As if summoned by their finished conversation, the door in the corner opened. A man with broad shoulders and a mean look on his face entered the room.
“Meet Oliver,” Patterson said, his voice monotonous. “Oliver will be your escort while we are in the lower levels. Should you need to use the restroom, Oliver will escort you. Should you lag behind me, Oliver will urge you forward. Should you have any inclination to look where your eyes do not belong, Oliver will remind you of your job.”
Noelle looked up to find a massive dragon man standing beside her. His eyes were piercing in the harsh light of the basement, electric in comparison to his dark skin and scruff around his jaw. If she’d been a human, Noelle was sure the imposing figure of the dragon man would have been intimidating. As it was, Noelle felt nothing but worry as she looked up at him.
***
Marc had a mid-day shift, one designed to simply keep up with the constant activity in the facility. It was odd to roll his cart into the agents’ offices and find some of the desks occupied when they’d last been empty. Men and women lazed around. One guy even had his chair leaning back on the back two legs. Marc waited for the man to fall, even wanted to conjure a small gust of wind to push him off balance, but held back.
Marc went about the routine the older janitor had taught him. He washed windows and dusted vents while the agents blathered on about their day. It amazed him the things they said while he was present. Of course, in their minds, Marc was simply another human. They didn’t suspect him to be the dragon he was.
Of course, he still wouldn’t have wanted to say any of the things they said in front of anyone else.
“You should have seen him, so frail and pathetic after I slapped the silver cuffs on him. Damned monster nearly took out half the farmer’s cattle just to feed himself. So, I threw the monster into the back of the truck and made sure I took all the corners a bit too fast, if you catch my meaning.”
Marc paused. The agent was surely talking about a raiding dragon, one that didn’t belong to Dane’s family. Still, the way he accused the raiding dragon of wanting to feed himself was akin to the way people mentioned dirty things behind closed doors. With feigned disgust. Marc’s hand tightened on the towel in his hand.
“I hear you,” a female agent responded, her ass leaning on the adjacent desk. “These monsters think they can take whatever they want in this world from us. We aren’t about to sit back and let them have it. I had this one monster who tried to beg. She begged, can you believe it? I didn’t for one minute. I knew the minute I showed hesitation, she’d eat me alive so I shot her. Just in the leg, you know? To keep her from being able to change shapes while I brought her in.”
Marc trembled with his anger. He was ready to wrap the towel in his hands around their throats, but that would have made him no better than them. He sucked in a breath and held it, slowly letting it out through his nose while he sought the center of calm inside of him. He tucked away the information he was learning for later.
Yet, the agents went on until a superior officer appeared and sent them all off with various missions. It amazed him. Not once during their conversations or the process of handing out assignments had anyone taken notice of him. Marc was, for all intents and purposes, invisible. It gave him a renewed sense of purpose.
What could he accomplish whole the people around him ignored him? What could he do once they left for the evening and not even the security guards glanced at him? Marc pushed his cleaning cart through the maze of agent desks and into the next room, his mind reeling with the possibilities. His eyes scanned the world around him, taking in the halls and the doorways.
The world was at his fingertips, but there was still a part of the facility he could not access. His eyes gravitated toward his feet and the floor beyond. He knew beneath that tile there was another world, painted in white and dripping with agony. His own mother was hidden somewhere beneath his feet and he was trapped above ground.
People passed him by, not bothering to say a word to the man glaring at his feet. They didn’t care he was there. They didn’t want to associate with the cleaning guy. Marc looked up, scratching the new scruff on his chin. He couldn’t wait to shave it off again. Only when his mother was free, when this mission was over, could he get rid of it.
How were they going to get to Lucia Avila? He tapped his toes on the floor, wishing he could simply break through the tile and into the floors below. It was a foolish thought, one that would likely get both him and his mate caught in GOE’s snares. Dane would never forgive him if either of them were caught. He couldn’t bear the thought of the disappointment in Dane’s eyes.
