Vintor joined him and heard people running in the hall over the annoying siren.
“Too bad you knocked out the guard. I guess we can still try to use him as a shield,” Vintor suggested.
“He’ll just be dead weight.” Boaz shook his head.
“What about these?”
They turned to see Laney holding two disrupters.
“Whoa, female, do you even know how to use those things?” Boaz gingerly took the weapons from her.
“Do you know how to use them?” she asked indignantly.
“She has a point,” Vintor snorted.
“You aim and pull the trigger. It has a limited number of rounds.” Boaz shrugged.
“I can be your captive,” Laney offered.
Boaz looked like he was ready to object, but Vintor interrupted him.
“It’s not an awful idea. What if I hold her as my captive while you do the camouflage thing? Then if the humans don’t let us pass you can ambush them.”
“It’s our best shot,” Laney entreated, clearly over her reticence.
“Are you sure this doesn’t bother you?” Boaz furrowed his sharp brows.
“As long as you keep those fangs to yourself.” Laney stared pointedly at Vintor’s mouth.
“All right. I don’t know how familiar you are with humans, but they’re very delicate. Be careful with her, and don’t touch her bare skin,” Boaz hissed in warning as he handed Vintor one of the primitive disrupters.
Okay. Even though it was obvious Boaz had laid claim to Laney, the last comment struck him as strange. He certainly wasn’t about to argue. He just wanted to get out of the cell.
“I have worked with humans before coming here. I know you don’t know me, but I promise I won’t let anything happen to Laney. And I promise I don’t go around biting random females,” he reassured them, trying not to smirk.
“I’m not that delicate. Come on. We need to find Maya. I overheard Frank say something about Emil’s lab.” Laney grimaced and quickly pulled open the door before Boaz changed his mind.
Anger and fear engulfed Vintor scenting Laney’s spike of fear. He had a feeling Maya was in danger, but this went so much deeper. Vintor shoved down the growl rolling in his chest as he peered into the hall.
Don’t lose it now.
Humans were racing down the corridor, fleeing the disruptor fire that could be heard echoing in the distance. The look of sheer panic on their faces didn’t bode well. He anxiously watched the people pass, most not even noticing him hovering in the cracked doorway as they fled. The crowd quickly thinned to a few stragglers.
“Now’s our best chance,” Vintor whispered to the others.
The chameleon shifted to a mottled shade of gray, blending in with the wall. Vintor couldn’t help but gawk. It was truly amazing. He didn’t bother holding Laney captive since they were entirely alone as they slipped into the hall. It was both a good and disturbing turn of events.
“Let’s be quick before whoever’s firing and returning fire comes this way.” Boaz scooped Laney up and started running the direction the humans fled.
As they reached an intersecting corridor, Vintor heard several people coming and drew to an abrupt halt.
“Son of a metcor,” he snarled and hugged the wall.
“What’s going on?” Laney asked as Boaz set her down.
“Someone’s coming. Run like you’re fleeing us.” The male pointed down the hall.
“I’m supposed to be your captive,” Laney insisted.
“I really didn’t like that plan,” Boaz hissed as they aimed their weapons at whoever was coming around the corner.
Vintor couldn’t blame the male for not wanting to use Laney in that way. He certainly wouldn’t want to risk Maya’s safety. The humans were scared and that made them unpredictable.
Instead of fleeing like she was told, Laney paused in the middle of the intersection.
“Don’t shoot,” she begged the handful of human warriors who practically ran right over her.
Boaz hissed in agitation. They couldn’t risk firing on the human warriors with her in the way. Before the uniformed males could draw their weapons, the chameleon snarled and attacked the male who was way too close to his female, punching the human in the side of his head.
Vintor roared as he joined the fray, avoiding the weapon his opponent pulled and fired. He threw his fist, reveling in the crunch as it smashed into the male’s face, breaking the human’s nose. The warrior swayed then dropped to the floor, blood pouring from his face.
