by C. P. Rider
There were four chairs, and, other than the two men and me, they were the only things in the white-walled, windowless room. The guard had closed the door behind her.
I stuck my legs out and crossed my feet at the ankles. "Well, I'd have stood up and read a passage from Dante's Paradiso, but I find that book a little depressing, to be honest. One person's heaven is another person's inferno, am I right?"
Alpha Juan pursed his lips. It almost looked as if he attempted to hide a smile. "You reminded me of someone just now."
"Let me guess. Was he someone you recently screwed over?"
His brow dropped low over his eyes. "You really don't get it, do you? Neely, it's a war out there. Not only between humans and paranormals, but between paranormals and other paranormals. The witches hate the shifters, the shifters hate people like you and the trancer here, and they all hate each other. The only way you can survive in this world is by making strategic alliances."
"What you're saying is, you sold your soul to keep your power."
"I didn't sell anything." The alpha lifted his cowboy hat, smoothed back his hair, then set it back on his head. "I just rented it out for a while."
I stared up at the tall alpha. "The thing about renting something is, you never receive it back in the same condition. You have to repaint, replace the carpet, clean the dirty ring out of the bathtub…"
"Are you really worried about my soul?" he asked with a lopsided grin.
"If I am, it's pretty far down on the list of things I'm worried about. Somewhere between, 'Are they ever going to fix that pothole on Main Street?' and, 'Is the taco shop overcharging me for carnitas?'"
"Yep, you remind me of Blacke, all right," Alpha Juan muttered.
Sampson cleared his throat. "Psychokinetics."
Alpha Juan and I turned to look at him.
"It's what we're called," he continued. "People like Neely and me. Trancers, telepaths, telekinetics, spikers—that's what we are. Psychokinetics, or PKs, for short."
I hadn't heard that term used to describe my ability, but it made sense. And Sampson giving it a name gave me an odd sense of community that I hadn't expected. I had no idea we were all even considered a group.
"We just call your kind weapons. And the person with the biggest and baddest weapons wins. I aim to assemble the world's largest paranormal arsenal, and I need you in it, Neely. If that means I have to make a dirty deal with a guy like Harris to do it, so be it."
I uncrossed my ankles and sat up in my chair. "He won't share. There's no way a man like Garrett Harris will let me out of his sight after you change me. You have to know that."
"Harris isn't stupid. He knows it's in his best interest to hold up his end of the deal." Alpha Juan walked to the door and knocked on it. "Cooperate, and I'll do my best to make sure you don't get hurt. I truly have no desire to see you harmed."
I pulled power from him hard enough for him to feel it. He spun around on his booted heel and glared at me. A muscle pulsed in his handsome jaw.
"It's not me you should be worried about, traitor alpha." I winked.
Alpha Juan strode out. My joy was short-lived, because the door opened again and Warden Harris took his place. The door shut and locked behind him.
"Just to warn you, if you spike us, not only do those tiger shifter kids die, but you'll die, too. This room is sealed, except for those." He pointed at two fist-sized metal vents in the ceiling. "The door bolts shut. No one will open it for you, trust me on that."
After having looked into the guards' heads in the other room, I most definitely trusted him on that.
"What's your plan, Warden?" I relaxed against the back of my chair, did a head-twitch nod to indicate Sampson. "What's he doing in here?"
"He's here because you aren't cooperating." The warden waggled his finger at me as if I were a defiant child, not someone who had killed one of his men an hour ago. He dropped into the chair across from me and leaned forward. "Because I can't trust you to behave yourself, Sampson will help modify your impulses. Specifically, the impulse to murder my guards."
"Modify my impulses?" I hiked up my eyebrows. "What makes you think he can modify my anything?"
"I'm not sure he can, but if he can't, and we can't control you any other way—"
"You mean by murdering innocent children if I don't do what you want. No euphemisms, please. Just say it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, you know."
"—then I have two other choices. Tranquilize you or kill you. Choose one of the three."
