Two very human hands caught her around the waist, hauling her against a hard chest. “Are you alright, chère?”
She couldn’t stop coughing. “I think I filled my lungs with water,” she said in a hoarse, choked voice.
“Next time close your mouth. It works better.”
She would’ve slugged him if he hadn’t been holding her from behind. She had to content herself with elbowing him in the ribcage. He grunted, but she was fairly certain that was more to appease her than because she’d actually managed to knock the breath out of him. The resistance of the water was working against her.
Without another word he began towing her toward the bank where the others had gathered to wait for them. The moment they saw Jesse nearing the water’s edge, however, they took off once more. Three of the pack split off and followed the bank of the stream. The others plunged into the jungle headed southeast.
By the time Erin had managed to expel most of the water from her lungs and drag in a decent breath of air, Jesse had shifted into the form of a wolf once more. She would’ve far preferred to walk at this point, but Guillume had suggested they should hurry and she had a feeling that he was right. The Feds were sure to pull back to the island the moment they realized they were taking the worst of the beating.
Without complaint, she climbed onto Jesse’s back once more, clutched him tightly and prayed it wouldn’t take them long to reach the shore. Guillume had said it was only about a mile from the fall.
The first fifteen or twenty minutes was rough going as Jesse plowed through the undergrowth, bounding over some of the brush, pressing through other areas. In time they landed upon a narrow trail and the going was easier. As the trail began to take a more northerly turn, though, Jesse left it, pressing through the thick jungle growth again.
Erin was exhausted just from the effort of holding on while Jesse ran. By the time they finally emerged from the jungle onto the beach she could barely cling to him. The tide was in and very little beach was visible. Grateful that that much of the ordeal was over, Erin slipped off of Jesse’s back and sprawled in the loose sand. She didn’t get the chance to actually rest, however. The other Lycans had already retrieved the dingy and pulled it into the water.
Jesse shifted from full wolf to manbeast, rising up on two legs. “Get into the dingy, chère, and lie on the floor.”
Erin nodded. Pushing herself to her feet with an effort, she followed Jesse across the narrow stretch of sand, waded water until it was almost to her knees and yelped when Jesse yanked her off her feet and deposited her in the dingy. Juan and the Lycans surrounded the boat and began moving deeper. “You’re not getting in?” Erin whispered uneasily when they made no move to do so.
“It’s not designed to hold so many. Don’t talk. Sound carries on the wind.”
Erin fell silent, staring up at the stars and trying not to think about the possibility of sharks. Lulled by the rocking of the boat and the soft splash of water, Erin found some of the fear that had gripped her since they’d fled the panther compound dissipating. As it did, a sense of excitement began to grow in her. Soon they would have Joshua.
She couldn’t allow herself to think otherwise and could not bank her rising excitement. She knew he was alive. She didn’t know what they’d done to get the information out of Dr. Wagner, but she didn’t doubt for a moment that it was true.
It flickered through her mind to wonder what they’d done with the man, not that she particularly cared what happened to him as long it was something bad. He might not have been able to stop the research. He might not have been able to prevent anything they had done to her and her baby, but the fact was he hadn’t tried. He had treated them all as if they were of no more importance than lab rats.
When it seemed to her that enough time had passed that they must be nearing the island and she’d grown bored with imagining what it would be like to be reunited with her baby at last, Erin turned over carefully and lifted her head just high enough to peer over the edge of the boat.
She caught a brief glimpse of a rock looming upward from the sea and then a hand landed on the top of her head and shoved her flat again. Fuming silently, she lay still, but the resentment didn’t last more than a second. Her heart was pounding with joy and excitement. Almost there! Only a little while longer and they would have Joshua!
The sound of waves crashing against the shore finally overshadowed the noise of lapping water around the boat. Erin tensed, listening as it occurred to her belatedly to worry that they might be spotted.
That was why Jesse had made her lie down in the boat and why the others had swum the distance, buoyed by the boat they guided through the water, because Jesse knew there was still danger that they might be spotted and come under fire. She felt like an idiot. She knew nothing about war tactics, or soldiers, or security. From the sound of the battle at the compound she’d assumed they’d thrown everything they had at them, but they wouldn’t have done that. They might have taken most of the men and left only a small group to guard the island, but they would have left armed men to guard the facility.
Her joyous excitement deflated like a popped balloon as visions of Jesse running through the halls dodging bullets with baby Joshua in his arms rose to her mind’s eye.
He could be killed. They both could.
Would Joshua be better off if she left him alone and didn’t thrust him into danger by trying to free him?
She was still weighing years of torturous tests and the lack of any affection or attention that would be her baby’s life against the possibility of harm coming to him, when a dark shadow fell over her. Her heart felt as if a giant hand squeezed it. When she whipped around to see what had caused the deep shadow, though, she was relieved to discover it was no more than an outcropping of rock.
With the wet squeak of something rubbing against rubber, the dingy slipped under it into an inky blackness. Sound echoed around them, intensified by the water and with no where to escape.
