by Zoe Chant
“No,” Seth said. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to keep you awake, but—where are we? What’s this place for?”
Kevin smiled. It didn’t look pleasant. “Welcome to your new home,” he said. “And to your new life as a science experiment.”
That...didn’t sound good. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we’re lab rats.” Kevin laughed humorlessly. “Lab panthers, lab bears, lab cheetahs...”
Seth’s blood ran cold. “They’re experimenting on shifters.”
“You got it. And you’re new, so you’re probably next.” Kevin’s face twisted. “Be glad your mate got away. Because you wouldn’t want her here. But don’t expect to be reunited with her anytime soon, because you’re not getting out alive.”
***
Cassie got to work at seven the next morning.
She was early to meet Max, but she wanted to be there the second he arrived. So she sat in the empty office and stared at her phone, waiting.
She kept trying to think of what more she could’ve done last night. Created a distraction, maybe, so Seth could’ve gotten away? Done more research into the financials, so she would’ve known that the company was paying all of those extra guards?
There must have been something else she could’ve done to keep him from being captured.
He was still in danger. She knew it, because that little voice in the back of her head was still screaming, Help Seth! Seth is in trouble!
I know Seth’s in trouble, she told it fiercely. I’m trying.
She checked her phone again.
Max didn’t arrive until eight-thirty, after a long, long hour and a half of waiting. Cassie ran out to meet him the second he texted a terse, Arriving at office now.
She found the black, unmarked car in the parking lot, and Max Rowland standing outside it.
She’d seen pictures of him on the Internet, of course. He was one of the youngest CEOs of a major corporation in the country, and one of the wealthiest. In person, he was taller than he looked in pictures, but just as blond, and with the same smooth, controlled expression.
That was a face, Cassie thought looking at him, that gave nothing away.
“Tell me everything that happened last night,” Max said before Cassie could demand that he break Seth out immediately. “Don’t leave anything out.”
So she took a deep breath, shoved down the desire to hijack his car and drive out to the lab to break Seth out with her bare hands, and told him. The payroll information. The emails. Dave’s passcodes. Driving out there, Seth insisting that she stay behind him and run if anything went wrong.
“Because he’s a shifter and he thought that meant he could handle anything that happened,” Max interpreted.
Cassie nodded. “That’s what he said.” She hesitated. “And he didn’t want anything to happen to me.”
“Because you’re his mate, yes, that’s normal.”
Max made it sound like a biological reaction. Cassie stifled the desire to ask him if he even knew what love was, and went on.
Sneaking past the guards, the first passcode. Sneaking through the darkened halls, the second door. Cassie hiding behind the corner while Seth opened the door, and was overwhelmed by guards.
Max frowned. “You say that they shot him with tranquilizer darts?”
Cassie nodded. “As far as I could tell. They were firing and it didn’t make any noise, and there wasn’t any blood.”
“And this was after he shifted. How did they react when they saw him shift?”
“They didn’t even flinch,” Cassie said. “Even I was startled, and I’ve seen him shift before. But they didn’t have any reaction at all that I could see.”
Max frowned harder. “It sounds to me like those guards have experience with shifters. That they’ve been trained to take a shifter down.”
“So what does that mean for us?” Cassie asked.
“That we have to get Seth out of there as soon as possible.”
Cassie refrained from shouting, That’s what I told you last night! “So how do we do that?”
Max’s expression was set in stone. “We’ll try intimidation first. If that doesn’t work...a frontal assault.”
Cassie thought about intimidation. “I think I know where to start.”
***
“There’s twelve of us right now, counting you,” Kevin told Seth.
From where Seth was, he could only see into the cells on either side of Kevin, and they indeed held a sleeping man and a sleeping woman. Girl, really, a young girl.
Seth could feel rage rising inside him that anyone would do this to a teenage girl, but he forced it back down. Roaring at the cell block wouldn’t help anybody, and even as a lion he couldn’t break through steel bars.
“We’re all kinds of shifters,” Kevin continued. “I’m a panther. Happy over there is a cheetah.”
“Shut up,” said the woman to Seth’s left.
“She and I have a special bond,” Kevin said confidentially. “We’re like brother and sister after all this time under the same roof.”
“You’re telling me I owe you twenty-five years’ worth of noogies?” the woman said in a bored tone.
“Most of the rest stay quiet,” Kevin said. “They’re better at sleeping than we are, too.”
“How long have you been here?” Seth asked.
“No idea,” Kevin said frankly. “Two months? Three months? A thousand years? A thousand years seems right, but I’m willing to allow for personal bias on that one.”
“He’s been here for two months, three weeks, and three days,” said the woman. “I got here two weeks before he did. Some of the others have been here for longer, but they won’t say how long.”
“I guess you haven’t seen any way of escaping, then.”
“Ha,” said Kevin. “Ha ha. No.”
“They tranq you before they open your cell,” said the woman. “When you wake up, you’re strapped down and you can’t shift. Then they tranq you again to bring you back. There’s no way out.”
Her voice was flat, but it had an edge of pain to it. Seth suppressed a shiver, and resolved even more firmly to get these people out of here.
