Hector jumped in, restraining my arms. I struggled against him. My efforts were rewarded with a sharp knee jab to my legs as he straddled me, effectively keeping me from getting off the table.
Ajax jogged in and said something too low for me to hear.
I fought under Hector’s grasp as Dr. Z prepared to jam a needle into my arm.
* * * *
“Exam’s over, Doc.” Hector growled in his half-animal/half-human voice. “Phoenix needs you”—he looked at me—“and a sedative.”
He released me and I jumped to my feet. Hector flashed me a look of warning. I stayed put but looked from him to Ajax. I could pull out my knives and kill them all, but it wouldn’t get me out of there alive. And that was my objective. So I leaned back against the table, showing without words that I’d cooperate.
For now.
Hector and Ajax stepped out of Dr. Z’s way. Or did they flinch? Was it fear I saw in their eyes for the briefest of moments?
“Dr. Z did this to you?” I asked, waving my hand toward them both after the good doctor was out of sight.
Hector and Ajax looked at one another. Again something passed between them. Hector gave Ajax a slight nod.
“Yes,” Ajax replied.
“How’d you learn to partial shift?” I asked, not expecting an answer.
“Just walk with us quietly, Miss Wolfe.” Ajax motioned his arm toward the door. I walked.
“Just keep moving forward and listen,” Hector said softly. “We don’t have much time.”
I stutter stepped but kept going. “Time for what?”
“Are you really the girlfriend of the North American Marquis?” The word marquis dripped off Ajax’s tongue like venom.
I didn’t answer.
“The Marquis will take back what is his,” Hector added.
I didn’t correct him. I was Ian’s, but not in the possession sense that they thought. I belonged to Ian by choice, and he belonged to me in the same manner. Ian didn’t “own” me as is the usual relationship between a Marquis and his mate, or blood slave as it was called in days of old. Still, I didn’t feel the need to enlighten these two on my relationship status with Ian.
“You’re the best chance we’ve ever had at escape. We need to make a plan.” Ajax said from in front of me.
“Why?” I turned my head to look at each of them.
“We don’t partial shift. This is how the bastard made us.”
I stopped and Hector shoved me forward. My mind reeled as I tried to process. Not all shifters are happy to have the ability, but to be stuck halfway … I didn’t want to think about it.
“We were human once. Taken, like you. Dr. Z injected something into us. Something that he makes from the blood of other Supernaturals.”
“A paranormal cocktail?” As a Necromancer I suppose I qualified as a Supernatural, but it was a skill, not a bloodline. Or was it? Anyway I wasn’t really sure what use my blood would be.
“Dr. Z brought several of us in together,” Ajax continued. “We shifted within days of each other.” He hesitated; his jaw tensed and released as he ground his teeth so loud I could hear it. “We never changed fully to animal and can’t change back.”
“The others didn’t make it!” Hector’s voice rose slightly and Ajax shushed him.
We entered the center room in silence. Mattie stood behind her monitors as sobs from the intercom turned into heavy breathing as, what I presumed to be the sedative, kicked in. I stopped to listen and was pushed by Hector again. I stumbled and whipped around on him, fist clenched.
“Keep walking, bitch! This doesn’t concern you,” he snapped.
When we were back in the room assigned to me I wheeled on him. “What the hell was that all about? Who is in that room?” I hissed.
“If we don’t make it look real, they’ll get suspicious.”
“Why haven’t you escaped sooner?”
“And go where? We look like horror movie monsters; where could we hide?” The words dripped with disgust and self-hatred.
“Anyway, we’re chipped,” Ajax put in. “An alarm goes off whenever we get too close to the doors. External security kicks in and all hell breaks loose.”
“He would find us anyway. He has our blood. He has yours too.” And the ominous tone in Hector’s voice sent chills down my spine.
“How would your blood…” I began.
“Look, we don’t have any more time.” Hector froze. Footsteps echoed in the hall. “Sorry,” he added.
