Adam carried a tray in his hands, which he set down on the bed. A bowl full of something that was steaming, along with an orange and a slice of bread. Karey’s stomach growled. That wasn’t going to be enough. Maybe he thought she was fat enough already not to need more food—that was what her father always said, wasn’t it, when she said she needed to take a lunch break from work?
“Karey,” he greeted, inclining his head toward her. “This is a property of the Academy’s, yes, but not the Academy itself. We’re well away from anywhere the Pack will be able to track us down. I’m sure you’re hungry. If you’re cold, I can bring you another blanket. I’m still trying to figure out how to get the heat to blow down here properly.”
He actually sounded apologetic. Karey stared uncertainly at him. Was he serious about that? Her legs were trembling a little, so she crossed the room again and sat on the bed. “Why am I here? Do you want information about the serum? I can’t tell you anything. We haven’t made any progress since the last time the Academy stole our research.”
Adam shook his head. “You’re not that sort of prisoner, Karey. Think of this as a hostage situation combined with a deprogramming course. We took you because we know that you’re the Alpha’s daughter and we’re hopeful that he cares enough about you to try to get you back.”
Karey snorted. They were dreamers, weren’t they? After her previous time working with the Academy—even if it was to save his life—her father wasn’t going to give anything to get her back. He’d just assume that she was here of her own free will.
Not that she was going to say that. If they knew she was useless, they’d just throw her in jail and she’d never see the light of day again. Instead, she focused on the second part of what he said. “Deprogramming? Like I’m a robot that you can change the coding of?”
“More like you’ve been part of a cult for so long you don’t know what your own thoughts are.” Adam shrugged. “It’s just you and me here. And unless we both want to go crazy with boredom and isolation, then we’re going to have to talk about what the Pack does and how much you actually believe.”
Karey knew she ought to snap at him. Tell him to lay off her, that she would never betray her Pack, her father, her family. But those words got caught in her throat. Perhaps because it struck too deeply. How much she actually believed?
It was all too recent that she started wondering what her beliefs were and thinking that maybe those beliefs actually mattered.
“But only because you want to use me to your own ends,” she said, forcing herself to throw her shoulders back. It took all her trembling strength, but she narrowed her eyes. “You can forget about it. I have no intention of being used.”
Adam shrugged. “Alright. Enjoy your soup.”
He walked out without so much as a backward glance. Karey stared after him, heart pounding and hands trembling. The longer she stayed, the angrier her father would get. And she had just managed to make him smile! She couldn’t lose that.
She would get out of this place and find her way back home. She had to.
Chapter Four
Adam glanced up from the stove at the monitor for the basement prison. He frowned as he saw that Karey hadn’t gotten up yet. Was she just so depressed about being captured or was she trying to get him to come down so she could attack him?
That didn’t seem likely. He was down there every few hours, giving her the blocker injections and checking to make sure she was warm enough. If she wanted to attack him, she could just use any of those situations to her advantage.
He’d given her a portable DVD player that was plugged in from an extension cord strung through the vents so she wouldn’t be so bored, but so far, she hadn’t used it yet. Of course, he took it out at night, when he wouldn’t be able to monitor her, making sure she didn’t use it to escape or hurt herself. The fact that she hadn’t yet gotten out of bed, though, was worrisome. Especially considering her breakfast sitting on the small nightstand untouched.
He moved the bacon off the burner, leaving it in the pan to simmer some more and turned the heat off the hash browns. Frowning, he leaned over his computer monitor, watching the motionless figure of Karey Fisher. She’d refused all attempts at communication so far, always staring at a book she wasn’t reading when he came down. Usually, when he wasn’t down there, she would skim through the books or pace and do stretches.
It was unnerving to see her so still.
Adam moved the hash browns off the heat as well. The food wasn’t quite done, so he grabbed an orange before he moved to the basement door. After unlocking it, he headed down.
“Oatmeal not to your taste?” he asked her as he set the orange down on the table. “Brought you an orange. I’m making bacon, hash browns, and eggs for lunch. Will you want any?”
Karey pulled the blanket up over her head.
“You want me to put this on?” He pointed at the DVD player, even though she wasn’t looking at him. “I seem to remember Utopia saying that the Alpha doesn’t trust tech. So, if you don’t know how to use it—”
“I know how to use it.” Her voice came out cracked and choked.
Adam’s hand dropped to his side. Was she crying? An uncomfortable tightness rose up in his chest at the knowledge. Of course, he had anticipated this. You couldn’t kidnap a woman and expect that she wasn’t going to cry. It was just that she hadn’t cried so far, at least not that he’d noticed. So now that she was crying, he didn’t exactly know what to do.
“Well… okay. I have more movies upstairs if you wanted to come check them out. You don’t have to be in the basement all the time.”
She threw the blankets back and stood so suddenly that Adam tensed. His hands lifted, ready to defend himself if she came at him. Her eyes were red and puffy but still narrowed. Her hands shook as she glared at him.
“I know what you’re doing,” she rasped out. “You’re keeping me isolated so I’m fully dependent on you. You’re making sure that I don’t have any other options. Then you pretend to be nice. As though you’re being so generous when you let me come upstairs for a few minutes. Giving me books and movies as if to say you’re not such a bad person after all.”
