Muscles bunched at Shipman’s jaw. “You missed your chance. I’m back from the little holiday you sent me on. I’ll thank you for that later.” She motioned with her shock-lance. “Step out. Move!”
Chris followed instructions to the letter, knowing Shipman was waiting for any excuse to use her little toy on her. The guards treated the other two shifters exactly the same way. Three guards apiece escorted them to Isolation, while Cyrus and the other prisoners were led away to their cells. Segregation of men from women, and non-Human races from humans was standard procedure. Shifters and other non-humans were always locked in Isolation—cages well away from Human inmates. Letting anything snack on humans was frowned upon. There was an entire wing dedicated to preventing that, and it saw a lot of use.
Chris led the other two shifters down the barren corridor. She knew the way, but that wasn’t the reason. Shipman had decided to be part of the detail guarding her and had chosen to go first. Chris had a man on each side of her with shock-lances held ready, and Shipman in front about three paces ahead. She could have told them it was a stupid formation. She could easily have leapt on Shipman’s back and twisted her head around, and the two at her shoulders were within easy reach of her claws. Not that she would hurt them, but it was the principal of the thing. If they were going to guard her, they could at least do a good job of it.
They paused when they came to another barred gate. The guard on the other side looked hard at Chris and the other two women, before unlocking it. They trooped through and the gate slammed closed behind them. The guard re-locked it and then went back to his station. All the cages in Isolation were under twenty-four hour observation via the bank of screens at the security station. The cages were also locked and unlocked from there.
The guard sat and punched in a security sequence on the keyboard. “So, what have we got, Simone, more shifters?”
“Afraid so, Pat.”
“I’m pretty full,” Pat said, scratching his stubbled chin as he typed commands on the keyboard. He grunted as a list of inmates appeared. “Have to put them in Five. It’ll be a bit crowded, but the others are already over capacity.”
“Yeah? I don’t remember sending that many down tonight.”
“Nah. Nate sent them just before you came on. Something about a big gang fight outside one of the clubs. I’ve got the two sides separated, but they’re packed in like sardines.”
“Is that right? No one mentioned it.”
Pat shrugged. “They’re only shifters, not exactly big mojo around here. Not like that elf we had down here the other week. Now she was something special.”
“I don’t swing, Pat.”
“Hey, when it’s an elf, you don’t care!”
Shipman snorted. “I wouldn’t know, and neither would you with a belly like that.”
Chris rolled her eyes and couldn’t prevent a sigh escaping. Shipman spun and jabbed her in the belly with the lance. Chris grunted as her muscles convulsed. The pulse of electricity was powerful but of short duration. The pain faded leaving her muscles feeling as if they’d had cramp. It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it should. She had been on the receiving end of a shock-lance at the academy; back then, she had gone to her knees screaming. The training was supposed to teach her what the effects were, so she would know where to zap someone to make them cooperate. Shipman’s eyes widened when Chris didn’t react, and zapped her again.
Smoke snarled and tried to break out. She didn’t care that doing so would make things worse. All she cared about was that they were under attack. Chris struggled to maintain control. Heat flooded through her and her skin crawled, but that could have been the effects of the shock-lance. She hoped so, because it felt very much like the Change starting.
Calm down!
Smoke snarled. She is challenging us. We must fight!
This isn’t the place for that. She isn’t challenging anyone. Shipman’s just a sadistic bitch who gets off on hurting people.
That’s even worse! She is sick. We must kill her for the good of the pack.
She felt like agreeing, and Smoke gained from that momentary weakness. Chris felt her control slip a little more.
Listen to me, Furface. She isn’t like us, but even if she was, she’s not part of our pack. We don’t have one, remember? Let me handle this.
Smoke reluctantly stopped fighting her, but she was watching intently. Just as Chris was congratulating herself on her control of the situation, Shipman triggered her lance for a third time. Smoke howled, and Chris grunted. This time her knees felt a little wobbly, but she wouldn’t give Shipman the satisfaction of dropping.