Before I could ask what he was sorry for he slapped me across the face.
Hard.
The shock of it knocked me on my ass.
I was about to get up and fight when Phoenix walked in.
Hector shrugged and mouthed “sorry.”
I knew how to play this game. If Hector wanted real, I’d damn well give it to him. I jumped to my feet and took a swing at Hector; he saw the blow coming and ducked just fast enough that my knuckles grazed his eye instead of the center of his face. Ajax jumped behind me and grabbed my arms. I used his momentum to lift my feet off the floor and kick Hector into the wall. Ajax wrapped a leg around mine and dropped me to the floor.
“She was being uncooperative. I had no choice.” Hector glared at me. Ajax tensed around me, ready to fight.
“Job well done. Assume your post at the station.”
Ajax released me and left.
Phoenix sneered down at me. “Hector, since you and Miss Wolfe seem to be getting along so well, you can post outside her door.”
“Yeah, I’ll just whistle for the dog if I need anything.” I quipped.
“Yes, sir!” Hector snapped to attention, ignoring my jibe, and marched outside behind Phoenix. The door slid shut and I was left on the floor.
I went in the bathroom for another round of splashing water on my face. I longed for a shower but there was no way in hell I was getting naked in here until I knew there were no cameras.
I flipped back the blanket on the bed and piled the pillows on top of each other and slumped back against them. I had so many thoughts racing around my head that I needed to organize what I knew.
I was in a facility, presumably underground because I had yet to see a single window. I was being held captive by Phoenix while he and Dr. Z fucked around with Supernatural DNA in an effort to build Phoenix a perfect Supernatural army. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how my DNA was going to help.
His interior guards were two men, formerly human, who he had injected with an unknown substance that made them shift partway to animal form and stay that way for eternity. They hated him and wanted to escape. Or so they said. I sure as hell wasn’t about to trust anyone in here. I would, however, trust the two knives I had in the heels of my boots.
To complicate things, there was at least one other person who was also being held captive. And how the hell would my blood help Phoenix find me?
Well, shit.
I rolled my neck and shoulders, trying to relieve the tension there when I felt a sharp sting in my ear. I grasped my lobe with my thumb and finger and felt the earring that Ian had given me. What had he said about them?
“It will connect you with the main surveillance system on the house, allowing Bear or Mouse to stay in contact with you.” I felt tears pool in my eyes as I remembered that night with vivid clarity.
Wiping tears away, I reached for the other one when a keening shriek echoed through my eardrum. It was followed by a voice that brought tears to my eyes. “My love, can you hear me?” Then Ian’s voice faded into the distance. “Mouse, is this thing working?” I heard some static, Ian’s voice cutting in and out.
“Ian, I’m here. I’m here.” I spoke as loudly as I dared.
“My love, we have…” There were some more garbled voices, then one last word. “Where…”
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I didn’t know if Ian heard me, but I had heard him. Mouse was not only one of Ian’s bodyguards, but a genius with electronic gadgets. They’d find
me. They had to.
The door clicked and Hector strode in. “Phoenix wants to see you.”
I said nothing.
“You still don’t trust me, do you?” Something sad flitted across his eyes.
“Why wasn’t I micro chipped?” I murmured.
“You will be.”
“Why does he keep you?” It came out harsher than I meant, but screw it; I needed as much information as I could get if I was going to live long enough for Ian to find me.
“Ajax and I are his loyal guards.” He snorted. “The bastard thinks he did us a favor by making us animals. We aren’t the only ones, but we learned very quickly that to survive we would have to play up to him.”
“How do the doctor and Mattie fit into this?”
“I think they were just hired originally, under false pretenses of course. Now, Phoenix threatens to use them as guinea pigs if they don’t produce results.” He looked down at his own mangled hands. “There are some things worse than death.” His gaze flicked to the door.
“How can Phoenix find you with your blood?”
I heard the slight click of an intercom then Phoenix’s voice boomed in. “Hector, what is taking so long?”