Adam rose a brow. She was more perceptive than they thought she would be.
“You think you’re so different from the Pack?” Her chin rose. “Well, then why are you using the exact same methods that my father would?”
“The same methods your father uses,” Adam repeated, trying to shove down the ball of guilt forming in his stomach. He didn’t want to examine this right now. “You mean on prisoners or on you?”
Karey opened her mouth, then closed it. It was like all the anger just melted from her body. She deflated, sinking back down on the bed. Her hands gripped the mattress, but she remained silent. Her lip trembled and she bit it. Adam repressed the urge to flinch. Was he really doing the right thing here? But yes, of course he was… He was doing this for the greater good.
“Look,” Adam moved a little closer, then backed off when she tensed. “I know that this isn’t the ideal situation. I know that it must be terrifying and lonely. I know that it’s manipulative. The thing is, I am trying to save lives here. The Academy needs to take down the Pack because the Pack keeps terrorizing and murdering innocent people. Is that the side you want to be on?”
Karey flinched and pulled in a deep breath. “I… We don’t murder people.”
“What would you call it then?”
“If I didn’t do as my father said then I—” She bit her lip hard, but Adam could understand what she didn’t say.
A father who publicly threatened to kill his daughter wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her. She could have been one of the ones to get murdered. Adam studied her for a moment before he decided that he wouldn’t press it. She was clearly overwhelmed and if he pushed too hard now, in this first time that they were having any sort of conversation, it’d only set them back.
“I don’t like this. Keeping you prisoner here with only me for
company,” Adam told her slowly, trying to be as honest as he could.
“Then why do it?”
“In all fairness, it was my idea. I believe that you’re the key to taking down the Pack once and for all. You have the information we need to stop the Alpha from perfecting his serum and using it on unwilling participants. Or using it on willing participants and building himself an army to cause even more destruction than he’s already done.”
“I’m not going to turn against my father.”
“So you believe in what he’s doing?” Adam shook his head, realizing that he’d just pushed too hard. “Well I guess now isn’t the time to talk about that. If you want to come upstairs and pick a movie, you can. We’re going to be here for a long time.”
Karey chewed her lip. Her arms wrapped tight around her middle, and she bent her head. “If… if I tell you something, can we make a deal?”
Adam froze. She was offering him information? Already? He hardly dared to breathe as he nodded slowly. She wasn’t looking at him, though, so he cleared his throat. “Yeah. You can tell me what you want and then you can tell me what you think it’s worth. I’ll say right away if it’s something I can do or not.”
“I… I want to be off the blockers. For a couple of days at least.”
His eyes narrowed. Off the blockers? That would mean she could access her wolf form and would be a lot more dangerous. He was about to say no flatly when she looked up again. Her eyes glimmered with tears.
“Please. I’m an Omega, I’ve spent almost my entire life on the blockers except when I am busy enough I can say I forgot. They think that if I’m cut off from my wolf long enough, it’ll go to someone who is stronger than I am. But recently I was allowed to go off the blockers. I got my wolf back and… and I don’t even know her. But I miss her so much. Please. I know that you can’t let me have her all the time but if you just give me two days off the blockers, I can at least feel her again. Please.”
Adam’s heart gave a lurch. He had to say no, he knew that. But it was just so hard, seeing the pleading on her face as she looked up at him with those big, teary eyes. Even though logically he knew this could be just a manipulation tactic.
He rubbed the scar on his throat as he contemplated the situation. Blockers started to wear off after a few hours. If he gave her just a few, it wouldn’t be enough for her to fully shift, but it would be enough to let her commune with her wolf again. Gods knew it’d hurt if he was put on the blockers and was cut off from his fires.
“Twelve hours,” he said. “No more than that. And only so long as the information you give me is worth it.”
Karey’s shoulders slumped, but she nodded. “Twelve, then. Every few days?”
“Only once.”
Her head dropped. She shrank back into herself, but it seemed she wasn’t going to argue anymore. “Okay. There is a new doctor working on the serum. His name is Shane Carter. He’s been working in human cities for the last few years, so you’ll be able to find out more things about him. He was brought back to the Pack just after Clementine and Utopia developed that anti-serum. He’s been using it to try to develop a serum that will actually work.”
Adam grimaced. That was not good news. They were under more of a time crunch than they realized. None of their intelligence had heard anything about a new doctor working on the serum. He nodded toward Karey. “That’ll earn you the twelve hours for sure. You want them now or another time?”
“Now,” Karey replied at once. Her whole body seemed to lighten, and she perked up.
The smile that crossed her face was almost blinding, and Adam’s heart skipped a beat. Tears still rolled down her plump cheeks, but as she wiped them off, he found himself wondering just how easy it would be to kiss them away.
Oh… shit.
Adam headed for the door. “Alright, then. You’ve got twelve hours without the blockers. I’ll be back with lunch soon.”
