Focus. No time for emotion.
It would take me an hour and a half to reach my destination by car. I’d get there in plenty of time to have it ready for my guests. Alerting them to the plan and stipulations was kind of fun. They’d run my life for two horrific years. It was time for me to be the boss.
I’d specified they had to come alone. Although it didn’t really matter one way or the other. They were done. I just hoped to see their faces when they realized it. However, there was a very good chance they’d arrive alone. Their sense of entitlement and ego and the fact they thought the CIA was unaware of their barbaric practices gave me hope that I could have an intimate meet, greet and kill with the two people who had turned me into an animal.
Was I even an animal anymore? Even without being able to completely shift to a panther, I would always be an abomination with fangs, claws and golden eyes. But Carter had made me feel like a beautiful, desirable woman, not an atrocity, and for that, I would always be grateful. I knew now that arousal didn’t cause the complete shift anymore, but I wondered if extreme, dangerous circumstances would.
Only time would tell me that.
I could feel my heart tearing as I watched his chest slowly rise and fall in sleep. Carter’s outer beauty was obvious, but his inner beauty was what I’d fallen for. For a brief moment, I was paralyzed and almost started to panic, but remembering why I was doing what I was doing gave me peace.
I had two more things to do before I left—steal a vial of poison from Nancy’s lab and write a note to the beautiful killer who had permanently stolen my heart.
There were no happy endings for beasts. I just prayed that there would be a happy ending for my Beauty.
11
Carter
“Goddammit,” I shouted as I picked up a chair and threw it across the room, smashing a lamp, vase, and painting in my fury. “She was supposed to make me a cake today.”
I sounded like a lunatic, but I was so unhinged I couldn’t see straight.
“Stop it,” Nancy snapped as she righted the chair and tried to make sense of all the broken pieces of glass and pottery scattered on the floor. “Being a jackass is going to get you nowhere fast and it’s pissing me off. What did the note say?”
I paced the room and tried to tamp down the rage that was threatening to consume me. I wasn’t winning. “How could she be so fucking stupid? I can’t protect her if I can’t find her,” I snarled.
“What did the note say?” Nancy ground out through clenched teeth as she moved her laptop to safety. “Any clues to where she went?”
“None,” I growled, wanting to take the house down with my bare hands.
“And?” she pressed, ignoring my rage.
I paused and closed my eyes. “She said she loved me,” I answered my sister in a hollow tone that sounded dead to my own ears. “That she loved every broken and fucking beautiful piece of me. Why would she do this?”
Nancy leaned against the wall and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. “It’s right there in the note. You just answered your own question. She’s letting you go because she loves you. If you want my opinion, Georgia’s as fucked up as you are.”
“I don’t want your opinion,” I snapped, feeling like the world was dropping out from under me. Was this what love was supposed to feel like? If it was, it was fucking awful. “And that is the stupidest goddamned reason I’ve ever heard.”
Why in the hell hadn’t I told her what I was feeling? Would she have stayed if she knew? Why hadn’t I trusted her with my cold dead heart? I didn’t deserve her love and God knew she shouldn’t want mine, but I’d be damned if I was going to let her walk right into her death.
“There’s a vial of poison missing from your lab,” Caleb informed Nancy as he joined us in the den. “And the SUV you stole is gone.”
“Borrowed,” I corrected with a muttered curse.
“How did she get through the land mines?” Nancy asked, perplexed.
“Georgia is a fucking super soldier,” I yelled and kicked a leather ottoman across the room. “She’s been trained not to miss anything. She probably saw you reset the mines with the remote.”
“That was from three hundred yards away,” Caleb pointed out.
Nancy shook her head and sighed. “I forget she’s been enhanced. Even though the ability to completely shift has probably left her, her senses are still off the charts. Sabrina Wenbo and Don Jarred fucked with her DNA to the point of no return.”
“What about her lifespan?” Caleb asked.
Nancy shrugged. “I’d have to do more testing to figure that out. Actually,” my sister said thoughtfully, “she might just accomplish what she’s set out to do.”
“And she might not,” I said, pacing the den like a caged tiger. “I have to find her.”
“Why?” Nancy demanded. “She left you because she loves you and wants you to live. You’re not going to respect that?”
“Fuck no.”
“Why?” Nancy challenged again, as Caleb’s eyebrows shot up at her persistence. “Why won’t you respect that?”
I wanted to deck my sister. I would never lay a hand on her in violence while I had life in me, but I really wanted to kill her right now. Instead of acting on my base instinct, I ripped the flat-screen TV off the wall and hurled it out of the bay window.
Caleb watched my violence with interest and dismay. “Shit,” he muttered. “That was a great TV.”
Ignoring him, I turned on my sister. She stood her ground and stared at me with her arms crossed casually over her chest and waited.
“Because I love her,” I said, so softly she had to lean in to hear me.
“What was that?” she pushed.
“I said, I love her,” I snapped. “I’m the worst thing in the world for her, but she is the best thing in mine. I love her.”
“That’s all I wanted to know,” Nancy said, putting her arms around me and hugging me tight. “Go get her.”
