WastelandRogue

by Brenda Williamson

  He didn’t like the strangeness of the circumstances. The sooner they left, the safer he’d feel.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Rye glanced toward the doorway. She saw Sevrin pacing the hallway outside the glass room. Her heart swelled with love watching him stand ready to protect her—to guard them all. Nothing had changed from what she had felt that first day with him. Handsome and brave, strong and caring, he was everything she had dreamed a man should be—everything and more.

  A crash of a metal tray pulled her attention back to Zandt. Color had drained from his face and his stance was unstable. As she rushed to help him, a soft moan from her sister stopped her.

  “Shay?”

  Zandt fell into her. Rye grabbed him. “Thank you. I should never have…It was wrong of me to threaten—”

  “You were scared for your sister. Now turn off the machine,” he instructed.

  She flipped the switch.

  “Now remove—” He sagged against the table.

  Rye jerked the needle from his arm. The blood flow reversed, siphoning from Shay and onto the floor.

  Zandt yanked the tube from Shay’s arm. He slapped his hand over the puncture in her skin.

  “Sevrin,” Rye called for help.

  “Get a bandage on her so she doesn’t lose any more blood,” Zandt instructed.

  Rye lifted his hand and examined Shay’s arm. “The skin has sealed already. It’ll heal from the inside.”

  “Sit,” Sevrin told his brother.

  Zandt staggered back and sat in a chair Sevrin dragged over.

  Rye studied Shay’s coloring and her breathing and looked for indications she was waking. “Shay, can you hear me?” She patted Shay’s cheek. “Open your eyes, it’s Rye.”

  “Rye? Rye, is it really you?”

  “Yes, Shay, it’s me. Everything’s going to be all right.” She laughed, giddy with happiness.

  “I feel so strange.” Shay’s lashes fluttered. “Almost like I’ve drunk—”

  Rye watched her sister’s eyes open. “Dr. Renault infused his blood straight into your veins.”

  Shay looked past her at Zandt and Sevrin. She blinked several times, obviously trying to focus through the dark-red haze of her eyes. “He’s human and he helped me?”

  Rye bent down close to her, guessing what Shay wanted to know about her sexual urges. “He’s a half-breed like us,” Rye whispered. “He’s the one on the right sitting in the chair.”

  Rye remembered the overwhelming need for Sevrin’s blood as well as his attention. Shay would naturally experience the same bloodlust.

  Shay tried sitting up. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “Just rest.” Rye pushed her back.

  “Why the hell is my belly so swollen? Rye, I’m not…Oh, my stars, I’m pregnant. How the hell did this happen?” Shay struggled to sit again.

  “You don’t know?” Rye had hoped Shay had a pleasant reason for her condition.

  “I don’t remember anything since that slimy human, Hamner grabbed me in that shack.” Her attention turned to the men again.

  With the expected lust-induced strength gained from an infusion of even half-human blood, Shay shoved Rye away.

  “He’s a scientist?” Shay shrieked. “He’s one of the men that injected me with allium when I was brought here.”

  Rye spun around and faced the men she thought she could trust—the men she thought were helping them. “Are you sure it was Dr. Renault?”

  “Yes—no. I don’t know. I can’t see anything but a haze.”

  Dr. Renault slowly rose from the chair and came forward. “Your eyes?”

  Sevrin took his brother’s arm, holding him up. “How about you sit back down until you regain your strength. Rye can explain their changing eye color later.”

  Dr. Renault appeared distracted. He displayed the curiousness of a scientist. Rye remembered that little bit about her mother, that need to know why things happened, even if it was why the sunlight faded dark clothing hung out to dry.

  “Fine, fall down for being impatient,” Sevrin said to his brother as he walked away. “I’ll go check the hall again.”

  “Is it from the blood?” Dr. Renault asked, moving toward Shay.

  Shay swung her legs over the side of the table and slid off. She beamed with a well-pleased smile that bespoke her interest in pursuing her desires for the man who’d given her blood. “Yes,” Shay answered, extending her hand to him.

