by Lexi Blake
While everyone else kept talking, Dante closed his eyes and tried to find her. Acting on pure instinct, he opened his mind and called to her.
Nothing at first. He practically screamed in his head and then a tiny whimper. If he hadn’t felt it before, he would have blown it off as an incidental sound, but now he grabbed on to that one tiny sound and held on for dear life. He focused, forcing away the rest of the noise in his head. Her mind was cloudy, unable to think in a clear pattern.
She was afraid. He heard one word play in her drug-addled brain over and over again.
Dante.
She wanted him to come for her. His whole body ached at her fear. He wanted to kill Chalen Palgrave, but more than that, he wanted to comfort her. He’d brought her to this plane where she would never be accepted. He’d brought her to this.
Hush, sweetheart. I’m coming. I am going to be there, and you’re going to be fine.
He forced his own panic to a much deeper place, one that Kaja couldn’t feel. She needed him to be calm. She was alone and scared and had no idea why she couldn’t think straight. Dante knew. He’d been to enough parties in college to recognize the drugs they’d given Kaja. He sent out soothing thoughts.
He got a flash of white—so white. All the lights were white, and the man was white, and she was in a cage. The entire vision was disorienting. His stomach churned. Kaja was handling the drugs well. Gods, how much had they given her?
He opened his eyes. And then narrowed them because he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. “Meg?”
The queen of the Seelie Fae stood there dressed outrageously in a red leather bustier and what Dante worried was a thong. She was wearing stilettos that added at least four and a half inches to her petite frame.
“Does Beck know you’re here? Gods, Meggie, he’s not just going to spank you this time. He’s going to go crazy. You go and change into something decent right now. Do you understand me? I do not have time for this. You will change, and you will get in the car I’m going to call for you, and you will go back to my house. You will not step foot outside the Dellacorp building, or Beck won’t be the only one who spanks you.”
Meg’s eyes went wide, and then she fell to her knees in a perfect submissive pose. She turned her face up to Julian, and there was a placid smile on her lips. “Oh, he’s lovely, Sir. Is he my new Master? You promised to find me one. He’s so commanding.”
Roan elbowed him with a shake of his head. “Take another look. She doesn’t glow, Dellacourt.”
Fuck him. Roan was right. This woman looked like Meg, but she didn’t have Meg’s glow. This Meg was a vampire. It was odd to see her like this, but it was only fair. After all, according to Meg, she’d met Dante’s human self when she was on the Earth plane.
Julian placed a hand on Vampire Meg’s head. “Sorry, Megan, he’s taken. But I will pair you with a Master when I find the right one. I need your help for another reason. I need to know how to get into the Palgrave Industries building.”
Her familiar face went blank, and her eyes cast down. “I’m sure they’re closed at this time of night, Sir.”
Julian was obviously having none of it. “Yes, and you, you clever and bratty sub, know how to get around that, don’t you? You know how to get in and how to do it quietly, so no one knows you’re coming.”
Her auburn hair shook. “I’m not allowed to do anything illegal. I remember everything you said to me after the last time you bailed me out of jail. I am a very good girl.”
No, she wasn’t. She was lying. Even Dante could see that.
“You’re a masochist is what you are, Megan.” Julian gently pulled her head back. “If I didn’t already have a couple of beloved submissives, I would take care of your discipline on my own. I’ll leave it to Master Leo. It’s not going to go well for you, but I might tell him to allow you to come if you fess up right now. Otherwise, you’ll be on the cross for hours with no relief.”
That threat had her talking. “It was just a little raid. You don’t understand, Sir. Palgrave Medical is running horrible tests on bunnies and monkeys. I snuck in and freed a few of them.”
Julian hauled her up from her slave position. “Megan here is a bit of a protester and part-time criminal.”
“I am not a criminal. What they do to those animals is criminal,” she argued.
“You were in the medical facility?” Dante asked, making connections. “Is it mostly white? With cages?”