I pursed my lips, tapped them with my index finger. "Like put-me-in-a-coma tranquilize or like sixties-housewife-after-the-kids-are-in-bed tranquilize?"
Sampson threw up his hands. "Christ, Neely. Will you cooperate for once?"
"You know, I'm starting to hate that word, which is a shame, because Sesame Street really hammered it into me as a child."
Warden Harris swiped his hand over his face. "We aren't your enemies here."
I slow-blinked at the bald-faced lie. Cognitive dissonance at its finest.
Even Sampson appeared disturbed by the warden's statement. He hurriedly said, "I won't hurt you or even take away your will, I'll just make you … calmer."
"You're going to turn me into a Stepford spiker?" I was speaking to Sampson, but I kept my eyes on Warden Harris.
"Better than a dead spiker," the warden replied blandly.
I gripped the arms of the chair until my fingertips whitened. "Is it? How would you know?"
The warden stood. I'd been reading him since he walked in. He was thinking that he was half past done with me. That this had been my last chance, that there was gas in the vents, that I'd have an easier death than I gave Lester—the guard I'd killed in the conference room—and I didn't deserve it.
Backing him into a corner was going to get me killed. I needed to, God help me, cooperate for now.
"Fine." I waved Sampson into the chair the warden had vacated. "Modify me."
"All right, just relax and look into—"
There was a knock at the door and the guard from earlier stuck her head in the room. "Sir, Alpha Gold is requesting to see you."
The warden let out a tired sigh.
"What's the deal with you and Gold, anyway? She's a paranormal, just like Sampson and me. Why are you kissing her ass?"
"I'm not kissing anyone's anything," Harris replied testily. "Alpha Gold and I have an agreement."
"I thought you hated paranormals." I gestured with a hand flip toward Sampson. "And yet here you are, working with several of us."
"There are times, when dealing with your kind, that it's unavoidable." Harris turned back to me, tipped his head. "You really have no idea how many paranormals are in our employ, do you? Your people have been selling out each other for years. For money, for revenge, to keep themselves from being captured… In the U.S., we have nearly as many paranormals on our payroll as we do humans. I suspect in other countries, too." He chuckled. "How do you think we found you? If it weren't for that ex-fiancé of yours, we would never have known you existed."
"Julio again." I cringed and turned to Sampson. "Have you ever had a really bad relationship? Like world-record bad?"
"I don't have time for this." The warden flung open the door. "When you're finished with her, bring her back to the assembly room. I want this done before nightfall." He left the room, locking the door behind him.
"Who talks like that?" I stared at the door. "Nightfall."
"He's afraid to be around shifters after dark. Someone told him that they were more dangerous then, and no matter how many times I've told him differently, he won't believe me."
"Well, you are a traitorous, lying piece of shit, so you really can't blame him."
Sampson cracked his knuckles. "You don't know me. But you're about to."
Chapter Twenty-Four
A freshet of fear flowed down my spine.
"Don't do this, Sampson."
"That feels like a threat." He grasped both my knee
s and forced them between his. Then he gripped the back of my head and made me face him.
"No threat. I'm just scared." I pinched my eyes shut.
He cursed under his breath. "Open your eyes, Neely."
"I'm trying. They don't want to open."
"Do you want those children to die? Because no matter what Harris tells you, that's his next move. He'll do anything to keep from having to kill you. Do you understand? You do this or those three kids die. Make your choice."
"Seems like lately all I get are bad options. Why can't I choose between two good things for once? Like, do I want polvorones or snickerdoodles for dinner?"
"Because life doesn't work like that. Open your eyes."
"Life sometimes works like that. In my bakery it does." I kept talking, though I sounded like a fool—my mouth was on emergency autopilot. I couldn't blame it. It was trying to save my life. "I'm not usually mouthy like this. Much. This is Lucas. He's like this. The sarcasm, it's his defense mechanism. One of them, anyway. He has cooler ones, too." I took a breath and then dove back in. "I've been so numb, emotionally empty, and the only time I feel is when I think about him. He's why those kids are still alive."