Hector winced. “There is no more time. Let’s go.”
This time he did shackle me, trepidation causing my heart to race. I followed Hector down the corridor, passing through the central room—like I had a choice—making mental notes of each exit.
Phoenix and Dr. Z were waiting in the lab. I backpedaled the moment I saw the steel gurney with several empty blood bags clipped to a little hook on the top. Ajax moved in behind me, blocking any chance I may have had to exit the room. Not that it would’ve mattered; my ankles and wrists were bound and the most I could’ve done was shuffled down the hall.
“Let’s not make this difficult, Leah. I need to remove some of your blood to mix with the others.” I wanted to smack the sneer off of his face. “I’ll give it back to you … soon.”
Holy shit! He didn’t just want my blood to use in one of his freaky cocktails. He wanted to put the shit in me! I stepped back into Ajax, who was still blocking the door. Hector turned to me, an apologetic look flashing across his face before he took a step closer. I couldn’t use my hands and my feet were bound too tightly to kick him, so I used the only free thing that I had left.
He howled in pain as my forehead made contact with his nose, sending his blood spraying across the floor.
Ajax grabbed me. I leaned back against his torso and swung my body up, landing a two-footed kick to Hector’s midsection.
“Son of a bitch!” Hector growled as he stood, swiping his nose with the back of his hand and smearing blood across his face. He hauled me up and dropped me onto the gurney, much to the delight of Phoenix, who applauded my efforts.
“There is no escape. I can find you anywhere.” He practically squealed with delight and in that moment, I saw that sanity no longer resided within Phoenix.
I sooo wanted to kill him but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a response.
When I didn’t ask how he continued. “DNA is a marvelous thing. With just a drop of your blood I can track you anywhere in the world. Even your Marquis cannot protect you from that.”
“You’re a fucking bloodhound?” The question was bitter on my tongue, but I needed as much information as I could get if I planned on surviving this.
“You could say that.” He gave me a long, assessing look and I struggled not to squirm under his scrutiny. “Your reputation is accurate. Ian has chosen his mate well.”
Reputation? “What reputation is that?”
“That you are a hard-nosed bitch.” Phoenix curled his lip. “One that I will only be too happy to break.”
With a curt nod toward Hector, I was held down on the table. I struggled until Phoenix threatened to sedate me. I may not have wanted him to take my blood, but I sure as hell didn’t want to be unconscious when he did.
The needle went in sloppily, spurting blood across the inside of my arm until it started dutifully filling the bag attached to the other end of the line.
Phoenix lifted my arm. His gaze seized mine as he flicked out his tongue for one long lick of the blood smeared across it. His smile was pure evil, and in that moment I hated him a little bit more. “Delicious.”
I jerked my arm away but refused to break eye contact. “I will enjoy killing you,” I said between gritted teeth.
With that, he laughed and left my line of sight, only returning to remove the bag filled with my blood.
Phoenix stepped behind me; his arm whipped around my shoulder while his hand braced my head. “One more thing, Miss Wolfe.”
I felt the cold, steel barrel of a gun press against the flesh of my neck just before I felt the impact.
Chapter 8
The side of my neck hurt like a son of a bitch. I’d been micro chipped and suddenly I felt sorry for every dog that had ever endured the procedure.
Worse yet, Phoenix was some type of bloodhound who could track me with my own blood. I now had two objectives. The first was escape. The second was to destroy the entire facility and prevent Phoenix from ever using anyone’s blood to hunt them down.
Phoenix had left me alone, or so I thought. A sliding curtain zinged partially open to my left and startled the hell out of me. I couldn’t see who was there and they obviously couldn’t see me either. The curtain was stuck half-open. I was shackled to a steel gurney and completely helpless.
Unless there was a dead body around. My own voice echoed in my head. I was still a Necromancer and even chained I could still call on my powers for that. I looked around the room as the person on the other side of the room divider continued to tug at it. It was a well-appointed lab, all clean, white, and stainless steel. There wasn’t a damn thing in sight that I could use as a weapon.