They were in a cave.
And the entrance to the cave was virtually completely submerged.
The scrape of something against rock caught her attention. She rose up and turned toward the sound just as light seemed to explode around them. As the glare died, she saw that Juan had climbed from the water onto a ledge and lit a small lantern. Setting it aside, he picked up a second lantern, lit it and set it on an outcropping of rock at about shoulder level. The dingy bumped against the edge of the ledge. One by one the Lycans released their hold on the rope around it and heaved themselves up onto the ledge.
Tavian leaned toward her, holding out his hand while Jesse remained in the water, holding the dingy steady. She reached up, clasped his hand and was yanked from the dingy so hard she thought for a moment he’d dislocated her shoulder.
That was what came from having most of her weight on the ass end, she thought irritably, rubbing her shoulder absently while she waited for Jesse to emerge from the water. Sloughing the water off, he made hand gestures at the other Lycans.
Erin gaped at him, completely at sea.
He fixed her with a stern look and pointed to the ledge. She looked at the ledge and then back at him. “Stay,” he mouthed.
She narrowed her eyes at him, setting her jaw stubbornly. “NO!” she mouthed back at him.
She heard his teeth grinding and saw a muscle working in his jaw. He glanced around as if looking for help. The others had already followed his silent command, however, and disappeared. Catching her shoulders, he lowered his head until his mouth was by her ear. “Not one shriek or gasp. No blubbering. Not one sound,” he muttered in a low growl.
Erin gave him an indignant look when he pulled away. “I’m not stupid!” she mouthed.
He pretended he didn’t see that.
“Asshole!” she mouthed at his back as he turned away to follow the others.
Naturally, he missed that, too, but she knew better than to cross him. He’d stick her back in the dingy and shove it off--or something equally ma
cho.
Trailing the pack, she moved as quickly and quietly as she could manage given that she couldn’t see nearly as well in the dark as they could. Her calves began to protest almost at once as they followed a tunnel that curved sharply upward.
The tunnel was narrow. Jesse’s broad shoulders blocked most of her view, and most of the light from the lantern Juan was carrying, but she could hear, faintly, the movements of the others in front of them, the brush of their arm or leg along the rocky surface of the corridor, the light scrape of a foot not lifted quite clear of the floor.
She didn’t want to think about how much noise she was making. She was winded before they had climbed far at all, and wondered if her panting breaths sounded as loud to them as it did to her.
When Jesse glanced back at her, she closed her mouth, certain she must be making as much noise as she’d feared, struggling to get enough air without using her mouth.
The third time he looked back at her, she flicked a hand at him as if shooing a fly.
“Rest?” he mouthed at her.
She shook her head firmly. She did need to rest. She already had a stitch in her side and she’d reached the point where she had to pant just to get enough air in her lungs, but she wasn’t going to let him accuse her of holding them up later if things went badly.
Thankfully, the tunnel they were following began to taper off after a while. It still sloped upward noticeably, but the angle was easier to handle. About fifteen minutes later, they reached a fork. As Erin followed them to the left, she peered down the corridor they’d abandoned. A few yards beyond the fork, rubble littered the corridor from floor to ceiling.
This must be the part the Feds had blocked off, she decided.
Did that mean they were close, she wondered?
Chapter Thirteen
Apparently they were. Less than ten minutes later they halted. Erin craned to see around Jesse, who was still blocking her view. To her dismay, she saw a huge boulder blocking the end of the tunnel. The light, she discovered, was no longer coming from the lantern Juan had used to guide them. At some point, he’d extinguished it. Through a narrow crevice along the top of the boulder, artificial light flooded the passage they were in.
So close! Erin thought mournfully, wondering why they hadn’t turned around already. She realized then that both Juan and the Lycans had tensed, their heads cocked as if listening intently. Unconsciously, she strained to hear, too.
She didn’t hear anything.
Apparently, neither did they, for after a moment, Tavian moved up beside Juan and the two of them began to shove at the boulder. It could not be moved quietly, but she saw that they were able to move it with amazing ease--which explained everything. They’d paused to make certain no humans were close enough to hear, and the humans weren’t guarding it because it hadn’t occurred to them that the boulder didn’t present a problem to the werefolk.
They emerged into a cavern that had been converted into a huge storage area. To Erin’s surprise, instead of crossing it immediately toward the elevator shaft on the other side, the men spread out, examining the cases quickly.
Juan, who’d apparently been more than once before, went directly to a large crate, pried the lid off and began pulling AK47’s from it. Seeing him, the others hurried over to help themselves to weapons, as well … except for Jesse, who continued to search the crates and boxes.
She didn’t know what he was looking for, but he was making her nervous as hell.
She wondered if she should arm herself?
Apparently not. When she held her hand out for a gun, Juan merely gave her a look. It irritated her, but since she really didn’t have a clue of how to use it she decided to let the insult slide.
By the time the men had loaded the weapons, Jesse was back and loaded down with all sorts of things. He tossed coils of rope to several of his men and then some wicked looking knives.
