Elliot focused and composed himself. “I need to leave in the next five minutes. Please see that my car is ready to go while I grab my briefcase. And check on Simon Dunn for me as well. The CEO wants a full update on the casualties of our last altercation with Circe’s Recruits.”
McKinley cocked his head, as if aware of what Elliot hadn’t told him. “You want me with you this time?”
“Yes.” Elliot swallowed around the nervous lump in his throat. “I believe your abilities may be necessary during this meeting.”
McKinley nodded and left, presumably to see to the car.
Elliot didn’t want to take McKinley. In fact, he’d been ordered to come alone, as he always did. The new CEO of Pearson Labs liked his air of mystery. The less people who knew about him, the better. Especially if he wanted to maintain his military connections. To the United States government, Pearson Labs was still persona non grata. An unfortunate circumstance, but Elliot appreciated not having to work under Uncle Sam’s thumb any longer.
Or at least, he had been free to work uninhibited. Without understanding how, he’d awakened one morning a year and a half ago to find that he was no longer running the labs.
His funding had been cut, only to be replaced by a backer with a different agenda than his own. Science paled next to the potential applications of his powerful Circs.
Assassins, mercenaries, animalistic automatons who would obey on command -- they were in short supply and high demand. Already, the CEO bragged about how much money they’d earned with a successful Circ operation in Nicaragua to recover “stolen goods.” Elliot wondered if drug money was now funding his science, but he didn’t much care either way. So long as he was able to continue his work on Project Dawn, the other obstacles in his path to true freedom could wait. He could handle inconvenience and annoyance, but he couldn’t handle failure. He simply had to know why Evan’s experiments worked and his didn’t.
Given time, he knew he’d find the answer. He just had to give Sabrina enough time at Evan’s compound…
“Dr. Pearl, you’re ready to go.”
Elliot turned and almost ran into McKinley. The man moved like a cat. Fumbling with his briefcase, Elliot exited his office. He left the labs and entered the backseat of his black Lincoln Town Car, then sat back as McKinley expertly handled the wheel.
The silence bothered him, and he tried once again to learn more about his bodyguard.
“McKinley, why do you work for me?”
“I believe in the project.” The man didn’t turn his head as he answered.
For three years, ever since the initial Project Dawn had disbanded, McKinley had worked for Elliot. He’d simply shown up one day on Elliot’s doorstep and waited, saying nothing. One look convinced Elliot the man was Circ, but everything else about him remained a mystery. McKinley had no traceable fingerprints. His DNA revealed strains unlike anything Elliot had ever seen. And most of his DNA had disappeared from the lab hours after Elliot had ordered it to be collected.
McKinley didn’t respond to threats or violence. He disabled and had once dismembered a Circ ordered to bring him down. Guns didn’t work on him. Though his skin felt and looked human, it retained the deflective density of changed Circ skin. The small parts of McKinley’s DNA that Elliot played with in his off-hours did nothing but pose more questions.
Elliot couldn’t duplicate his abilities, no more than he could figure out why Evan’s Circs remained sane and rational while his creations continued to unravel.
“Doctor, where are we going?” McKinley asked in a deep bass.
Elliot sighed. “Philadelphia, the Navy Yard.” McKinley grunted, and they drove in silence for miles. “Do you want me to recapture Torrence?” he asked, surprising Elliot that he’d spoken.
“Ah, no. Not yet.” Curious, Elliot regarded his bodyguard. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you aren’t one to let an experiment go until it’s done.”
“True.” Elliot preened. “My work ethic has never been questioned.”
“No.”
The way McKinley left that “no” hanging led Elliot to believe he had more to say.
“But…?”
“But nothing.”
“You’re one of mine, aren’t you, McKinley? You’ve never admitted it, but how else could you be Circ if not for me?”
“True.” McKinley paused. “Everything I am is because of you, Dr. Pearl. And I’ll never forget that.”
Elliot beamed. “Thank you, McKinley. It means a lot to me to know I’ve done some good.”
McKinley said no more, and Elliot tackled the notes he’d brought with him in his briefcase.