The mission would succeed and they would all be free, one way or another.
Chapter Ten
Noelle was sure, feeling her beast’s confidence, that she could take Oliver in a fight, but what really worried her was the fact that she, too, was a dragon. Oliver’s nostrils flared and Noelle knew the game was over. He’d scented what she was and he would soon give her up. Her eyes flicked to the hall ahead. Where would they take her? What would they do to her?
But, the massive, genetically engineered and brainwashed dragon man said nothing. Had he scented her? He should have, if he knew anything about his kind. He would have been able to pick up on a female dragon almost immediately. It made Noelle wonder if her scent was any different than his. Had his scent been changed by the experiments, therefore making his ability to identify other dragons difficult?
“He will also serve as our protection in the lower levels. The dragons housed here are known criminals that have been detained to protect society and only having a dragon at our side will provide any real sense of safety against the enemy.”
Noelle could only hope when Patterson spun on his heel and began his march down the hall. Oliver was like a looming shadow behind her. She wanted to stick her tongue out at the back of Patterson’s head like she’d been doing in the above ground levels. If anyone had noticed her doing so, no one thought it wise to bring it up. Perhaps they all wanted to do the same and Noelle was secretly their hero.
She could believe it.
Her meandering thoughts were waylaid by a scream that split the air. Metal crashed to the floor. Before her, Patterson paused. His hands were still perfectly clasped behind his back. It was Oliver who stepped around both of them and took the lead from there on out. Noelle passed a number of doors and couldn’t help but saunter where the scream had come from.
Who was suffering down here? How could Noelle save Lucia and no one else?
Could she save anyone else? Noelle’s stomach tightened at the thought. If she could even help a handful of the dragons kept down here, then maybe she could begin to make up for the failure she’d been for her sister. Oliver would present a problem for her.
Eventually, he would realize what he was smelling. He would call her out, the ruse would be over, and she would join in on the screaming. Noelle knew she’d rather go out in a fight. She would cause a distraction long enough for her mate to free his mother.
Noelle tried not to think about how screwed she was, tried not to sneak glances toward the dragon man walking beside her. He moved in a smoother gait than his bulky body should have allowed. She wanted to ask him how old he was, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself just yet.
Had this man ever known a young dragon with curly, blonde hair and electricity in his veins? Noelle looked around herself with a renewed vision. There was a chance some of the new dragons on her Territory had been here, but there was also a chance this was where they’d created Isaac as they knew him today.
Oliver and Patterson led her down long, white halls. The lack of color and the sounds coming from the rooms they passed set Noelle’s teeth on edge. Every step was a step deeper into the nest of horrors. It didn’t help that neither Patterson nor Oliver made so much as a sound.
After what felt like forever for Noelle’s nerves, they rounded a corner and found themselves entering a large room. It was dark
save for a single, medical spotlight centered on a stainless-steel table. Noelle could feel her skin beginning to crawl, a sensation that only got worse with each step.
She remembered what Luc had said about the defunct facility. There’d been traces of silver on just about everything underground. Her beast was quiet and the nervous heat from earlier was gone and her skin chilled with goosebumps. She hoped Patterson might not notice. Perhaps he might chalk it up to her nervous behavior.
Because Noelle was certainly nervous. She recognized the woman strapped to the table ahead of her if only because she looked so much like her boys, like Noelle’s mate. Lucia looked…
She looked awful. The woman’s face was gaunt and dark as she snarled and snapped at the woman circling her table. The roles had been reversed and it made Noelle uneasy. Dragons had never preyed upon humanity, at least not in the parts of the world she’d ever known, but the way the woman looked at Lucia reminded Noelle of the way vultures circled over things close to death. This woman, Dr. Rutkowski she figured, enjoyed her job.
The doctor looked up, the motion like the snap of a rubber band. Her eyes grew wide behind her glasses. “Good morning, Mr. Patterson. How are you today? I’ve come across a new finding with this one that I think you might like to see.”