She hoped that was just to cut the rope.
The vinyl bag he’d slung on one shoulder clanked quietly as if it contained metallic objects of some kind. More ammunition, she wondered? The men were armed to the teeth now.
When he turned to look at her, Erin knew he was about to argue with her about going any further. She was tempted to let him bully her into staying where it was safe, but she wasn’t going to cower in safety while Jesse and the others took all of the risks to save her baby. Glancing away from him before he could start mouthing orders at her, she headed for the elevator shaft.
Jesse caught her hand as she was reaching up to punch the button. She glanced up at him in surprise. He was glaring at her. Shaking his head, he pointed toward the stairs.
Feeling a little sheepish, Erin allowed him to drag her toward the stairs. It wasn’t until they reached the first landing that it dawned on her that the elevators had security cameras in them.
She was really, really bad at this.
Again the Lycans paused to listen. Instinctively, Erin copied them, though she knew by now that she might as well be deaf compared to the Lycan. Gesturing to her to wait, Jesse moved to the front and eased the door open a fraction of an inch, peering into the corridor. He hesitated, as if waiting for something. After a moment, he snatched the door wide enough to push through and disappeared.
Tavian grabbed her before she could move.
A minute passed and then several more. Erin was sorry she wasn’t wearing a watch, though she wasn’t certain of how much better it would’ve made her feel to know how much time had elapsed. Finally, when she’d reached the point of considering trying to wrest free of Tavian and taking off, Jesse pushed the door open again and motioned for them to follow him.
Erin glanced up and down the corridor, wondering what Jesse had been up to.
She saw a camera lying on the floor at one end, the wire severed.
As they raced down the corridor, they passed what looked like an electronic junction box. The panel had been ripped off of it and the wires inside were now a ragged tangle.
He’d been disabling the video feed? Wouldn’t that alert the guards just as quickly, she thought?
Maybe not. Although she tensed with the expectation that any moment an alarm would begin to blast, none did.
There was nothing but labs on the lower level they discovered when they’d checked every room along the corridor. Backtracking, Jesse punched the elevator button and pushed her behind him while they waited for it to arrive.
Thankfully, there was only one occupant when the doors opened. The man, who was wearing a lab coat, only managed to gape at them soundlessly before one of the Lycans slammed him into the rear wall, knocking him unconscious. When they’d piled onto the elevator, Jesse looked the panel over and punched every button. When the elevator halted on the next level, he motioned for two men to get off. Nodding, they stepped from the cubicle and the doors closed behind them. When they reached the next level and the doors opened, two lab techs were waiting. Two of the Lycans reached out, grabbed them and yanked them inside. Erin closed her eyes, swallowing against the bile that rose in her throat when she heard the sickening crunch of bone. They flew wide again as Jesse grabbed her and hauled her into the corridor.
She looked up at him questioningly as he motioned to the others. Two more Lycans stepped out just as the doors began to close. The others remained where they were and went up to the next level.
Lifting his head, Jesse sniffed the air and then pointed down the corridor.
Frowning, Erin raced to keep up with him. Without any hesitation, he led her directly to the nursery. Erin’s heart slammed against her ribcage when she saw the wide observation window.
Pushing her back against the opposite side of the corridor, Jesse tried the door knob. Finding it locked without much apparent surprise, he slammed his shoulder into it. The door burst inward, striking the wall so hard it bounced back. The man directly behind Jesse caught it, ripping the upper hinge loose.
Through the glass, Erin saw the two techs inside freeze, gaping at the door in wide
eyed horror, too petrified with fear even to scream. Before they could recover enough wit to do so, Jesse and the other two Lycans had bounded across the room. Erin looked away, but she pushed herself from the wall and rushed inside. The two techs lay crumpled in one corner.
Joshua, screaming like a banshee, was lying in a crib in the center of the room.
Pain clenched at Erin’s chest as she stared at him.
He was so thin he looked almost malformed, his little body shrunken so that his head looked too big for him. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him, unable to force herself to move.
Abruptly, rage ousted her devastation. Rushing toward the crib, Erin began frantically dismantling the monitors that had been strapped to him, removing the IV from his tiny foot carefully.
Fucking low life bastards! She raged inwardly. What the hell had they been doing to him? He looked as if he was on the verge of starving to death. Mopping the tears from her eyes and cheeks with her hands once she’d disentangled him from the medical apparatus, Erin quickly bundled him in the blanket he was lying on and scooped him from the crib, holding him close.
Almost instantly, as if he knew her though she knew he couldn’t possibly remember her after so long, he began to quiet, snuffling as he nuzzled his face against her chest. It took her several moments to realize he was searching for the milk he smelled.
She looked up to discover that Jesse was watching her. Her chin wobbled so hard she could barely speak. “He’s hungry.”
His lips tightened. “Wait here and feed him,” he said harshly, motioning for the men to precede him from the room.
She wanted to, and yet she was fearful they would be caught if she lingered to feed the baby.
Wolfen Domination Page 16
