by Jasmine Walt
“It’s been almost an hour, and no one’s been by. What if they just leave us here to rot? They could be moving my boys as we speak.” He ran a hand over his face and paced short strides in the small space again. “I should have fought back, dammit. Letting them capture me was stupid.”
Ajitah was a calculated fighter, a machine. I’d seen him in action in the arena, but right now, he was operating on a different wavelength. He was in parent mode. Yeah, he’d made a bad call, but so had I. Procrastination and blame would get us nowhere. We needed to come up with a plan if we were going to escape and rescue his boys.
I reached for his arm. “Stop it. I know you want them back. You need to pull it together. If we’re going to get out of here and find your kids, I’m gonna need Ajitah the fighter, not Ajitah the dad. You got it?”
His jaw tensed, and I thought he would unleash on me, but he pressed his lips together and nodded curtly.
The door clicked open, and Ajitah spun to face it, his body tensing as a tall man dressed in a lab coat entered.
“Hello, subjects.” He raised a hand. “Interesting. Very interesting. You,” he said, pointing at Ajitah, “human DNA. Not a speck of the supernatural. Rare, very rare, and you”—he jabbed a finger in my direction—“what are you? I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it, not in my database, and I’ve cataloged them all.”
He approached a sleek counter stationed opposite our glass prison and tapped something out of view. A monitor rose from the center. He scanned it, tapping away on a keyboard we couldn’t see.
“Exciting. Very exciting. Now, if we were to mix them all up, what would we get? Hmm.” The guy shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to the side as if expecting an answer.
Maybe I had fallen down the rabbit hole after all. Our captor’s monologue needed to be converted into a dialogue.
I stepped toward the glass barrier. “Who are you, and what do you want with us?”
He blinked. “Oh dear, how remiss of me. I’m Professor Johnson. Kevin Johnson. You’ve been given to me. The powers that be don’t like snoopers, not one bit. They were simply going to kill you, but I intervened on your behalf.” He held up a hand. “No need to thank me.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
He adjusted his spectacles. “I’ll disregard your ungrateful comment because I’m a little low on subjects at present, and you’re both fine specimens. It would have been a shame to waste you.” Again, he tapped out something on his keyboard. “I’m going to use you to make something entirely new.” The guy wiggled his fingers in the air, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Now, the question is . . . should we have the standard one, or maybe go for twins. Ooh . . . we could even try for triplets.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ajitah snapped.
It was the first time I’d heard him curse, and the word sounded overly harsh and misplaced falling from his cultured lips.
Johnson frowned. “It’s simple, really. You two are going to procreate, and then I’m going to take your offspring.”
Procreate, as in . . . Nah, I must have misheard, but Ajitah’s fresh curse told me I’d heard fine.
“You’re crazy. Let us out of here!” He slammed his hands against the glass.
Johnson sighed. “Look, I’m sorry you feel so strongly against this. Personally, I think the female subject is quite aesthetically pleasing, but to each his own. Once it’s over, you’ll be free to leave. We’ll have to hold on to the female longer, of course, just to accelerate the pregnancy and deliver the offspring. Then she’ll be free to leave. This will just seem like a bad dream. Trust me, you won’t remember much.”
Vanessa had birthed triplets, hybrid triplets. Could she have been a subject here? I glanced at Ajitah as the color drained from his face. He’d obviously come to a similar conclusion. Johnson was too busy inputting stuff into his database to notice our reactions.
I tapped on the glass to get Johnson’s attention. “How many times have you done this?”
He looked up almost absently before going back to his tapping. “My dear, this is all I do. They don’t call me the matchmaker for nothing. I mix the cocktails, create the creatures, and hand them over to the big bosses. To date, I’ve come up with some amazing combinations. They’d be lost without me, really.” He shrugged. “There have been some horrific mutations we didn’t foresee, but overall it’s been a success.”
“Who’s in charge of this . . . operation?” Ajitah asked. “And why? Why would they want you to do this?”
