Her last attempt had failed, showing her she couldn’t rely on the government to put Pearl away. Thankfully, she’d had the sense to expose Pearl behind a shroud of anonymity; otherwise, she had no doubt she’d be dead. Sabrina couldn’t trust anyone at the federal level.
Nor did she know if she could really trust anyone here.
So why the hell had she mouthed off? Glancing around, she ignored the cacophony of denial and studied faces. Kelly seemed to be the only one willing to believe her. But that might have been because she felt beholden. Sabrina really had saved her from a harsh fate -- rape and worse under Pearl’s guidance.
“Bullshit,” Packard said, his gaze hard, his mouth a tight line.
She hadn’t expected him to believe her, yet his denial hurt. What the hell do I care what he thinks? I need to focus on ditching this place and deciding what to do next . The belief or disbelief of one man shouldn’t matter. She couldn’t explain why it did.
No longer hungry, Sabrina pushed away from the table and stood.
Five other men stood with her, and she knew she’d made a mistake telling them the truth.
“Please, Sabrina, sit down,” Doc said to fill the dangerous silence.
“Yeah, why don’t you sit down and explain how the hell a leech managed to take down Project Dawn,” Roane drawled.
Sabrina glared at him. “Why don’t you go fu --”
“Shut it, princess.” Packard cut her off and shoved her into her seat. He leaned close, and she jerked back, not wanting the temptation of his mouth so near. She couldn’t have said why, but the danger around Packard was totally turning her on. A Circ thing, or something perverted within her? “Trust me when I tell you not to piss Roane off.” She looked around him and decided he was right. Roane Weston looked capable of tearing her apart with both hands. Whereas Packard’s danger excited her, Roane’s frightened her.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Caitlyn piped in.
“We don’t,” Roane said flatly.
“It’s just that it seems pretty far-fetched that a lab tech ended Project Dawn,” Hale said dryly. “I don’t remember ever meeting you, to be quite honest. Want to fill us in on the details?”
She might as well, as she’d already opened her big mouth. “I put the right information into the right hands. Easy as transferring classified documents can be. Does it matter how I did it? The point is, you’re here and not dead because I did it.” She snorted. “And I’m still doing it. Where do you think your snitches get their information on Pearson Labs? Just because Harry’s homeless and hangs around outside the facility doesn’t mean he knows jack about what goes on inside.”
Derrick started. “You know Harry?”
“I still want to know how a phlebotomist knows so much about Pearl’s organization,” Roane said. “You seem to have a lot of knowledge about Pearson Labs, and from what I know of Pearl, he isn’t the kind to share.”
“No, he isn’t. He’s a genius at biochemistry, but he’s clueless when it comes to security.”
Doc pursed his lips. “Really?”
“Yeah. Pearl keeps an electronic copy of his passwords. I didn’t have time to copy it when I downloaded the other information onto that drive I gave Kelly.” A glance around her showed she was getting nowhere with her defense, and she was tired of trying. She didn’t want to be here any more than they wanted her here. She aimed her next comments at Roane, their leader. “You know what? Screw you. I don’t owe any of you a thing. I think it’s best for all of us if I just leave.” When they all continued to stand, intimidating in the extreme, she threw back her shoulders and stood as well. “You can’t keep me here!”
“Oh, we can’t?” Roane’s dark smile made her shiver, but she refused to lower her gaze.
For all of about thirty seconds.
Two nights later, Sabrina stewed as she paced in a bland, locked lab room, annoyed with her own stupidity. For someone as intelligent as she liked to think she was, she couldn’t believe she’d laid her cards on the table the way she had. Of course they could keep her here, locked in one of Doc’s damned labs strong enough to contain Circs. Hell, they could kill her if they wanted to and bury her body where the cops would never find it. From what Kelly had told her, the compound sat on over thirty acres of Doc’s private property.
Sabrina had no idea how to circumvent his security, which surrounded not only the lab and the house, but the entire grounds. And she hadn’t seen anyone else but Kelly, who served her meals and checked on her every few hours under the careful eye of one of her mates.
Until Sabrina agreed to speak to the others about everything pertaining to Project Dawn, past and present, she was to remain a virtual prisoner. From the Circs, she would have expected such treatment. Doc, though, she’d thought would be different. The older man seemed far too kind to allow such tactics.
But the real problem wasn’t about divulging what she’d done while with Pearson Labs.
