“How do you know?” Mac asked.
She glanced at Mikhail, Anthony, and the silent Henrick. “I was one of his first test subjects years ago. When I started to have problems with aggression, he realized something was wrong. He’d given me a counter to the drug, an antidote. I told him I didn’t want to do it anymore. So he looked for someone else.”
When she paused, Mikhail spoke. “As I said, I knew something illegal was happening, but I couldn’t be sure what it was. Anthony and I have been trying to figure it out ever since people started disappearing.”
“Why didn’t you just leave like some of the others or report it to authorities?” Mac asked.
Mikhail shrugged. “I didn’t want LaCroix to leave here without revealing his plans. Unfortunately, he got away before I could do anything about it. Anthony and I were in the lab trying to finish the legitimate work being done by this company. “
Mac wandered closer to the desk. He leaned on it and pinpointed Arlinda. “If you didn’t want anything to do with it, why did you stay here and why were you looking at the formula today?”
She put up both hands in a pleading gesture. “I was going to delete this file, that’s all. I decided a quick run out to the restroom wouldn’t hurt anything. Huh. Little did I know.”
Mac decided the time for pussy-footing around had come to an end. “In light of current events, I see no reason not to come clean. I’m Special Agent Mac Tudor and I work for the government. My partner and I were sent in here to investigate the series of disappearances. As of now, I’m in charge.”
Everyone stared at him with varying degrees of surprise.
Finally, Mikhail crossed his arms, his skepticism clear. “How do we know you tell the truth about who you are?”
“Show us identification,” Arlinda said.
“I’m undercover. There is no identification.”
Henrick went from mild-mannered to insolent as his eyes blazed and his mouth took a hard line. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to play, but I don’t believe you and neither does anyone else here.”
Mac contemplated taking out his weapon and showing them they could believe him if they tried hard enough. Instead he went the reasonable route. “That’s your choice. But I’m here to try and stop whatever is happening, and if you want to get out of this alive, you’re better off listening to me.”
“You let Xander leave. Why are we different?” Henrick asked.
“I can’t waste my time trying to corral him into submission when I need to find my partner.” He nodded toward Anthony and Mikhail. “I’ll take a copy of that file. The government is going to want to see this. Arlinda, is the antidote formula also on the computer?”
Her glare was needle sharp. “Yes.”
“Do we have antidote already made up?” Mac asked.
“Not that I know of,” Arlinda said.
He turned to Mikhail and Anthony. “Since you’ve got weapons, I hope you won’t mind me asking you to stay in the lab and work on the antidote.”
Mikhail nodded, a haunted look in his eyes. “Indeed. Anthony?”
Anthony also nodded. “Let’s get to work.”
Mac gestured toward Henrick. “Henrick, why don’t you take Arlinda down the mountain in a Hummer?”
Henrick’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“You can tell the authorities what’s been going on up here.”
“But you are the authorities.”
Mac saw the pleading in Henrick’s eyes and ignored it. “That’s why I need to stay here and see this through. My partner is with Jordan and they both could be in danger.”
After Arlinda made copies of the formula, Henrick and Arlinda left.
“Take care out there, Mr. Tudor.” Anthony’s eyes glittered with excitement, as if he truly couldn’t wait to create an antidote and see it work on the monster. “We don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with here.”
“I got that.” Mac took his weapon out of his back waistband.
As he pushed the speed dial for his partner’s satellite phone, a thousand new questions came to mind. If the formula somehow caused genetic abnormalities, then why in the hell was anyone trying to use it?
Destiny’s whispery voice came over the line on the second ring. “Cora, here. In hell.”
Worry escalated inside him. “Are you all right?”
“Not exactly.” She sounded ill.
“What’s happened?”
Destiny gave him a quick review. “Jordan isn’t anywhere to be seen. Top that off with the fact this basement is like a freakin’ maze. I think the only reason why you got through to me on the phone is that I’m at the top of one set of locked doors. All the exits here are locked.”
“Hold on.” He turned to Anthony. “She’s trapped in the basement. Have you got maps of that part of the building? And I mean detailed maps.”
Anthony turned toward the bookcase behind him. “Got them right here.”
Mac explained to Destiny what transpired since they’d separated. “I’m coming for you. I want you to watch your back.”
“Not a problem.”
He didn’t like the way her voice sounded, a little breathy and seductive. Very strange. “Destiny is something else wrong?”
“I fell down the damn stairs and I feel like someone has taken to driving over me with a front-end loader.”
“What? Damn it, are you hurt?”
“I think my head only has one more opportunity to get caved in at this point.”
“Fuck me.”
“Later. Right now I need you down here so you can help me find where this blood trail leads to.”
“First things first. We get you out of there—” Static crackled over the line, obscuring any hope of hearing her voice. “Destiny? Can you hear me? Destiny?”
With a growl of disappointment, he disconnected the call.
Anthony walked toward Mac and handed him a map. “This might solve your problems. Big enough to fit in your pocket, but it features everything you could want to know about the basement. All three levels.” Anthony’s face was a grim study in determination. “How do you propose to get the creature so we can use the antidote?”
