All color had drained from the man’s face. Taelon had expected him to wet himself and take off running. Instead, the man’s eyes had widened until the whites were visible around the blue irises, then had filled with moisture as horror contorted his features. He had stumbled back through the door with all due haste.
Now Taelon waited.
The footsteps that drew near seemed hesitant. If it was one of the butchers coming back to sedate him, the person’s strides would be confident and quick as they hurried to complete the tasks they’d forgotten before one of their superiors noticed.
A curiosity seeker then. Perhaps even the same one wanting a closer look. Or maybe a new recruit.
Disgust rising, he prepared to repeat his revolting performance. But this time he would make the man see an unconscious monstrosity whose wrist manacles had come unfastened. When the man hastened to press the button that locked them, it would instead unlock them, and Taelon could gain his freedom.
The footsteps stopped.
The door opened.
A figure stepped into the room.
Taelon immediately projected the monstrous image in the newcomer’s head. Fighting his way past the drug’s influence took so much concentration that he did not at first register that his new persecutor was female.
He frowned.
She was small and wore a lab coat, indicating her position as one of the sadistic doctors and scientists who worked here. But… she didn’t look well. Her face, which he reluctantly admitted bore unmistakable beauty, was gaunt, pallid, with a pert pink nose. Her big brown eyes were red rimmed, as though she had wept recently.
Both her face and neck were thin. In startling contrast, her stomach was grossly distended.
When her gaze fell upon him, she gasped.
And well she should. She saw what he wanted her to see. A monster with open manacles.
But instead of hurrying forward to press the button that would secure him—and inadvertently free him—she staggered as though her knees had weakened. Reaching out blindly with one small hand, she braced herself against the counters that lined the walls. A low sound escaped her as she wagged her head from side to side.
“No,” she murmured mournfully. “No. No. No!” The last emerged in a scream.
His mouth fell open as madness entered the petite woman’s big brown eyes. She staggered forward a step and sank to her knees. Huddled on the floor, she fisted bloodstained hands in the long curtain of her dark hair and screamed as though her mind were shattering.
Well, drek. He hadn’t expected that. Earthlings seemed to hold a twisted fascination with anything they considered freakish in appearance. He hadn’t thought showing her what they wanted to see would drive her insane, but that was precisely what appeared to have happened.
Yet another serious miscalculation on his part. These Earthlings were too unpredictable.
The piercing screams stopped abruptly as the woman looked down at her swollen belly. Whimpering, she scuttled backward into a corner as though she wished to escape it. She even held her arms as far away from the large mound as she was able, unwilling to touch it.
What the drek?
He noticed something else then. Her clothes were too big for her. When she shifted one arm away from her stomach, the sleeve gathered at her elbow slipped down and hid all but her fingertips.
That was not her lab coat.
He pieced together her pallor, her too-thin face and legs, and concluded she was not one of the doctors here. Was she another prisoner? Had she simply stumbled into the wrong room while trying to make her escape? Was she the reason the alarm had rung?
Dispelling the false image he had projected into her mind, he spoke for the first time since he’d been captured. “Don’t be afraid.” His throat burned. His voice emerged rough and gravelly, unrecognizable to his own ears, made ugly by the tubes the humans had forced down his throat, the many scrapings and samples they’d taken, and the poisons they had administered.
He doubted such coarse utterances, which sounded more like the growls of a wild koskoard, would reassure her.
Nor did they. She began to scream again—over and over—and pushed at her stomach as though it were something heinous that had fallen atop her.
Worried she might harm herself in her attempts to rid herself of her own belly, he tried to touch upon her thoughts.
Get it out of me! Get it out of me! Get it out of me!
He winced as her shrieks cut through his head.
Get what out of her? What had they done to her?
He spoke to her telepathically, projecting as much warmth and serenity as he could. Please, be calm. Please, do not fear me. I mean you no harm.
She froze. Taelon?
Shock rippled through him. It was her—the female whose despair had filled him and driven him to reach out to her. Lisa?
Yes. Deep, heart-wrenching sobs erupted from her as she buried her face in her hands. Please, she begged. You have to help me. You have to find me. You have to kill me. Please!
He stared, barely able to see her because he couldn’t turn his damn head. No!
She wept harder. You don’t understand. You don’t know what they’ve done… I can’t… The creature… Please! Where are you?
I’m right in front of you.
No, you aren’t! It’s just me and the creature. You have to—
The creature you saw was an illusion. I—
No, it wasn’t! she cried hysterically. I heard it hissing and growling!
Do you hear it now?
Her mind quieted. Her breath hitched in stifled sobs as she listened. No.
Because it was merely an illusion I projected. The butchers were distracted today and forgot to dose me. My mind is beginning to clear, and my abilities to return and strengthen. When you entered the room, I thought you were either one of the butchers come to harm me again or a morbid curiosity seeker, so I projected the most horrifying image I could.