Johnson’s gaze flicked up to the vents. “I suppose since you won’t recall any of this, there’s no harm in answering. I work for the enlightened ones, the Kubera.” His voice rose steadily as he continued to speak. “They plan to bring a new order to the world, a true hierarchy of power. One that even the gods won’t be able to thwart.”
All that was missing from his speech was the classic evil laugh.
I crossed my arms. “You don’t actually know what they’re doing, do you?”
His lips tightened. “I know enough.” He jabbed at his keyboard, and a soft hiss filled the air.
The vents!
“What did you do?”
“Just a little pheromone cocktail to get you both in the mood, a fertility enhancing drug to make sure the entire process yields results, and my special, custom-made substance X, which will kick into effect once conception occurs to work on the fetuses’ DNA.”
The air was growing thicker, and I slapped a hand over my mouth and nose to prevent inhalation. Ajitah was doing the same.
Johnson laughed. “Valiant attempts, but you won’t be able to keep that up indefinitely.” He stepped away from the counter, and the monitor slid out of view. “Now, unlike some of my colleagues, I’m not a pervert, so I’ll give you some privacy for your intercourse.” He backed out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.
My eyes were bugging, and my lungs burned with the need to breathe. There had to be a way out of this. My secret weapon! Slipping my hand under the waistband, I located my hidden pocket and pulled out the laser pen. Okay, time to focus, but to do that, I needed to breathe. Breathe and work faster than the damn drug.
I removed the hand from my mouth and took a breath. The air tasted strange, metallic yet sweet. No time to assess. Flipping on the pen and crouching, I set to work on the glass, starting at the bottom. Despite what Johnson said, he could still be watching, but there was no choice. We needed out of this box.
The laser began to cut through the thick glass.
Yes! It was working.
My body tingled as warmth spread through my limbs, and my lady bits began to throb.
Shit, shit, shit.
I brought the laser pen up, intent on cutting an arch big enough for us to slip through. Halfway there, and no, I didn’t want to turn around and rip Ajitah’s clothes off his taut, muscular body. Blocking the carnal images that circled my mind like depraved vultures, I focused on shallow breathing. The drug was getting into my bloodstream way too fast, kicking up my pulse and sending it haywire. My hand trembled.
Ajitah’s body enveloped mine from behind. His groin pressed against my backside while his hands simultaneously cupped my breasts and kneaded. A haze enveloped my mind, blocking all thoughts of escape.
“Fuck . . .” I pressed back into his hardness. So good.
Ajitah’s lips were on my neck, my jaw, my earlobe. His tortured breath was hot in my ear. “Malina, hurry, please.”
Yes, the glass.
Needed to get out of the box.
Wicked thoughts writhed inside my head—a nest of vipers I ached to be stung by. I blew out a breath and pressed on with the pen, bringing it down, slowing on the final sweep of the arch.
Almost done.
Ajitah’s hands closed around my waist, and he yanked me away from the glass, flipping me onto my back. His body covered mine and pushed me into the ground. Shockwaves radiated over my skin as he nuzzled my neck. He smelled like the end of a
thunderstorm—earthy and electric. I gasped as he thrust against me. The drug filled my lungs, and sex filled my mind. The vipers attacked, every inch of me burning for relief.
I wound my hands in his hair, yanked his head down, and claimed his mouth—teeth, tongue, and the taste of cinnamon. The silken feel of his hair between my fingers and the rough graze of calluses on his fingertips electrified my skin. His hardness pressed against my wet core. Too many sensations. I wrapped my legs around him, grinding into him, wanting to feel him, wanting him inside.
“Malina, fuck. I can’t stop. I need to . . . I need to fuck. Stop.”
Stop.
His words were like a hook dragging me from the depths of insanity.
Not real. This wasn’t real.
The glass. The pen. Not sex. Not like this. I shoved him away, turned around, and slid toward the glass barrier. The pen was where I’d dropped it. Gritting my teeth against the mind-numbing need, I picked it up, switched on the laser, and finished the job. Ajitah’s shadow fell over me as his hands slammed against the glass, pressing it outward and pushing the cutout into the lab beyond.