Vampire Meg nodded. “It’s a terrible place. They keep it so cold. They don’t even understand that animals need soothing colors, too.”
“I don’t think soothing colors mean much to animals who are being tested on.” Julian sighed as though he’d gone over this with her before.
Tested on. That fucker had his consort in a cage. Chalen Palgrave meant to treat her like a beast to experiment on. Dante’s heart raced, but something dark opened inside him. If Chalen Palgrave wanted a beast—Dante would give him one.
Megan took a step back. “Is he going to hurt me?”
Julian put a fatherly hand on the woman’s shoulder. “No. But I suspect I can’t say the same thing about Palgrave.”
Meg smiled brightly. “Oh, good. He’s a horrible person. I’m a pacifist by nature, but I will totally help get him in the building if he’s going to kill that man. You’ll let me keep the bunnies, right?”
Dante turned without speaking. Roan fell in beside him.
“I’m going to call some of my contacts in the police force. We’ll keep it quiet. I wouldn’t want Palgrave to destroy evidence, if you know what I mean,” Julian called out.
There was the click-clack of stilettos as Meg raced to catch up with them. She had Julian’s dark shirt wrapped around her body like a robe.
“This should be fun. I know the best way into that building.” She walked on like they were going on a shopping trip rather than into battle. “And now that I have a minute with you, Mr. Dellacourt, I can talk to you about organic meal pills. There’s this rancher who has come up with a way to organically produce meal pills that doesn’t even kill the cow.”
He growled her way as his car was brought from the garage.
He wanted the real Meg back.
* * * *
Kaja came to in fits and starts. The world was a weird mix of past and present. She dreamed of her home, but this time she ran with Dante at her side. She on four legs and he on his two powerful ones. He ran as naked in his skin as she was in her fur, his fangs and claws on display. It was full summer, and the forests were alive with prey. Deer and stag and moose all fled in terror at their approach, but it wouldn’t matter. They would select the fattest and feast. They were unstoppable. Stronger because they were together.
She reached out to him.
I’m coming, love. I’m coming.
He wasn’t coming. He was here beside her. As it should be.
Then it was white, so white. When had the snows begun? The world was coated in white and silver and cold. So cold. She shivered despite her fur.
Where was Dante? She wanted Dante. She didn’t want to be alone again. Dante?
Hush, love. I’m coming.
But he wasn’t here, and she was sick. She felt it in her brain. She was ill and in pain. Dante!
Kaj! Calm down now.
The voice in her head had taken on a distinctly domineering tone, and she responded to it. She forced herself to stop. Her head was muddy, but she could move. The ground beneath her was cold, but it wasn’t soft and wet like snow. It was hard and unnatural. Metal. She opened her eyes and closed them quickly. Too bright. Far, far too bright.
“I think it’s awake.”
The voice that spoke was cold as well. Through slitted eyes, she looked up. She was in a cage, though not one as nice as the gnome’s cages. This was utilitarian. Metal bars and cold floor beneath her. There were two men standing beside a long metal table looking down at her. One was in a white coat that reached his knees. He wore a dress shirt and slacks undernea
th, and had strange gloves covering his hands. The other wore a suit much like her Dante’s.
“Funny how she changed when she lost consciousness.”
“I didn’t think so. It was disgusting. She’s a fucking dog. How does Dellacourt make himself touch that?”
Kaja knew the second voice. It was the man who had been in the car. Why had he taken her?
She was in her wolf form. She knew why she had changed. Her body needed to heal, to dispel whatever illness the drink had given her. She was physically stronger in this form. Already she felt better, though still so weak.
She would not drink again. Ever. Her mind sought the connection to her husband.
“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Palgrave. I don’t understand the lure. I would much rather discover how she ticks. I’d like to start with some stimuli to see if I can get her to change back to her human form.”
Dante. I am afraid.
I know, baby. But I’m coming. I won’t leave you there. How many vampires are around you?