“Do either of you have anyone looking for you?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the mental image of being strapped down and unable to shift. “Any family? Mates?”
“Nope,” Kevin said. “Pretty sure they did that deliberately. Kidnapping people with a whole pack or clan or what-have-you, all slavering to come rip out the throats of whoever took their precious relative, doesn’t seem like the best strategy. Probably why we don’t have any wolves. I’m surprised they took you, if you’re mated. What are you, anyway?”
“Lion,” Seth said briefly.
Kevin’s eyebrows went up. “That’s another surprise. You have a pride?”
“Yes.” Seth could feel the satisfaction in his voice.
“They likely to come after you?”
“Kevin,” Seth said, “I think I can guarantee that they’ve made a big, big mistake with me.”
Kevin frowned. “I wouldn’t be so sure. They’ve got some serious money behind this. It would take a hell of a lot to get in that door, let alone get us out.”
“There’s a hell of a lot coming,” Seth said.
Kevin opened his mouth, probably to ask what Seth meant by that. But he didn’t have time to say anything, because the door at the end of the hall opened and Seth could hear footsteps coming down.
The footsteps turned out to be coming from a middle-aged man with glasses wearing a lab coat, flanked by two guards wearing masks and carrying tranq guns.
“Hello,” the man said in a pleasant, unassuming voice. “You must be our mystery arrival. They tell me you didn’t have any identification on you. What is your name?”
Seth had left his wallet at Cassie’s apartment, just in case this very thing happened. He hadn’t wanted to reveal Max’s involvement and give the game away unless he absolutely had to.
&n
bsp; If Max was going to get him out of here, the least Seth could do was give him the element of surprise.
So he lifted his chin and said nothing.
“I see,” said the man. “Well, I am not as rude as you are. My name is Doctor Benson. And you’ll tell us who you are soon enough. I’m told you’re a lion. I haven’t had a chance to see a lion yet, so I have to admit I’m very excited.” He nodded to the guards. “Let’s bring him along.”
One of the guards leveled his gun at Seth, and before he could think of a way to avoid it, a tranq dart hit him in the chest and everything went black.
***
When Seth woke up, he was strapped to a chair. It was like a dentist’s chair, tilted back and with a bright light above it.
He yanked at the straps around his wrists, but they didn’t tear or yield.
“Specially reinforced,” said a voice to his left, and Doctor Benson moved into his field of vision. “I’m afraid that even with shifter strength, you’re not going to be able to do anything about those.”
“You’re doing illegal experimentation on shifters,” Seth growled. “You can’t get away with this forever.”
“Oh, but my dear boy, it’s not illegal,” said Benson. “After all, ‘shifters’ are not a legal concept in the United States of America. One could easily argue that you’re just as much animals as you are people—and animal testing is legal.”
“You’re torturing people,” Seth roared, feeling his lion pricking his fingertips into claws, the fur ready to grow...
But nothing happened.
“I’m afraid you can’t shift at the moment,” Benson said, looking amused. “It would be difficult to fit you adequately into that chair in your other form. So we’ve dosed you with a little something to keep you looking human for now.”
A chill ran through Seth. The woman in the cells had been right. He couldn’t shift.
Let me out! his lion roared inside him.
Let us out, Seth echoed, but he knew that nothing was going to happen.
“Now,” said Benson, “I’m just going to inject you with something to let me observe the ways in which your blood behaves differently than normal human blood. It doesn’t hurt too badly.”
Seth struggled furiously with the straps, but he couldn’t break them, and soon there was the prick of a needle in his arm.
It was followed by fire.
A burning, raging fire that spread quickly throughout his body, centering on his chest but licking out to his fingertips, toes, ears, teeth...
Seth panted silently, keeping himself from screaming only with a sustained effort.
The doctor positioned a machine over him, and was observing its readouts. “Very interesting,” he said. “Stay as still as possible, please.”
Seth tried to kick him in the knee, but he was just barely too far away. The doctor glanced down at his foot. “Ah, so violent,” he said. “But I’ve done this a few times, you see. I know exactly where to stand.”
Do you know where you’ll stand when I’m charging you with my claws out? Seth thought. Because nowhere on Earth will be far enough away.
That moment would come, he told himself. For now, he clenched his teeth and endured.
He could stand anything, any torture, because he knew that Cassie was safe.
***
Dave’s car pulled into the parking lot at 8:45 AM.
“He must know something’s up,” Cassie said to Max. “He’s never in this early.”
“No doubt the lab personnel called him last night to report the break-in.” Max was watching Dave park with cool, predatory eyes.
Cassie had to wonder at the difference between Seth and his brother. Seth’s lion half was clear in his rough-and-ready attitude, his mane of blond hair, his adventurous spirit. She could just picture him roaming through the jungle, the savannah, or the mountains as a lion, looking curiously around, hunting for his dinner, napping in a tree and waking up to yawn hugely and go find a snack to pounce on.
Max, on the other hand, was all focused, controlled predator. It was hard to picture him out in nature, but it was clear that he’d chosen a different sort of wilderness to hunt in. Cassie bet that he pounced on his prey in boardrooms, and consumed every morsel without turning a hair.