“I don’t know how—don’t know where the fuck she went,” I admitted, breaking the embrace, dropping to the couch and letting my head fall to my hands.
“Actually, you do,” Caleb said.
I glanced up at my brilliant brother and narrowed my eyes. “I do?”
“She was with Sean for a couple of weeks. Right?”
I nodded, not following.
Caleb smiled and walked over to where I sat. “I’m gonna put money down that Sean chipped her for location. It’s something he does to keep the ones he cares for safe.”
I barely waited for Caleb to finish talking. I was on the phone to Sean so fast it made my head spin. My smile grew as Sean confirmed what Caleb had surmised.
“Bingo,” I said. “I’ve got her.”
“We’ve got her,” Nancy countered. “Or rather, we’ve got your back if you want us.”
I stared at my siblings—the two people who looked so much like me it was eerie.
I’d always worked alone… maybe that was my problem.
Nodding slowly, I bit down on my bottom lip. “Are you sure? This could get seriously ugly.”
“Ugly is good,” Caleb said, grinning from ear to ear. “Let me grab some explosives and my laptop.”
“I want to get an antidote to the poison Georgia grabbed. I have a bad feeling about this,” Nancy said, sprinting from the room.
I refused to think about losing. It wasn’t acceptable. Arming myself to the teeth, I grabbed the keys to Caleb’s SUV and centered myself.
“Georgia from Georgia, you are in big trouble,” I whispered. “After I kiss you senseless, I’m going to yell at you for a few days… or weeks… or years. You’d just better stay the fuck alive for me to do it.”
A song came to my mind as I made my way to the truck.
Love hurts.
Love scars.
Love wounds and marks.
But it also was something I’d realized very recently I didn’t want to live without—no matter how badly it hurt.
; 12
Georgia
The enormous barn was empty and the surrounding area was deserted. It was perfect for what I needed. I expected the monsters within the half hour. Strapping my weapons securely to my body and making sure the poison and the camera remote were safely tucked in my pocket, I looked around for items that would pass for chairs. I wanted my guests to feel like I’d gone to a little trouble to make them feel welcome.
It was an old, long-abandoned tobacco warehouse. The dust was thick and the rotting wooden tobacco stakes littered the dirt floor. About five thousand square feet of filthy nothing—very appropriate for the meeting. It reminded me of an enormous version of my cage.
Glancing down at the black combat pants, long-sleeved black t-shirt and incredible shit kickers I was wearing, I felt a small twinge of guilt. I had borrowed Nancy’s clothes, but I’d left a wad of cash in her closet to replace them. I’d chosen black on purpose. No longer was I the prisoner in a dirty white hospital gown. I was now the woman in black—a trained CIA fucked-up killing machine. A monster.
Whatever.
I’d made it all the way here and there was no backing out now.
Thinking of Carter made me physically ache, but what I was doing was important and right. Right wasn’t always easy. Sometimes it hurt. This time it was devastating, but I smiled through the agony, knowing he would live and I was about to stop the fuckers who’d destroyed me from hurting anyone else. What I refused to think about was what Carter had done when he’d realized I was gone, but that I would never know. Although it did make me smile a little to think there might be a few more holes in the wall.
Sitting down on a grimy wooden crate, I placed my back against the wall. Didn’t matter if they entered from the door at the south end of the building or the door at the north. I would see them.
“Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do,” I whispered, and then began to softly sing The Lonely Goatherd. My yodeling sucked, but no one could hear me. Amazingly, it calmed my nerves and made me feel closer to Carter. It still boggled my mind and would always delight me that The Sound of Music was the movie he’d chosen to numb his mind from pain. I wondered who his favorite character was and regretted not asking him. I would hazard a guess that it was the Captain.
My other regret was not knowing his horrible middle name. I knew it had to start with an N. Maybe it was Ned or Nate. No, those were too normal, if Caleb’s middle name was anything to go by. Norman was not good—at all.
Early morning sunlight peeked through the dilapidated slats in the barn, creating a flickering hazy light. It would be enough light for Wenbo and Jarred to see. I had no problem. My vision in the darkness was almost better than my vision in broad daylight, thanks to my vicious benefactors.
My body tensed and I closed my eyes for a brief second as I scented them… and only them. Their fear smelled putrid and sweet—like three-day-old garbage from a bakery on a ninety-degree day in August. I pictured Carter in my mind and blew a kiss to the air, hoping he would know how much I loved him and how sorry I was to leave him.
They entered through the south end of the building, and just as I’d suspected, they’d come alone. Fine by me. I was slightly surprised that they’d followed my directive and came without backup, but their egos knew no bounds. Honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d brought others. As long as they admitted what they’d done I was good to go. Whether they killed me or I ended my own life was irrelevant. I didn’t plan on leaving this warehouse alive.
Thankfully, I’d had time to set up cameras that I’d borrowed from Caleb all throughout the barn. They were hidden well and the video was set to be delivered to the CIA and Sean when I pressed the remote in my pocket. Caleb was a very smart guy. I would have loved to play with all of his toys, but this would have to do.
“Long time no see,” I said in a flat tone as their eyes adjusted to the lack of light. “So nice of you to come. I’ve missed you.”
