Sari

by Middleton, Rose

  Settled in the fork of a branch, he scouted the forest floor for Sari but couldn’t see her. He hoped she wasn’t too far away. As she’d instructed him, he covered his mouth and nose with the layers of his t-shirts and sweater to muffle the sound of his breathing. He took long, quiet breaths to calm his erratic heart. Around him, the birds fell silent and an eerie tension hung in the air, as if the forest expected something unnatural, unwelcome.

  At the cave, two cats appeared. Both jaguar, both as black as night. It was only when the light hit their coats at a certain angle that he noted the rosettes. The large one padded into the cave, gave it the once over. It signaled to the second cat to follow, and Kai watched, mesmerized, as they shifted. Their transition to human form was quicker and smoother than Sari’s, and neither exhibited any aftereffects. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like the very first time they shifted. Sari had said it hurt, like being stabbed with a million knives all at once. Did they grow accustomed to the pain? Or did the discomfort and pain subside with practice? Given the way Sari seemed to shift without too much unease, he suspected both.

  In the cave, the woman walked to the flat area of sand and lay down. She curled into a ball, and it took only a moment for the male to follow. Kai noticed the three large scratches over the man’s ribs and wondered how he’d received them. Surely Zimmerman didn’t have the Hunters engage in combat?

  The woman sobbed. She was quiet, but the forest around them was silent. The sound hung in the still air, instilling sadness in Kai’s heart. What was wrong? Perhaps they were lovers, forbidden to act on their feelings, stealing moments like these to comfort their breaking hearts. Or maybe one of their pack had been hurt. Kai couldn’t guess. The possibilities were endless.

  “I promise, Mara,” the man said. “It will be alright.”

  She shook her head before burying her face against his bicep. He stroked her long brown hair and held her shaking form.

  Kai studied their bodies. Sleek, muscular, barely an ounce of fat. They appeared trained and at the peak of their fitness. They both carried scars, though Mara’s were minor compared to the male’s. He guessed their ages to be early twenties, like Sari, but there was something about these two that was very different from Sari. Kai didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t a physical thing he could see, more a feeling, a sensation that crept up his spine and sounded a warning in his mind.

  Where had Sari gone?

  “Tom,” Mara sobbed. “We can’t let him find out.”

  “I agree, and he won’t. Why are you acting like this? You’re strong, Mara. Once we remove the microchip, you can be free, and I promise, I won’t be far behind.”

  Surprise stiffened Kai’s spine and as he sat up, leaves rustled around him. The two in the cave leapt to their feet. They shared a glance and shifted, dropping to all fours and slinking into the undergrowth. Kai’s heart nearly stopped altogether. They were coming for him and he was a good as dead if they found him.

  To move or to stay?

  Adrenaline roared through his veins and he could’ve sworn a swarm of bees had taken up residence in his head. He couldn’t hear a damn thing. Couldn’t concentrate or focus. And then it hit him. He was a sitting duck. They could climb the tree in perfect silence and grab him. Or kill him.

  He guessed it depended on what Zimmerman would want from his sentinels.

  Panic gripped his throat. Where was Sari?

  Below, ferns shook as cats passed by. It would only be moments before they found him because, despite the eucalyptus spray, he was sweating bullets. They’d smell his fear and pinpoint his location with deadly accuracy. Kai squeezed his eyes shut, ready to act, do whatever needed doing to save his skin.

  A growl pierced the air, forcing his eyes open. Sari stood in the cave, the fur along her back standing on end. She roared, her power awesome. He remembered to breathe, but then thought about the cats. Two versus one. Not good odds. Would they attack first and ask questions later? If either realized who she was, he suspected that’s exactly what they’d do.

  As he watched, the two cats appeared to block the cave’s entrance. Fear made his body ache. He couldn’t watch them hurt her. Or worse. He’d have to do something. Anything. But as he prepared to climb down, Sari shifted and stood before them. All five foot of her. Naked as the day she was born, though bearing more scars than he remembered seeing on her. The mystery surrounding her gripped him harder, tugged on his heart, and encouraged him to go to her.