Sweet, fresh air whooshed into the box. I crawled out on trembling hands and knees, Ajitah right behind me. He pulled me up and steadied me when I swayed. His fingers were warm, the calluses teasing my sensitized skin.
Must not throw myself at him.
The effects of the drug weren’t abating because it was in our blood, in our systems, and goodness only knew how long it would take before the craving abated. Ajitah leaned in to me, his chest rising and falling as his hands traveled up my arms, sending aching shivers through me.
I shook my head. “We need to go.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes.”
The room around us was filling with the drug. Soon, out here would be just as bad as in there.
We ran for the exit and pulled open the door, only to see men wearing black combat clothes hurtling toward us. Ajitah shoved me out of the way and rushed them with his lethal fists. By the time I pulled myself from the floor, the two guys were down.
“You weren’t kidding about letting them capture you, were you?”
He arched a brow. “You had doubts?”
“It won’t happen again.”
The thud of boots alerted us to more company.
Ajitah grabbed my hand. “This way.”
We ran down the corridor to our right, past room after room.
“You know where you’re going?”
“There’s a lift down here. We need to check out floor zero.”
“You think the boys are there?”
“One of the captors mentioned feeding the new arrivals.”
A pair of silver lift doors came into view as we rounded a corner, and we skidded to a halt. Ajitah jabbed at the call button. The thud of boots grew closer. We wouldn’t be making it into that lift without another fight. My hand went to my waist, but there was no Vindra to fit neatly into my palm. I was on my own, hand to hand.
Two huge guys dressed in the same black gear rounded the corner, running at us as if we were a finish line. Ajitah let out a battle cry and leapt.
He had his lethal fists, and I had one weapon left . . . my vials.
One of the guys broke away from Ajitah, his craggy face splitting in a grin as he beelined for me. Vial clutched in my left hand, I countered his attack. All I needed was an opening. He punched. I dropped, meeting the ground in the splits, and I slammed him in the nuts with everything I had. He doubled up, his mouth an O of pain. I shoved the vial into the orifice, pushing his jaw shut and delivering an uppercut to smash the vial in his mouth. He gagged and clawed at his throat for a few seconds, which was all it took for the paralytic to gain access to his bloodstream via the cuts the glass would have caused. He reached for me, his eyes wild, but I shoved him away, watching in satisfaction as he teetered backward and hit the ground.
Ajitah finished beating his guy to a pulp and joined me by the lift. The doors dinged open. We stepped inside. I hit zero on the keypad as a fresh wave of guards streamed around the bend. Our captors had obviously realized sending them in two at a time was pointless.
The doors slid shut just in time.
Soft music played as we began our descent. I slid a glance Ajitah’s way. His jaw was doing that ticking thing again, but I didn’t have the urge to fuck his brains out. The drug was out of my system. Instead, I admired his profile—neat and masculine—and worried for his kids. He was a bloody good guy in a time when truly decent guys were always in short supply.
He slid a glance my way. “You ready for this?”
“Yeah. There will be more guards once we exit this lift.”
“I know. Find my boys, and then get them out of here.”
“We’ll find them together, and we’ll get them out of here together.”
He turned his head to spear me with those intense gray eyes. “No. You go, with or without me. You get my boys to safety. Understood?”
No point telling him I didn’t take orders from him. No point arguing full stop, not when he was looking at me as if he would strike me down if I did, so I settled for a nod.
Satisfied, he turned back to the doors just as they pinged and slid open.
A guard holding a gun and a young woman in a lab coat greeted us. I hit the alarm button to stall the lift before we stepped onto the floor. Hopefully, it would keep it stuck for a while and buy us a little time. This was another test center of some kind, an open-plan space fitted with six glass-box prisons like the one we’d been held in. Only three were occupied.
Ajitah took a step forward. “Boys!”
The guard trained his gun on Ajitah. “Don’t move.”