Yeah, right. What are you gonna do, Leah? Wield it with your teeth?
Urging my inner voice to shut the hell up, I continued scanning the room. It was longer than I’d originally thought and in the far corner I could make out a small corner of stainless steel.
Like a morgue drawer.
Possibly, I answered myself silently.
There was another hard yank on the curtain and it flew the rest of the way open. “Well, that was harder than it needed to be.”
Jet-black hair framed the profile of the woman next to me. From what I could see of her face she had bright green eyes. Her body was too thin but toned. “I’m Katarina, Kat. I’d shake your hand, but…” She lifted her arm as far as the shackles would let her. She was hooked up to an intravenous line, and the site of her injection was red and pulsing. “Gross, isn’t it? You must be the new one.”
“Leah,” I offered cautiously.
“Yeah, Hector told me that Phoenix brought in another one. You’re supposed to be some kind of big deal. Some bloodsucker’s girl. Right?”
When I didn’t reply she said, “Oh, sorry. Is that offensive? It doesn’t really matter, does it?” She lifted the elbow attached to the I.V. “We’ll all be something soon. It’s not like we have a choice.”
“Do you even know what’s going to happen to you?” I asked. I couldn’t believe anyone could be so blasé about being used a lab rat. “This doesn’t seem to bother you much.”
“It bothers me, all right. But I know something you obviously don’t.” Kat’s tone sharpened and one green eye narrowed. “I know what happens when you don’t cooperate.” She turned her head fully now and I gasped. One entire side of her face lay in ruin. It wasn’t just vanity that had my stomach roiling in fear. Whatever had been done to Kat had been slow and excruciatingly painful. Deep, healing gouges crisscrossed in every configuration across her skin that would do more than just scar. She was completely disfigured. Her eye was lidless, the nose was missing most of its flesh, and her mouth was drawn down in a permanent scowl. It looked like her face had been bisected and been sculpted into a macabre piece of art.
“Who…”
The door handle to the room echoed across the lab.
“Do yourself a favor, Leah.” Her voice hushed as the doorknob creaked. “Don’t disobey them and never, ever trust anyone in here.”
Outrage warred with fear, churning my stomach.
“I see you have been showing off my work, Katarina.”
She whipped her head around, effectively letting her black hair cover the decimation of her face.
Phoenix strode across the room. “Come now. Don’t be shy.” He gripped her chin in his hand and turned her face toward me.
I fought not to look away from the shame and helplessness in her eyes.
“Now she has two sides to match her personalities.” He turned her head so her untouched side showed. “One for her more agreeable and pleasant self.” Kat fought against his hand as he jerked her face to the other side. “And one for her bitter, angry personality.” He picked up a binder and wrote something in it. “I keep meticulous records of all of my experiments,” he announced proudly and each word he spoke upped my anger a notch until I could feel it boiling in my veins.
I couldn’t think of a better time to practice my Necromancer skills so I took all that fury and power and shoved it into the morgue box on the other side of the room. Instantly I felt the death residing within. As Phoenix rambled on, praising his own brutality, I kept shoving power into the body that was encased in that box. When it finally began to rattle as the dead tried to scratch its way out, Phoenix stopped his words midsentence.
I tried to keep my face a neutral as possible when he gave me a long, assessing glance then walked over to the morgue drawer.
I looked at Kat and motioned for her to look away. She didn’t.
I watched as Phoenix inched his hand closer to the drawer pull and let out a silent breath when he finally grasped the steel handle. I hadn’t walked into this room planning to kill Phoenix, but since the opportunity presented itself, I may as well take advantage of it. My hope was that once Phoenix was dead and with Ajax and Hector wanting their own escape, the rest of the security would dismantle. Kind of like cutting the head off a snake and letting its body writhe around until it finally died. Phoenix was that head, complete with fangs, and I’d be only too happy to decapitate him.
Phoenix Page 6
