"What the fuck do you mean I'm a wolf?" I asked Taryk through our mental connection as he got in the van's front passenger seat. "Just what I said. You're a wolf this time."No freaking way! I looked down at my feet. Definitely not big cat paws. I tried to speak. It certainly sounded like a dog trying to tell its owner that he was an idiot. "Atlas, what the fuck is going on?" I asked."Come back to the lab. I forgot to mention some things about your medical chart in all of the ruckus surrounding Kiema," Dr. Atlas said. "Any word on her, Xander?" I asked. "Not yet, Ransom." His voice was flat, almost devoid of any humanity whatsoever. We were all feeling her loss. Like the sunshine had gone out of our lives, we were living in the shadows. The only thing that got me out of bed was taking over my father's company. That brought a smile to my face, but it had nothing to do with joy. Retribution was enough on that end for me. Within minutes, we were back at the lab i
Two days later"Wh - "A hand slapped over my mouth. "Do not make a sound. They've found us," Lukas breathed against my ear. Fuck. It was bad enough that I'd been stuck in this stupid place for the last two days without anyone telling me what was going on. But now Lukas loomed over me, his usually open and happy face dark and closed. I nodded. All I'd been told was that we were waiting for Reece. Who apparently wasn't part of Iron Serpent. Yeah, I'd believe that crap when I saw it. I pushed myself up from the cot I was sleeping on. Luxury conditions, this. I shoved my legs into my pants. Standing up behind Lukas, I tapped his back when I was ready to move. He reached around and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers. He opened the flap of the tent. It was pitch black outside. To the far side of the camp, I could hear dogs braying and sniffling around. Arcs of light from flashlights zoomed over the low hanging mist in the sky, setting up a lightshow the likes of
Three days laterMidnight. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Another day of fucking disappointments."T, you got a call from an unknown," Xander said over the warehouse comm system. He didn't sound tired at all. "Tracing it?" I asked. He snorted. "Yeah, up your ass, man. Who you think you're talking to? You can come here and take it." He disconnected.I pushed up from my desk on the first floor. The other offices were dark. The guys had all gone up to their various beds already. I couldn't bring myself to leave. It felt like I was failing her. Just like I'd failed...I cut the thought off. No need getting all emotional about it. Emotion clouded the brain, made it ten times harder to complete the task at hand. This was one of the single most important tasks of my life. I wasn't going to let emotion stop me from saving Kiema. I stepped through the elevator doors and right into nerd central. Every gaming console, computer system or peripheral hardware accessory, not to
"Xander, how's everything? Every...thing good on that end?" I asked as Lukas crept back out under the rock that hid our current hiding spot. "It's good, sweets. All good."I closed my eyes, they were burning with the need to cry. I just didn't have enough moisture to spare. "Good. Any idea on when Taryk should be getting here?""You're only about an hour away, Kiema. He'll move heaven and earth to get to you as fast as possible."I wiped my hand under my nose. "Thanks for picking up the phone. I know it's really late.""I was up already. We..." he cleared his throat, "I've been looking for you. You're a hard woman to find."That they had been looking for me, that he and Taryk answered my phone call in the middle of the fucking night, not only healed my heart, it melted it. These men were mine. All of them. I wasn't going to share. I wasn't going to let anyone hurt them. They were mine. I laughed, the sound like glass in my throat. I was so fucking thirsty. "Well, when H
"Pull over here, Atlas. If I'm gone more than twenty minutes, you back up and get the fuck out. Send in the security team," I said as I lowered my ski mask.Atlas nodded. I wasn't sure I trusted him to do what I asked in this case, but I knew he wouldn't add to the body count. I shut the door as quietly as I could. I turned from the big military vehicle. Kiema was out here in this mess somewhere. I pushed the emotion, the stress, away. Focused only on the mission. Get in. Get her out. Get home.Everything else could wait. Would wait. I took two deep breaths and pushed away from the truck. Slinking down into the waist-high grass, I pulled my thermal imaging glasses down over my eyes. A grouping of bright yellows and reds appeared off to the far left. "I found the camp," I let everyone know. A single click sounded in my ear. I smiled. Xander knew what he was doing when it came to covert work. I guess those video games weren't complete trash. "Her last position sh
"Again!" I punched my gloved hands together, lifted them to guard my face. Taryk and Atlas had been silent since telling us they were headed back here. The waiting was driving me insane. If I'd still had wings, I would've gone after her myself. Not been stuck in here, no matter what Kiema said. She was mine. I should've been the one to go get her. To save her from the horrors since she'd been taken from the cabin.Saint rushed me, his gloved hands up and ready. I stepped out of the way. His fist glanced off my ribs.I had a longer reach, but Saint was faster than a demon. He slid to the side as I returned the blow. The edge of my glove brushed against the end of his nose. He raised his knee, slammed it into my side. I inhaled the pain with a grunt. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him bouncing on his feet. He didn't go for the kill shot. The bastard.I bit back the begging I'd been sending to Gaia every night since Kiema had been gone. I needed the escape. I needed
I pushed through the doors to our lab. Everyone else was already here. Damn it. A small group of developers were standing around, watching the action play out behind the glass walls. "T here yet?" I asked them. The group jumped, almost in sync. "I heard Xander say less than a mile," one of the nanite techs said.I nodded, pushed through the glass doors to the infirmary. The nurses and medical staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off as Atlas barked orders over the phone line. Sidling up next to Xander, I waited. Hands jammed into the pockets of my grease-covered jeans, I bounced up and down. Nerves, stress, and anxiety had made me a bitch of a mess lately. The bay doors began cranking open. Ransom, Saint, Xander, and I all stood up, moved to the doors. Almost like a barricade. We were her shelter. The only one she'd ever had. Or would ever need.The huge black military vehicle screeched to a stop just inside the bay doors. The back doors we
It felt like someone was running sandpaper through my veins. I whimpered against the pain. Everything hurt.A low voice next to my ear was murmuring, the tone low and soft. I turned my head, wanting more of that sweet music. With a fight, I raised my lids a fraction. Bright light surrounded me, stabbing me through the eye straight into my brain. I snapped my lids closed, turned away. That low sonorous voice grew harsh as it barked commands. Soon, darkness descended behind my lids as a cool mist fluttered into the air around me. Like being dipped in a cool pool after too long in the sun, I could feel my skin soaking up the moisture. I relaxed down onto the uncomfortable bench, letting my muscles lengthen as much as possible. "That's the way, love. Let the eggheads do their work," Lukas said. His accent and slang making me smile. "You can take your hands off her now. And no, that wasn't a suggestion," someone said from above me, voice harsh and tight. "I'm not leaving un