Eugene glared at him, then at the relieved expressions on his superiors’ faces. “You told him to tell me to grab Clementine and go to the Pack?”
Fiona nodded. “We needed to make sure.”
“Make sure—” Eugene bit off his own protest. Make sure that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. Like breaking Clementine out and going to the Pack for protection… Like flying off to Greenland and living in the frozen cold for the rest of their days. His shoulders slumped, and he sank into a chair. He pressed a trembling hand to his eyes. “I can’t be left alone.”
“Why do you—”
“Because I will do something stupid. I will break her out, and it’ll just make everything worse. Just…” He lifted his head and glanced at each one of them, pleadingly. “Just please don’t let her get hurt. Please. I can’t trust myself not to do something stupid, but I can’t… I can’t…”
Adam put a hand on his shoulder. “She won’t be hurt. I promise.”
Chapter Nine
Clementine hadn’t seen Eugene since she was brought back to the Academy. One of the Blaze Ops was either with her or outside her door at all times. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to protect her or if they were making sure that Eugene didn’t try anything. Either way, the flicker of hope she’d managed to spark when she was with her mate in that cabin had been extinguished.
They didn’t even let her say goodbye. They just put those damn chains on her again, injected her with a blocker and had her shuffling out into a prisoner transfer van once again.
Everything felt heavy, and she wished she could just curl up and sleep for a week. Or at the very least, figure out some way to change what was happening. It was like a repeat of history. Only this time, she knew that Eugene wasn’t going to be following after them.
Adam was part of the transfer team this time, though. And having a dragon nearby was a little comfort. He even helped her into the van, his expression softer than it had been in quite a while. In the van, she was seated on a softer bench than last time. She closed her eyes, wishing that she could forget what was happening for a little while.
“You know,” she said softly, bitterly and more out of a desire to lash out than anything else, “with the way you’ve all been treating me, the way you so easily turned against me… I’d almost work with the Pack willingly just to get away from you.”
One of the men, a non-shifter named Mark, snorted. “Is that a confession, then?”
Clementine glared at him. “I have nothing to confess.”
“That’s enough,” Adam rumbled as Mark opened his mouth again. “We’re in for a long drive. Let’s try not to work ourselves up too bad, shall we?”
Mark glared at him and leaned back, holding his gun in a grip that was a bit too tight. Probably wishing that he could just shoot her between the eyes. Adam was the only one in the van who wasn’t giving her that same look.
Nothing changed, she realized with a sinking heart. Nobody believes me. I’m going to be found guilty. But does Eugene believe me? Is that why I haven’t seen him? Is it because he doesn’t want anything to do with me now, or is it because he does believe me, and the others won’t let him near me?
She desperately wished she could see him one more time before they left.
It was too late for that, though. The van swayed, everybody sat in silence and Clementine curled in on herself. Even with the discomfort of all those eyes on her, the emotion weighed her down so much that exhaustion crept over her. She had barely been sleeping these last few days. Even though she fought the heaviness of her eyelids, she felt herself drifting under.
She dreamt of Eugene. They were running together in a field, swimming together in a lake, lying by a fire and looking up at the stars. She could almost taste his lips on hers.
A bang, a cry and a splattering of something warm and wet over her face jerked her from her dreamworld.
What greeted her was like a nightmare. Her eyes took in the sight, but she didn’t understand. It didn’t seem real. Adam slumped beside her, eyes wide as blood spurted from a hole in his neck. Flames flickered through the injury and then stopped. Gunfire exploded. The guards turned their guns on Mark, and suddenly he was a polar bear.
It was all over in seconds.
Mark shifted back to human, grabbed his gun and waited. Clementine became aware that they had stopped; seconds later, the doors opened—and Mark opened fire. Clementine screamed, covering her face with her hands. She heard the bullets impacting the bodies, and then there was silence, save for the ringing in her ears.
He rifled through Adam’s pockets, unlocked her chains and pulled her from the van.
“You… you’re a shifter?” she breathed, heart slamming against her ribs as a scream wrapped around her throat. This could not be happening.
“I am. As Fiona always says,” he grinned, “our best weapon is for people to underestimate us. If nobody knew I was a shifter, nobody would think that I was working for the Pack, now would they?”
Clementine stumbled over her own feet as Mark pulled her toward the front of the van. Acid churned in her stomach. “You… you’re the one who…?”
“Framed you? Yes.” Mark pushed her into the passenger’s side, then climbed in over her to sit behind the wheel. “And you’d better be telling the truth about being willing to work with the Pack, Dr. Brown. My orders were to kill you. But I think the Alpha would rather have your talents be made useful. Ever since we lost Tennet, things have been… stalled in her research.”
Clementine sat there numbly, fear coursing through her. Without her mountain lion, she felt lost, confused. Did she try to run? How could she run from a polar bear that had already killed…
Oh, god! Adam. Adam was dead. That injury. A bullet to the neck. Not even a dragon… the other guards. He’d been planning this. How long? Why? He hadn’t been part of the first team. The Pack wanted her dead. But he was taking her to the Pack. The Alpha would want her for Utopia’s research.
If she didn’t become a traitor for real, she was going to die.