  “The strange darkness is fading.” He took hold of her fingers and turned her hand over. “Are there any other changes?”

  Rye wondered why Dr. Renault was as clueless about lamian characteristics as Sevrin was. How did two intelligent men not know the details of their species? Disturbed by the signs of sexual desire that had overcome her sister’s senses since the blood infusion, Rye grabbed her sister. “Shay!”

  “What is it?” Shay turned an angry glare on her.

  “Is he one of the men who brought you here?” Rye demanded, concerned Sevrin’s brother might not be as kind as perceived.

  “No, but he’s dressed like them.” Shay shrugged, showing her confusion.

  Both she and Shay caught Dr. Renault as his knees gave out and he fell forward. When her sister nudged her aside, Rye gave up trying to assist. Satisfied that Sevrin’s brother wasn’t any harm to them, she left him leaning on the steel gurney and Shay for support.

  “I’ll go see what Sevrin is doing,” Rye announced, doubting they heard her or cared.

  “I still haven’t seen signs of anyone coming down here,” Sevrin said as she joined him in the corridor.

  “Good, because your brother doesn’t have enough strength to stand, let alone walk right now. How long does it take him to heal? As long as it takes you?”

  “Pretty much.” Sevrin looked through the glass wall, clearly checking on his brother. “Or maybe not as long as I thought.”

  Rye looked too. Blood dripped down Shay’s arm and Dr. Renault licked it away. “I should have stayed with her. Now is not the time for your brother to experiment with my sister’s healing abilities. She’s been in a coma for who knows how long. If anything she should be resting.”

  “Or maybe she’s stronger than you think. I know the look in your sister’s eye.”

  “Speaking of which, why doesn’t he know more about lamians? As a doctor, scientist, a half-breed himself, I would think he’d have a lot more knowledge about our species.”

  “I can’t explain what he doesn’t know. I told you we didn’t grow up within a lamian culture. No one spoke of it much in my family, unless it was to explain what was going on with us when it occurred, such as our capability for healing.”

  “That doesn’t account for your brother not learning more, especially in this place.”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say, Rye.”

  “That you trust him. That he’s not playing you for a fool and me for a complete idiot.”

  “He’s my brother.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s not evil.” She let out an exasperated breath.

  Sevrin clutched her upper arm and turned her toward the glass again. “Look at him. Does he appear to be anything other than a curious man, captivated by your sister?”

  “That fascination is a result of drinking her blood. He can’t help the sexual draw to her. The effects will wear off.”

  “They didn’t for me.” He pulled her around and cupped his hand under her chin. “I trust Zandt. He’s not part of any conspiracy against lamians. All right?”

  Rye nodded and heaved a sigh. For now, she’d give Sevrin relief from thinking she distrusted his brother. However, she’d withhold judgment on Dr. Renault’s character until he proved without a doubt to be on her side.

  Glancing back at her sister and Dr. Renault, Rye watched Shay flip her hair over her shoulder in a flirtatious manner, lust sparkling in her eyes. “We don’t have time for them to…you know,” she said to Sevrin.

  “You’re right.” Sevrin
marched over to his brother and pulled him back from stroking Shay’s cheek. “We have to get out of here.”

  “He’s a bit of a killjoy,” Shay complained to Rye.

  “Shay, we’re in serious trouble right now. Not to mention you are pregnant.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “You can’t ignore it. You look ready to drop a baby any time.”

  “Then I’d better stick with the doc, huh?” Shay waved Rye off and walked toward Dr. Renault.

  Rye couldn’t believe how uninterested her sister seemed to be in the pregnancy or what happened to her to get her that way. But then, Shay was always more a free spirit, not letting things she couldn’t change bother her.

  “We have to get going,” Sevrin repeated. “Security will eventually catch up to us.”

  “What about the others?” Rye reminded him of the two comatose male lamians still lying on tables. “We can’t leave them.”