My pulse kicked up a notch. I wasn’t faster than a bullet. From the look of frustration on Ajitah’s face, neither was he. One of the kids closest to us slammed his palms against the glass, his huge green eyes filled with terror.
“Look, I just want my sons back. Please. Just let me take them.”
The room was bare, save for the cages and a long workstation with a bank of monitors rising out of an island behind the woman. One exit at the back of the room. No other way in or out.
“Get on your knees,” the guard said. “Now! Hands on your head. Both of you.” He swung his gun my way, but then trained it back on Ajitah, obviously seeing him as the bigger threat.
Ajitah fell to his knees. The boys battered the glass, their voices muffled. It seemed like these cages were slightly different, soundproofed for some reason.
“You too, down!” The guard waved the gun in my direction.
I got down on my knees, my eyes flitting to the woman in the lab coat who was standing a foot behind the guard. She met my gaze steadily, and I almost missed the movement of her hand as it dipped into her pocket and pulled out a syringe. She uncapped the needle.
“If you cooperate, you can get out of this alive,” the guard said. “You don’t have to die today.”
The woman in the coat stepped up immediately behind the guard. Before he could look her way, the needle entered his neck. He swatted at her, but with the drug administered, she leapt out of harm’s way.
He clutched his neck. “Wha…” His eyes rolled back in his head, and he dropped with a thud.
“Up, quick.” She ushered us forward.
I stood, still wary, but Ajitah didn’t have the same concerns.
He rushed forward. “My boys. Please.”
She moved quickly to the bank of monitors. A few taps on the keyboard and the front wall of the glass cages slid into the ground, setting the boys free. They tumbled out, rushing to Ajitah, who gathered them up in his arms. The woman pulled open a drawer and lifted out Vindra, still snug in her sheath and hanging on her belt.
She held out the belt. “I think this belongs to you.”
“Thanks.” I quickly strapped my baby on.
She unclipped her ID card from her coat and handed it to me. “Take this. It’ll give you access to the exits in the f
acility. Take the stairwell to the second floor. The exit tunnels can be found there, and they’re clearly marked. They will come after you, so hurry.”
The lift behind us whirred into motion, doors sliding shut. Someone had probably overridden the alarm.
Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I needed to know. “Why are you helping us?”
“Because this isn’t what I signed up for.” She snatched the gun from the unconscious guard and pressed it into my hand. “Take it. I can say you overpowered the guard and threatened me with the gun you took from him. Now go.”
Ajitah was already at the exit. “Malina, come on.”
For her sake, I hope they believed her story. “Be safe.”
I headed for the exit, swiped the card, and ushered the boys and Ajitah through. The sound of the lift pinging open as the door closed behind us had us speeding up.
We took the stairs two at a time. Ajitah carried two of the boys, and I took the third. We swiped through onto the second floor, into a steel tunnel like the one we’d been spit into on arrival. The boys were silent, their eyes wide and glittering in the gloom. The little guy’s heart beat ten to the dozen against my back.
Three other tunnels split off from the main one. They were labeled Sheen, Petersham, and Cambrian.
Finally, an easy decision. We’d left the car at the Richmond Gate. “Cambrian is the closest.”
Our boots clanged against the metal grating, and my heart was working overtime, pumping to provide enough oxygen to carry the seven-year-old child on my back. I wasn’t sure how long we ran before the echo of our pursuers’ boots reverberated down the tunnel toward us. We barreled around a curve as the tunnel took a steeper incline and spotted a ladder up ahead.
We’d made it.
Hope gave my feet wings, and I overtook Ajitah, reaching the ladder first.
“Hold on, little guy.”
I climbed quickly, never missing a rung, and scanned the card across the lock on the steel door. With a soft beep, a click, and a hiss of air, we were clambering out into the cool night air.
“Well, I have to admire your tenacity.”
A man stood in front of me with a dozen guards as backup. His face was angular, almost too harsh. I pushed the boy behind me, shielding him with my body, and did the same for the other two as they emerged. Ajitah appeared last.