Dave got out of his car.
Cassie had been planning on letting Max go talk to him. He was the one with the plan, after all, and she bet that he had all of the steps toward its implementation laid out in his brain.
But when she saw Dave, all her self-control went out the window, and before she knew it she was striding across the parking lot toward him.
Behind her, Max made a startled noise, but Cassie couldn’t even take a moment to be satisfied that she’d surprised him. All of her attention was on her boss.
“You!” she shouted, coming up to stab a finger in his chest.
Dave stumbled back a step. “Cassie! What do you think you’re doing?”
“What do I think I’m doing?” she snapped. “What do you think you’re doing, kidnapping people and holding them hostage out in the mountains?!”
Dave’s face changed. He took a step forward. “What the hell do you know about that?”
“I know everything,” she hissed. “I’m your assistant. I do all of your stupid paperwork. I run the payroll. I look at the requisitions forms.”
“None of that gives any concrete information!”
“I don’t need concrete information when I have the whole picture right in front of me!”
Cassie was furious at Dave, but also at herself—she was bluffing, but this should have been true. She’d had the whole picture. She should’ve known what was up and reported it before Seth ever went to that awful place.
“I have all the financial data backed up,” she told Dave. “I’ve seen all of your emails. I know you’re in it up to your neck, and I can prove it if I have to.”
“Ms. Shaw is correct,” said a smooth voice behind her.
Dave jumped. Cassie didn’t.
It looked like Max had decided to go along with her improvised version of his plan. It was amazing how satisfying it felt to know what kind of firepower she had just brought to bear on Dave.
“Who the hell are you?” Dave asked.
A pause. “I’m surprised you don’t recognize me, Mr. Crews,” Max said mildly. “After all, you work for me.”
“You’re not Carl Hendricks,” Dave sneered.
“No, Mr. Crews. I’m Max Rowland.”
All the color drained out of Dave’s face.
Max stepped up to stand next to Cassie. “You are in a great deal of trouble, Mr. Crews. As is Carl Hendricks, though he doesn’t know it yet. If you want to minimize the consequences for yourself, I’d advise you cooperate with myself and Ms. Shaw to the fullest extent of your abilities.”
Dave...sagged. Cassie watched, fascinated. He was always so puffed up with his own air, it was amazing to see him deflate.
“Give me your phone,” she said suddenly, thinking of what might happen if he were to try and warn someone.
Max didn’t say anything, but he seemed to somehow become taller and more intimidating next to her.
Dave hesitated, then dug into his pocket and handed Cassie his phone.
“Now, you’re going to do everything we say,” she told him.
He nodded.
Cassie looked at Max. “Let’s go get Seth.”
***
Seth didn’t know how long he spent in the chair.
Benson poked him with things, scanned him with other things, and kept up an amused running commentary that Seth ignored. His whole body pulsed with pain, so he did his best to tune it out.
Instead he thought of Cassie.
When he got out of here, he decided, he was going to ask her where she wanted to go. Anywhere in the world. And they’d get on a plane and go there.
Maybe she’d want to go to China. They could walk along the Great Wall. They could see the Gobi Desert.
; And Cassie would want to meet the people there. Maybe they’d go to Shanghai or Beijing. Or both.
After China, they could go to Nepal. He didn’t know how much Cassie was into mountain climbing, but he had a hunch she’d be up for it. She lived in the Rockies, after all, and he knew she liked to hike.
The Himalayas would be a challenge even so, but Seth had every confidence that Cassie could do it.
“This might sting a bit,” Benson chuckled. “Just hold still...”
A phone rang. Benson shot an annoyed glance over at the desk where it sat, and set his needle down. “One moment.”
He answered the phone with, “What is it? I’m in the middle of a session!”
But the next time he spoke, his tone had changed completely. “Yes, sir, it is an irregular time for it, but I’m working on the intruder we had last night. I’m sure you were informed...you’re here?”
Benson was frowning, but his tone was respectful. “I had no idea you were visiting, sir, or I would have waited to start the session until you arrived. Yes, very interesting...certainly, please come by now.”
He hung up and turned to Seth. “Well, my anonymous friend, we’re about to have an important visitor! This will interrupt the flow of my work, unfortunately, but at least I’ll be able to get some information about what’s being done to identify you.”
Seth’s brain was a bit hazy at the moment, but he was pretty sure that “sir” was Carl Hendricks. And if he was coming here...
There was a click, and the steel-reinforced door was pushed open. Carl Hendricks walked into the room.
Hendricks was a tall, urbane man with expensively-cut pure white hair. He wore suits that accentuated his height and large frame. Seth hadn’t seen him in years, but he remembered him as someone who liked to loom over people, using his physical advantages.
It must have driven him nuts that we have an advantage he doesn’t, Seth thought smugly.
Of course, that was probably what had resulted in the lab being built in the first place, and therefore Seth’s current situation. So maybe smugness wasn’t the right reaction.
Hendricks took two steps inside the door and froze, staring at Seth.