The people who’d been following the human warriors screamed in terror as they tried to avoid the skirmish, frantic to get by while fleeing the coming threat. Thankfully Laney also had sense enough to get out of the line of fire.
Boaz hissed and Vintor growled menacingly as they squared off against the remaining warriors, weapons aimed. The humans looked down the corridor toward the unseen menace then glanced back at Boaz and Vintor.
“We better go before they seal the blast doors,” one male barked as he took several steps backward. Once at a safe distance, he turned and ran. His companions abandoned the fight and joined the retreating warrior.
“Shit. We’ll be trapped down here with whatever’s coming. Dammit we have to figure out where Emil’s lab is and fast,” Laney cursed.
“Torment!” He didn’t know what had the humans running scared, but it couldn’t be good.
Vintor was positively frantic. He didn’t know where to begin to look for Maya and neither did Laney. He reached down and picked up the human still reeling from being punched.
“Where are they keeping my mate?” he roared as he shook the male.
“If you want to live, get on your radio and find out where Dr. Hayden’s lab is!” Laney demanded.
“I…I,” the wide-eyed human sputtered past the blood pouring from his nose.
“I know where she is.”
Vintor looked up to see a gray-haired male in a green outfit much like Maya wore.
“You know where his lab is, Jim?” Laney asked.
The old male frowned as he nodded, deepening the creases around his eyes.
“Then let’s hurry,” Laney fretted.
Vintor dropped the injured human and started to follow the others. He instantly regretted glancing back to see the pathetic male slumped against the wall. Vintor growled in frustration. The bastard might have attacked him, but he couldn’t very well leave the male to whoever was attacking this place.
“You should be glad I have a conscience,” Vintor snarled as he picked the human up and slung him over his shoulder as Boaz did the same with Laney.
Desperation rode him hard as he jogged down the hall. The stories his human friends told about the way their kind had no qualms torturing females and males alike for information had him seeing red. The thought of what might be happening to Maya spurred him on. He could run faster, a lot faster, even weighted down with the squirming human, except the old medic could only go so fast. It was so damn frustrating.
Patience, the medic knows where Maya is.
“Shit! Two of those things are loose. You hold ‘em off, I’m closing the blast door,” a voice ahead yelled.
Vintor glanced from the pair of human warriors to the thick barrier recessed in the wall. He grabbed and pointed his primitive disrupter at the male by the controls. He didn’t want to use it but would if he had to. His finger grazed the trigger as the human gripped the release lever.
“No! They’re carrying two of our own people,” the other uniformed human with some sense declared. Surprisingly rather than pointing his weapon at Vintor, he aimed at his companion.
Vintor’s finger paused on the trigger.
“Have you lost your mind?” The first male started to tug the lever, despite the weapons trained on him.
“Son of a metcor,” Vintor growled, disgusted with the foolish male as he again took aim.
A shot echoed in the hall, but he hadn’t been the one to fire. The human staggered a
way from the lever and dropped his weapon as blood bloomed on his shoulder. Vintor swiveled to see the other human still pointing his weapon at his companion.
So, there is virtue among these human warriors. He nodded in appreciation to the male.
“Thank you,” Laney gasped in relief as she, Boaz and Jim made it past the barrier. She then scowled at the human bleeding on the floor.
“I think we were the last ones. Shut that barrier.” Jim nodded to the warrior who aided them.
“I hope I don’t regret this.” The human warrior considered Vintor and Boaz critically as he threw the lever. The thick barrier slammed shut with a resounding bang.
“They’re not bad people,” Laney promised as Boaz sat her down.
Vintor set his human burden next to the male who’d been shot.
“I’d certainly rather take my chances with anything flesh and blood. You have no idea what’s coming. The things trapped in A sector aren’t like us. They’re armored. A handful took out a whole battalion.” The human warrior shivered. “If you wanna get out of here hang back, because not everyone is as tolerant as I am. But they won’t hold the next barrier long. Come on. Keep up.” The male grabbed the two injured males and took off down the hall.
