Free Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete by Rosette Bolter

on Spike and Spike had chosen to use his mighty claws. In
the end, Green’s bullets missed, but Spike’s claws sank home. Time froze for a
moment as the cop’s body fell to the floor in the centre of the room, with both
Thunder Brad and Spike looking down on it. Then they looked at each other.
There was barely a movement from either of them before bullets rang out wildly
outside.
    Brad threw
himself up against the wall in an effort to dodge them, whilst Spike used his
paw to smash through the back window. The pair launched themselves through it
one at a time, and then their next challenge was to continue their escape on
foot through the forest.
    Spike was
leading the way. Brad had morphed into his bear and even with him on his side,
he still found it hard to keep up with his cousin. Something seemed to have
come over him. A force. A presence. Something other than the fact today their
entire world had collapsed.
    With no sense
of distance between the road and this part of the forest, Brad finally gave
into his frustration and jumped ahead to block Spike’s path. He shifted back to
his human self and Spike reluctantly joined him.
    Tired, both
men tried to get a hold of their panting.
    “You didn’t
have to rescue me,” Brad eventually said. “I had the situation under control.”
    “You don’t
have anything under control,” Spike snapped back. “You weren’t learning
anything new by allowing yourself to be prisoner to the humans. You’re just
wasting time.”
    “Well, what
about your efforts? Did you find out where the Destair are?”
    Spike
straightened himself up and approached Brad. He smacked a piece of paper
against his chest.
    “What’s
this?” Brad asked, peeling it away.
    He then
unfolded it.
    “That’s where
the Destair are. That’s where Jasmine is.”
    Brad read the
address. “This isn’t a camp. This is in the city.”
    “Exactly,”
Spike said. “That’s where they’ve gone now.”
    Brad sighed
with dismay. “How did you get this?”
    “I asked
around,” Spike said vaguely. “The point is, that’s the best lead we’ve got. So
we have to get back to the road and get ourselves a car so we hurry up down
there.”
    “Do you know
where the road is?”
    “Sure I do,”
Spike said. “Have you not seen these trees for so long they are unfamiliar?”
    “The smoke
confuses me,” Brad said. “So much life has perished.”
    Spike patted
him on the back. “We will set things right. Between the two of us, nothing is
impossible.”
    Brad omitted
a small smile. Then he suppressed it.
    “Show me to
where the road is. And then we’ll find this address of yours.”
    “This way,”
Spike said.

 
    CHAPTER
TWELVE
     
     
    The room Jasmine and Gabe had entered
was unlike the white, fraying corridor they had come from. The soft carpet
underneath their shoes shone a wonderful royal blue, while the wallpaper was a
deeper shade of green. Between those colors and various glass balls sparkling
on the mantle and coffee table, there was an almost aquatic feel to the room.
It was only when Gabe opened the door to the next room and there were wooden
plankings in place of the carpet, that Jasmine realized these were the colors
of the forest.
    She sat down
on the sofa in front of the coffee table as instructed, whilst Gabe retrieved a
bottle of wine from the cellar. He came back and sat next to her, placing the
bottle on the table with two glasses. Jasmine shifted away from him.
    “You don’t
have to be afraid of me,” Gabe said, expressing his discomfort at her aversion.
“I’m under orders to protect you.”
    “But for how
long,” Jasmine whispered. “If your leader asked you to kill me, you would do it
in a heartbeat.”
    “Nobody’s
killing anybody,” Gabe muttered. “Now please have a drink with me.”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “Only if you
promise to answer my questions.”
    “Before or
after we drink?”
    Jasmine
blinked. “Up to you.”
    Gabe reached
over and poured each of them a