If she did do this and Eugene found her again, he’d never believe that she wasn’t in on it from the start.
He was never going to forgive her for Adam’s death.
He’d never forgive himself.
Clementine pressed her fingers to her temples, whimpering as Mark drove the van forward. She wasn’t even aware of the trees passing by. She had to get out of here. But go where? If she had her mountain lion, she’d jump from the moving vehicle and take her chances in the woods. A cat was more maneuverable than a bear. She’d be able to outrun him. She’d always been good in forests.
But she didn’t have her mountain lion.
“Why?” she asked, heart throbbing. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I was offered a hell of a lot of money.” Mark grinned at her as he turned off the highway onto a range road. “A lot more than the Academy could ever offer me.”
“Money?”
“Yup.”
A clawing sensation rose in Clementine’s throat. Money? He was turning against everything that was decent and good, everything moral and right in the world, for money? Her hands clenched into trembling fists as she stared in disgust at Mark.
“Fuck you!”
He jumped, surprise crossing his face.
“Fuck you!” Clementine repeated. “If it was about the politics, I could at least think you were doing something you believed in! But this? This is beyond depraved and immoral and—”
“I am doing it for something I believe in. I believe in money. Now shut your damn mouth, or I’ll give you something to fuck about.”
The threat was clear, but it only made her angrier. All her life, she’d wanted to help others. She had fought tooth and nail to get to where she was so that she could be in a position to really make a difference. Now it was all about to be taken away because some bozo wanted a little more money.
“You are a monster,” she hissed. “If I had my mountain lion
—”
“But you don’t. You’re weak and pathetic, and I told you to keep your damn mouth shut!”
Clementine’s jaw snapped shut on reflex. She knew she ought to be afraid. Ought to be terrified that she was going to end up dead or worse. That she was really going to be a traitor and that any chance at a decent life was going to go out the window. But she couldn’t. There was too much rage.
And so, she lunged.
Mark let out a howl as she grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it sharply to one side. He tried to correct, but it was already too late. They flew off the road, ramming hard into a tree. Clementine was thrown hard against the dashboard. The air knocked from her lungs, she scrambled with Mark. He was shouting something, blood running down his forehead from where he’d hit the windshield.
The blade of a knife flashed, and she slammed her hand into Mark’s wrist. The self-defense she’d learned took over her body. Without even being fully aware of what she was doing, she twisted Mark’s arm sharply. There was a crack. Mark cried out. He grabbed her hair with his other hand. She swung blindly with the knife. Felt it connect with something soft, then sudden resistance.
Clementine cried out as Mark yanked her head back. Using all her weight, she slammed herself forward, driving the knife deeper. He cried out, only for it to fade into a gurgle. His hand went limp, carrying a chunk of hair with it. Pain shot along the back of her scalp, white-hot pokers drumming into her head.
Mark weakly lifted his hand to the knife where it had driven into his neck. He grabbed it. Clementine almost told him to leave it in, he’d bleed out faster without it. But then he’d pulled it out. Blood gushed. His eyes glazed over.
Bile rose suddenly in her throat, and Clementine threw herself back the other way. She kicked open the door and stumbled out, collapsing to her knees as her body heaved. It didn’t stop until she had vomited out everything she had eaten in the past day.
Sweat trickled down her neck. Clementine staggered away from the pile of vomit, the stench making her sick to her stomach.
What now? If she waited, either the Pack or the Academy could find her. If it was the Pack, they’d kill her. If it was the Academy, they’d assume she somehow managed to get free and killed them all. And Eugene… Eugene would see Adam’s body and then…
She had no proof that Mark was the traitor. He was dead with the rest of them. Who was going to believe her?
A wind wafted over her face, bringing with it the sounds of the forest. It would be some time before either party found the van. The blockers were only good for another six hours. If she could evade them until then… well, the forest was her friend.
Clementine thought about gathering supplies but couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her dead comrades. So, stumbling as her knees still trembled, she headed into the forest. Toward her only sanctuary.
***
One Month Later
The clothes she’d stolen from a line were too tight on her, even though she’d dropped weight since living off what the forest could provide her. Clementine sat in the bathroom of a gas station, the one item she’d bought in the past month sitting loose in her hand as she stared at it.
Pregnant.
What was she meant to do now? It could cause complications for her to stay in her mountain lion form while she was pregnant, but she couldn’t just assume her human identity again. It was too dangerous. They were still hunting for her. So what was she supposed to do? The idea of deliberately ending her pregnancy left her blood cold. No, she wanted this baby. Her baby. Eugene’s baby.
Her heart squeezed. Eugene. She wanted so desperately to see him… to tell him… but doing that would put him in danger.
Pregnant.
Clementine hid her face in her hands and wept.
Chapter Ten
Eugene brought the ax down for a final time, enjoying the burn in his arms as he split the last piece of wood in two. He’d been out here for a few hours now. Longer than was strictly needed. Gathering wood for the winter usually meant storing the logs and splitting them as needed, but the other jobs his parents had directed him to wouldn’t be quite so physically intense. He needed the muscle burn right now.