She forced her head up. Weary. She was so weary, but she looked around. She opened her senses and let the sights and smells of the place wash over her.
Two men. One woman. Amanda. She thought the name with a sneer.
Dante seemed to get the message. His next thoughts were hesitant. Um, I can explain about her, love. You see…
Kaja growled.
I love you, Kaj.
She would see about that. For now, she had a job to do. I’m in a small cage. I can smell three others, but they are outside the door.
And then she forgot to breathe, the pain was so great. It came up from her paws and radiated through her body, sending fire through her veins. Her lungs felt tight and breath was impossible. She howled with the ache that went on and on and on.
“It doesn’t seem to be doing anything,” the man in the white coat said. She watched as he took his hand off some form of button.
Her body sagged as the pain stopped. Her legs shook. She had no control.
There was a kick to her cage that sent the whole thing rattling. The man in the suit stared down at her, disgust apparent on his face. “Hey, dummy, change. We want to see your human form. Do you think it has a brain in this form?”
White Coat frowned. “I believe so. That was only a medium setting though. Perhaps we should try one higher. I don’t want to push it, Mr. Palgrave. The higher settings tend to kill off the subject or at least fry its brains.”
Kaja, what the fuck was that? What are they doing to you?
Dante’s panicked voice screamed in her head. It was too much. They wanted her to change, but she couldn’t risk it. She could handle more in this form. If she changed and they turned on the machine, there was a chance that she could die. She needed time. Dante would come. He would come, and she needed to be alive when he got here.
She would take the pain.
Kaja! You talk to me right now. I felt that. What are they doing?
He’d caught her pain? That wouldn’t do. She would have to shut down their connection. She was loathe to do it. Feeling Dante was the only thing that was keeping her going.
That was why she’d been afraid. She’d been afraid of loving him. She’d been unwilling to fight for him because when she couldn’t directly feel him, she didn’t trust him. It was time to move past that. It was time to believe.
They are killing me. Come quickly. I love you, my Dante.
She closed the connection between them as the pain began again. This time she was alone, with no physical sense of Dante. As the shaking began, she realized he was still with her. No matter what. She didn’t need to feel him to know he was coming.
He would always come.
Kaja howled and held on to the pain. As long as she hurt, she was still alive.
Chapter Nineteen
The hovercar stopped in midair.
Dante’s brain felt numb. Oh, every nerve in his body felt alive. His heart was beating so fast, he was surprised the fucker didn’t set off some alarm. His senses seemed far sharper than ever before. He could see farther, smell more. Even his hearing seemed to be on some type of steroids. He’d noticed it as they had left The Club. He’d been able to hear whispered conversations from yards away. His every sense had come to full life, but there was a hole at his center. A dead space.
She’d cut their connection. He couldn’t feel her anymore. He was numb so the pain and panic didn’t take over.
He strained to see through the thick fog that coated the air, making it hard to see anything, even with his enhanced vision. He managed to make out the name on the building. Palgrave. Palgrave Industries would own all the upper space. He checked the side of the building. Twenty-three. Damn. They were into the lower quarter. No wonder he couldn’t see much. Visibility was extremely poor below the fiftieth floor. And under twenty was nothing but tenements. It was where his people stuffed the poor so they wouldn’t have to look at them.
His people had more in common with Kaja’s than he liked to think about.
“This is it.” Meg pointed to a small ventilation shaft. She seemed excited to see the grubby thing. “It has sensors, but they don’t work. The pollution level here is off the charts. The building next door manufactures something that screws with the sensors. Heavy metals, I think. I’ve been able to get into the building, no trouble.”
“And where is the lab?” Roan asked.
“Thirty floors up,” Meg said without a pause. “We have to get to the fifty-fourth floor and go across. The first air duct you come to drops directly into the medical lab. If your consort and her captors are in there, you’ll be able to hear them.”
