw it toward the wolf. He easily bounced out of the way. Zuri screamed again.
There was a scuffling sound and she looked past the wolf to see Chaz standing at the end of the alley. A flood of emotion poured through her. She would die but at least she would get to see this man one more time.
The wolf turned to look too. Zuri picked up a trash bin lid and held it up as shield, as if it would in some way offer her a modicum of protection.
Chaz broke into a run and in an instant he transformed. Zuri watched spellbound as the giant bear barreled toward them. The wolf turned his full attention to Chaz now. He crouched and pounced. Chaz threw one massive brown arm out as if he were hitting a volleyball and the wolf thudded against the wall, scrambling around and crouching again.
The wolf was on him, teeth out and growling, but he was no match for Chaz’s strength. Chaz backhanded the wolf. The wolf crouched but before he could lunge again Chaz reached forward. He picked up the huge animal and hurled his body five feet straight into the brick wall.
Chaz stood to his full height and Zuri felt the same pulse of adrenaline. Chaz was well over ten feet tall in his bear form. His body was massive, his thick arms ready to grab and crush. He let out a loud savage roar. Zuri backed up into a crevasse between the dumpster and the brick wall.
The wolf whimpered and struggled onto his paws, giving Chaz a last look. Then, he turned and trotted, limping away.
Zuri held her position. Not sure what to do, until Chaz began to transform back into his normal body. Then she ran to him. She didn’t stop running until her body slammed into his.
He held her shoulders in outstretched arms and looked over her face and body, looking for any sign that she had been hurt. Zuri felt her jaw quivering and for a moment she wasn’t sure she could stand. Her legs began to give way and Chaz held her up, pulling her close to him.
They stood that way for a long time, Zuri pulling energy and life from Chaz, her body giving over to him.
After a long time he pushed her back again, still holding her shoulders for support.
“You’re ok?” he asked when he saw no signs of damage.
Zuri nodded her head. She was shaking too badly to say anything more.
“Alright then, let’s get you out of here.” He guided her shoulders and began moving her forward.
“Wait,” she stopped and looked at him. Her voice was hoarse and barely audible, “You shifted. You said—”
The color had drained from his face but the heat off his body was palpable, “—it was instinct. Nothing more.”