Setting the ax aside, Eugene started straightening the chopped wood. It had been a month since he’d last been at the Academy. When the rest of the Blaze Ops had come back, saying that Clementine was missing and Adam was dead… it had been too much for him to take. He didn’t even want to think about what might have happened.
Instead, he told Patrick that he was leaving and came to his parents’ farm. It wasn’t that far from the Academy, and if they needed him, they knew where to find him. He knew they’d tell him if they found Clementine.
They hadn’t said anything, so they hadn’t found her. Why? Because she was on the run or had joined with the Pack or was dead? He didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t trust himself right now.
Not when it was his fault Adam was dead.
Eugene let out a huff, annoyed at himself. He’d come here specifically so he didn’t have to think about these sorts of things. He knew it wasn’t likely for him to just forget it, but was it too much to ask for some of the peace he’d always known here as a kid?
Patrick and Fiona had been very adamant that it wasn’t his fault that Adam was dead. He knew that, technically, it wasn’t. He couldn’t have known what was going to happen. They still didn’t know what happened. The only survivor, Mark, was still in a coma. Clementine had apparently stabbed him through the throat. It was a miracle he, a non-shifter, had even survived. Especially when Adam, a dragon, hadn’t.
The thing was, Eugene was the one who insisted that a member of the Blaze Ops was with her at all times. As much to stop him from doing something stupid as it was to protect her. If he hadn’t insisted on it, if Adam hadn’t promised to keep her safe, then Adam wouldn’t have been in that van. He wouldn’t have been killed like that.
Eugene snarled, letting out a puff of smoke as he kicked a log aside. Thinking about this wasn’t going to help anybody. Maybe he ought to take Mom’s advice and talk to a therapist. Modir said that it was a normal part of the grieving process, but this didn’t feel normal. It felt crushing. Right now, Eugene didn’t know if he could ever go back to the Academy. He wouldn’t be able to unless he figured out how to stop blaming himself—and without the Academy, what was he?
I could stay here and be a farmer like I’ve always thought I would. But that just didn’t have any appeal without his mate by his side. Would I know if she was dead?
He finished stacking the wood and wandered from the woodshed, trying to decide what to do next. It was a warm September and things weren’t quite ready for the harvest yet. He could work on patching up the barn, he supposed, but Dad never liked it when he took on those sorts of projects alone. He’d want to work with Eugene. Talk things out.
But I don’t want to talk. Eugene smiled grimly to himself. Then what’s the point of going to a therapist?
He rounded the woodshed to find a cougar slinking along the edge of the chicken coop. Eugene froze. What the…?
Cougars never came this close to the buildings. It crept along, looking around nervously, but didn’t notice him as he stepped closer to the woodshed. As he watched, the cougar came to the clothesline. There, it reared to its hind legs and hooked a paw around the line, bringing it down. Then, with infinite carefulness, it pulled the clothespins away from one of Modir’s dresses. It rolled the dress into a bundle.
No.
Not it.
Her.
Clementine.
Eugene opened his mouth, already calling her name out as he ran forward. The cougar jerked in surprise. On seeing him, she turned on a dime and darted back to the trees. Eugene pushed himself hard, his breath caught in his throat as he chased after her. If she disappeared now, he’d never see her again.
“Clementine!” he shouted. “Stop! Stop! Please!”
She slowed. Turned, looking back. And that was how he knew f
or certain. It had been so long since he’d seen her mountain lion form… but there was no mistaking those eyes.
“Clementine,” he called again.
She turned back around and put on a fresh burst of speed.
No!
Eugene called his fires up. They spread through his blood, shooting to the ends of his fingers and toes. Wings burst from his back, scales covering his skin. He threw himself into the trees. His nostrils flared as he scented Clementine and followed after her. He crashed through the bushes, glimpsing her sandy fur here, then there… then nothing at all.
No. No, no, no! Eugene growled in frustration as he bent his head close to the earth. Her scent was still there, strong, pleasant. He slowed his pace, knowing if he acted too eagerly, he could jump over the trail and lose precious time.
The sky was starting to dim when he came to the lake and knew he’d lost her. This was always what she’d do in their games of hide and seek back when they were teens. As soon as she got to the lake, he’d always lose her trail. Either she’d swim straight across or she’d swim to one side or the other. He was certain she had a good half-dozen hiding spots in the lake itself that he’d never managed to find. Was she in the beaver’s lodge? Had she gone to those rocks to the north?
Was this even the right trail? Or had she taken the same path she had to get to the farm and then split off there, hoping that he’d track her old path and not the new one?
In any case, he’d lost her. Again.
Eugene grunted as he pushed himself off the ground. The water rippled and splashed as he beat his wings and took to the air. A couple laps around the lake showed no sign of Clementine, and he headed back for the farm.
If he hadn’t been such an idiot, he could have caught her. He should have waited. She didn’t know he was there. If he hadn’t warned her, he could have jumped on her and pinned her to the ground.
What was she doing here, anyway? She had to know that her parents were under surveillance. Had to know that they were under strict instruction to tell the Academy if she contacted them. Was that why she came to the farm rather than their house?
Dragon's Pride (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 3) Page 6
