by Zahra Stone
“I believed it, all right. Until I came here. We were very sheltered in Maxxan, Paige. We didn’t even know what we were capable of as fire demons, let alone how many other species are out there besides vampires and werewolves. They are sooooo many. And they’re not all out to get us. Is that a problem with you and Nate?”
“It was. At the start. When I tried to kill him.” I shuffled my foot, feeling ashamed of my judgmental behavior.
“I would have liked to see that.” Katie chuckled.
“You wouldn’t. He kicked my ass.”
“Sounds like you needed it.”
“Thanks.” I snorted, then snapped my mouth shut when the elevator dinged, and Nate stepped out, his eyes immediately zeroing in on me.
“Wondering where you got to.” He looked from me to Katie and back again.
“Relax. Just having a sisterly chat,” Katie told him, heading to the elevator before the door closed. “Let’s do dinner soon, sis.”
“Yeah, okay.” I waved, relieved that we’d had the chance to talk.
Nate’s face softened. “All good?” he asked.
“Yeah, all good.” Grabbing his hand, I waited until the elevator had whisked Katie up, then pressed the button. “You know about Katie, right? What happened?”
“I know.”
“That changed her. She just wants to keep me safe. Keep her family safe. I’m guessing she wasn’t happy when Jordan showed up with Rae?”
“Nope, she wasn’t. Let her displeasure be known too.” Nate rubbed at his jaw in memory.
“She hit you?” I gasped.
“Punched more like it. Bloody hard too. That girl has a mean right hook. Reminds me of someone.”
“I’m sorry.” I apologized for my own behavior and Katie’s.
“Why? Katie can fight her own battles, and she had a point. I should have given her the heads up that we were recruiting one of her family members.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t hit you again when I turned up.”
“Probably didn’t want a repeat of last time.”
I digested his words for a moment. “What did you do?”
“She spent a day in the cells.”
“Nate!”
“What? I can’t allow my staff to think it’s okay to go around punching me in the face.” He had a point. I didn’t get the chance to dwell on it anymore, for the elevator arrived, and Nate crowded me inside, backing me up against the wall and ravishing my mouth. I was flushed, and my lips were swollen when we arrived at the car park, mere moments later.
“What’s the plan?” I had to clear my throat and start again since my voice came out on a squeak.
“You’re coming with me. We’re team Delta, and we’ll be assigned to follow one of the vans leaving the Stillwater offices.”
“And Katie?”
“She’s on team Bravo.” He hadn’t grounded her then because of me.
We were assigned an unmarked vehicle, and off we went into the night, Nate behind the wheel, me armed with night vision binoculars since I wouldn’t be able to track diddly squat without them. I got the sneaking impression Nate was humoring me on this mission, letting me come along just to keep me out of trouble.
It kinda worked. We couldn’t have been much past midnight when I fell asleep on the job, my head against the side window. We’d been given our assigned van to follow and had dutifully followed it back and forth, from a warehouse near the docks, back to the Stillwater building. I hadn’t seen anything untoward.
Nate had radioed in the location of the warehouse at the dock and requested reconnaissance for the contents, but since we were all out playing follow the van, I wondered who was left to go and check the contents. Maybe that was tomorrow night’s mission? Or the day shift? Which had gotten my brain to thinking—why was Stillwater Pharmaceuticals moving what I assumed to be a product at night? And that’s when I’d finally succumbed to the exhaustion that still lingered from the night before.
I didn’t wake until I was swung up into Nate’s arms. “Sshh, go back to sleep.”
“Where are we?” I mumbled, tucking my head against his chest, eyes closed.
“Home.” I liked the way it felt, loved the way he said it. As if I belonged here. Sliding into bed behind me, he wrapped his arms around me, and we slept.
It was early afternoon when I woke. Nate was out cold next to me, and as quietly as I could, I slid out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. After using the facilities and having a quick shower, I dressed in the new clothes he’d had delivered especially for me and made my way downstairs, stomach once more growling. My body clock was all out of whack. I wasn’t used to nocturnal living.