Her hands lowered enough to reveal the upper half of her face, now streaked with tears. She slid the base of the table that supported him a glance but did not look up, as though afraid to do so. Really? she asked hesitantly. It was an illusion?
Yes.
You’re the alien Brad told me about?
He didn’t know who Brad was, but… That is what they call me, yes. I believe they also refer to me as an extraterrestrial.
You’re not a monster? You don’t… really look like that?
I don’t. It was a trick. I was born with the ability to project images into other people’s minds and make them see what I want them to see. It was how I breached these walls without proper security clearance. But they caught me, and I’ve been unable to utilize that gift until today. He frowned. Or yesterday. It didn’t really matter. If you would but look up, you will see my true appearance, though I must warn you of my state of undress. The butchers haven’t allowed me clothing since they captured me.
Her eyes widened.
Chapter Five
Almost against her will, Lisa looked up at the table… and gaped.
The horrible creature, which had looked eerily similar to that thing in the Sigourney Weaver movie Alien, was gone, replaced by a man. A man who looked human. And as he had warned, he wore no clothes.
Her breath continued to hiccup from residual sobs as she stared at him. His auburn hair was long enough to pool on the table around his head. From her position on the floor, she spied a small bare patch shaved into it where the doctors had either attached electrodes or perhaps even performed surgery of some sort.
Reaching up, she gripped the edge of the counter behind her and clumsily stood, still unused to the extra weight she carried in front. He followed her movements from the corner of his deep green eyes, unable to turn his head because a strap held him in place.
A muscle leapt in a chiseled jaw coated with stubble a bit darker than his hair.
She let her gaze fall to his broad shoulders, arms, and chest. All bore quite a bit of mus
cle despite his long incarceration. His arms also sported multiple wounds. Cuts, some deep, some shallow. Raw red patches where skin and tissue had been removed. Burn marks. Needle punctures. But his chest was the worst.
A long, thick, angry red ridge began between his collarbones and traveled down his middle all the way to his navel, marking the place where doctors had opened him up and done who knew what to him in an effort to discover what made him tick. Black stitches held the flesh together, but they seemed… haphazard at best. She would’ve thought they would be neater than that.
She looked up and met his eyes. “You’re bleeding.” Red liquid seeped from the wound.
At least he bled red blood.
They were in a hurry today and didn’t take care when they closed me up.
She remembered wondering what he had meant when he’d said there was a monster inside him, too. Clearly he had referred to the doctors here.
What atrocities had they committed? What torturous surgeries and experiments had they performed on him?
Her glance skittered down the rest of him, away, back, then up to his chest.
He was totally naked.
Heat climbed into her cheeks.
I did warn you, he said in her head, amusement creeping in.
He had. Not a stitch covered him, not even a towel or blanket.
A white hazmat-looking suit lay on the floor. Bending to pick it up, she knew she shouldn’t stare but couldn’t seem to help herself as she drew nearer. Nausea rose that had nothing to do with her own issues when she realized just how many wounds marred his form. There was hardly an inch of skin that was unblemished. Raw pink patches stood out against tanned skin where tissue had recently been removed. Older, similar patches were in various stages of scabbing over. Too many bruises and cuts, some quite deep, painted his firm body.
She draped the suit across his hips, wanting to spare him the humiliation of being bare before her. She studiously avoided looking at his groin. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what those animals had done to him there.
She glanced down at her stomach. Well, she already knew at least one thing they had done to him… or rather one thing they’d taken from him.
Did he know? Had they told him about…?
She met his eyes. “Is this really what you look like?” The words barely emerged a whisper. “Or is this the illusion?” She desperately wanted this to be true.
This is really what I look like.
“It isn’t another trick… like the monster?”
This is my true appearance. I may be able to project images into your mind and make you see something else, but I can’t actually change my form. If you need confirmation, touch me.
Touch him where? He was riddled with wounds.
But she needed to know.
Reaching out, Lisa tentatively rested a trembling hand on his shoulder. His skin was cool and bore a light coating of perspiration. She drew her hand down over his biceps.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and something she couldn’t identify flickered in his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice hushed while the alarm continued to blare. “Did I hurt you?”
No. It’s… You’re the first person who has touched me—not with intent to harm, but with kindness—in a very long time.
His words broke her heart.
Lisa leaned forward and began to work on the strap that held his head down. “Why don’t you talk out loud?” Was his species unable to?
I did—moments ago—and found it painful. I believe they have damaged my throat.
Had he? She couldn’t remember. She had lost her mind for a minute there while she’d imagined a slime-coated, razor-toothed creature clawing its way out of her belly when it was ready to be born.
The strap loosened. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief as she unfastened it and parted both sides.
A red mark traveled across his forehead, resulting from either his struggle against it or its being too tight.
“Thank you,” he croaked.
She nodded. “Don’t speak if it hurts.”
This way is easier for me at the moment.