“If you want to show that appreciation, keep me safe. Our new ‘boss’ isn’t the most trustworthy of individuals. I’m afraid he sees Project Dawn as a means to an end and not the scientific breakthrough it really is.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
Elliot glanced up again, mesmerized by the dark look of McKinley’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “And don’t worry. When it’s time to bring Sabrina home, I won’t trust her with anyone else but you. If all works out as I think it will, we may just have the answer to fixing our mutation problems. No more controlling drugs, if I have my way.” McKinley didn’t answer, but his massive hands tightened around the steering wheel.
Concentrating on what he planned to brief his boss, Elliot made a mental note to e-mail Evan later. It wouldn’t hurt to see how Sabrina was doing. After all, in just a few more weeks, she’d be back under his control again. Time enough to enable some changes and to establish a new playing field with his boss. Rational Circs would be worth so much more than the drugged, mindless killers they were today.
* * * * *
Two weeks later, Sabrina grimaced as Doc injected her with yet another doctored serum.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.
She’d gotten used to his kindly manner. Unlike the scientists at Pearson Labs, Doc had never treated her as anything less than an intelligent woman. He frequently asked her questions about Elliot’s procedures and what she thought of his treatments. Doc used gentle hands when touching her. He didn’t try anything new without asking her permission first.
“I’m okay,” she told him, refusing to think about the erotic dreams that had been plaguing her for the past week. Visions of Derrick changed were bad enough. But the odd dreams of Derrick and a few of the other Circs surrounding her while naked tormented her into unfulfilled states of orgasmic need. She wondered if Doc’s drugs were making her this horny but was afraid to ask.
Because you know it’s not the drugs. It’s the change. It’s getting closer. That and the fact that Derrick wouldn’t touch her while Doc tried to fix her. Two long weeks of celibacy were killing her, when for years she hadn’t let a man touch her. Great, I’m a horny Circ addicted to Derrick, of all people.
Sabrina sighed, shifted on the exam table, and stared down at her clothes. Kelly and Caitlyn had purchased her new wardrobe. Mostly jeans and T-shirts, a few sweatshirts, and undergarments and socks. She loved her shoes, leather moccasins as soft as butter, but with durable soles. Considering she hadn’t stepped foot outside the compound since she’d arrived, it wasn’t as if she needed formal attire.
“Sabrina, I can’t help you unless you tell me the truth.” She glanced up at Doc. His blue eyes seemed to look straight into her soul. She had the uncanny feeling he could read minds.
She flushed. “Is it that obvious?”
“That you’re in a constant state of arousal? Not all the time. But my sensors pick up your increased levels of pheromones, which incidentally spike whenever a certain Circ appears.”
As if he’d heard Doc request him, Derrick appeared in the doorway, shirtless and covered in a fine sheen of sweat. He held a T-shirt in one hand and was wiping his face with a hand towel using the other.
The monitors beside the exam table showed massive line upheaval. Then something started beeping.
Sabrina forced herself to look away from Derrick and back down at her hands as she tried hard to tamp down the beast straining to get free.
“Sorry, Doc. I meant to be here earlier, but Hale and Ace were sparring and needed help.” Derrick chuckled, and all too easily Sabrina could envision his lips curled in a smile.
A wide, firm mouth closed around her nipple as she pulled his head closer.
Doc coughed, and she glanced at him. He looked sideways at the monitor measuring her pheromone levels.
Sighing with defeat, she flung her head back against the exam bed. “I can’t help it. It’s his fault.”
“Huh?” Derrick stepped closer and pulled on an olive drab T-shirt. “What’s wrong?” The worry in his voice further aggravated her. Derrick Packard had become her central focus these last few weeks, and his growing importance in her life worried her. More and more, her inner voice convinced her to spend time around him. Though at least one Circ watched over her daily, she normally sought Derrick’s company, and the rest of the group knew it.
She’d overheard the others mention how amusing they found it that he watched her all the time. Even when he wasn’t right by her, she could feel his gaze boring into her. Worse, she welcomed his attention. It would have been easier if she could have attributed all her longing to her inner beast. The truth was, she liked Derrick, the man, just as much.
Bullheaded, sarcastic, and downright mean, Derrick used his outward toughness to protect a tender soul. It was there in the way he touched her, in the way he looked at her and protected her against any perceived threat.
God, she wanted to melt every time she looked into his big brown eyes.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Sabrina growled. The leads attached to her chest under her shirt picked up her increasing heartbeat.