Opening the fridge to get myself something to eat, I laughed softly. Blood bags. Of course. I was considering my options when my phone dinged. A message from Katie inviting me to lunch. Perfect. After sending her a text accepting, she sent me directions to the Witches Brew Restaurant in the Bell District.
I scribbled out a note for Nate on a napkin and left it on the kitchen bench. No one was around when I let myself out the front door.
It took me half an hour to reach the Bell District. I was on foot since I didn’t have a vehicle, but it was a gorgeous day, and I enjoyed the walk. A gentle breeze brushed my skin, and the sun didn’t have the same intensity here, making outdoor activities much more bearable. My nose told me I was getting close by the delicious aromas in the air, plus the outcropping of art galleries, restaurants, and bars.
A smile pulled at my lips as I practically skipped along, happy, looking forward to spending more time with my sister. And then the trouble started.
I’d been walking along the streets, peering into shop windows, admiring a particularly stunning handbag in a boutique store when a car screeched to a halt behind me. In the reflection of the window, I saw two men jump out and head toward me. I was mid-turn when one of them wrapped an arm around my waist and clamped a strange-smelling cloth over my nose. I sucked in a breath, trying to scream, but all I got was a lungful of the noxious fabric and passed out.
I came to a little in the car. I was in the back seat, one of the thugs next to me, the other driving.
“She’s waking up. Give her another dose. These bloody paranormals are fucking super resistant to everything.”
“What’s—” I was cut off mid-question by the cloth over my nose again and that funny smell. I caught a glimpse of buildings whizzing by outside the window before my eyes rolled back into my head, and I was out for the count.
Chapter Seventeen
I woke up with a pounding headache and nausea, making my stomach churn. I was lying on a semi-hard surface, a cot of sorts, pushed against the wall of a white room. When I sat up, my head swam, and I cradled it between my hands while I waited for the world to right itself. Whatever they’d drugged me with made me feel like shit. There was a bench attached to the wall opposite, and sitting on the bench a bottle of water. Groggily I made my way to it and twisted the lid off, taking a long swig.
That’s when I noticed my new attire. Some sort of tissue paper type coverall. Scratchy as shit, but at least I wasn’t naked. Then I saw the massive glass wall, giving me an uninterrupted view outside what I could safely assume was my cell. A passageway separated me from across the hall where I could see directly inside another cell. Only it wasn’t a cell. More like an examination room. There was a metal table with leather straps and buckles dangling from it. A moveable overhead light like surgeons use. A trolley off to one side. It looked sterile. Clinical. An ice-cold panic gripped my stomach. I was in Stillwater Pharmaceuticals, and they were going to make me disappear. I was sure of it. Kill me and feed me to the ghouls. I couldn’t sit here and let them get away with it.
Eyeing the glass wall, I backed up, turned my shoulder, and ran at it full speed. My shoulder connected solidly with the window with an impact that rattled all the way through my brain, but I got nothing to show for it. The glass held, not even a crack.
Stay calm, I to
ld myself. Nate would come. He would find me. But until then, I had to be resourceful. After all, wasn’t I the one who’d singlehandedly killed thirteen vampires in Maxxan? I didn’t want to remember that those vampires hadn’t exactly been a threat. They’d been going about their daily business when I’d taken it upon myself to remove what I perceived to be a threat. I couldn’t exactly complain when Stillwater Pharmaceuticals did the same thing.
A commotion outside my window caught my attention. Standing with my nose practically touching the glass, I watched as two men dressed in blue, guards I assumed, dragged a man dressed in a white coverall like mine into the room opposite. In one smooth move, the guards had the struggling man down on the table, locking down his arms and legs in fast, sure motions. They’d done this before, were acting like a well-coordinated machine.