“Your sense of humor never fails to amuse,” Sabrina said in her nasally voice that made me want to scream.
They were armed with tranq guns and pistols. I was unsure how adept they were at using them, as they’d always had muscle to do their dirty work. I could smell their fear, but outwardly they were as cool as cucumbers. Impressive.
Tamping down my desire to run for my life was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I had to keep reminding myself I wasn’t in a cage or strapped to a table under blinding lights. I wasn’t being forced to bear the searing, burning pain—slice after precise slice being carved into my skin while they jabbered about the brilliant legacy they would be known for someday.
I was not enduring the poisons shot into my body that made me dry heave for days on end while they stood by emotionlessly and took notes. I wasn’t about to be thrown into a pit with hungry feline predators to see if I would come out alive.
No, right now I was relatively safe. I was never going to let the horrors I’d been through happen to me or anyone else ever again. Wenbo and Jarred didn’t need to know this quite yet. I wanted their performance to be caught for posterity’s sake. After all, it was an important part of their legacy.
Don Jarred was quiet. He’d always been the quieter of the two, but he wielded a scalpel like a serial killer and didn’t like to use anesthesia. Just looking at him made my chest tighten in fear and revulsion. His beady eyes were a dull, watery blue. His thin lips were turned down slightly in the corners, giving the balding son of a bitch the appearance of always frowning.
Sabrina Wenbo was a disaster of a woman—overly made up and curvy in all the wrong places. She most definitely had gone a few rounds with lipo, and then continued to eat like a horse. Fatty deposits in the oddest places bulged out all over, making her look like a circus freak pincushion. But her goofy appearance belied the unholy sadistic streak she hid from the public.
To the world they were lauded, brilliant scientists—had even been nominated for a Nobel Prize for their work in eradicating certain airborne diseases. I wondered what the world would think when they realized how many people they’d murdered trying to create human animals.
“So you want to come back?” Wenbo sneered, keeping her hand on her gun. “Got a little hard in the real world for you?”
“Yes and no,” I shot back cryptically.
Her hand shook slightly on the weapon and I smiled.
“You do realize you have no choice,” she said, trying to sound reasonable.
Jarred leaned over and whispered in her ear. Were they fucking stupid? I could hear every word he uttered. He’d made me this way.
“I killed him,” I said, startling both of them. “No need to whisper. I can hear you. My friend is dead. I turned on him and killed him. I lost control and tore him to shreds. It’s one of the reasons I’ve reached out to you. I’m a danger to society. I need to be eliminated.”
Just for shits and giggles and to test if I truly had control of my gifts, I let my fangs drop. Both of the reasons I was like this stepped back in fear. It felt nice for the shoe to be on the other foot. Retracting them just as easily, I continued to stare at them.
Wenbo’s eyes grew wide with psychotic excitement as she stared at my mouth. “In panther form? You killed him as a panther?” she demanded.
Jarred looked as eager and delighted as his deranged partner. With a careless shrug, I nodded. They weren’t going to leave this barn alive. My lie was for the CIA and Sean, although Sean would know what I was doing. For a brief, sickening moment, I wondered if Carter would ever see the footage, but it was neither here nor there. I’d be gone. He would realize the same thing as Sean. I was going to protect the man I loved until I was no longer able to do so.
“What do you want?” Wenbo asked, feeling more secure that they were going to leave with what they wanted.
“I want to know why. I want to know why you’ve done this to me.”
Wenbo shook her head in staccato little jerks and pursed her lips in condemnation. Jarred simply chuckled like I’
d made a polite joke at a formal dinner party. They were both batshit crazy.
“Please,” Wenbo purred and smiled at me like I was a child. “We’re making history. There will be no elimination for you. You will make us very rich and very famous.”
“You’re killing people,” I reminded her harshly.
“Collateral damage,” she hissed and then reined it back in. “You’re still alive. You’re our greatest accomplishment—a scientific miracle.”
“I’m a freak of nature,” I said flatly. “You made me into an animal and killed at least forty people that I know of in the name of your fucked-up brand of science.”
“Irrelevant,” Jarred said, flatly.
“What?” I snapped. “Seriously?”
Wenbo removed her tranq gun from the holster and pointed it at me. “You will drop your weapons and you will come with us. We were so close, and you almost derailed the greatest scientific discovery in history,” she snarled with an expression so ugly, I almost laughed.
“If you don’t come willingly, we will make this very difficult for you,” Jarred informed me, pulling a knife from his belt and brandishing it.
“You guys are like a fucked-up B-grade horror movie,” I said, calmly removing the weapons they could see and tossing them to the ground.
Wenbo’s sigh of relief at my acquiescence was wildly premature, but who was I to correct her misconception?
“However, I do have an ace in the hole,” I said with a smile.
“You don’t,” she said, with a laugh that made my skin crawl. “You can’t turn anymore without the injections. You’re little more than a human with a few enhancements at this point.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked.
I didn’t miss the concerned look they exchanged. It would have been humorous if the situation wasn’t so tragic.
Beauty Loves the Beast Page 8
