Authors: Cyndi Friberg
“You lost one of the test subjects today.” Apparently
unwilling to argue with Tias, the general moved on. “Do you know what
happened?”
“The compound is only effective at a level that borders on
toxic. Each time it starts producing results in their behavior, their bodies
rebel. Flushing the chemicals from their system is generally enough, but we
weren’t that lucky this time.”
He accepted the explanation with a stiff nod then fell
silent again.
“You better back Osric off for a few days,” Roberto told
her. “Let him stew then hopefully he’ll come after you.”
He’d already come after her twice today. First in the steamy
bathroom as she pressed up against the cool, tiled wall and later in her lab,
as she worried that her coworkers would walk in and find her skirt bunched
around her waist and Osric pumping into her from behind. He always took her
from behind, as if her face disgusted him. Or he was thinking about someone
else…
“Is there something particular you’d like to know?” she
asked. “It might be easier if I knew where to steer our conversations.”
“We need to understand his obsession with the Seymour
sisters. At first we thought it was the likelihood that he’s their father, but
we’ve since learned that one of the young women was fathered by a wolf-shifter.
We’re relatively sure he’s aware of this fact and yet he is equally interested
in both.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Don’t push too hard,” Tias advised. “We’re in this for the
long run and we don’t want him to shut down.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Then carry on,” Roberto said. “And reformulate the
compound. We cannot afford to lose any more cats.”
* * * * *
Quinn looked at Carissa’s stubborn profile and slowly shook
his head. “There is no way you’re coming with us.”
“How will you know if you’ve got the right guy?”
“Truck, binoculars and a sniper rifle. I’m pretty sure there
won’t be more than one.”
“I’ll take a pass over the area from the air, see if I can
pinpoint his location.” Ian grinned at Quinn. “You two fight it out while I’m
gone.” He headed out through the back door, shedding his clothes as he went.
Quinn closed the distance between him and Carissa and framed
her face with his hands. “You’re exhausted and you’ve just come into your
power. You need to learn how to control it. Let me do my job.”
“There will come a day when I’ll fight at your side.” She
made it sound like a vow.
“Probably a whole hell of a lot sooner than I’d like.” He
kissed her gently then wrapped his arms around her.
“If you’re not back in half an hour, I’m coming after you.”
“I like it better when you come before me, or when we come
at the same time.”
She slapped his arm and wiggled out of his embrace. “What
will you do with him once you’ve caught him?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“If he really is the bastard who shot you, he’s a dead man.”
Ian returned before she could respond. Luckily he’d paused
long enough to pull on his jeans. “That was easy. He’s right where we figured,
the abandoned barn on old man Wilson’s property.”
“We’ll be back before you miss us,” Quinn promised.
“Too late.” She smiled. “I miss you already.”
Quinn walked out on to the back porch with Ian. The night
was cool and clear, stars stretched for as far as the eye could see.
“She’s going to keep you hopping,” Ian predicted. “I think
I’m glad she picked you.”
“I know I’m glad she picked me.” He fought back a happy grin
and focused on the task at hand. “How do you want to do this? At least one of
us should probably drive so we have some way of getting him back here once
we’ve secured him.”
“I’d always rather fly.”
“Can’t say I blame you. Fly in and distract him and I’ll
sneak up from behind. Just don’t get yourself shot.”
Ian chuckled. “Sounds almost like you care.”
“Erin would miss you if you got shot, and she’s got enough
to deal with right now.”
“That’s more like it.” Ian laughed.
“I’ll bring your pants.”
“Good. Don’t want him to misunderstand the handcuffs.” Ian
shifted right out of his jeans and took to the air.
Quinn watched him disappear into the darkness then realized
his truck was at the cat sanctuary. “Shit!” He snatched Ian’s jeans off the
concrete, noting the telltale weight in the back pocket. He hadn’t been kidding
about the handcuffs. Quinn ran back inside the house. “Erin, can I borrow your
keys. Ian just took off and my truck is—”
“SUV’s in the garage. Keys are in the ignition,” she called
from the living room. “Bad habit, I know.”
