Read Online Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete by Rosette Bolter - Free Book Online

Spike had no
idea what he was looking at.
    A man suddenly
emerged from the trees. The purple light dimmed out as he approached.
    Spike made an
aggressive gesture at him, couple with a mild growl.
    “It’s okay,”
the man said. “I’m a friend. Come back to your real form now.”
    Spike stepped
back, confused.
    The man
stepped forward. “I know everything about where you’re going and what you’re
doing. You want to find Jasmine, don’t you?”
    Spike
stopped. He lowered his head and shifted into his human form.
    “That’s
better,” the man said.
    Spike looked
up at him. “Who are you and what do you know of Jasmine?”
    “She and I
are old friends. In a way. So that makes me your friend. And I can tell you
where she is so you can rescue her.”
    “I’m
listening.”
    “Of course
you are.” The man walked up to Spike’s side. Not quite threatening, but sending
Spike the signal that he wasn’t afraid. “Just follow my finger please.”
    The man
lifted his left index finger into the air and Spike’s eyes followed it. It
moved past the other side of the chasm and swung round to the right. In the
direction there, Spike could see nothing  but the sky and the stars. And some
very faint city lights.
    “All the way
out there, my friend,” the man said.
    “The Destair,
who have taken her, are a bear tribe like any other. They don’t live in amongst
the people. We live with our own kind.”
    “The Destair
have completely changed their position since you last encountered them. They
have some very dark allies you need to be careful of.”
    “Tell me
more.”
    “There’s
little need. You will see for yourself.” The man reached into his pocket and
produced a small piece of folded paper. “That’s the address. She’s being held
somewhere in there.”
    Spike looked
at the paper. “This means nothing to me.”
    “Before you
go after her, you will need to rescue your cousin also.”
    “Thunder?
What’s happened to him?”
    “He’s at the
ranger’s station being detained by police. You have a very small window before
they transport him. You’ll have to hurry as fast as you can.”
    “And what of
Jasmine? How are we supposed to get her out of this building once we get there?”
    “Well, you
have three options. By force, by stealth, or by diplomacy. In any case, I can
guarantee you if you do not leave with her from that building tonight, you will
never see her again.”
    “Why? What
are they going to do to her?”
    “I have said
enough.”
    “And … when
we see Jasmine. Which of her friends shall we say led us to her.”
    “I wouldn’t
tell her anything about me,” the man said. “You’ll only frighten her.”
    “But why
would –”
    The man was
done answering Spike’s questions. He vanished right before his eyes, leaving
Spike lost and alone in the night.

 
    CHAPTER
EIGHT
     
     
    The car smelled new, and had been
scented with an additional fragrance. Gabe opened up the glove box and
retrieved a silver banded watch and a pair of shades. Jasmine buckled herself
into the passenger seat whilst he put his accessories on. By the time that
they’d pulled out and away from the farm, looking across at Gabe, Jasmine
couldn’t see anything bear-like about him at all.
    “Just let me
out,” she whispered. “Just say I ran out at the traffic lights or something.”
    “You couldn’t
do that, the doors are locked from the driver’s control box.”
    “Well, I
don’t care. Say the door was open. Just let me go. Please?”
    “I don’t know
why you keep asking.”
    “Because I
don’t deserve it. And I know you’re not a terrible person underneath.”
    “How do you
know that?”
    “I just can
tell. That’s all. You can tell things about a person, and I know you’re not
that bad.”
    “I was the
one who took you, remember? I did that of my own free will.”
    “Maybe you
were saving me from something worse.”
    Gabe smiled.
    Jasmine was
pleased by the smile, because as long as he was