by Alana Hart
Liam’s head shot up. “You know how to get out of here?”
She nodded, setting down the rest of her pieces. “Hell yeah I do. Been planning my escape for over a year. I know how to get out – you know, exits and all that – but I don’t know where the hell we are. Could be Kentucky. Could be Russia. I have no idea.”
Lyss gnawed on her bottom lip. Liam’s heart was racing. Thank god she couldn’t hear it or she might get suspicious, but he could use her. If she really knew how to get out of here then he needed her to tell him. If he could get to his pack, they’d be able to bring this place down easily. Sneak the pups out and then bomb the shit out of it. Carly liked to make explosives.
“And when I do,” she told Liam as she made her first move. “I hope I can shift so I can rip that cunt to shreds.”
They finally went to sleep around three in the morning. Someone banged on the door so they would wake up and get breakfast. Thankfully for Liam, Lyss rolled out of her bed, took the trays, set them on her trunk, and then went back to sleep.
Not until almost lunch did they wake, and by then their porridge was cold, but they ate it anyway while setting up for another game of chess.
It was like that for a few weeks. Chess all day. Meals delivered through a slat in the door. Showers twice a week with an escort. And physicals once a week with the formidable Nurse Greta. It became obvious to Liam during the first physical while he was there that Lyss’s hatred for the woman was mutual.
Two men in riot gear stood by the door, surly and indifferent, while Greta poked and prodded Liam, checking his vitals and taking a few vials of his blood. Finished with him, she beckoned for Lyss.
She flounced over to Greta and twirled like a ballerina. Liam forgot that she was just eighteen, barely an adult. Not that he was that much older, but she acted so mature that he forgot.
Greta grabbed Lyss’s arm, stopping her. The stern look she had been giving Liam was replaced by a sneer as she glared at Lyss.
“Get on the scale,” Greta snarled. She weighed Lyss and took her vitals. Lyss danced out of the woman’s reach a few times, just to be annoying, for which she earned a smack on the arm.
“Shirt,” Greta said. Lyss lifted her shirt, baring her breasts. Greta inspected the bruise on Lyss’s sternum, giving it a good poke. Lyss only flinched, but it was enough to make Greta smile. “You going to be still so I can draw some blood?”
Lyss put her hands together in front of her chest. “Of course, milady, whatever you say.”
Greta snorted. She snapped for the men. “Hold her.”
There ensued a fight so short and ugly that Liam felt sick. The men grabbed Lyss’s arms, she pulled away, and then the man with the dimpled chin sunk his fist so hard into her stomach that she doubled over, a grunt the only noise she seemed able to make.
While she was bent, Greta took three vials of blood from her arm. With a nod, she headed for the door, and the men dropped Lyss’s arms. She didn’t fall to the floor, but did stumble. When she straightened, the men were slipping out the door, Greta waiting outside.
Lyss smiled, her voice strained when she spoke. “Boys, always a pleasure seeing you. Greta, go fuck yourself.”
Greta’s laugh was more of a snort and she walked away. The man with the dimpled chin leaned into the room, his eyes cold.
“Be our pleasure in a few days.”
The door slammed, the lock clanking into place. Lyss sat on the bed, focusing on the game they had been playing before the physicals. Liam joined her.
Though she didn’t say anything or make any sound, Lyss’s eyes became glassy, and her forehead creased between her brows.
Chapter Six
Lyss didn’t care how she got away – escape, rescue, death – all that mattered now was that she got the hell away from here. It would never end. The injections, the cruelty, the rape. She didn’t think she would survive another gang bang from Warren and his goons. No, she knew she wouldn’t, because if they tried again she was going to kill herself. Somehow.
But first she would try to escape. She would rather die running than not even try at all. She couldn’t escape without telling Liam, though. He roomed with her, and he would either be on board to help or he would rat her out.
Glancing at the door to make sure they were gone, Lyss kept her voice low. “Can you help me with something?”