He would be able to find Kaja no matter where she was, but that wasn’t the point. “You want me to climb thirty stories up a ventilation shaft? Tell me something, Meg. Does it have ladders?”
She bit into her bottom lip, looking so much like her human counterpart when she had to tell her warrior husband something she knew he wouldn’t like. “Not exactly. Um, I’ve always used a hover lift. I probably should have mentioned that. I have one at home. We could go get it.”
Kaja was dying now. He didn’t have time to find a hover lift. And a hover lift would only take one of them up at a time.
Suddenly, he just knew. He had the strength to do this. Kaja had given it to him. He had the strength to save her.
“Fuck that.” He opened the door to the hovercar. Even with the inertial dampeners, the car swayed slightly. He pulled open the access door. It was big enough for him to crouch in. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. Strange. He could see in the dark. More than that, he could smell. Kaja. She was here in this building. She was holding on. “Roan, if you can’t follow me, then get to the cops. I need a couple of minutes to get up there and protect her, but then send them all in.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t make it up there without a lift. Look, I’ve got some mag gloves that will let me climb, but that’s a long way up.” Roan was directly behind him. “Dellacourt, you aren’t trained for anything like this. Let me go.”
Roan might be trained, but he didn’t love Kaja. And he didn’t have Kaja’s blood flowing through his system.
“Like I said, Roan, try to keep up.” The edge of the opening was small, but he felt an odd grace come to his limbs. He stopped fighting his instincts. He allowed Kaja’s blood to take over.
His claws popped through his skin, but he welcomed the pain. Longer. He needed them longer, and they pushed through another inch. His claws were long and thick, wickedly sharp on the end. They were made to rip and tear, but now they would carry him.
Dante leapt across the few feet that led to the opposite side of the shaft. His claws slid into the metal as though they belonged there. He dangled for a moment, all of his weight being held by his hands.
And he knew. He could do it. He would do it. And he would win.
“Dellacourt? Are you insane?”
Dante pulled his left hand out and pulled up with his right arm. He got up ano
ther couple of feet and dug in again. Easy as pie. He wasn’t even winded. “Nope. I’m on werewolf blood. She likes to be called a werewolf. I’ve never been this strong. If you’re coming with me, you better get going.”
Dante swung up again, finding a rhythm.
Nothing was going to keep him from his consort. Though he knew she was shielding from him, he sent out the message anyway.
I’m coming, Kaj.
* * * *
Kaja tried to bring her head up, but she was so weary. The pain was past recognition. She felt it always now. She couldn’t remember a time when it wasn’t a part of her bones. It seemed like hours or days had passed since she’d felt something other than pain.
No. She’d known pleasure and passion. She’d known her lover’s cock diving deep and the feel of his fangs penetrating. She’d known what it felt to feed him, to love him, and to be loved in return.
Kaja felt a bit of strength return. Stay alive. That was all she had to do. Dante would take care of the rest.
Except that she wanted to help. She wanted to be there when these people went down. They would go down, because Dante would not allow them to live.
“How much more can she take?” The one named Palgrave had taken off his suit coat. He held a stick in his hand. It was an odd stick. It was dark colored, and fire shot from it. He’d touched it to her flesh, and she had burned.
“Why can’t you leave her alone? She’s not going to change.” Amanda had stood back the whole time. Kaja had sensed her reluctance. Amanda had even shed a tear or two, but Kaja didn’t care. The blonde still stood there. Her tears hadn’t saved Kaja a moment’s pain. They hadn’t given her strength. Amanda’s compassion was a useless, weak thing. Amanda obviously hadn’t figured out what Kaja had. Compassion meant it was time to act.
Compassion meant it was time to risk.
Palgrave sighed. “If she isn’t willing to do what we want, then maybe we should change the game a bit. Do you have any thoughts, Doctor? I admit, I’m getting bored watching her shake.”
The man in the white coat regarded her. She growled at him, satisfied when he moved back a bit.