  He scratched his head. “We can’t give blood to all of them.”

  “Then we wait until someone comes that we can force to do it,” Rye suggested.

  “We don’t know how many will show up at once,” he replied.

  “Won’t be many, maybe only one or two.” Dr. Renault joined them.

  “This place should be destroyed,” Rye said, knowing that the men in charge of whatever they were experimenting with would go out and bring in a new batch of lamians.

  “About that. There’s something I haven’t told you,” Zandt said.

  “What?” Rye and Sevrin asked in unison.

  “Most of the developments I work on in the lab are alternate renewable resources for fuel, food, whatever we need to rejuvenate the planet’s life force.”

  “That sounds like human-based problems, doesn’t it, Rye?” Sevrin gave her a look that said, “There is your answer as to why Zandt doesn’t know much about lamians from his work.”

  “But some departments are experimenting with toxins,” Dr. Renault continued. “They say to be prepared to defend our better way of life in the future.”

  “That’s how the world fell to ruins hundreds of years ago,” Shay interjected. “No one is brainless enough to want to think wars are good.”

  “The Wickstrom Group has a focalized eye on opportunities they create and control,” Dr. Renault explained.

  “They want to rule the world, don’t they?” Rye bluntly questioned.

  “Yes,” he answered, looking to Sevrin. “There are quite a few of us here who were concerned about where all that work was leading. I hadn’t any idea it had gone as far as using lamians for testing. By midday, everyone is to be out of the building for a routine sterilization. No one can be in the building when the sprayers come on. The stuff that disinfects the labs can also kill us.”

  “How often does that happen?” Sevrin asked.

  “Every cycle of the moon.”

  “And the lamians? Shay has been missing for over six months. What effect does that chemical have on lamians?” Rye’s gaze swept over the comatose patients.

  “I don’t know. Maybe they take them out of the building or—”

  “Or what?” Rye stepped toward Dr. Renault, determined to get answers.

  “Or they’re being exposed. With the way the lamian cells regenerate, it’s possible they’ve been surviving the process. I’m just glad I learned what was going on down here today.”

  “Why? What’s different about today?” Sevrin asked.

  “We had put in measures to neutralize this facility…”

  Dr. Renault’s hesitation gave Rye another one of her eerie chills. “When?”

  “I was on my way to set the timer to the explosives when I was told about you being here.”

  Overwhelming relief settled into Rye. Dr. Renault had found the perfect way to win her trust.

  “Well then, before we leave, I guess we’ll be setting that timer,” Sevrin said.

  “What about the lamians in comas?” Rye glanced at the men on the other two gurneys.

  “If we have to, we’ll carry them out of here. Zandt, can you activate that detonator and get back here in time to get us out?” Sevrin asked.

  “No, and I also can’t do it alone. With the alarms we set off, I don’t think I’ll find anyone associated with the plan waiting around, either.”

  “Then we’ll both go,” Sevrin said. “Rye can stay here with her sister and the others.”

  “They can’t handle the guards alone,” Dr. Renault insisted.

  “I’ll go,” Shay announced. “I’m strong enough to do whatever you need me to do.”

  “Probably stronger than me right now.” Dr. Renault gave her a smile.

  Rye took her sister’s hand and jerked her around to get her attention. “You can’t go, Shay. You’re—”

  “I’m feeling quite well, thank you very much. I’m in control of my senses and as for this,” she rubbed a hand over her bulging belly, “I’m not letting this get in my way.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Well, I can walk better than I can help carry one of them.” She jerked her head toward the comatose lamians.

  “Be careful.” Rye squeezed her sister’s hand and let go.

  “Someone’s coming.” Sevrin grabbed Rye and motioned everyone back.

  Rye, Sevrin and Dr. Renault hid behind a row of gray metal cabinets. Shay climbed back on the steel table and lay down. Two men in white lab coats entered, oblivious to their surroundings. Dr. Renault grabbed one and Sevrin the other.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” the man Dr. Renault held asked.

