chapter 1
Adele
With the perks and privileges associated with being the president’s daughter, one would assume life would be easy. More often than not, I’m hurried away because of a perceived danger, the constant shadow of security guards following my every move.
So, when I am at school, I have a little more freedom since it is a private academy on secure grounds. It is my last year here studying International Relations and Economics.
The elections are coming up soon, and the pressure is on dad and his campaign to stay in the presidency.
When an email came in with a threat to my life, Dad didn’t take it lightly, especially when they traced it back to the private school I’m in.
Seconds later, he is calling me. “I want you to leave with the team arriving in the next hour,” dad says with authority. “Trust no one until they arrive.”
Since the term is almost over, I won’t miss much. “Okay dad. I’ll see you when I get in.” There is no point in arguing with him, especially when it comes to a threat on my life.
I keep my phone on silent and tuck it into my leggings pocket and grab my bag. As I walk through the corridor, the sound of helicopters arriving makes me stop. Dad said an hour? I’ve learnt to listen to my gut, and something tells me this is not part of my dad’s security team.
I make my way to the closest window to look out. The blades of the helicopter whirl close by and I grip my bag tighter. Several men drop down on ropes and smoke surrounds them.
The alarms go off in the building and a flurry of people run. “Adele, you need to come with me.” Some guy I barely know pulls at my arm.
I go along with whatever is happening. My feet run as we move along the corridors. “Hey, can you let go of my arm?” I stumble as he tries to pull me down a set of stairs.
“We need to move. They are coming to get you.” He stops as I yank his arm off me.
Only moments a my dad told me about a threat, and this guy who I’ve barely seen around here knows the threat is for me. Alarm bells ring in my head. I fumble in my bag, reaching for the pepper spray, and grip it in my hand.
“How did you know it is a threat and they are coming to get me?” I pop the cap off the spray, holding it concealed in my bag.
A vein pulses in his temple as he clenches his jaw, a low rumbling in his chest as his frustration shows. “With helicopters suddenly arriving and the president’s daughter is already here,” he waves his hand up and down at me, and shrugs. “It all clicked into place.” He goes to grab my arm again. “Come on.”
“I need to go to my room.” I told him. “From there, I can call my dad for help.” He doesn’t need to know I’ve already spoken to him. I have to create a distraction, buy myself some time to escape.
“That will be the first place they will look for you.” Again, he tries to grab my arm, but I pull back.
“Look here,” I start telling him, but he towers over me and grabs my throat.
“Don’t fucking mess with me.”
The bag hits the ground with a dull thump as I fumble with the spray. I aim and release a cloud of pepper spray that instantly sears his face and eyes. He screams out in pain and swears at me. I take off down the stairs and as fast as I can run.
The alarms have stopped, but the threat is far from over. I hear footsteps pounding along the corridor coming towards me. I can’t risk it as it might not be someone friendly. There is a door to my right, so I open it to find the room empty. My heart races as I try to think what to do next. I lean up against the door and place my ear to hear what is happening. The footsteps thunder past; men in heavy combat boots.
“Where is she?” a rough voice shouts.
“I had her, but she pepper sprayed me. But she ran in the direction you just came from.” I recognize his voice and tense up.
I had a sinking feeling that they would start checking the rooms any minute. Because they normally leave the doors unlocked, I can’t even try to jam one without being caught.
“Check all the rooms. She has to be in there somewhere.” Another male voice bellows out.
I run towards the window as I see that as my only escape. Being as quiet as I can, I unlock the window and, with shaking hands; I climb out, thankful that I’d run down the stairs instead of up. Now I am one floor up, but it is too far to jump. Just below the window is a ledge and I steady my feet on it. If I make my way along, I can reach the next window and there is a downpipe in the corner.
I grip on the window ledge and push the window closed before moving along. Tears roll down my cheeks and my breathing becomes ragged as I cling on for dear life. One wrong slip and I could fall and break my legs, or worse.
I have to remind myself I’ve been in other situations and to keep it together. But this time I’m on my own. I reach the next window and quickly make my way to the downpipe and pray that I don’t slip. When my feet touch the ground, I breathe a sigh of relief, but my escape is short-lived. Shouts from above make me look up to find a man in combat gear pointing at me.
My legs shake from the adrenaline and I’m not far off collapsing. “Keep moving,” I whisper to myself. With a quick look around, I remember this part of the building has a lower basement that is hidden. It is a risk to get trapped in there, but in seconds, they will swarm this place.
I take off as I don’t know how many of them there are, or where they are. Back inside, I slide the huge painting to the side and move into the cove behind it. As the painting neatly seals me in a stamped of feet, thunder passes. In the cove, there is a narrow door which leads down a set of stone steps. As quietly as I can, I open the door and pull out my phone to SOS with my dad and use the light to see down the steps.
It is pitch black apart from my phone light. My status as the president’s daughter allowed me access to these hidden places. Each section of the building all has one, and right now I am thankful for them.
I check my phone and with a rough estimate; I have about six hours of battery power left on it. Part of my SOS is conserving battery power. So when it reaches 25% I have to switch it off and periodically switch it back on so they can pick up my signal.
The screen lights up as I receive a message back from my dad. It is coded and only I know what it means. This is a safety protocol, and I send him the return message.
I’m glad you got to safety. Stay put; I am sending someone in to get you.
Do you know what they want?
A demand for the law to be changed. They want all werewolves with additional power to be unhabituated. To make them more human-like.
That is ridiculous. You can’t change a species because they are different. Is this part of Isack Tinkerstow’s plan?
I remember watching the speech he made. “If you make me the next president, I will force the werewolves to adhere to new rules if they want to continue living amongst us?”
That man is dad’s running opposition for the up-and-coming elections. Dad has done so much and, with the help of funding from Shia Van Vernon, or now Quinn. There are so many new schools and health care centers, hospitals, police, fire, and medical teams, which are all positively working.
Conserve your phone and hang tight, sweetheart. We are coming to get you.
Love you dad. I reply and then turn my phone onto battery saving power. This should push it out a little longer. All I have to do is sit tight in the dark, and I hate the dark.