Then a stunning red-headed woman came into view. She wore a white lab coat and was talking to a short, balding man by her side. She glanced over at me, said something to the little man who looked my way, indicating something on the clipboard he carried. She nodded, looking satisfied, then stepped into the room where the man tied to the table was thrashing his head around and yelling. Although I couldn’t hear a thing through the glass, it was apparent he was in great distress. A shudder ran through me, and I wanted to turn away, to not watch anymore, but I couldn’t. I needed to see what they had planned.
The redhead stood at the foot of the table, watching dispassionately as the small man retrieved a syringe from his pocket. One of the guards held down the man’s arm where it was jerking against its restraints, and the small man slid the needle into the vein and pressed the plunger. I caught a glimpse of green fluid. Was it the same green fluid we’d found in the vials in the Maxxan facility? Most of the samples had broken in Nate’s pocket when we crashed, but the lab had been confident they could retrieve enough of the solution from the pocket itself, so Nate had left his pants with the medical lab. I wondered if the tests were back yet.
A minute passed. Then two. The redhead checked her watch, her face impatient. The small man was scribbling on his clipboard. Then the man on the table began to writhe and scream. I watched in horror as his face contorted and bones snapped and grew, his jaw elongated like that of a dog, his fingers curled into the table he was lying on, long wicked-looking claws appeared. The guards shuffled back a few steps.
“No…”
He was changing from human into something else. It looked like it hurt. A lot. And it seemed to go on forever as the man fought, thrashed, and struggled. But it was useless. Whatever they had injected into him was doing what they wanted it to do, for the redhead woman and the small man looked pleased.
Then the man on the table stopped moving. He was fully transformed. From here, he looked like a dog, but I wondered if perhaps he was a werewolf. The redhead looked at her watch, then nodded. The man was no longer a man but a beast. His chest rose and fell in big puffs, his head flopped to the side, and I met his yellow eyes. His tongue flopped out from his snout, and a trickle of blood dripped from his fangs. Fangs? Was he part vampire too? Most likely bit himself in the transformation. Another minute ticked by, and then it started all over again, the writhing, the screaming. This time the bones were shrinking, the wolf snout disappeared back into a human face, but the fangs remained wicked looking. His skin changed color, now grey, but the claws remained on the ends of his fingers. What were they doing to him?
Something must have gone wrong at that point, for suddenly, the red-headed woman was yelling. She was pointing at the man on the table and gesturing for the small man to do something. The small man dropped the clipboard and dragged the trolley over to the bed, shooing everyone away. An oxygen mask was slipped on the man’s face and paddles to his chest. Shocking him back to life. Only he wouldn’t come. Didn’t want to come more likely.
Silent tears fell as I watched. It all fell into place. The humans who were disappearing, the homeless, and those who wouldn’t be missed were being experimented on. They were turning them into beasts. Only from what I’d just witnessed, it wasn’t going well. The red-headed woman slammed out of the room, anger in every step. The guards remained stoic, hands behind backs, eyeballs straight ahead, while the small man threw the defibrillator across the room. Their subject was dead. The previously pristine room was now splattered in blood and gore from where the man’s bones tore through his flesh.
I turned my back, not wanting to see anymore. Soon, they would come for me. Soon, it would be my turn. I had to be ready. I had to escape.
Only they didn’t come. No further experiments were undertaken, at least not in the room across from my cell. First, I got thirsty. Then I was hungry. I’d long since finished the bottle of water. I banged on the glass wall, trying to get someone’s attention, but no one was there. Had something happened? Had they abandoned the facility, leaving me here to die?
But the air was still on. I could hear the slight hiss as it was fed through the ventilation tube attached to the ceiling. And the lights remained steady.
“I am not going to die here,” I said out loud. The cell I was in had to be monitored—they were probably watching me, maybe making me weak so I wouldn’t give them any trouble. I’ve got news for them, I’m always trouble. I called forth a ball of flame and played with it, tossing it in the air between my hands. Yeah, assholes, watch this.