  “Who is she?” the woman, Mara, said the instant she was human again.

  The man, Tom, grinned but the malevolent light in his eyes had disappeared. Sari recognized him from their encounter two nights ago. “This is Sari, the one who escaped.”

  “I thought her name was Stephanie.”

  Sari swallowed. “It was,” she said. “I changed it.”

  “Couldn’t bear to be reminded of your past, huh?” He sniggered. “I know all about what you were before Rex rescued you.”

  Sari bristled, but without clothing, she couldn’t hide it. It made her enemy smile. Mara looked more confused.

  She hadn’t known what to do when they reached the base of Kai’s tree. Letting them find him was out of the question and once she’d sniffed Tom’s scent, she knew getting his attention was the only way. But the cave held more surprises than she could have guessed. It had been home to only two Hunters. These two. Mara and Tom.

  A mating pair.

  She’d smelled their trysts without trying, and they’d been busy. But now, as she stood a few feet from the lovers, she smelled something else. The confusion in Mara’s eyes turned to fear when Sari met her gaze head-on. The protectiveness of Tom’s stance only reinforced her suspicions. It was why Mara had been crying, why Tom reeked of paternal love.

  Who knew the vicious hunter before her could be brought to his knees by the news that he’d be a father?

  “Rex Zimmerman is a sadistic bastard who doesn’t care about you, Tom. He only cares about the project, about the ultimate goal.” She gestured to the scars she’d left him. “I see you’ve healed well.”

  He touched a defensive hand to the area. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance. You know I intend on returning the favor.”

  She wouldn’t expect anything less. “So tell me, Tom, does Rex know about you and Mara?”

  He stood straighter. Mara’s shoulders slumped. When he opened his mouth to talk, Sari held up a hand to stop him.

  “I can smell your fear, so I’ll take that as a no. Did he ever tell you what my gift was?”

  Tom frowned.

  “It’s my sense of smell.” She tapped her nose and took a step toward them. “Mine is better than everyone’s, including yours. Do you know how close I was to being the first Hunter?” She held up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “This close. He almost got it right with me, but you know he’s a perfectionist. You see, it took you a few days to heal the wounds I inflicted, less than a week, but it would have taken me a month. Fast by human standards, yes, but slow by feline standards.”

  Tom frowned. “That’s why you’re a Failure?”

  Sari nodded. “Aye, it is. I’m very susceptible to infection, particularly viral, which just wasn’t good enough for ol’ Rex.”

  “So if I tore open your chest and left you to die, you might actually succumb to the infection?”

  Sari shrugged. “I could, doesn’t mean I would. It’s amazing, you know, the power of the mind. But then, you really don’t use yours. You’d rather let your master lead you around by the nose. You don’t question authority, do you? I’m sure that works very nicely for Rex. He prefers subjects like you, ones that don’t fight back.”

  Mara moved closer to Tom, her hand sneaking out to touch his arm. “Don’t listen to her.”

  “No, don’t listen to me. After all, I’m the only one who managed to escape, to live free in this world. Why, I haven’t seen the inside of a cage for three years. How about you two?”

 
They both bristled, pissed with her words. Good, let them be angry. All she needed to do was deflect the fury toward Zimmerman. Somehow. But she had a plan now that she knew of Mara’s condition.

  “He trusts me,” Tom growled through clenched teeth. “He doesn’t need to cage me.”

  “Uh-huh. That’s why you all have micro-tracers embedded in your bodies. Because he trusts you.” Sari shook her head, the pity not hard to fake. “I can’t believe someone as smart as you would believe his shit. It’s all lies, Tom, fake words to make you agree, to manipulate you into doing his vicious bidding.”

  Tom shook his head. Stubborn bastard. “I agreed to this of my own free will. I know his plans, and I’ll help him build his dream.”