He looked up, startled and leaned closer to hear her.
“I’m leaving.”
He frowned, confused.
“Like, escaping. I need you to make a distraction so I can get away.”
He was shaking his head before she finished her sentence.
“No way,” he said, keeping his voice low, too. “If you go, I’m going with you.”
“Liam…” If he started crying she might start, too. But the kid was tough. He glared hard at her, looking too old for such a young kid.
“No. You won’t make it on your own. I can help.”
“You’re just a kid.”
“I’m a shifter. You’re not.”
“I’ll be fine, and I’ll come back for you.”
He sat back, crossing his arms. “You’re not leaving without me.”
“I can’t stay. You heard them, and you know what he meant.”
Liam’s eyes darted toward the door and back to her.
The corners of his mouth turned down. “What if you leave,” he said, his voice wavering. “And they do that to me instead?”
God damn it… Could she leave him behind and risk them hurting him like they hurt her? No. She wasn’t that cruel.
“All right fine,” she said. He brightened instantly. “But you have to do everything I say, got it?”
He nodded. “How do we get out of here?”
Lyss looked around the room. They weren’t given paper and pens, nothing to write with, but maybe that was a good thing. No one could figure out what they were doing if they didn’t leave a trace.
She eyed the chess set and swiped the game away.
“I was winning,” Liam said watching the pieces fall onto the mattress.
Lyss set the pieces up, using the pawns as walls. She held up the black queen. “This is me. You’re the knight. This,” she held up the white rook. “Is the cunt.”
Lyss explained the layout of this floor—exits, guards, all of that.
“I’m assuming all of the floors have the same layout. We need to get to the first floor,” she said. “I’m not sure what we’ll have to deal with once we’re out, but if we can get a car, I can drive until we find somewhere to hide.”
“I have family in Mass,” he said and then lifted an eyebrow. “You can probably stay with them.”
Lyss nodded. Still wary of people, groups especially, Lyss had no desire to get caught up with anyone’s family. Her plans with this kid ended as soon as he was safe. After that she was out of here. Europe if she could hop a boat.
“Okay,” she said, rubbing her hands on her pants. “We’ll go tomorrow when they take us for showers. We get to the first floor and we’re set.”
Liam nodded. For a kid he was thorough. He had drilled her for details about the exits, each intersection of hallway, where the elevators were, how many guards, who were they, what were they like, and on and on. The kid seemed as desperate to escape as Lyss.
Settling in for a game of chess to take their minds off of the nearly impossible day ahead tomorrow, both jumped when the locked clicked and their door opened.
Greta came in followed by another nurse. She was grinning. “Injections,” she sang. Six men in riot gear stormed the room and grabbed both Lyss and Liam.
Lyss bucked and fought. “What the fuck are you talking about?” she screamed. “I have another week! Let me go! I have another week!”
Greta’s eyes danced. “Oh, sweetheart, Dr. Anderson thinks he may have perfected your serum.” Lyss stilled. The men bound her hands behind her back. They did the same to Liam, who was still struggling to get free.
“What,” Lyss
spat. “Dragon blood?”
Greta shook her head, her grin too wide for her face. “We’re giving you some of his blood.” She glanced at Liam. “Our doctor found something in this boy’s blood, some strange phenomenon, and when he mixed it with a bit of yours… ” Her face lit up. “Fireworks. He believes that boy’s blood might get your body to transition.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Greta shrugged. “It might kill you. Let’s have some fun.”
She signaled for the men to lead the way, and Lyss fought against her bound hands and kicked her legs like her life depended on it, because it did.
As they were dragged down the hall, Greta spoke to Liam. “You, my boy, are going to be injected with a hormone serum. Same sort of thing we’ve used on dogs and horses to get them ready for breeding a little younger. You should be making babies in no time.”