“This way. We don’t have time to waste,” Jim hustled down the hall.
Please, hang on, goddess. I’m coming for you.
6 A Light at the End of the Tunnel
Maya
Maya didn’t feel a thing as Dr. Hayden pulled the needle out of her neck. She got distracted watching the wheels on the chair spin round and round as he rolled over to the lab table crowded with high-tech equipment.
“Continue,” Emil insisted as he pipetted her blood into several small vials.
Maya blinked in confusion. What had she been saying? She glanced down at the leather straps restraining her arms and legs. This situation wasn’t right, she noted apathetically.
“You were telling me you enjoyed your encounter with the subject, when to everyone it appeared that you were afraid. Something about his bite.”
Emil spoke calmly and without derision, but in the back of her mind she knew it was a façade. She should fear the man, yet couldn’t summon an ounce of concern.
He drugged you. I think. But she couldn’t remember. She couldn’t even recall how she got to the stark laboratory.
Maya looked around the lab, cataloging all the disturbing equipment with unnatural detachment, then focused on the surgical tray by her gurney. There lay a pair of stainless steel biopsy forceps with their serrated jaws next to an array of scalpels. That could only mean one thing, and it wasn’t good.
“Dr. Roberts,” Dr. Hayden snapped his fingers to capture her attention. “Tell me about the subject.”
Emil wanted her to talk about Vintor. Maya frowned as her thoughts turned to him.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“Of course you can tell me.”
Maya shook her head. That’s not what she meant.
“He’s my patient and a prisoner. It’s wrong.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks as emotions she couldn’t dredge up for herself bled through the drug-induced malaise. She used to care about her patients, then she’d been forced to bury those emotions these last few years. When the red-skinned demigod showed up he brought those feelings surging forth with a vengeance. Maybe it was because she was fed up with what her life had turned into. No, it was more than that. Vintor was honorable and downright sweet, even when faced with these horrific circumstances. And he was more man than any she’d met in—well—ever.
Maya knew she shouldn’t be having amorous thoughts about Vintor yet couldn’t help herself. She may not have been the one who imprisoned him but couldn’t plea innocence either. She knew what was going on here and didn’t fight it, not nearly hard enough. Vintor was vulnerable, desperate for a speck of kindness from anyone who’d extend it. Her tears flowed harder as she thought about what she’d stolen from him. A man like Vintor deserved a woman who didn’t have blood on her hands.
“That’s very noble of you. Now about the bite on your neck. In your professional opinion, is there some sort of drug in the subject’s saliva?”
How did he know that?
“Yes, but I liked him before,” Maya replied indignantly, not appreciating the way Emil implied Vintor had some sort of built-in date rape drug. Except her retort didn’t come out sounding half as aggravated as she felt. “I was scared because he was so drugged and I’m the enemy.”
Stop it! Why are you answering him? Whatever Emil had given her had loosened her tongue. At least he hadn’t been grilling her about her research. That meant he didn’t know. Dr. Hayden thought she was a failure in that respect and that was perfectly fine with her.
“While I run your blood sample, let’s get a bit of tissue.” Emil picked up the biopsy forceps. “The question is, where should we collect a sample first, the bite marks or vagina? It’s going to be fascinating seeing how your physiology has been affected. I should get a sample of his saliva to see how it affects the frontal cortex of your brain,” the butcher rambled on.
She should be scared, fight back, or at the very least scream, but couldn’t summon the will. That was perhaps the saddest thing about all of this, the poignancy had been blunted. They’d robbed her of so much, and now they’d also taken the emotion out of her final moments in this world. Maya gazed past Emil as he loomed closer. The sterile room with its gleaming steel and bland white walls was the last sight she’d see. Not the ocean, or her brother and friends, or the foreign man who’d captured her heart in such a short time.
My mate. Though God knew she didn’t deserve Vintor, it would’ve been nice meeting him in a different place and time.