  Sari rubbed her chin and frowned. Shock froze her vocal chords for a moment. The thought that anyone would agree to the gene therapy designed to turn them into a human-jaguar hybrid floored her, angered her. But she realized Zimmerman had his claws in Tom long before the man volunteered to be a guinea pig. Zimmerman wasn’t stupid. Brilliantly insane, perhaps, but not dumb. He would’ve molded a young Tom for months, sharing supposed secrets and visions, shaping Tom’s beliefs, beguiling him with promises of greatness.

  She knew because he’d tried it with her. Pity her cage had kept her mind focused and grounded in reality.

  “His dream? Do you even know what his dream is, Tom?” She didn’t, but hey, if he wanted to share…

  Tom stepped forward, steely determination in his eyes. He truly believed in Zimmerman, didn’t he? It made Sari wonder why he told Mara things would be all right when the truth was that if Zimmerman knew she was pregnant, that two of his Hunters had mated without permission and succeeded in producing offspring, the man would grow delirious with power. More than he already was.

  Sari tried to picture the events that would follow. Tom would be punished for not following the rules. Mara would be isolated, monitored, watched. They’d run tests. They’d let her carry to full term then rip the baby out of her arms. Neither she nor Tom would see the child. They wouldn’t be allowed to rear it as normal parents, and if Tom couldn’t see that, then he was deluded beyond hope. She couldn’t let herself picture what Zimmerman might do to the child, couldn’t bring herself to accept him as a father-figure to anyone or anything.

  It was why she had to save Mara and the baby, even if it meant killing Tom.

  “He’s going to build a super-race,” Tom blurted. “An army of superior beings, like Mara and me. There will be no Failures, no rejects like yourself. And there will be no more room for the pathetic or weak.”

  She stared him down. “You don’t believe that. I can smell it on your breath. You think Zimmerman is as full of shit as I do. Or, rather, you do now that you’re going to be a father.”

  The air fell silent. No one and nothing moved. For heartbreaking seconds, she saw the strength fall from his gaze. Love filled his eyes, and she knew she’d hit the mark. About time, too, because killing Tom wasn’t an easy ask. They’d battle, wrestle in the ferns, scratch each other, tear off chucks of muscle. She’d have the upper hand, then he, and then with one swipe of her extended claws, she’d slice his jugular in two and it’d be over. But killing Mara’s lover in front of her wouldn’t keep her on Sari’s side. And besides, he anticipated fatherhood with an eagerness that pleased her.

  “So what do you say?” She stuck out a hand. “Truce?”

  Chapter Seven

  Rex pushed through the swinging doors, keeping as quiet as he could. The dim passageway splitting Sub Level 10 down the center was silent. The rows of doors either side remained closed, like he’d ordered, and a single female medic manned the small station in the middle of the passage. She wasn’t surprised by his presence, merely smiled at him with a nod and went back to her charts.

  Containing his excitement grew more difficult by the day, and keeping this sub level a secret had become almost impossible. He wanted to shout to the world what he’d done, what he’d achieved, but he couldn’t. These successes had to remain hidden from the man who funded The Facility and gave the green light for each new phase of the operation. The businessman who masqueraded as a scientist. Rex grimaced. He’d become a scientist, too, learned from and surpassed the master. He’d show them all, eventually, but for now, SL 10 was his secret.

  If the man knew he’d begun the breeding program early…Rex shook his head to dispel the worrisome thought. When he could show the world the end product, the pure hybrid, they wouldn’t be able to touch him. Or stop him.

  He paused to peer in through the small window in the door on his left. He smiled every time he laid eyes on rounded bellies, on the female Hunters he’d withheld from the group. They were docile beings, created specifically for breeding and all too happy to help him with this part of the experiment. Impregnating them had taken some planning. Instinct told him to choose the seed of his strongest Hunter, Tom, but logic won in the end, and he chose six of his best. It would prevent inbreeding in the long run.

  He’d had to create unique embryos, making sure to combine the female, male, and feline DNA in just the right way. Implanting six female hybrids was the easy part. Making sure the embryos survived caused him the most worry. And he’d worried the entire time. Eight and three quarter months had never felt so long.

