His head bobbed, and I lifted my hand one finger at a time, praying he would keep his word.
Jackson let out a whoosh of air and sucked back a breath. “Who are you?” he asked, but to his credit he kept his tone low.
If he didn’t know who I was, then there was a good chance he hadn’t been at the Chameleon. There was hope for this one yet.
“It doesn’t matter. ” I pressed the gun harder against the wrinkled skin of his forehead. “Just tell me what I want to know and this won’t get messy. ”
His mouth formed a surprised O, but still he didn’t shout for help. The weapon did seem to be distracting him from answering though, so I pulled it away. The entire frame of his body relaxed noticeably. From below I could hear shuffling feet and irritated voices as the men continued to look for the source of the disturbance.
“The coffin room is under the theater. I’ve never seen it, so I don’t know exactly where, but there’s a door behind the curt—”
I covered his mouth with my hand again upon hearing the withdrawing voices of the two other guards. Jackson’s eyes looked huge with terror.
“Who do you work for?” I needed to make this quick.
Lifting my hand enough that he could move his lips, I let him continue. “Work for?” He looked confused.
“Why are you here? Werewolves guarding a vampire doesn’t make sense. ”
“We’re not guarding the vampire. We’re here to protect our alpha. He’s guarding the vampire. ”
I was pretty sure I knew the answer to my next question already, but I needed to know for sure. “Who’s your alpha, Jackson?”
“Marcus Sullivan. ”
“And he’s underground too?”
Jackson nodded. “He and the queen sleep down there. ”
“Are there other guards?” Footfalls were echoing upwards. My time was almost up.
“Yes. Six. ”
I showed him the gun again. “How many?”
“Six, I swear. ” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple rising and falling with an exaggerated bob. Male voices were closer now. I couldn’t just leave Jackson to tell them I’d been here, but there was also no way I could take on the other two guards and keep the young wolf subdued.
“Thank you. I’m sorry. ” I saw his confusion at the words, but a moment later the butt of my gun connected with his temple, and he was out cold.
For the next part of my plan to work, I needed to be quiet and quick. I hopped onto the edge of the balcony, teetering as I balanced on the thin rail before leaping off and into the box where I’d originally hidden. An instant after I landed I heard one of the other guards swear.
I slipped back into the hallway where one of the guards stood with his back to me. The other was out of sight, but I could hear him trying to revive Jackson. I leaped onto the guard I could see and snaked my arm under his chin, jerking backwards to cut off his air supply. It would have been a perfect sleeper hold if I’d been six inches taller. I’d still be able to knock him out, but it was going to take a little extra elbow grease.
A wheezy moan escaped his lips and his body went slack under mine, tumbling to the floor. The whole process took mere seconds. If I could have left then without dealing with the third guard, I would have been happy to, but I doubted he would just ignore the fact that his two comrades were suddenly out cold.
“Bitch. ”
Yup, that’s what I figured.
I got to my feet and squared off against the redheaded guard who was now all that stood between me and the basement.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said.
“That’s a pity, because I want to hurt you. ”
I stepped backwards, careful to avoid the fallen werewolf who was now snoring on the floor. At the same time, I leveled my gun at the remaining guard. I had no intention of firing it, but he didn’t need to now that. Nothing says guess what, I’m here like gunplay.
“If you leave now, nothing will happen to you,” I promised.