Mac smiled and made tracks for the front door. “I’ll make it up when the time comes.”
* * * * *
As she started toward the steps leading to another exit, Destiny detected a bizarre renewal of spirit starting throughout her body. For someone who’d been rapped on the noggin twice and roamed a subterranean basement, she was pretty chipper. If she could complain about anything, she would say her throbbing arm still distracted her a little.
She’d reached the top of the stairs when she heard an unusual sound from below. She stiffened as she contemplated what to do if someone or something came up the stairs and attacked. Her weapon at the ready, Destiny reached for the doorway. One yank showed her the door wouldn’t budge any more than the last few she’d tried.
Think of it this way. With all this up and down stairs activity, you’ll burn some calories.
Her stomach growled as if mocking her thoughts. She started back down the stairs, taking each step with caution. She’d have to keep going until she found a way out. Winston Churchill’s famous words ran through her head.
We shall never, never surrender.
“Or something like that,” she murmured.
As she walked through the midnight darkness with the flashlight sweeping the area in front of her, she heard weird noises.
Pipes hissing and metal creaking. A swishing whisper here and bubbling gurgle there. This building was a major candidate for creepsville. Despite the odd sounds, she kept her pace steady. Discovering a way out of here would take wits and courage.
She sighed. “Or dumb luck.”
As Destiny walked she thought of Mac, and her heart ached. During this short ordeal in the basement, she’d realized a couple of things. Once she split this joint, she would grab him, throw him down, and fuck him into exhaustion. Sh
e vowed he wouldn’t know what hit him. Yep, the king of arrogance would find himself tied to a bed while she rode him until his eyes crossed.
Scenarios ran through her head, potent and hot. He would scream for mercy as she slid her wet channel over his long, thick spike. Pumping for one goal, to make him beg for relief, she would keep him on the edge. As she imagined taking him into her body with hard, slick strokes, the flesh between her thighs tightened and moistened. At first the sensation surprised Destiny, because she was in a fine pickle. How many sensible women would fantasize about screwing a man seven ways to the center of the earth while traversing a dark, spooky basement?
Only me.
She wanted to laugh but decided against making any more racket then necessary. Anything or anyone could be skulking nearby.
She stepped around a corner and something big clutched her forearm and jerked her sideways into the night.
Chapter Nine
Destiny dropped the flashlight and aimed to disable. She released a guttural sound of fury.
A powerful male arm came up to block at the same time the man whispered harshly, “Destiny, it’s me.”
Mac.
Her heart pounded as anger coalesced with relief. “Damn you, Mac, what did you think you were doing sneaking up on me like that?”
His arms slipped around her as his hand went over her mouth and his body pinned her to the cold, concrete wall.
“Quiet,” he whispered against her ear. “I heard something.”
He removed his hand from her mouth.
Her flashlight rolled a little ways, then came to rest against the wall, the beam of light swaying back and forth. His light, a smaller black club-like instrument, lay somewhere behind them.
“If a creepy-crawly wants to find us, it would be easy enough with all this illumination,” she said.
“I think it’s farther away than that.” Tension laced his voice.
“It?”
“Them. It. I’m not sure yet what the hell species it even belongs to.”
As his breath rushed over her skin with a hot flutter, her heartbeat continued to quicken. Destiny shimmied, her hips nudging his thighs and her legs parting. A hard, throbbing ache started between her legs. Wild with feeling, her nipples tingled and burned as they rubbed against her bra cups and the pressure of his chest.
“Mac—”
“Shhh.” His lips brushed hers with the sound, and then he drew back the slightest bit, as if startled by the sensation. “Wait.”
Her mouth longed for another encounter with his and her body tightened as arousal fired into life. Stunned by the awakening throbbing through her, and mortified she could become excited at a dangerous time like this, Destiny tried to restrain her passion. They waited, breath almost suspended. Minutes ticked by as they strained to hear. As he breathed in, the brush of his chest against her nipples made them peak and tighten even more. She squirmed.
When Mac released her to reach down for her flashlight and his own, she shivered from lack of his body heat and the comfort of having him near.
He handed her the flashlight, took her other hand, and pulled her down the long cavern. They didn’t make it more than a short distance before a high-pitched scream stopped them.
Pure horror rippled over her skin. “What was that?”
Mac clutched her hand. “I’m not sure I want to find out.”
Before he could tug her away, she yanked him to another stop. “We’re wimps. Shouldn’t we want to know?”
“Not when we can’t see what it is.”
“Night vision goggles. That’s what we need.”
The scream came again, this time filled with extraordinary rage. “Come on. We can argue the finer points when we get out of here and can see what we’re dealing with.”
She allowed him to tug her along. They picked up the pace.
“You’ve got a key to get us out of the basement?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do. Here’s the next—”
Another screech echoed not far behind them.
“Son of a bitch!” Mac released her hand as they turned about, weapons drawn.
What they saw would curl the hair on a bald man’s head.
“Shit!” Mac rasped as the creature came into view.