When they reached Lyss’s lab room, she put a foot on either side of the door. Liam disappeared into a room a few doors down. Warren stepped into Lyss’s vision and slammed a fist into her stomach. She buckled, her legs falling, and they brought her in and dropped her onto the table.
In pain, panicking, Lyss fought, biting and kicking, screaming, but they soon had her strapped to the table, men holding her down. Bright lights shined down on Lyss and the men, hot on her head.
Greta came at her with the needle, her smile wicked. She didn’t even use antiseptic on Lyss’s skin before sliding the needle into the old bruise. Lyss felt a sharp pressure as the thick needle jabbed at her skin. There was a pop and then the cold metal slid under her skin. She felt it reach into her chest, and then Greta pressed the plunger, and red-brown liquid rushed into Lyss’s heart.
It was different this time. Hot and then cold and then hot again. Her heart slowed, Lyss relaxed, unable to move as her blood slowly oozed through her veins. And then, as if exploding, her blood flashed through her body making her dizzy. She felt the serum flooding her veins, like tiny bubbles rushing through small tubes. Her heart beat faster, too fast, her breathing became shallow.
The last thing she heard was Greta’s voice. “All right boys, have at her.”
Chapter Seven
Liam would be damned before they were going to inject anything into him. He waited, acting like a scared, docile child, until the nurse sent two of the guards to help with Lyss.
One guard and the nurse. Liam whimpered on the table, curled in a ball. When she came near him, he cried out.
“The collar, please, it hurts.”
Though she was unaffected by his childish pain, she did sigh and snap at the guard to remove his collar.
“We’ll need you to shift anyway to get this serum going faster,” she said.
The guard ran his finger under the collar, found the fingerprint lock, and then it clicked, falling from Liam’s neck. In that instant, Liam shifted, the bonds on his hands shredding.
Months of not shifting had taken its toll, and it hurt like hell, but adrenaline overruled the pain. His clothes stretched and tore. The nurse squeaked in terror as she stared at the man now standing where the boy had been. Liam snapped the guard’s neck and grabbed the nurse before she could get away. He slammed her head on the table over and over until blood leaked onto the floor.
Quickly and silently, Liam pulled the clothes off of the guard and slid into them. At the door, he listened. All was quiet. He watched the retreating back of Greta and a few of the guards.
To his left was an exit. It wasn’t the elevators; they were down the hall and too far for him to reach with Greta on the loose. But he could get to the elevators from up there; act like another guard and slip away. He could get out of here.
Lyss cried out, stopping him.
Go, Liam, he thought. Just go.
But what if she had lied about the exits or got them mixed up? And what about if he got to floor that wasn’t exactly like this one? What if everything was a trick, and he needed to use her as leverage? He couldn’t risk trying to escape without her.
Shifting back into a boy, the guard’s clothes hanging off of him, Liam pushed the door to Lyss’s room open. The sight he met with assaulted his eyes.
Lyss lay on the table, strapped down, a guard standing by watching as another climbed onto the table between Lyss’s legs. She was still dressed, but not for long if the guard had his way.
He didn’t. Liam shouted. The two men turned and laughed at the boy in the doorway. Lyss turned bleary eyes on him, the hopelessness in them stirring something inside Liam.
“Get away from her,” he said, his little boy voice sounding impotent and weak.
The guard on the floor pulled out his rod. “Stick it to her, Warren. I got the kid.”
Liam stepped into the room and closed the door, which only made the guard laugh harder. On the table, Warren was taking his time. He pulled a knife and began to slice open her tee shirt. Lyss kept her eyes on Liam, not asking for help—because what could a boy do—but as if she needed something to focus on other than Warren.
It amazed Liam that the guards didn’t even ask him how he had gotten away from the others or where his collar was or why he was wearing riot gear. They were so completely blinded by the fact that he was a child.
It happened in moments. The guard was close enough to raise his rod, ready to hit him, when Liam shifted. Instantly he filled out the guard’s clothes, towering over the other, the wolf in him practically clawing to get out. But not yet. Right now he needed to be a man.