The woman rambled on, barely above a mutter, as she moved around the dark room. She disappeared into the shadows, much to Patterson’s dismay as he huffed, and reappeared with a kind of clear box. It was a box in all ways except that there was no bottom and one side held a small curve, much like a cartoon mouse door.
It made sense when the doctor slipped it over Lucia’s hand on the table, the female dragon’s arm fitting into the mouse door-like space. When it covered Lucia’s hand, Noelle watched black scales roll over her skin. Noelle’s stomach dropped. Whatever was in the material the box was made of, it cancelled out the effect of silver on dragons.
It was an amazing finding as far as Noelle was concerned, but the doctor seemed unaffected by it. They must have known of whatever it was. The doctor was far more interested in the color of Lucia’s scales, it seemed. She smiled down at the black, clawed hand before looking up at them with excitement.
“It seems that the color of a dragon’s scales can be affected by their mindset. This subject has retreated into a feral mindset; therefore her scales have changed to indicate the threat she poses. It’s a very interesting finding. There was an incident a while back,” the doctor mused, “where a black dragon flew over a small town in eastern Nebraska. Reports said the dragon destroyed a farm for no particular reason. If the dragon had gone feral, it would explain its odd behavior and give you a leg up on hunting her down. Which you should.”
Noelle stifled the growl rising inside of her. She knew exactly what the doctor was talking about, knew who the doctor was talking about. Her friend and leader’s mate was not feral in the least, but here they were talking about hunting her like a skunk with rabies. It made Noelle’s jaw clench tight. She forced herself to let go of the tension, to keep from getting caught.
Patterson nodded while his eyes remained glued on Lucia. To his credit, even Patterson’s face paled at the sight of her. Noelle couldn’t tell if he was afraid of Lucia, felt bad for her, or if it was a combination of both. It didn’t matter in the end, as Patterson raised his chin and turned his attention upon Dr. Rutkowski.
“We are currently in search of the offending dragon. The only good thing to come from its actions were the increased patrol of the surrounding areas. The patrol has seemed to help abate some of the actions of the raiding dragons, which is good. I only worry the Territory is hiding the feral dragon you mentioned.”
Dr. Rutkowski nodded. “They would have to cage her to contain her to the grounds, but it is possible they’re working to hide their ugly side from us.”
Noelle wanted to scream. She wanted to fill the room with her voice, with the truth of the matter. They were not hiding Liana. Noelle’s friend might have some pride issues, but she was a perfectly functional member of their family, unlike what Dr. Rutkowski seemed to claim. It made Noelle’s chest tight with pent up words.
“Now that you’ve shown us something we already assumed, Doctor, how about you tell us how we can contain such beasts? That is something I’d very much like to hear.” Patterson’s voice was dry as he spoke down to the doctor.
Noelle caught slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She licked her lips, finding them dry. It was the silver, she told herself. Glancing over, trying to feign anxiety and finding it all too easy, she took in the dragon man called Oliver. It’d been his movement that’d caught her eye, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides while he looked upon Lucia strapped to the table.
Noelle resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs, to caution him to reign in his emotions. Yet, it stirred her. Oliver was supposed to be one of the Guardians’ enhanced dragons, completely under their thumbs. This dragon, Oliver, seemed not so enthused by his family’s actions. In fact, he seemed downright angry.
His eyes slid to the side, catching hers, and his spine straightened. His hands relaxed at his sides, the only movement an impatient tapping of his fingers against his thighs. Noelle wanted to nod, but she didn’t dare. He held her gaze for a moment too long, though and Noelle knew her ruse was up.
He knew. The enhanced dragon knew she was also a dragon. She waited for him to open his mouth, to proclaim it to the whole room, but his eyes only went to Lucia strapped to the table. His lips remained pursed the entire time.
