Page 49 of My Girlfriend is a Werewolf
“Yeah, shit for Rogers because I’m going to fuck him up good. I was hoping to have Athena as backup, but guess I’ll have to go alone.”
“Not alone. I’ll help.”
“As will we.” Grams and Gramps stepped out behind him.
Ares blinked. Probably wasn’t used to seeing an old lady toting a gun with a knife strapped to her hip.
The man shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but this is going to be ugly.”
“It already is ugly. Those fuckers came here, beat on my grandparents, took Athena, and also kidnapped her family. That kind of shit ain’t cool. Not one bit. And if we can figure out where they are, I want to be there helping with the rescue and beatdown.”
“It might get bloody,” Ares warned.
“So be it. They struck the first blow. Time to show them why that was a bad idea.” Derek always wondered if he had a killer gene. Grams and Gramps certainly did. His dad… not so much. But apparently, Derek just needed the right motivation.
“I could use the help. I ain’t exactly Rambo.” Ares raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ll need a plan. The place they’re in, while remote, is guarded.”
The words hit, and Derek blurted out, “Wait, you know where they are?”
Ares nodded. “After Athena went missing without a trace that first time, I had us chipped.” He held up his wrist. “Think of it as an air tag but for people. Athena doesn’t have one yet, but I imagine she’s being held in the same place as my mom and Selene.”
“Holy shit.” Hope suddenly blossomed.
Grams clapped her hands. “This calls for some sticky pudding and coffee. Git inside, boy. We’ve got some planning to do.” She eyed Gramps. “We’ll need Big Bessie ready to go. Load her up.”
“Big Bessie?” Ares questioned.
“Armored vehicle with mounted gun,” Gramps explained. “Good for smashing into things and can also withstand heavy fire.”
“We’ll also bring some grenades and other explosives in case we need to blast our way in,” Grams added.
“Hold on, you have explosives?” Ares asked in a high-pitched voice.
“And flamethrowers and assault weapons.” Grams rolled her eyes. “I swear I don’t understand why more people aren’t prepared for the apocalypse. Does no one see what’s going on in the world?” She kept ranting as she entered the house with Gramps.
Ares cocked his head, looking puzzled. “Is your grandma always that gung-ho about going to war?”
“Dude, my grams has been ready since she was born.”
“Well fuck. Guess this might not be a suicide mission after all,” an incredulous Ares stated.
“We’ll get them back,” Derek promised, because the alternative, a life without Athena, wasn’t something he even wanted to contemplate.
Chapter 14
Athena pacedthe confines of her cage, seeking any weakness in the seams or bars. The welds were solid, the metal too thick to bend. The padlock unpickable. Her clothes had been stripped from her, leaving her in the dreaded scrubs.
After Rogers left, they didn’t see anyone until dinnertime when a soldier, his face expressionless and grim, arrived with three flimsy plastic trays that he slid through the slots.
Once he left, Selene grimaced. “Microwave dinners? Really? That’s almost as cruel as this cage. Not to mention no fork. What are we supposed to do, eat our mashed potatoes with our fingers?”
“Or slurp it like an animal. Cutlery can be used as a weapon, hence why we don’t get any.” Athena remained familiar with how captivity under Rogers worked.
“Good thing we’ll be out of here soon,” Selene chirped. “I’ve got leftover cheesecake in the fridge at home.”
Athena admired her sister’s optimism even if misplaced. Let her keep hope for as long as she could. Athena wished she could share it, but it appeared the doctor had moved locations. The stone cellar older and more rustic than that at the Experimental Farm. Large too, the pillars of wood and stacked cinder blocksrising as sentinels to break up the space. She saw no sign of whatever used to be in place before, unless the ductwork counted. There were cameras pointed at the cages, watching every move and listening to their every word. Other than the cages, there was a staircase, the treads of each riser thick wood, a few stacked crates, and the dreaded contraption Rogers used to call the rack. It was as bad as it sounded. A fourth cage remained empty, and she prayed it stayed that way.
“I hope Ares was smart enough to hide once he found out you were gone,” Athena stated, poking at the meat that looked nothing like turkey. More like a hunk of rubber smothered in a thick brown sauce.