As he took the stairs two at a time and locked the door behind him, Adam let out a heavy sigh. Well. That had been unexpected… Karey was a beautiful girl. He’d thought so every time he saw her. All curves from head to toe, with that thick, luscious hair and those big eyes. This was the first time he’d seen her smile, though, and for him to have these butterflies in his stomach...
He scowled as he went back to the stove to finish cooking that greasy meal. Maybe Stephen is right. Maybe I ought to look through that stash… This has to be because I’m getting too horny.
Yes. That was it. So once he was done with lunch and the cleanup, he’d see if anything struck his fancy. Better nip this problem in the bud, rather than trying to push through and potentially making this worse. Karey was off-limits. She wasn’t even fantasy material. So. He’d take care of himself and there would be no more reactions to her smile. No more thoughts about kissing her.
That was all there was to it.
***
It would take three hours to fly back to the nearest gas station to phone in a report on what he’d learned from Karey, but Adam decided that it was worth the risk. If he moved fast, he’d be back in a maximum of seven hours. Sure, the flight back would be harder since he’d already be tired, but there was a reason why Patrick and Fiona insisted that they have days when they spent almost the full twenty-four hours in the air. His wings were strong. And since he made the deal with Karey, it meant she’d have her time without the blockers, and he wouldn’t have to give her a freebie.
The Academy had to know about the new doctor. It changed everything.
Adam delivered his news to Maura herself. She accepted the information and said he made the right call by telling her, then told him in the future to just bring Karey with him. He accepted the scolding with a chagrinned grimace and headed back to Fort Stinky Butt.
When he got there, he found the basement door wide open. The edges were charred like Karey had taken a fire to them. But how? He’d removed all the electronics so she couldn’t have started a fire that way!
A growl reverberated in his throat as he grabbed a needle and a vial of the blocker. She couldn’t have gone far, no matter how she’d broken out of the basement. Outside, he found she’d stuck to his tracks around back to the woodshed, but her footprints were clear breaking off into the forest. He started to follow the tracks, jogging along them. They were evenly spaced; she’d been walking. Conserving her energy until she got her wolf back, no doubt.
Well. She had lost the privilege of letting her wolf come back. That was for damn certain.
Chapter Five
Karey wasn’t sure if she’d pushed those first flames she’d felt building in her belly too far or if it was just too cold to keep them going. In any case, she hadn’t been long in the forest, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, before the fires went out. She felt a slight stirring in her chest that was her wolf. It was distant, indistinct. Clinging to it, hoping that it would grow stronger, she pressed on. She didn’t know how long she had before Adam found she was missing.
It had been a stroke of luck that he had left at all. She had anticipated having to fight her way free with her fires. But then he had left, and she took the chance to make her escape.
Now as the sky grew darker with every minute and the snowflakes grew thicker and fatter, she hoped that it would be enough to cover her tracks in the snow. To keep him off her trail long enough for her to find her back to civilization. Figure out where she was and contact the Pack. Get back to her father before he decided she was unforgivable.
The blanket wasn’t much use against the biting wind, though, and her tennis shoes weren’t made to keep out the snow. They soaked through and then froze.
The world was black around her, and her shivering was so bad she could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. And then her wolf was awake enough for her to shift. She dropped to her knees, pulling the warm fur around her. Relief washed through her body as her wolf growled protectively. Wrapped itself around her, warming her with its presence as the fires started to flicker to life on
ce more in her belly.
Then a jab of pain. She yelped, whipping around. And there in the moonlight stood Adam Hoffman. He yanked a needle out of her rump.
“I congratulate your efforts, but unless you want to freeze, I think you should come back to the cabin now.”
Karey snarled. She lunged, but even as she did so, she could feel her wolf slipping away. She scrambled madly to pull it back, but the blockers coursed through her system and within seconds, it was gone. She was left in clothes torn at the seams from her shift and a blanket soaked through with snow. The cold sank into her bones as she knelt there, looking up at her captor.
“Fuck you,” she snarled between chattering teeth.
Her father would slap her for using such language, but he wasn’t here. And Adam didn’t slap her. Instead, a look of concern crossed his face.
“Did you seriously come out here dressed like that?” He shrugged off his parka and wrapped it around her. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the cabin. If you really are used to being on the blockers you have to know that you’re a lot more susceptible to getting sick.”
“I know,” Karey tried to snap, but her teeth were chattering too much. She pulled the parka closer around herself and didn’t protest as Adam picked her up. “I’m always sick. Even when I’m not on the blockers I get sick too easily… because I’m weak and useless and my father would have been better off if I had never been born.”
She was saying too much. She pressed her lips together as tightly as she could. The dark cold hugged her tightly, battling with the heat from Adam’s body.
When they got back to the cabin, Adam gave her new clothes and told her to change in the bedroom. She did so, wondering when he was going to put her back in the basement. Her hands were like blocks of ice, and she could barely make her fingers work well enough to dress herself. It was for that reason she didn’t even think about breaking open the window and making another run for it.
Adam had built a fire in the stove, and when she was done, Karey sank down on the floor before it, stretching her fingers out toward it. Her nose was running and there was a severe dryness to her throat, but she hoped it was only temporary because of the cold.
Dragon's Prisoner: A Curvy Girl Military Romance (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 4) Page 3