The real problem gnawing at her was the alien itch under her skin. She didn’t like feeling hemmed in, and the room seemed to grow smaller with each passing day. She needed something she couldn’t put her finger on, and she found it harder to suppress the Circ inside her trying to claw its way out.
Doc would eventually see the abnormality in her blood work and come to question her.
She didn’t know why he hadn’t mentioned it yet, but she knew he would if she waited long enough. Those small, intermittent cells that increased her oxygen absorption, among other things, weren’t human, nor were they fully developed, as they were in the Circs she’d studied. She was somewhere in between, and she didn’t know what to do about it. Sabrina hadn’t come across this condition in the four years she’d worked with the project.
Maybe that’s what made her so valuable to the labs, why the PPA had been dogging her ass. It wasn’t about her helping Kelly escape; she knew there was more to it. Sabrina still couldn’t say for sure how she’d attacked so many of the PPA before Packard had found her.
It was all hazy in her mind, so maybe she hadn’t fully changed. What if she hadn’t even been the one to kill all those men?
Yeah, and Santa’s on his way to free you. She sighed at her leaps in logic. No one else had been around her that night. She’d already partially changed several times since leaving Pearson Labs.
“Dammit.”
She didn’t want to be like those animals she’d been forced to watch in the labs. Yet Packard and the others seemed somewhat normal. She liked the way Roane looked at Caitlyn, the way Kelly talked about her mates on each of her visits. Unlike the ugly sex and occasional rape in Pearson Labs -- rapes that she’d been unaware of until she’d caught Simon Dunn attacking one of the females -- the Circs here accepted their need for sex. The mating heat, as Kelly had been all too happy to explain, had cemented her bond with two males.
God, am I going to have to go through that? A sexual frenzy that only a Circ can satisfy? Unnerved, Sabrina felt more than ever the need to escape. But how? She had no intention of trying to overcome a pregnant woman, not that she could with one of Kelly’s mates always at her side during her visits. So what then?
The sudden turning of the door handle startled her. The damned room was soundproof, so visitors constantly surprised her.
Instead of Kelly, Caitlyn entered. Roane’s mate, the female alpha in the group. A low hum settled in Sabrina’s belly. Worthy of challenge. Possible escape. Tamping down the notion, Sabrina studied Caitlyn closely as the woman approached her, confidence in her stride. They stood about the same height. But Caitlyn was curvy, whereas Sabrina was leaner.
She had blonde hair and green eyes, a real beauty. Like every annoying cheerleader who’d ever taunted Sabrina in high school.
Sabrina realized she might derive some pleasure by putting Caitlyn in her place. And she’d have no better opportunity than now. The late hour would ensure a dark cover, though any of the Circs would be able to spot her easily enough. Though Caitlyn was a Circ, she was a newly changed Circ. As a young girl, she’d been given shots to enhance the EP12 -- what Doc called the Circe serum -- that she’d been born with.
“You might as well just tell them what they want to know,” Caitlyn said in an even voice. She wasn’t as friendly as Kelly, but she wasn’t as aloof as the men were. She set down a tray of food on the counter. “You take any longer and Derrick’s threatening to force the truth out of you.” Caitlyn frowned. “He had a scary smile on his face when he said that, so I’m envisioning something unpleasant.”
Sabrina lowered her gaze, adopting a position of defeat. She forced herself to think of something sad -- of Anita, now dead thanks to the unrest in the Middle East. A temporary duty station that had turned into a permanent one, thanks to naval orders and an unforeseen car bomber. Sabrina keenly felt the loss and tears pooled in her eyes. She could almost hear her best friend cheering her on. Use it, girl. Work this bitch.
“I can’t do this anymore.” Sabrina lifted her gaze to meet Caitlyn’s, not surprised when Caitlyn softened. “I don’t know who to trust. It’s been so hard, being all alone.” The truth, all of it, but she would never normally admit such to a stranger.
Caitlyn nodded with sympathy. “Want me to get the others?”
“Roane’s the squad leader and your mate, right?”
“Yes.”
“He cares for you, treats you right?”
Caitlyn smiled. “He loves me.”
Terrific. So when he finds you crumpled in a heap, he’s going to rip my lungs out.
Sabrina didn’t have to force a sigh. “Do you think you could answer a few questions for me, then, before you get him? I’d feel a little more comfortable talking to you.” She gnawed her lip and glanced at a corner in the room. “Off camera.” As Caitlyn’s suspicion flared, Sabrina flushed, hoping she didn’t look as obvious as she felt.