"That's not my fault. I didn't take away your emotions. I can dim them temporarily, but I can't strip them away. You did that to yourself."
"I know," I relied softly. "I know it's me. It's because I'm spiking so much. I'm losing the feeling parts of me. If you let them change me into a crossbreed, I'll lose it all. I'll get so far gone that nothing, not even thoughts of Lucas, will bring me back. And then I'll die."
Sampson was silent for a beat before saying, "Neely."
My throat constricted and my eyes filled with tears behind my lids. "He loves me. We love each other. I want to live, Sampson. I want to love Lucas and run my bakery and be happy. I'm not asking a lot, but I am asking you to have some compassion and please not let them kill me. Please."
"Think about those kids. They never had a chance to live and they won't get one unless I do this."
The kids. There was nothing for it. No matter how afraid I was for my own life—and I was petrified—I could not let the children die because of me.
I blew out a deep breath and opened my eyes.
The trancer stared at me with that mysterious, scary, blue gaze of his. "Don't speak." His voice was a melody with a rhythm that went straight to my bones.
I clamped my lips shut.
"Read my mind."
It was a command, so I had no choice. I stroked over his brain. It wasn't difficult to read him. He projected his thoughts straight at me.
There's no time to explain, but know this. I care about those children. More than you know.
I tried to speak, and then remembered he'd commanded me not to.
When you return to that room, let the alphas change you. I know that's not what you want to hear, but there's no other way. To rescue the kids and the other paranormals, I need Neely-the-spiker-weapon, not Neely-the-emotionally-unstable-telepath.
That stung. A tear trickled down my face, followed by another. Sampson wiped them away with one hand, retaining his grip on my head with the other.
Fiera and I have run several scenarios to free the children. We estimate that it will take eighteen to twenty minutes total to free them—if all goes well. Hopefully, everyone will be distracted by what's happening to you and not notice us.
Fiera? She was part of this? I admit, it hurt.
I'm no telepath, but I know what you're thinking. Fiera doesn't agree with me. She didn't think this was necessary, and said you would help us willingly. I won't take the chance.
Nothing he'd said changed anything, but it was nice to know that at least one person in this evil place believed in me.
I know you don't want to become a crossbreed. You're stubborn. Maybe if you fight hard enough, you'll be able to break through my commands. I hope you don't, because you aren't strong enough to do what needs to be done as you are now.
I'm sorry it has to be this way.
Aloud, he said, "You will let the alphas change you. You will feel no fear. You will be respectful and you will not resist." The blue of his eyes glittered like radiant cut diamonds. They would have been beautiful if they didn't carry death in them. "Do I have your compliance? Nod, if so."
I nodded.
Sampson led me out of the office, down a corridor, and into the assembly room.
Garrett Harris stood at the door.
"Are you feeling better Neely?"
When I didn't respond, Sampson took my chin in his hand, turned my face to his, and stared into my eyes. "You may speak freely now."
"I'm fine, Mr. Harris," I replied blandly.
A smile crept over the warden's mouth. "It worked."
The trancer straightened his shoulders, held up his head. If he felt bad about what he'd done to me, it didn't show. "Yes. I advise moving quickly with her, though."
"Well then, let's get started." Warden Harris took me by the elbow. "Shall we?"
Sampson walked out as the warden led me to the middle of the room. The banquet table had been removed and the chairs had been pushed to the outer edges. There were fewer people, too. Tellis was gone, some of the guards, and Alpha Juan was missing.
"Neels, are you all right?" Julio's mouth was turned down. Guilt weighed heavily on him—if it was guilt. I wasn't sure he was capable of the feeling anymore.
"What do you think?" My fingers curved, itched to wrap themselves around his throat. It was strange to have my body exhibit signs of rage that I had no emotional connection to. I was entirely numb again. Spiking the guard probably hadn't helped the situation.
Alpha Gold smirked, though not in response to anything in particular. She just had that sort of face. A resting smirk-face. "Looks like you have the spiker under control now, Harris. Good. Let's stop wasting time."