“That’s fine. I don’t mind.” She shifted her attention to his wrists. Both bled from his struggles. “Is there a switch or something that releases these?” She tapped one manacle.
I believe there is a mechanism under the table.
Lisa dropped to her knees and searched for it as quickly as she could. A small raised nub caught her attention. “Is this it?” She pushed it. Clunk.
He sighed. Yes. Thank you.
She glanced at his feet. Manacles still confined both. Crawling to the foot of the table, she found the other release and pressed it. Clunk.
Thank you.
Gunfire sounded in the next hallway.
Rising, she shot the door a fearful look.
What’s happening out there?
She quickly tackled the leather straps at his elbows and knees, freeing him one limb at a time. “Brad told me they captured some vampires. More found out and have come to free them. It looks like they’re killing everyone who works here.”
What’s a vampire? A growl of pain escaped his chapped lips as he sat up.
“It’s—” A cramp ripped through her abdomen. Crying out, Lisa braced a hand next to his feet and cupped her belly with the other.
He clutched his chest. Blood oozed from the incision.
“What did they do to you?” The question left her lips without any forethought.
All that they could without killing me, he responded, his tone both angry and weary. He glanced at her stomach. What did they do to you?
Her heart began to pound. “You don’t know?”
His eyebrows drew together. No. Should I?
She looked away. The truth lodged in her throat and refused to climb any higher. She couldn’t tell him. Not here. Not now. Not like this.
She winced as another cramp struck.
Are you ill? What afflicts you?
“We’ll talk about it later. Right now we need to get the hell out of here while we still can.”
The floor continued to rumble and shake with those odd tremors. But earthquakes didn’t happen here.
Or did they? Was she still in Texas? Or had the Anomalous Cognition Research Institute moved her to California or some other seismically active state?
Taelon scooted to the edge of the table, then slid off onto his feet.
His knees buckled.
Lisa lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was a lot taller than she was. And heavier with muscle. For a minute she thought they would both end up toppling to the floor. She was still weak from her coma, and he felt like he weighed a ton. But she braced her feet, locked her knees, and managed to keep him upright.
He gripped the table with one hand and wrapped the other arm around her. I’m sorry.
“It’s okay,” she told him. “We can do this.”
He nodded.
Shifting to his side, Lisa kept one arm around him as he found his balance. She hadn’t realized until then that the hazmat suit had fallen to the floor. Well, shit. How was she going to get a naked alien out of the building without getting caught? He was bound to attract attention.
She glanced at the door. Maybe there were clothes in the next room? The doctors probably changed out of their everyday clothes before coming in here, right?
When she had arrived, the fighting hadn’t reached this section yet. But the gunfire was getting closer. “If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now.”
Again he nodded.
Lisa started toward the door. He leaned heavily on her, making every step a struggle. “I need to find you some clothes.” As soon as they made it to the next room, she propped him against the wall. “Will you be okay if I leave you here for a minute?”
Yes.
There were some cabinets about the same size as gym lockers across the room. Maybe she would find something in there.
The door to the ha
llway burst open. Two soldiers in green camo rushed in.
Their eyes widened when they spotted her and Taelon.
Then another soldier—this one garbed in black cargo pants, a black shirt, and a black bulletproof vest—ducked inside and fired.
The first two soldiers danced in place as blood spurted from their chests.
Lisa gaped at them. Had the soldier in black come with the vampires? He was dressed like them.
She threw her hands up when he turned his weapon in her direction.
His eyes met hers, then shifted to Taelon and widened. “What the hell?”
A soldier in camo stepped into the doorway.
“Behind you!” Lisa cried.
The vampire soldier spun around. He and the guard both fired their weapons multiple times.
Both soldiers stumbled back a step. The camo soldier’s head snapped back as a hole appeared in his forehead.
He collapsed to the floor outside.
The door swung shut.
The soldier in black bent forward and gripped his chest.
I need his clothes, Taelon said.
Lisa glanced at the fallen camo soldiers. Darting forward, she grabbed one of their semiautomatic rifles and aimed it at the soldier in black. “Don’t move.”
He froze. “Easy.”
“Drop your weapon,” she ordered.
He did so, slowly raising his hands in the air. “Look. You don’t want to do this. This building is full of people who want everyone who works here dead, and you probably don’t even know how to use that.”
Shifting her aim half a foot to the right, she fired.
The computer on the desk behind him flew apart.
The soldier jumped. “Okay! Okay! Take it easy. I just—” He broke off as he glanced past her at Taelon. His eyes widened. “Oh shit. You’re an immortal?” He relaxed and lowered his hands. “Why didn’t you say so?”
Lisa frowned and looked over her shoulder.
Taelon met her gaze. Blood now trailed from his nose. The vampires he works with have black hair, sharp canine teeth, and glowing amber eyes, so that’s what I’m showing him. He thinks I’m one of them.
The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance Book 1) Page 8