“Look, I know you’re Circ,” she tried again. “You can tear me apart pretty easily. It’s not like I can overtake you. I just wanted to know a few things about the others, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about this in front of the men.” She lowered her voice. “I want to trust them, I do. But I saw…things…during my time with Pearl.” Caitlyn glanced at the camera. “Roane is right outside,” she warned.
No, he’s not, Sabrina’s beast argued. No one came in with the female. She’s all alone.
Sabrina had to work quickly. “That’s fine. I just don’t want him to hear us.” Caitlyn glanced up at the camera again. She moved to the door and punched in a sequence of numbers, turning it off, just as Sabrina had watched Roane turn it on when they’d thrown her in here.
Caitlyn returned and leaned against the exam table, right next to Sabrina. “Okay, now tell me what’s on your mind.”
Sabrina gave her a shaky smile. “Thanks for this. I just wanted to know --” Her beast exploded into action. She moved fast, clamping down on either side of Caitlyn’s neck with hands that suddenly felt as hard as stone and were twice as large. “Tell me the code to the door, or I’ll snap your neck,” she hissed.
“They’ll find you,” Caitlyn choked, clutching at Sabrina’s hands.
By catching the woman off guard, Sabrina had hoped to avoid her turning Circ. The fight-or-flight instinct in the female Circs Pearl had studied generally leaned toward flight.
“I know. I don’t want to hurt you, Caitlyn. Tell me the damned code.” Caitlyn squirmed, and Sabrina pressed harder. “You know, there’s a chance if I press hard enough, I’ll really hurt you. Then where will your precious Roane be without his mate?” Caitlyn glared at her. “Seven-five-four-three-two.”
“And the elevator?”
“Six-one-two,” Caitlyn whispered, clutching at her neck.
Cutting off the woman’s oxygen supply to knock her unconscious, Sabrina used her newfound strength to gently lift Caitlyn onto the exam table that was wide enough to accommodate a fully turned Circ, so there was no chance Caitlyn would fall off the thing.
Hurrying to the door, Sabrina punched in the code. She streaked down the empty hallway and used the elevator code. So far so good. She was through the house and out the back door when she came face-to-face with a black SUV and two furious sets of eyes glaring at her. Without waiting a second more, she turned and raced around the house.
Streaking across the open fields, she headed for the tree line. Once in the surrounding woods, she’d have a much better chance at freedom. That’s what she thought before she heard a roar unlike any she’d ever heard before. She poured on the speed and prayed that just this once, luck would be on her side.
Roane’s shout drew Hale and Derrick’s attention. They ignored the fleeing female in favor of their friend. Hurrying inside the house, they followed the sounds of Roane’s anguish down the emergency staircase that led to the basement. They found Roane in the room Sabrina should have been in, leaning over an unconscious Caitlyn on a lab table.
Doc rushed in after them, breathing hard. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to fucking kill Torrence.” Roane changed in a heartbeat.
Derrick changed as well, knowing he had to interfere.
Something was very wrong here, beyond the obvious. Because instead of feeling concerned for Caitlyn, he experienced an overwhelming urge to find and protect Sabrina. He shook his head, as if he could shake his beast’s urges so easily. “What happened?”
“The camera went out, so I asked Roane to check on Sabrina.” Doc pulled at his hair, obviously distraught.
“Caitlyn was supposed to wait for me to feed the woman. Now the enemy’s gone, and my mate is down.”
Caitlyn took that moment to wake, groaning. “Roane?” He exhaled heavily. “Hellcat? You okay?”
She sat up, rubbing her neck. “She took me by surprise.”
“I’ll say,” Hale murmured. “You all right?”
Caitlyn nodded. “She played me, and like a sucker, I fell for it.” Hearing that she was okay, Roane pulled away, intending to leave her. But Caitlyn latched onto his arm. “No. Derrick, Hale, you guys find her. Roane, if you go, you’ll probably kill her.”
Caitlyn’s tiny hand on Roane’s arm looked so strange, yet right. Derrick’s beast wanted, his need to find Sabrina pushing him to leave.
“One question,” Hale asked. “How did she take advantage of you? She’s no Circ.” Hale glanced from the fading fingerprint marks at Caitlyn’s throat to Doc. His eyes narrowed. “Or is she?”