“Got a gun?” He was humiliated to ask. Everything he needed
was in his truck, but his truck was parked outside the sanctuary.
“Under the seat and it’s loaded, so be careful.”
He rushed into the garage and dug the gun out from under the
seat. “Nothing like being prepared.” If Ian weren’t flying into danger, this
would have been funny.
He climbed into her SUV and jerked the mirrors into
alignment. Then he paused to check out the gun as the garage door slowly
opened. Springfield XD, .9mm. Not bad. The engine turned over with a roar and
he backed out of the garage.
Old man Wilson had still been alive when Quinn lived with
Erin, so he knew the barn Ian had mentioned. The main access road approached
from the front, but there was also a narrow maintenance road dissecting the fields
that would bring him out behind the barn. The fields were overgrown, the road
barely discernable. Thank God Erin drove a SUV.
He cut the lights and tried to keep the engine at a steady
drone. Hopefully Ian realized it would take him longer to arrive by truck than
an eagle could fly. When the barn came into view, he cut the engine entirely
and rolled to the edge of the barnyard. He turned the dome light off, grabbed
the gun with one hand, Ian’s jeans with the other, then eased the door open.
Activating his feline vision often made his eyes glow, so he
didn’t risk it as he crept toward the back of the dilapidated barn. An eagle’s
sharp cry split the night and spurred Quinn into motion. He ran for the barn
and ducked through the doorless threshold.
The human stood several paces from his truck, arms folded
over his head, shoulders slumped protectively as Ian swooped and slashed at the
man’s back, arms and shoulders.
Quinn whistled and tossed the jeans off to one side, making
sure Ian saw him do it. “Drop to your knees and I’ll call him off.”
“This fucking bird is yours?” The man’s voice sounded
shrill, panicked. “You’re in for one hell of a lawsuit!”
“You’re on private property, asshole. I can shoot you where
you stand.”
The man turned and sneaked a peek at Quinn from between his
folded arms. “Call it off.”
“Get on your knees and lock your hands behind your head.”
After another hesitation, the man obeyed.
Ian flapped his wings, shooting into the shadows at the far
end of the barn. It was Quinn’s turn to distract their prisoner.
With the .9mm clasped between his hands, he worked his way
around until he faced the man. “What are you doing here?”
“I just needed somewhere to crash for the night. Thought the
place was deserted.”
“This a little off the beaten path. Odd place for a homeless
man.”
The stranger glared up at him. “I never said I was homeless.
Just didn’t think anyone would care.”
Ian walked out of the darkness, holding his handcuffs and
wearing his jeans. “Cry me a river.” He snapped the cuffs onto one wrist then
brought both arms down and behind the stranger’s back before securing the other
side.
“Where did you come from?” He craned his neck, trying to get
a better look.
“Don’t worry about him. I’m the one with the gun,” Quinn
reminded.
“Yeah, he attacks with talons. Doesn’t he?” Belligerence lit
the stranger’s eyes as he revealed that he knew what they were. Or at least
what Ian was.
“Now that was really stupid.” With one arm, Ian hauled the
smaller man to his feet. “You see, we kill anyone who learns our secret. We
weren’t sure if you were a threat or just someone in the wrong place at the
wrong time.”
“I know exactly what you are and the rest of my team is on
their way. If I disappear, they’ll burn this place to the ground.”
Quinn motioned to the barn surrounding them. “Not much of a
loss.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“I’ll tell you what I know.” Quinn moved closer and Ian
tightened his hold. “You’ve got a rifle in the back of that truck with my
mate’s blood on it.”
All the fight seemed to melt from their captive. “You bonded
with Carissa? Has she…given in to her demon nature?”
“You say her name as if you know her.” Quinn ignored the
insult. Members of the Abolition were brainwashed into believing what their
leaders wanted them to believe.
“Take me to her. She deserves to know that there are other
choices for her life.”
“Choices like those you provided for Willona, perhaps?”
“Have her meet us in the classroom,” Ian cautioned. “This
piece of shit isn’t getting a guided tour.”