While they’d had their silent exchange, an experience Noelle still wasn’t able to process, she realized Patterson and Dr. Rutkowski had been talking the whole time. Her heart fluttered as she realized there was a stretch of information she hadn’t recorded. Inwardly, Noelle groaned. She had to remind herself this wasn’t a real job. She didn’t need to please the imposing man one hundred percent of the time. If anything, she could claim being in a room with two dragons had terrified her, even if the silver in the walls kept them at bay.
“I would still like to know if you’ve located Subject I-A-C,” Patterson said. He pretended to pick a piece of non-existent fluff from his suit and flick it in Dr. Rutkowski’s direction. When he looked up, his jaw was clenched. “My predecessors assure me he was the peak of the application of their studies and having him back would benefit us tenfold, even if he did not want to be back.”
I-A-C.
Isaac’s mate learned that was what the Guardians called him. It was hard to imagine the floppy haired dragon who barely spoke was the peak of their experimentation, but from the stories Quinn shared, he’d been a formidable force when face to face with another enhanced dragon.
GOE was openly searching for Liana and Isaac. She had to find a way to let them know without blowing their cover. She would get her phone, the cell she left in a drawer back in their apartment and send a message once she got home. They needed to know GOE was after both of them. Liana had a better chance of skirting past them as they hadn’t seemed to connect her human face to her black dragon form. Isaac, on the other hand, they knew on sight.
“He destroyed one of my favorite dragons,” Dr. Rutkowski hissed, her eyes gleaming with ire.
She clearly wasn’t happy about how Isaac’s fight with the enhanced white dragon had gone. From what Noelle heard, it’d been a close fight, with neither Isaac or Kenji truly prepared for its elemental capacity. Poor Kenji nearly died, from the way he told the story. Although it was always followed up with a wink.
“Then devise new ways to contain him,” Patterson snapped.
Dr. Rutkowski left Lucia’s side, her spine stiff as she looked brazenly up into Patterson’s unmoving eyes. “I am a biologist, sir. Not an engineer. If you wanted to heckle the engineers, you could go up to the third floor. If you wanted to harass one of the bio-engineers you can go down to level C. If that is all you have to say, then I think our meeting is over.”
Noelle’s breath caught in her chest and she had t
o fight to suppress the smile on her face. It felt good seeing someone standing up to Patterson, even if it was a maniacal biologist that liked to poke and prod dragons. Noelle’s smile quickly slipped away when she remembered just who she was dealing with.
Just then, Lucia stopped fighting against her restraints. The whole room turned to look at the suddenly calm dragon. Lucia’s nostrils flared. Noelle’s heart stuttered when the woman’s eyes met Noelle’s across the room. There was a newfound peace in Lucia’s once feral eyes. She breathed in deep and let her head fall back before launching into a string of Spanish Noelle couldn’t translate.
She hoped the doctor and Patterson couldn’t either, because Noelle certainly heard Marc’s name in whatever it was Lucia said. Noelle wondered if Marc’s scent clung to her, even if their love making had been days ago now. Whatever it was, it calmed Lucia. It seemed to bolster her spirit in a way that pulled back on the ferocity of the beast inside of her.
Lucia opened her eyes, now clear with a sentience that’s been missing moments ago. She took in both the doctor and Patterson with a sharp toothed smile. There was death promised in that smile, one Noelle had perfected on her own. If they managed to free Lucia from her restraints, get her beyond the silver that encased the lower levels, she would destroy every inch of the facility.
It was Patterson who stepped forward. His eyes narrowed, looking down at Lucia with righteous contempt. Noelle wanted to knock the expression off his face for Lucia, but held her guise. Lucia, too, help her place. She looked up at Patterson with a demure smile, not at all affected by his presence or the title he clung to.
“Your days are numbered,” Patterson informed Lucia. “No matter how you try to straighten up your act. Dr. Rutkowski here only has a certain number of days with which she can study you and then you are to be put down. It doesn’t matter if you suddenly see sanity, we cannot afford to let you run around this world.”
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