Julio glared at the warden. "We had a deal."
Harris walked past Alpha Gold and stood in front of Julio. Stared the wolf alpha in the eyes—never a good idea with a shifter, but Julio did nothing. "My deal with you, Roso, is that you get the first attempt. When you fail, as I suspect you will, Alpha Gold will make an attempt. If she fails, Alpha Martinez will step in."
Alpha Gold clicked her tongue at the mention of Alpha Juan. "You won't need that red wolf cowboy, Harris. I'll handle it."
"That's not what we agreed on when I came to you," Julio snarled, his wolf showing in his face. "We agreed she would be mine."
"We agreed she would be changed. We agreed you would have first shot at it. We agreed to nothing else," Warden Harris snarled back. His lacked the glowing eyes and lengthening canines, but in his own way, he was frightening. "Alpha Gold, Alpha Martinez is a backup. If you succeed, we won't need him."
"She belongs to me," Julio growled. His eyes were the ocher shade of a dirty lightbulb. "I would never have agreed to this if I'd known you'd bring in other alphas."
"That's why I didn't tell you about them." The warden took a step away and behind Alpha Gold as Julio's mouth and nose lengthened. He was furious, and he wasn't good at control.
"Ooo, are we doing this now?" Alpha Gold shook as if she were a dog drying off and her entire head shifted to coyote form, except for her hair. Only her head, though. She looked like the god Anubis, if the jackal god of the mummies had been a coyote and joined a heavy metal hair band in his later years.
This was an extreme form of hybrid. I'd never seen an alpha shift like that before, and I'd never heard of anyone doing it so quickly. No wonder I'd overflowed with energy after drawing from her.
Julio took a step back, jaw hanging open. "What are you?"
"You've never seen anything like me, so don't worry about it." The second after Gold said this, I read her mind. It wasn't difficult. She was projecting because she was proud of herself.
Pleistocene coyote.
She was a prehistoric.
Alpha Gold was wrong. I did know someone like her. In fact, I'd seen Lucas's prehisto
ric form in action. Not his full form, but a variation. He'd been unstoppable.
My stomach twisted in on itself and my hands trembled. Once again, my body displayed signs of fear, but my mind remained closed off to it. It simmered beneath the surface, trying to break through.
Julio threw his head back and howled. As the sound left his throat, his body shifted to full hybrid, retaining some human characteristics such as ears, hands, and feet, and keeping the general shape of a human being while blending in his wolf's fur, snout, and eyes.
He stormed toward me, his intent plain.
Inside me there was a war, a battle between the part of me that wanted to run and the part of me that needed to hold my ground. I stared up at the wall, at an electric, schoolhouse-style black-framed clock, and thought of the children. Fifteen minutes until they were safe. Four minutes had passed since Sampson left.
Tears clouded my vision, raining down my cheeks in hot sheets. Again, it was my body reacting, but I couldn't make that final connection.
Julio grabbed me by the shoulders, pressed his furred forehead to mine. "It'll be okay. Trust me, Neely. I'd never hurt you."
"You've done nothing else," I whispered.
"Neels." He brushed his lips over my cheek, and I recoiled. Bile rose to the back of my throat.
Julio lifted his head, his hands still gripping my shoulders. He faced me away from him, which meant that I was staring at Alpha Gold and the warden, and beyond those two, about ten guards who watched the proceedings with undiluted fascination. Some smiled. One guard slapped another on the back. I read him, as I did the others.
About time those freaks did something interesting around here. Something besides scream and bleed.
I stared at the clock. Six minutes had passed since Sampson left the room.
"Mine." Sharp teeth sank into the back of my neck. Energy, hot and prickly, pushed into my body. The sensation of my own blood trickling around my throat to my chest sent a shiver through me.
In my mind's eye, I returned to the first time Julio asked me out, after work one night at the bakery in Las Vegas. I'd been so excited to say yes. I'd worn a green dress on our first date because I'd noticed how much he liked the color.