“That tickles,” she forced herself to say, as the pulse of electricity passed through her body.
The bikers murmured to one another uneasily.
Shipman jabbed the lance forward again, but Pat pulled her away before it could connect. “What in the nine hells do you think you’re doing? She’s had enough.”
“She’s a troublemaker,” Shipman snarled.
“Yeah, well, that’s why she’s in the slam. You won’t have to listen to her bitching all night, I will, so leave her alone, okay?”
Shipman shrugged him off. “Whatever you say.”
Pat looked at her oddly, but then he nodded. “Put them all in Five.”
Shipman glared at Chris. “You heard the man. Move!”
Chris was happy to. The sooner Shipman was out of her sight, the sooner Smoke would stop trying to take over and rip her face off. She preceded Shipman past the occupied cages. There were ten or twelve men in each one. The cages were made of steel tubing with reinforced cores to keep monsters in. The aisles between them allowed guards to keep watch and to prevent inmates from grabbing someone in another cage. Most non-humans were very strong. Especially vampires. There didn’t seem to be any in tonight, but she knew the cages were proof against them, and magic too. Nothing ever got out of these cages except by the front gates, and they could only be unlocked from the security station.
She walked past cages full of shifter gang bangers, ignoring the appreciative growls and whistles. She wasn’t sure if they were whistling at her or at her two leather-clad companions. Probably all three of them. Men—shifter or Human it didn’t matter—had a tendency to revert into little boys when locked up together, especially when a woman under sixty walked by.
Not gang bangers. They are packmates.
Same thing.
It is not the same thing. Stop thinking like a Human.
They look like gang bangers, and they act like gang bangers. That’s good enough for me.
Shipman stopped Chris outside one of the cages, and pushed her back against the bars with her lance. She didn’t trigger a jolt.
“Unlock Five,” Shipman yelled.
The stand clear alarm sounded, followed by the solid-sounding clunk of the lock disengaging. The gate sprang open. One of the guards removed the handcuffs from the bikers and shoved them into the cage. He made to do the same for Chris, but when she held out her burned wrists, Shipman intervened.
“Not this one.”
The guard frowned worriedly. “But the regulations…”
“Screw ’em. She’s a troublemaker—troublemakers must be restrained for their own safety. I’ll take responsibility.”
Chris lowered her hands and walked into the cage with her head high. Her eyes darted around. It was overcrowded, but there was still plenty of room to walk around. There were fifteen women sitting or lying at their ease; some were asleep, others were watching her. The bikers were sitting on the floor with their backs against the bars near the gate. The only beds were already taken.
“Lock number Five!”
She watched Shipman go back to Pat. The other guards went for a coffee or something, and after a brief chat with Shipman, Pat followed them. Her eyes narrowed when Shipman grinned nastily at Pat’s back. The bitch had talked him into letting her take over from him. Why?
She spun just in time to catch a leather-clad woman lea
ping toward her. Her turn had been instinctive, and she was lucky. She caught the biker’s arm and twisted as hard as she could. Bone crunched, but the woman didn’t make a sound. The other biker threw a punch, but she ducked away taking the hit on her shoulder. There wasn’t time to make the Change. Even if there had been, she was reluctant. Smoke had no self-control when a fight was in the offing.
I do so.
“No you don’t.”
Besides, she was still wearing runecuffs. She didn’t know what would happen if she risked changing. Her hands dropping off wouldn’t be good though. None of the others in the cage seemed to care if she died or not, but at least they weren’t trying to kill her too. They were watching avidly. Maybe they were fight fans.
She moved into some space, and waited for the bikers’ next move. It wasn’t long in coming. The two women moved apart in an effort to come at her from two directions at once.
Break the chain.
Not yet.
She pointed to the one on the left. “Smelly Dog?”
The woman grimaced. “Alley Dog, and you’re dead meat.”
Chris laughed. “You’re funny.” Were they simply taking advantage of Shipman’s stupidity, or had they bribed her to look the other way? She studied the woman with the broken arm. “You’re her sister?”