Destiny’s breath hitched as the abomination strode toward them, its gait slow but certain, its face and body a deviation beyond anything she’d dare imagine.
Bigger than six feet tall, the being possessed a slender human-like build. Wide-set red eyes combined with pale, blotchy skin stretched over a wide jaw line and enormous lips. The neck looked almost too thin to support the size of the head. Huge, long-fingered hands sprouted from pencil-thin arms.
Clothing, and certainly not the face, identified the creature. The jumpsuit and the nametag across its chest told them the truth.
Destiny didn’t dare throw a glance at Mac. “It’s Jordan.”
The creature’s lips parted and exposed sharp teeth in a smile that almost acknowledged what Destiny didn’t want to believe. A low, menacing growl rolled from its throat.
“What is it?” Destiny almost didn’t get the words out, her body stunned with profound fear. “Why is it?”
“Long story. Let’s get out of here first. Don’t try and fight it.”
As the Jordan-creature took another step forward, its hands went out and displayed nails that curled like talons.
Mac grabbed Destiny’s arm and turned toward a door that was partially open. “Over here!”
They ran inside and pushed the heavy metal door, grunting as the hinges screeched in protest. Metal groaned as they tried to shove the door and keep a grip on their flashlights and weapons at the same time.
“Harder!” Mac strained to force the door all the way closed.
A raspy scream pierced Destiny’s ears as the monster leapt on the door.
Destiny’s heart pounded as she leaned against the stubborn door with all her might. Never in all her life did she imagine she’d be on the brink of losing everything to a half-human mythological conglomeration from the recesses of her worst nightmares.
Freezing terror almost stopped her; for a split second she hesitated out of sheer, gut-tearing panic.
The monster’s nails scrapped against the metal. With a guttural shout, Mac pushed harder and the door clicked into place. Destiny slid the two heavy-duty bolts into the frame. The locks engaged.
“Take that, you bitch from hell!” Destiny shook her fist at the door.
A heavy thump sounded on the metal, then an enraged howl.
“Is it going to hold?” she asked.
Breathing hard, he trailed his flashlight beam across the room. “If not, we need somewhere to escape.”
His light revealed a room not much bigger than their quarters. The illumination also showed gray walls, their surface marred by dents and scratches. Piles of abandoned office furniture and equipment dotted the room. Shelves lined three walls and held boxes of medical supplies including first aid. In one corner stood a double bed.
An ironic smile curved her lips. “I guess we can take a nap if monster-head out there gives up chasing us.”
As if acknowledging her statement, a loud pounding reverberated on the door. The hammering increased until it reached a crescendo so loud Destiny put down her weapon and flashlight to cover her ears. The noise eased until it came like a tap, tap, tap, the tentative rapping of a small child.
Mac headed for another door on the opposite side of the room and grabbed the knob. He turned it and nothing happened. He reached into his jeans front pocket and brought out a nifty gadget used for all sorts of helpful problems. Numerous small tools, from small folding scissors to a tiny lock pick, graced the device. Three times he tried to pick the lock with no success. He jammed the tools back into his pocket in disgust.
“So we’re trapped with the monster from the movie Alien hovering outside waiting to eat us.” She heard the snappish tone enter her voice and couldn’t stop it. She
shoved both hands through her tangled hair.
Silence dropped over the room until all she heard was their breathing. She inhaled and caught the musty and dusty scent of the room. They searched the room looking for anything they could use to open the east door and found nothing. Destiny’s ire rose like a fire, burning in her gut.
Mac found a couple of battery operated lamps which threw a yellow glow over the entire room. She took another shuttering breath, glad for the light.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Wait out the banshee. What happened down here?” he asked.
“I told you. Jordan saw something down the stairwell, then she just disappeared. I tried to move too fast and slipped and fell.”
He planted his hands on his hips and surveyed the room as if he’d never seen it before. “You say she saw something before she disappeared.”
“And she warned me not to follow her. Do you think she knew she was going to turn into that monster?”
“Possibly.” He rubbed his chest a moment, the gesture contemplative. “We know something for sure. The monster that chased Arlinda couldn’t have been Jordan.”
Mac explained more about his conversation with the people in the lab, and Arlinda’s experience while trying to escape a creature.
The answer came crystal clear as Mac said, “Jordan was in plain sight of someone during the time Arlinda was being chased. Arlinda would have noticed the nametag on Jordan’s jumpsuit, too.”
She moaned. “You’re saying there are two of these creatures?”
“Sounds like it.”
Mac gave more details on what he’d learned about the Black Widow Formula that caused deformities.
“And Mikhail and Anthony were sure they could make more antidotes? It looks like Jordan is going to need a hell of a lot of it,” she said.
“If there’s a second aberration, they’re going to need a bigger batch. Shit! I wish the satellite phone worked down here. We could make sure Mikhail and Anthony know there are two feminine monsters on the loose.”
Destiny realized her entire body ached, and she rolled her shoulders to loosen the muscles. A soft moan escaped her lips as she longed for a hot bath and a bout of lovemaking. Longing arose inside her. A new desire emerged.
Winter Warriors Page 11
