Best Friends (New Species #15)(68)

“I’m going to help you find her,” a second man announced.

There was a loud thump.

“Don’t push me into a wall,” one of them snarled.

The other one laughed. “That was a tap.”

There was another loud thump. A few low growls sounded. It made her fear they were fighting or about to. One thing was for certain though.

New Species were looking for her.

She spun to the door on her immediate left and yanked it open.

“I definitely scent her,” the first man announced.

She’d forgotten they could smell as well as hound dogs, and they sounded closer now. She jerked open her purse and frantically grabbed the small bottle of perfume she kept in a pocket, squirting it into the air before she backed up and closed herself into the room. It was dark, but she found a light switch with her hand.

It turned out to be a cleaning supply closet. There wasn’t a lock on the door or anywhere to hide.

She dug inside her purse again and grabbed her phone. She’d call Mel for help. It couldn’t be good that New Species were looking for her.

She knew it was a bad idea to come to Reservation.

There was no cell signal. No! No! No!

“Achooo!”

Mary jumped. That sneeze had come right from the other side of the door.

“I’ll find her before you do,” one of the males boasted.

“No, I will,” the other growled. “The game is on.”

Mary panicked. Were they hunting her? Like a sport? She frantically looked for a weapon, but the sight of a grate on the wall near the floor caught her attention. It was some kind of intake air vent.

She dropped to her knees and gripped it. The men outside the door seemed to move away, but they’d realize she wasn’t in the bathroom soon enough. They’d search for her.

Mary yanked on the metal and it gave way. She peered inside.

It was barely big enough for her to fit, but she could manage if she lay down. There was only one problem. They’d see the vent cover on the floor. She turned around and got her feet inside, scooting backward until she lay flat. It was tight, but the soft dress material helped her wiggle in. She lifted the grate and put it back into place.

Mary’s gaze landed on the light.

Damn. I forgot.

It was too late, though, because she heard voices again. She backed up more and kept going. She paused about eight feet inside the vent and checked for a signal on her cell phone. There still wasn’t one. She wiggled more, going farther. It was easier to face her fear of small, confined spaces over big men with fangs.

Her foot brushed something, and she tried to look back. It was too dark and confining to see anything. She used one foot to remove the other shoe, then get both off. The two-inch high heels made tiny noises as they fell but she hoped no one else had heard. Her bare toes brushed metal. She turned partly onto her side and used her feet to feel what she couldn’t see.

The vent ended but it split in two other directions. She checked her cell phone again. Still no bars. She’d have to keep going to find a signal.

This is going to be a bitch.

She turned more on her side and got her feet into one of the tunnels where the vent split, shoving her phone between her breast and the bra cup. She braced her hands flat on the sides of the metal and pushed. Her hip slid and it took some doing, but she made the turn. She rolled back onto her stomach and the phone slipped from her dress, landing under her.

I’m never coming back to Reservation. Ever! I don’t care if Mel begs. She can visit me in town.

She braced her hands on the floor and pushed backward, her body sliding deeper into the vent. She paused and lifted her phone to check the signal.

Two bars showed.

“Thank you!”

She wiggled a little to get more comfortable and tapped the screen to call Mel. Her bestie would send Snow to save her. He would get her out of Reservation and away from his fanged buddies. She trembled so much, she hit the wrong number on the list displayed as her recent calls and had to cancel it out.

The vent under her made a creaking noise, and she froze.

That doesn’t sound good.

The loud pops that followed had her dropping the phone and frantically trying to find something to grab when she’d gone from lying flat, to sliding down at a sharp downward angle.

The vent walls were slick, and she kept sliding until there wasn’t anything under her anymore. That’s when the real fall happened.

Mary opened her mouth to scream but it never came out. She slammed into something that knocked the breath out of her.

Her face was planted against something squishy. It felt like artificial rubber. She opened her eyes and tried to figure out if she was hurt. Besides the startling landing, she seemed okay. She focused on something ahead of her and to the left.

What she saw made her gawk.

Beyond a rounded lip was a wall of rocks…with a waterfall flowing down the rough surface. Blue lights lit the structure, and the sound of running water reminded her of a forest stream.

It was beautiful. It was the biggest indoor fountain she’d ever seen. It had to be twenty-five feet high.

She looked down. Her hands were planted on a mat that reminded her of something from gym classes in high school. “What in the world?”

She took a better look around the vast room. The ceilings had to be forty feet from the floor, and dim lights shone from above. Large potted trees were spread around the room. It looked as if someone had made an indoor garden living space.