  As it turned out, he’d had nothing to fear. All six subjects were doing exceptionally well, their babies in perfect health, and their pregnancies right on track. Within days he would have six healthy babies to rear, six pure hybrid children to raise as his own, and the first phase of his vision would be complete.

  He glanced up at the concrete floor separating Sub-Levels 9 and 10. SL 9 housed yet another phase of the operation. Eight very special subjects. He expected Failures, yet he knew they would be few in number. Unlike with the cats, the new experiments benefited from the knowledge so far gathered and the refined genetic therapy technique. Rex only hoped it would be as successful as with the cats.

  “Hello, Mr. Zimmerman. All six subjects are fine.”

  He smiled and focused on the tall, slender woman. Jessica Montrose embodied professionalism. One of the top of her field, specializing in big cat genetics and fertility, it’d been easy to convince her to join their team. Despite her youth, she had a long list of references who were only too happy to vouch for her honesty and trustworthiness. Not to mention that stealing her away from The Sanctuary, highly revered for its technological advances in the care of animals, gave Rex a secret thrill. Offering her a place on a groundbreaking science project lit up her eyes. At a third of his age, she was enthusiastic and driven, eager to please. He liked that. Nothing pleased him more than a woman with ambition. He also liked that she was a pistol in bed.

  “I know. I just wanted to stop by.”

  She smiled. “You can’t wait to see the babies, can you?”

  “They will be healthy hybrid children, won’t they?”

  She nodded. “That’s the way you engineered them. You get what you design, Mr. Zimmerman.”

  Her use of formality sent a tingle up his spine. “You know just what to say to make an old man feel good, young lady.”

  She chuckled and said quietly, “I know just what to do too. Or have you forgotten?”

  Rex bit his tongue. This was neither the place nor the time, and she knew it, loved to tease. Damn. He loved it too. Why she wasn’t more intimidated by him he’d never know, and why she seemed to enjoy bedding an old man like himself, yeah, he’d never know that either.

  “Have you picked out names?” she changed the subject.

  He blinked. “Not yet.”

  “Well, you might want to hurry. You have two weeks to find three suitable boy names and three girl names.”

  Rex smiled as his beeper went off. He’d have sworn, but he was in the presence of a fine woman so kept his trap shut. When he retrieved the infernal device and checked its screen, the smile returned to his face. Guests had arrived, and he needed to welcome them.

  “Go.”
Jessica waved him away. “I’ll page you when it’s time.”

  He chuckled at her reference to the gadget he hated so much and returned to the cold, silent elevator. Riding it up to SL 4, he contemplated the pending births and ran through a list of names. He wanted to pick strong names, names that identified pure hearts and fierce characters. Cutesy names were not on his list. Nor names that could be shortened into cutesy names. Australians had a ridiculous fetish for shortening names, as if proper names weren’t good enough.

  When the elevator pinged and the doors slid apart, he decided to use names with one syllable. Mark. John. He saw them as strong and courageous.

  Ahead of him lay the armory. The weapons store had been needed only once, though his guards inside The Facility were armed at all times. At the far end of the level lay the holding cells. He’d had them built to keep the dangerous Failures contained and within close range of firepower. Now they held three figures. A woman, sedated and lying on a bench. Pitch, sitting cross-legged facing the wall. And the most recent guest standing at the cell door, fuming mad about his treatment.

  “Zimmerman!” he bellowed. “This is no way to treat me.”

  “Calm down.” Rex glanced at the woman out cold. Pretty. “You’ll wake her.”

  “I doubt it. She’s been drugged. Who is she?”

  Rex frowned. “I thought you might know. She was, after all, playing the role of Sari while our mutual friend is combing the forest looking for me.”

  He noticed Pitch’s spine straighten but kept his attention solely focused on the big Texan. Big gray eyes framed by wild bushy eyebrows shot daggers at Rex. He relented and motioned to Stevens to unlock the door. As Waylon Landau stepped into the open corridor, Stevens kept a gun trained on him. The CEO merely pushed the barrel away.