Quinn reached for Carissa across their private link and felt
her relief rush over him.
I’m fine, hellion. The shooter is contained, but
he’d like to speak with you. Meet us in the classroom.
Why does he want to talk to me?
I’ll explain when we arrive.
Or she would recognize the
shooter’s face and her memory would fill in the blanks. If this weren’t an
opportunity to help Carissa understand her mother better, Quinn wouldn’t have
indulged the shooter’s request. But Carissa was so conflicted about her past.
He wanted to give her every piece of information he could find.
Ian dragged the human into the back of his truck then closed
up the rifle’s case and handed it to Quinn. “Drive us over to the sanctuary.
I’ll come back for the SUV once we’ve figured out what to do with him.”
The keys were in the ignition, so Quinn fired up the truck
and drove it to the parking lot beside the cat sanctuary. Ian hauled the human
out of the back of the truck and Quinn slammed the tailgate. Erin and Carissa
were waiting in the classroom, along with Holt and a guard Quinn didn’t
recognize. Holt and the guard stood on the outside of the open doorway, alert
but unobtrusive.
“So what’s this about?” Erin asked, her gaze hot and hostile
upon their captive.
Carissa turned her head this way and that, eyes narrowed yet
bright. “I know you,” she whispered. “Why does your face look so familiar?”
Carissa pressed her hand over her thudding heart as she
waited for the man to speak. His coat was shredded, flesh bared and bloodied in
numerous places. She looked at Ian and whispered, “Did you do that to him?”
He looked at his fingernails and shook his head. “I had a
manicure on Tuesday.”
“Is this the man who shot you?” Quinn asked.
She started to say it was then realized she really didn’t
know that for a fact. “I saw him with a sniper’s rifle, but I can’t be sure he
was the one who fired it at me.”
“I don’t think he fired it at you,” Quinn said. “I think he
fired it at Ian and you got in the way.”
“Then I can finish what I started in the barn?” Ian’s grin
was nothing short of bloodthirsty.
“Not yet.” Erin placed her hand on his bare chest, stopping
his advance toward the human. “He was brought here for a reason.” She looked at
Quinn and asked, “Does he have information you’d like to explore before our
friend rips him to ribbons?”
“I suspect he has all sorts of information worth exploring,
but I’m only interested in what he knows about my mate,” Quinn clarified.
“I would never harm Carissa intentionally. I was like a
father to those girls.”
Carissa looked at the stranger as she searched her memory.
He was so much older than she remembered, but then so was she. “Is your name
Gary or—”
“Gage.” He licked his lips and met her gaze for the first
time. “I helped your mother escape these monsters and I can help you.”
“Help me escape my mate or help me escape myself? What do
you presume I want to escape?”
Tears gathered in his eyes and he shook his head. “I found
you too late.” Then his head came up and he blinked back the tears. “What about
your sister? Has Ava been defiled?”
“I would choose my words more carefully. I find your
attitude insulting.”
“I only want what’s best for you.”
He sounded so sincere she almost wanted to believe him. The
tragic thing was he obviously believed every word. “Good. Then answer a few
questions.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
“Did my mother contact you or did you go after her?”
He licked his lips and glanced at Quinn. “I’m not sure. We
noticed each other about the same time.”
He sounded far less believable now. “Look at me. My mate
will not hurt you until I lose interest in you.” Gage turned his head and
missed Quinn’s challenging look. He’d destroy Gage without a thought if he
attempted to hurt her again. “Did you require my mother to submit to
sterilization?”
“They are not my rules. But she was not forced to do
anything. She made her own decisions every step of the way.”
She wanted to slap him or shake him and force him to see the
lives his rescues ruined. “How many have you rescued since then?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ten, a couple of hundred? Give me a range.”
He pressed his lips together and his face fell into an
expressionless mask. “I’m sorry they corrupted you before I could succeed. I
will always remember you as an innocent child.” Then he looked away and refused
to acknowledge her existence.
Quinn was beside her in an instant, drawing her away from
the pain. “Let them handle this. You’ve done more than enough already.”