“What I am is none of your business, bitch. Can you fight as well as you run that mouth of yours?”
She smirked. “I like to know who I’m going to maim… oops, I already did that, didn’t I? Sorry.”
The biker snarled and leapt. Chris stepped aside, and looped her arms over the woman’s head as she passed. The chain between the cuffs snapped tight around her throat, and a knee in the back put a stop to her struggles. The woman gasped as the silver-plated chain burned into her throat. Her good hand finally dropped to her side when she realised how close to suffocating she was.
“That’s right,” Chris said, moving back a couple of paces and putting her back against the bars. “Don’t struggle or I’ll snap your neck like a twig.” The other woman seemed shocked and unsure what to do. Chris told her. “Take your boots and jacket off.”
“My… my boots?”
“And the jacket.” She watched the woman comply. “Put your legs in the arms of the jacket and pull it on as far as it will go.”
“This is stupid,” the woman snarled, but started to do as she was bid.
She supposed it was, but she couldn’t think of anything else. It would at least slow the woman down. “When you’re done, sit in the corner with your butt on the jacket.”
The woman hesitated when she realised how confining that would be.
She pulled a little harder on the chain. “Do it, or baby sister here won’t see the sunrise.”
What about the police?
Oh, now you’re thinking of consequences, are you? It’s about time! I’m not going to kill her, but I’ve got to make them think I will.
“What’s your name?” she whispered in her captive’s ear.
“L-Lynsay,” the woman rasped.
“Well L-Lynsay. You’re in a mess now, aren’t you? What’s your sister’s name?”
“Ginger.”
She nodded. “How’s the arm?”
“It… it hurts.”
She leaned aside and pretended to look. “Nasty. It will probably heal twisted,” she said cheerfully. “You’ll be crippled. Oh well, that’s how it goes sometimes.”
“B-bitch,” Lynsay rasped.
Ginger shifted position, and Chris turned to face her more fully. She pulled harder on the chain. Lynsay squawked and scrabbled at her neck with her good hand. The chain was buried deep in her flesh, and her lips were starting to turn blue. Ginger settled back, but Chris didn’t let up on the pressure she was applying. Lynsay sagged, almost unconscious.
“Let her go—you’re killing her!”
She frowned. “I think she’s just faking.”
“She’s not,” Ginger said desperately. “For the Lady’s sake let her go, you crazy bitch!”
“Hmmm, let me think. No.”
“She’s turning blue,” Ginger said fearfully.
She checked, and eased up a little. Lynsay took a whooping breath. “Is she really your sister?”
Ginger nodded, not taking her eyes from Lynsay’s face. “I thought you knew that.”
“There’s a resemblance, but I wasn’t sure. If you don’t make a move on me, I won’t have to hurt her.”
“Let her go.”
She snorted. “Are you retarded?”
“I promise we won’t attack you again.”
“I can’t trust your word.”
“But I have to set her arm.”
She shrugged. “If you don’t?”
“I’ll have to break it again later.”
“I guess that’s what you’ll have to do then.” Ginger’s anger was palpable. Chris could see the hatred burning in her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s your fault your little sister got hurt, not mine. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been so greedy for the bounty.”
“What bounty?” someone asked, before Ginger could respond.
Chris turned to locate the speaker. “You talking to me, Red?”
The redhead stood and the others quickly moved out of her way. Chris’ eyes narrowed at this evidence of authority. The woman was only average in height and looks except for her hair. It was her best feature, falling to her shoulders in natural waves. There was nothing extraordinary about her, but she had a presence that made everyone aware of her. She moved into the centre of the cage, and stopped so that she could survey her subjects. What was really strange was the way everyone accepted her leadership, as if she was royalty or something. Everyone except Chris.
Feel that?
I feel it, who is she?
Red glared at Ginger. “I said what bounty?”
Ginger pointed at Chris. “She killed Janine Duvitski. Raymond put a bounty on her head.”
“She killed Janine?” Red asked sounding surprised. “This badly dressed girl did? I don’t believe it.”
Chris glared. “Hey, who are you calling girl, Red?”