A full day passed. Then another. I couldn’t tell day from night. It remained constant, but time was passing. I’d been confident that once Nate knew I was missing that he’d find me. Where was he? He wouldn’t leave me here. He promised to keep me safe. And Katie? She’d be searching for me, tearing the city apart. She wouldn’t rest until she’d found me. I could count on them. They would find me, I was sure of it.
By the end of the third day, I wasn’t so sure, wasn’t so confident. My lips were dry and cracking, my throat parched. Hunger had come and gone. Now I was just thirsty. If I’d known that bottle of water would be my last, I would have conserved it, a few sips a day to keep me alive. If I’d known.
I had way too much time to think. About my family. About Nate. My growing feelings for him. I mean, what more did I need to trust the man? I had glowing references from my own family members who worked with him in the SIA. And I’d seen for myself his kindness and the steel that ran through him. Kind but fair, wasn’t that what Rae had said? And finally, I let my mind fall into the memory of our passion, let it wash over me in comforting waves. The way my skin pulsed when he touched me, how my blood boiled in my veins whenever he was near. I wanted him constantly, and okay, I was probably already a little bit in love with him.
So where was he?
They came on the morning of the fourth day. I tried to summon a fireball, but I could barely stand. That’s what they were counting on, I realized. Two guards stood outside my glass window, one holding a fire extinguisher. The other typed something into the band around his wrist, and my glass wall slid up into the ceiling.
I leaned against the back wall, watching them, calculating my chances of escape. Pretty slim, but a girl had to try. I waited until the first guard approached and grabbed my arm, pulling me forward. I staggered, dizzy, and he waited until I was grounded before pulling me toward the corridor. “This way.”
I knew where they were taking me. To the room opposite. Not far at all, and I didn’t have much time. As soon as we were clear of my cell, I broke free and ran. The guard hadn’t been expecting it, didn’t have a firm grip on me. If anything, he was merely guiding me where he wanted me to go. His mistake. I summoned a feeble fireball and tossed it over my shoulder at them. I didn’t hear any screaming, so I figured I’d missed my mark, but no matter, I was almost to the end of the corridor. If I could just get around the corner, I could regroup and ready myself to attack.
Two sharp prongs hit my back, sinking into my flesh and then jolting me with electricity. I went down hard, my forehead hitting the floor with a sharp crack, my whole body seizing with the voltage traveling through me. I
tried to funnel the power of the Taser and use it to my advantage. Still, I couldn’t force my body to obey while it was seizing. Within seconds my eyes were rolling back in my head, and a feeling of utter hopelessness smothered me. This time I welcomed oblivion.
Chapter Eighteen
This time when I woke, I was ready. Writhing and twisting on the table I was strapped to, I summoned my fire and tried to burn the shackles holding me. Only they were no longer the leather straps I’d seen earlier. They’d switched them to metal, and it heated beneath my flame, burning my flesh. With a shudder, I extinguished my flame, exhausted from using up my last reserves.
“You are quite spectacular.” I twisted my head at the sound of a woman’s voice. It was the redhead, and up close, she was even more beautiful. Her skin was ivory white, and her hair was cut into a stylish bob that accentuated her long neck. How could one so pretty be so evil? I watched as she moved to the foot of the table and looked at me as if cataloging my body parts, one by one.
“Who are you?” I croaked, my throat dry, my tongue swollen. I felt like I had a mouth full of cotton wool.
“Set her up on some fluids. Now we have her properly restrained, she is of no risk to us. We need her strong before the process.” She instructed the small man, who nodded and bustled around at the trolley that was fully stocked once more. He came toward me with an IV bag connected to a long, thin tube with a needle on the end.
“Small prick,” he muttered, wiping my arm with something cold, then sliding the needle into a vein.
“Yes, you are,” I snarled. He ignored me.
“He’s heard them all before.” The redhead told me, drawing my attention back to her. The saline solution traveled down the tube, and I felt it the moment it hit my system, the coolness. It was refreshing, and I wanted to gasp in relief. Instead, I kept my face neutral.
