Zack grabbed his backpack from beside the couch.
Zack: "We need to go. Now."
Mason looked toward the window.
Mason: "The fire escape is probably being watched."
Zack nodded.
Zack: "Exactly."
He rushed toward the kitchen and pulled open a cabinet.
Mason: "What are you doing?"
Zack: "Looking for something my mom left here."
Mason: "Your mom?"
Zack ignored him and searched through the cabinet.
Then he stopped.
His fingers found a small metal latch hidden beneath the shelf.
Click.
The entire back panel moved.
Mason stared.
Mason: "You've got to be kidding me."
Zack: "I didn't know this was here."
Behind the panel was a narrow staircase leading downward.
Mason: "You didn't know you had a secret staircase?"
Zack: "Apparently not."
A loud crash came from the apartment door.
BOOM!
Both of them froze.
A voice shouted from the hallway.
Darius: "ZACK!"
Zack's eyes widened.
Zack: "Go!"
They slipped through the hidden doorway.
Zack pulled the panel shut behind them just as the apartment door splintered.
They hurried down the narrow staircase.
Mason: "Where does this lead?"
Zack: "I don't know!"
Mason: "That's reassuring."
They reached the bottom.
The staircase opened into an underground room.
Dust covered the floor, but the walls were covered with strange symbols.
At the center stood a stone table.
On top of it was an old wooden box.
Zack slowly approached.
His wolf became restless.
Ours.
Zack whispered:
Zack: "What is this?"
Mason walked beside him.
Mason: "Maybe something your parents left."
Zack opened the box.
Inside were two silver necklaces.
Each had a small black stone hanging from it.
Beneath them was a folded piece of paper.
Zack picked it up.
His hands began shaking.
Mason: "What does it say?"
Zack unfolded the paper.
His mother's handwriting covered the page.
Zack read aloud.
Zack: "If you are reading this, then the bond has awakened."
Mason looked at him.
Zack continued.
Zack: "The two of you must stay together. The bond is stronger than anything Darius can control."
Mason: "What does that mean?"
Zack kept reading.
Zack: "But there is one thing you must know."
He stopped.
Mason: "What?"
Zack looked at the final sentence.
His face went pale.
Mason: "Zack?"
Zack slowly handed him the letter.
Mason read the words.
One of you carries the blood of the first wolf.
Silence.
Mason looked up.
Mason: "Which one?"
Before Zack could answer, the underground room began to shake.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Then came a deep growl from somewhere beneath them.
Zack stepped backward.
Zack: "That wasn't Darius."
Mason's wolf growled.
Run.
A crack appeared across the stone floor.
Something enormous moved underneath it.
Mason grabbed Zack's arm.
Mason: "We need to go."
Zack nodded.
But before they could move, the floor split open.
A pair of glowing golden eyes appeared beneath them.
And a voice echoed through the darkness.
"Finally..."
The room went silent.
"The heirs have returned."