“What the fuck?” the guard said, and then Liam grabbed his throat and ripped. The man collapsed, his neck gushing.
On the table, Warren turned. Lyss stared, her eyes wide. Warren nodded, pulling his rod from his belt.
“Greta said you were special. Too bad I have to kill you.”
Liam grinned. Stupid man. The fight was fast. Warren got in a jab, missed, and Liam sank his fangs into the man’s neck and shook his head. There was a satisfying crunch as his neck snapped, blood rushed into his mouth, and Warren fell to the floor dead. Liam spit out the blood and wiped his face with his sleeve. It would have to do for now.
Lyss hadn’t moved. She only stared at him, her eyes wide.
“Let’s go,” he said. “They’re gonna come back soon and check on us.”
She didn’t move.
“The fuck, girl? Get up. It’s me, Liam. Just, ain’t a kid.”
She blinked slowly. He could see the strain in her neck as if she was trying to move.
“Shit,” he said. He peeked out the door. The hall was still empty, the lights glaring off the white floor. He could carry her, but he needed her to be able to talk in case he got lost. Something rustled. She was barely moving her fingers, touching the papers on her chart.
Liam snatched it up and read. The last injection was a lot of his blood and someone else’s venom. Chance of fatality was ninety percent. He thought about his brother using the bite to save his friend. It could have killed her, but… Lyss might die anyway.
Bending close, he whispered. “I’m gonna bite you. It won’t turn you, but my venom will heal you. I think…”
He lifted her shirt exposing the horrible bruise. She only stared. Praying no one walked in soon, Liam sank his fangs into the skin below the bruise, over her bellybutton. He waited, licking her blood from his lips. She tasted sweet like cream and warm like sunshine. He could smell his own blood in her. It was a strange sensation.
Nothing was happening. If she didn’t heal soon he’d have to leave her or take her as is. Which would be better? She might slow him down if he tried—
Suddenly she arched her back and opened her mouth. Liam felt the scream coming and slapped a hand over her mouth. She screamed into his hand, the sound barely muffled. Her fists gripped the edge of the table. Liam watched, blood draining from his face, as the bruise on her sternum expanded. It turned black, covering her entire stomach and then shrank. When all that was left was a blackened bite mark, Lyss relaxed.
Liam’s heart raced. “Are you okay
?”
She nodded, shaking so badly he thought she might be deathly sick. Footsteps down the hall and around the corner. They had to go. Liam scooped her into his arms.
The hall was empty, the elevator too far. Liam ran toward the exit and slipped through. He stood in a stairwell. Up or down.
“Up,” Lyss gasped.
“Why up? We need to get to the first floor.”
“Up leads out. Building’s underground. Upside down.”
He glared at her. “You couldn’t mention that before?”
She shrugged, wincing.
The footsteps had come into their hallway. Liam ran up the steps, taking them three at a time. Four floors and the stairs ended. They came out into the kennels.
“End of the hall, take a right. Elevator.” Lyss couldn’t keep her eyes open. She clasped her arms desperately around his neck.
Liam slipped into the hall. He walked, his heart beating fast. A nurse with an armload of towels passed them, sparing Liam and Lyss a cursory glance. At the end of the hall Liam turned right and walked into none other than Nurse Greta.
Liam froze.
“What’s this?”
He scrambled for an excuse. “Didn’t feel like sharing.”
Greta frowned. “You can do with her as you please, but she needs to stay on that floor.”
They had no idea he was the boy. “Yes ma’am,” he said. He turned to head back the way they came.
Greta grabbed his arm. “Use the elevator. And hurry up.”
He nodded and walked toward the elevator. Liam pressed the button to call the elevator. While he waited he glanced down the hall. Greta stood by a desk looking over a chart. As long as she kept her eyes that way they were in the clear. There would be no reason for her to check on them unless she was suspicious.