Movement through the observation window captured her attention. Maya smiled wistfully at the scene unfolding in the neighboring room. Somehow, she’d conjured a hallucination of Vintor with her wishful thinking. She watched as he grabbed one soldier in a choke hold and used him as a shield. The echo of the other guard firing his gun sounded so real it startled her.
“What the hell?” Emil spun around, and she realized her daydream was real.
Emil dropped his implement of torture, raced over to the table and grabbed his gun. The look of panic on his face was comical. Even with the meds coursing through her she could appreciate it. Maya was caught between watching Vintor exact vengeance and Emil clamor to load his weapon.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have let Frank do your dirty work all these years,” she taunted as Emil fumbled with the clip. “Uh oh, too late.”
Vintor stormed through the door. He was big and sexy stalking toward her with that predatory swagger, like a beast on the prowl. Even the frightening growl he released was seductive, making her shiver. Maya giggled as her dream man struck fear into Emil. The fucker deserved every bit of it for the atrocities he’d committed. Her laugh died when Dr. Hayden scrambled to her bedside, putting the gurney between him and the angry demon stalking him.
“Don’t come any closer,” Emil yelled as he held the cold muzzle of the gun against her temple.
Vintor stopped cold, his dark expression going positively feral as he stared at her strapped to the gurney, the gun pointed at her head.
“Hurt her and you’ll only live long enough to watch me take you apart piece by piece.” The calm way Vintor made the threat was more frightening than if he’d snarled it.
“And your friends, too. Don’t think I don’t see you back there, chameleon. I’m not new,” Emil barked at the chameleon materializing against the wall as he jabbed the gun harder into her temple.
“God don’t like ugly.” Maya smirked at Emil. She probably shouldn’t antagonize him. All it would take was a nervous slip of his finger on the trigger and it would be lights out, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Shut up,” Emil shouted angrily as he tugged the gurney, putting distance between them and Vintor.
She didn’t know how Vintor found her or man
aged to get this far. He certainly didn’t have to. He could’ve freed himself instead. Maya stared deep into Vintor’s fathomless black eyes. The man might be foreign, but some things spanned that divide like honor, courage, and kindness. Vintor embodied them all. It was so nice after being surrounded by a sea of lies and subterfuge.
“Thank you for trying to save me. You should leave before it’s too late,” she said with a smile as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. There was no sense in all of them dying in this awful place.
“I’m not leaving you, goddess. This isn’t over,” he rumbled, his brow furrowed in concern as he stood frozen to the spot.
“It’s already too late,” Emil sneered as he wheeled the gurney closer to the rear wall.
Her eyes widened as she noticed the subtle seams in the wall indicating an emergency exit. When Emil slammed his palm against the door release, he lowered the gun. Seeing his opportunity, Vintor silently rushed forward. Maya bit her lips as he moved swiftly.
“Wrong move.” Emil fired as he backed into the emergency exit.
Maya gasped hearing the deafening boom and feeling the shot graze by her head. Vintor’s enraged roar echoed in the room. He grabbed the gurney she was strapped to and tugged it out of the way as he quickly surveyed her head.
“I—I think I’m fine,” she stammered then glanced back at the emergency exit.
Emil had disappeared, and the door was closing. Vintor snarled as he grabbed the thick metal panel and attempted to tug it open. Another shot echoed in the corridor, ricocheting off the metal with a loud ping. Vintor was forced to release the heavy door when Emil fired again. The second the metal door slammed shut, another resounding thud echoed from the other side of the lab. Maya’s gaze swung to see a matching metal barrier had sealed the other exit. A loud whoosh filled the room as air flooded from every air vent.
“Shit, he’s gassing us,” she gasped as she frantically looked around the lab for a way out.
“You’re bleeding,” Vintor rumbled. He swiftly unstrapped her from the gurney then gingerly felt her scalp.
Warrior's Plight (Cadi Warriors Book 6) Page 7