  “You two are going to help wake up the two male lamians from their coma,” Sevrin said, dragging the one toward the closest table.

  Shay jumped from her spot and hurried to help Dr. Renault. Rye assisted Sevrin. She had seen the procedure. Following every detail as she remembered, she hooked up the scientist to the lamian and started the blood transfer.

  “Why do you have these people here?” Rye demanded.

  Neither man answered.

  “Tell her why or we’ll leave you tied up in here when we leave.” Dr. Renault’s threat didn’t sink in until he added, “It’s sterilization day.”

  “You can’t leave us here. Dr. Creswell is running tests to develop a pesticide that will kill lamians and only lamians. He wants the breed exterminated.”

  “And you went along with this?” Rye said. “Sevrin, I’m for leaving them here anyway.”

  “That sounds good. We’re going to do what we need to do and leave these two to their own accord.”

  The man on the table slowly regained consciousness. He had a goofy, infatuated smile he aimed at the technician, an aftereffect of the bloodletting. Rye recognized that euphoric high that captivated all your senses and thrust you into searching for the cause—looking to keep the sensation going.

  She glanced at Sevrin from the corner of her eye. Sadly, a blood transference created lust, not real love. She loved her sister and would do anything to help or protect her. Were her feelings for Sevrin as strong?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The technician Zandt held fought letting Shay stick a needle in his arm. Sevrin tied his man to the chair and nodded for Rye to watch him while he walked around the table with the other lamian.

  “Your friend is cooperating.” Sevrin pulled his gun from the holster on his back. “We really don’t need you.”

  The man quickly understood his position and stopped struggling. “You’ll never get out of here.”

  “You better hope we do and soon,” Zandt said, poking the needle into his arm. “Nothing stops the sterilization procedure.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Dr. Renault,” Dr. Creswell said as he suddenly entered the lab.

  They had gotten so busy with hooking up the technicians for blood transfusions to the lamians that no one had guarded the room.

  Sevrin spun around, turning his gun on Creswell. He hadn’t liked the small man the first time they met, when Creswell lock
ed them in a room to await Zandt.

  “Is it true you’ve been experimenting on lamians to find a way to eradicate them from earth?” Zandt asked.

  “Very true, Dr. Renault.”

  “Why? What’s to gain?”

  “Human superiority. Nature offers man many things. Our intelligence is the key to what to accept and what to discard. Why not prevent the extinction of the human race?”

  “Humans can’t even reproduce,” Rye challenged heatedly. “Their extinction is inevitable.”

  Sevrin noticed Creswell’s smug look and his gaze at Zandt. His brother hadn’t told them something. In that second, Rye’s distrust of Zandt wormed its way into Sevrin’s thoughts.

  “Zandt?” Sevrin asked. “Humans can’t reproduce, can they?”

  “One of the other areas I’ve been working is human reproduction,” he confessed.

  “You’re helping him destroy lamians?” Shay exclaimed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  “I was helping humankind,” Zandt corrected. “One has nothing to do with the other. I had no idea that wiping out lamians was their plan.”

  “And now that you know?” Rye asked.

  “I’ll be rethinking all areas of my research.”

  “It won’t matter,” Creswell said. “We have all your notes, all your tests and all of your conclusions. Besides, why would you not want to do something to help yourself?”

  Sevrin laughed and looked at his brother. Zandt was always better at hiding his heritage than he was. It was hard to believe that a company as big on security as the Wickstrom Group wouldn’t have had Zandt thoroughly investigated.

  “He doesn’t know?” Sevrin asked.

  “Know what?” Creswell eyed him.

  Rye obviously knew what he was talking about. She came forward first, showing little fear of the man. “Dr. Renault is part lamian, like Sevrin, Shay and me.”

  “And you don’t think I knew that about him?” Creswell gave a short chuckle and grinned, wickedly amused at them. “We’re very thorough in our background checks. We’ve always known about him and the rest of his family.”

  “You questioned why he’d not want to help himself,” Sevrin said.