Red ignored her. “Tell me what’s been going on while I’ve been away.”
Ginger nodded eagerly. “It happened at the last meeting at George, and—”
You should ask what she is, not who.
All right, Furface, tell me.
She is alpha. It is her Presence that makes them do what she says.
She frowned. Presence? I don’t understand.
Presence, strength, power… Smoke said, sounding irritated. What is so hard to understand about that?
She shook her head. It was just some damn shifter thing. Another one she needed to ask Jonas about. She listened to Ginger spilling her guts, and tried to feel out Red’s so-called Presence. She felt strong, and her strength had a solid feel to it. Ginger and Lynsay were nonentities in comparison.
If she’s alpha and so strong, why do I feel like kicking her butt instead of kissing it like the others?
We are alpha too, Smoke said smugly. We should fight her and prove we are the strongest. It is the way.
She groaned. Don’t start. Just don’t start, okay? I’ve still got my hands full with Lynsay.
Red heard the groan, and turned towards her. “You wish to say something?”
“Listen, Red. I don’t want to mess up this whole royalty thing you’ve got going, but I’m kind of in the middle of something here.”
Red frowned. “My name is not Red, its Toni.”
“Well, Toni, this is a real nice cage you’ve got here, but I’m not planning on staying. I’d like to get a little rest before I get out in the morning. So if you would go back to what you were doing, I’ll just finish up with Ginger and her sister. I’m sure Lynsay doesn’t want me holding her like this all night. Do you, Lynsay?”
“No,” Lynsay gurgled.
Toni laughed. “You really are an obnoxious puppy. I’m not s
urprised Raymond put a price on your head.”
She was getting tired of being spoken to as if she was a retarded child. “Call me puppy again, Red, and I’ll show you just how obnoxious I can be. As for Pederson, he’ll get his when the time comes.”
“You clearly don’t know him.”
“And I don’t want to. Now, are you going to move aside?”
“I move aside for no one, but I will make you an offer. Let Ginger help her sister and I’ll guarantee your safety until after you leave here.”
Chris frowned. It was a good offer, but why would Toni help her? She had no idea, but she had to do something with Lynsay. She had about five hours or so before Lephmann could get her out. She didn’t relish the thought of standing like this for that length of time.
“Why do that for me?”
Toni shrugged. “I’m not doing it for you. I’ve been away for quite some time, but Ginger and Lynsay are still my pack sisters.”
“You’re an Alley Dog?”
“I was, and I will be again. Their enemies are my enemies, but unlike them, I’m not foolish enough to kill you under the eyes of the police.”
Chris glanced at one of the cameras, and knew Shipman was watching. If Toni had known Shipman was on her side, she might well have attacked right then. Chris certainly wasn’t going to tell. Although a shifter’s emotions were a little harder to read than a Human’s emotions, she could tell Toni wasn’t lying about her reasons. Chris decided to trust her word, and thought now would be a good time to break the chain on her cuffs. She tensed and jerked her arms apart. The chain snapped, and a loose link flew off to hit Toni on the chest.
“It’s a deal.” She pushed Lynsay toward her sister, sat down with her back against the bars, and closed her eyes gratefully. “Wake me in the morning,” she murmured and promptly fell asleep.
* * *
21 ~ Techtron
“Humber, Chris,” the officer said.
Chris yawned and got to her feet. She stepped up to the counter and leaned on it. “That’s me.”
He pushed a package toward her. “Check it. Sign here when you’re done.”
She ripped open the paper packaging and shook out her coat. The lab boys hadn’t cut it up after all. She had taken it off before the fight with Ryder, and it had been brand new before that, so there hadn’t been any blood or fibres to analyse. She was glad to have it back. She hunted anxiously for her link and her Dad’s old wallet, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found both in a plastic bag stuffed in a pocket with some loose change. They were fine. Shrugging into her coat, she dropped her link and other things into the pockets, and rolled the rest of her clothes into a tight bundle to carry more easily. After signing the forms, she went to join Lephmann.
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