He looked at the man who had come to his house to rescue her that day. He was tall, rugged, and strong. He could see the cut of his muscular body through his t-shirt even from this distance. This was a shifter, a true shifter. Lance watched almost with envy as the man walked to the driver's side of the small rental car. He stopped before getting in, however, and scanned the parking lot. Lance shrunk back, using the tinted windows of his car as cover. He watched from his position until the man climbed into his car and drove off.
He then opened the car door and climbed out, heading into the hotel. He had learned their room number last night; a tip of a fifty-dollar bill to the man on duty on the overnight shift had been easily accepted in exchange for the information. He now climbed the stairs up to the fifth floor.
* * *
The knock on the door came just as she was getting ready to go into the shower. Rachel smiled when she saw Marcus' wallet on the nightstand.
"Did you forget your-" she said as she pulled the door open. She stopped the instant she saw who stood on the other side.
"I didn't quite forget, more misplaced," Lance said, one side of his lips curving upward as she tried to push the door closed. It bounced off the toe of his shoe and she scrambled backward. He came inside, calm as can be, and closed the door behind him.
"I'll scream!" she said.
"No you won't," he said, showing her the gun he carried even as she knew he wouldn't need it to hurt her. "You don't want to see anyone else get hurt." His eyes scanned her naked body and she turned and ran into the bathroom, realizing the hopelessness of her situation when she pushed the lock button on the doorknob. She looked around, frantic to find something to defend herself with as he easily pushed the door open, breaking the lock.
"Your behavior is quite rude, Rachel," he chastised, taking her by the arm and dragging her out into the bedroom. "I came a long way for you."
"Marcus will be back any second. He forgot his wallet!" she yelled, trying to break free while he dragged her along, picking up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
He stopped and looked her over from head to toe, making her squirm as she tried to hide herself from his gaze. How she had ever thought he wasn't as dangerous as the other men baffled her when his eyes came to rest on the small, neat triangle of dark hair between her legs. When he looked up to her face again, his eyes were different, strange.
"You're hurting me," she managed, his fingers digging into her flesh.
"You smell like him," Lance said, a look of utter disgust on his face. "You need to be washed but we don't have time. Get dressed!" he spat. "If you scream or make any noise at all, I will hurt you and anyone who comes to help you. I swear it. Move. Now!"
She scrambled away, one eye on him as she pulled on the jeans, her heart racing, not doubting for a moment that he meant what he said. Would Marcus realize he'd left his wallet behind in time? What about Elijah?
She pulled on her t-shirt and he took hold of her arm again as she slid her feet into her shoes.
"We're going to walk quietly out of the hotel and to my car, do you understand?" he asked.
She nodded, tears of fear forming in her eyes.
"If you try to call out for help, I'll kill everyone around you while you watch. You get exactly one warning and you just had it. Clear?"
"Yes," she answered with a trembling voice.
He dragged her out of the room and into the hallway. Rather than taking the elevator, he opted for the stairs. She stumbled a few times; he was much faster than she was. He simply lifted her back up when she fell with no regard for her at all, holding her harder as she tried to keep up.
There were two employees at the front desk who all but ignored them, and one family walked in just as they were walking out. Lance bumped one of the kids on his way.
"Ow!" the little boy called out.
"That was rude!" the mother said to Lance's back.
Rachel turned to look over her shoulder and she saw the woman's face change as she watched Lance push her into his truck before climbing into the driver's side and pulling out of the parking lot.
* * *
Marcus rode the elevator to the fifth floor, annoyed to have forgotten his wallet. And he hadn't figured it out until he'd gotten all the way to the store. He dug for his room key as he made his way down the hall and to their room. He pushed the key card into the door and opened it.
"I forgot my wallet … " he began, but stopped, looking around and inhaling the scent that permeated the room. "Rachel?" he called out, running into the bathroom to find the lock broken, the small room empty. "Shit!"
He stopped and looked out the window. He'd been gone not fifteen minutes. Weston must have been waiting for his chance!
"Marcus?" Elijah pushed the door open and stepped inside, his expression letting Marcus know he had picked up the scent as well. "I smelled him on the stairs," he said. "Where's Rachel?"
"She's gone! He must have taken her, the lock here is broken!"
Marcus pushed past Elijah, cursing himself. He should have made her go with him. He should have forced her to.
Elijah caught Marcus' arm. "Stop. Wait. Let's think."
He shook his head. "No. He's got her. He's not going to take a chance on losing her again!"
Elijah nodded and the pair of them ran down the stairs.
"I was so fucking stupid to let her stay behind!" Marcus yelled, pounding his fist into the wall, leaving a dent there as he ran down the last set of stairs.
"We'll get her back," Elijah promised.
Marcus ran into the lobby, bumping someone on his way.
"Everyone's in such a hurry!" a woman called out. "Watch where you're going, jerk! You okay, Bobby?" she asked the now crying child Marcus had run into.
Marcus stopped and turned. "I'm sorry," he said.
Elijah stopped too. "What did you mean ‘everyone's in such a hurry'?" Elijah asked the woman, squatting down to wipe a tear from the boy's face.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Marcus said. "I wasn't paying attention. I hope I didn't hurt you?" he asked the little boy.
The boy stared up and shook his head no.
"Well at least you apologized. Just watch where you're going! The last guy shoved him and ran off. Didn't even bother looking back!"
"Did he have a girl with him?" Elijah asked, putting a hand on Marcus' shoulder as Marcus clenched his fists.
"Yeah. Poor girl. Looked like she'd been crying. Not a surprise with a jerk like that for a boyfriend."
"He's not her boyfriend," Marcus said through clenched teeth.
"Did you happen to see where they went? What kind of car they had?"
"Yeah, big red pickup truck with tinted windows. Hard to miss if you ask me. They headed down toward the center of town. Idiot was driving way faster than he should have been too."
"Thank you, ma'am," Elijah said. He patted the boy's head and the two walked fast out the door.
"Where's your car?" Elijah asked Marcus.
"There," he said, gesturing toward the rental.
"Head into town, see if you can find them. I'll find somewhere to shift," Elijah began.
Marcus nodded, already thinking the same thing.
"I'll listen for Rachel. Once I find her, I'll call you," Elijah finished.
They both nodded and Marcus drove off while Elijah ran to the back of the parking lot, climbed over the high fence there, and shifted.
* * *
Rachel sat in the car, gripping the sides of her seat, one eye on the gun in his hand.
"Slow down," she called out. "You're going to get us killed."
He glanced at her and slowed just a little.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"There's a lab in town I've worked with before. It will be closed today so we'll have to break in, but I think we can manage that," he answered, his voice calm again.
"And then what?" she asked, knowing full well what he intended to do.
He didn't look at her as he pulled to a stop at a red light. "And then I take what I need from you. And if you're good and do as I say, I'll even give you some anesthetic so you won't feel the cut." His smile was evil.
"You can't just cut me open!"
"I have no choice. We're out of time."
"What happens to me in the end?"
Now he did look her way. "I'm sorry, Rachel," he began, sounding almost authentic. "I'll do what I can but you may be called upon to make a great sacrifice," he said, then laughed, suddenly hysterical.