“Then why the hell is all this equipment going off? You feeling okay?” He frowned and leaned closer, as if to feel her forehead.
Before he could touch her, she shot off the table and ripped the wires from the cups suctioned to her body. Fiery tendrils of sensation feathered through her body, like pinpoints of need, sparking her desire anew.
“Ah, Derrick?” Doc said.
“What’s wrong with her?” Derrick looked truly worried, and Sabrina basked in his concern.
“Kelly’s hormones have been playing havoc with the squad since yesterday. Haven’t you felt it?”
“No. I’ve been out all night.”
Sabrina stared at him. “Out all night? What the hell does that mean?” Had he been screwing around while she’d been tethered to the guest bedroom she considered a second home? Rage clouded her vision, and she took several steps closer to him. Her inner beast whispered to her to smell the truth.
Instead of cheap perfume and the scent of an unknown woman, Sabrina smelled Derrick, Hale, and Ace. Apparently, Derrick hadn’t been out carousing all night. That, or she couldn’t smell his misdeeds under the male sweat coating his body.
“Sabrina, are you sniffing me?” Derrick asked with amusement. The man never failed to come up with some degrading way of making her sound like a dog in heat.
“No.” She shoved him back, astonished when her push knocked him into a wall.
She immediately reined in her need to be wild, accepting the pain accompanying her withdrawal from the addictive adrenaline pulsing through her blood.
“No, Sabrina. You’ve got to let it out.” Doc swore under his breath as he read the monitors again. “Derrick, I’m not sure if you’re a help or a hindrance.” The door behind him opened, and Roane and Hale entered. Both stopped, their nostrils quivering as feminine need reached them. To her embarrassment, Hale wiggled his eyebrows and stared at Sabrina from the top of her head to her feet. She prayed he couldn’t see her nipples stabbing through her shirt or smell the sudden arousal pooling between her thighs.
“Sabrina, I wanted to thank you for sharing as much as you have with us,” Roane said, drawing her attention. The large male commanded the room. Even as taken as she was with Derrick, Sabrina could see the alpha inside Roane, the man her mate obeyed.
Not mate, she snarled inwardly.
“Sabrina?” Hale asked. “You okay? You’re looking a little wild around the eyes.” He snickered, and she flipped him the finger, which made him laugh even more. “And that’s why I think she’s perfect for D. So much attitude.”
“Twenty says she can kick your ass when she changes,” Derrick drawled, looking as entertained as Hale.
“You’re on, hard-ass.” Hale shook his hand, while Roane and Doc shook their heads.
“I just wanted you to know that the team no longer considers you the enemy,” Roane continued, shooting Derrick a look to behave himself. “All that you told us about the labs checks out.”
“Like I’d lie after all this,” she muttered, allowing Doc to reattach her lines.
“That information about the breeding program is something we’ve been looking into as well,” Roane continued, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll ask again, are you sure Pearl doesn’t have any more of Kelly’s blood? You said you disposed of it all, but how do we know he didn’t keep some of her blood to work on?”
“Who do you think collected her blood? Me. Pearl is normally too busy to deal with trivial matters. Or at least, he was. Even after his demotion, he kept his hoity-toity ass away from the ‘patients’ while working on theoretical applications. Most of his work involved genetic recombination, as well as a lot of microbiology. He kept insisting that the answer to it all lay in the virus used by the initial EP12 recipients. But a lot of that was beyond me.”
“I just wish we could see into that encrypted folder,” Doc muttered.
“Doc?” Hale asked.
“The data drive Kelly gave us. There was an entire set of files I couldn’t access without the proper password. I’m afraid if I fiddle with it, I may cause something to malfunction or even the files to degrade.”
“Yeah,” Sabrina said. “Sometimes the security on those files is deceptive. You input the wrong password a few times and it’ll delete the information. But I could get you that password.”
“How?” Roane asked, at the same time Derrick said, “No way.”
“What?” Hale looked from Roane to Derrick to her. “Explain.”
“Since I know the layout of the place, I can sneak into Pearson Labs. It’d be easy enough to get in there. As long as I don’t run into trouble, namely McKinley, I can grab the file with Pearl’s passwords and leave.”