"Wouldn't miss it. It's the only entertainment around this place."
Atlan rises, stretching his lean body. His movements are much easier now, and the flex of his muscles remains me of another kind of entertainment we could indulge in, just the two of us. "Your ribs are just about healed, right?" I ask, trying to seem nonchalant.
"Yeah." He draws out the word, a smile breaking over his face. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
With his pain and my period, we haven't had full-on intercourse in two weeks; and I've been craving the feel of him inside me. Now that he's better and I'm not busy shedding my insides, we can get back to that again.
I tap my finger against my lip, as though I'm debating. "Maybe I could pencil you in. After the card game."
He grins, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "You could always join me in the shower. And then we can do it again after cards."
"Hmm." I tilt my head in mock uncertainty. "You'll have to convince me."
He approaches my chair and leans over me, his cheek skimming mine. He hasn't shaved since yesterday morning and the rough male scrape of his skin is tantalizing. His scent is warm, rich, heavy, stimulating a haze of desire in my mind.
His knee parts my legs, and he cups one of my breasts in his hand, squeezing gently. "Convinced yet?"
"Not quite," I whisper hoarsely.
He tilts my chin up and kisses me, soft lips and slick tongue and the tips of fangs. "How about now?"
"Almost."
His left hand slides down the neck of my T-shirt, gliding over my breast, thumbing my nipple. "And now?"
"Yes." I breathe the word into another kiss, rising from my seat and wrapping both arms around his neck.
We're kissing deeply, languidly, sinfully, and I'm glowing internally, so ready for him, beautifully delirious—and then someone clears their throat.
Swearing, Atlan breaks the kiss. John smiles at us apologetically from the doorway. "Sorry, but I thought you'd want to hear this. We heard back from Deathcastle."
My stomach thrills, and goosebumps rise on my skin. Until that moment, I hadn't realized how desperately I wanted to get back home.
Atlan's fingers tighten on my arms. "Seriously?" His voice is breathless, eager. "What did they say?"
"It's good news." John nods to me, a brilliant smile on his dark face. He's dying to get out of this place too. "Basically they've agreed to help us build the cordon. The details are still up in the air, but they're talking about sending major reinforcements out here. Come to the radio room and you can listen to the playback yourselves. Reuel will want to talk it over."
He leaves the room, and Atlan wraps me in a fierce hug. "Oh my god, Trouble. We might actually make it out of here."
"We will," I tell him, with quick kiss. "We'll get out of this horrible place, away from these people, and we'll make it back to Deathcastle, to our rooms. To our friends. And then they'll build the cordon, and start working on neutralizing the vampires. We're going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay."
He tips his forehead down to my shoulder, and I feel a tremor run through him. A trickle of dampness soaks into my shirt.
He's crying. Softly, silently.
I circle one arm around his back and hold his head with the other, stroking his thick black hair. I guess I didn't realize how much pressure he was under, how determinedly he's been holding himself together.
It's only for a moment, and then he straightens, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes. He shakes himself a little. "Sorry."
"Never apologize for your emotions. They're part of why I love you, part of what makes you such a beautiful human being."
"Human?" He grins, showing his wickedly sharp canines.
"Yes," I say firmly. "Whatever else you are, you are thoroughly, wonderfully human where it counts. And I love all of you, monster parts included."
"And I love you." He interlaces his fingers with mine. "All right, Trouble—let's go meet with the chimera bastard and find out how fast we can get the hell out of here."
As we walk the concrete corridors hand in hand, I can't help marveling at just how much we've survived together. We're so much stronger now, bonded on a deeper level. Whatever else we may have to endure, whatever horror this terrifying new world might bring, it's nothing we can't handle.
WARNING: Stop here if you don't plan to buy the next book. Otherwise, please continue for the cliffhanger ending.
27
Finley
As we approach the radio room, Dr. Corbin's strident voice reaches my ears. "Why don't you believe me? I heard them talking, Reuel! It's all a lie. They're planning to lock you up, chain you in some dark cell, and use your work to solve their problems."
"That's not the agreement." Reuel's voice is low and smooth. When we enter, he's facing Dr. Corbin, hands on his hips and his antlered head tilted aside. The way he's looking at her—condescension and resignation blended—it would be infuriating for any woman. And as much as I hate Dr. Corbin, I empathize with the helpless rage she's feeling in the presence of an arrogant man who will not listen.
Atlan and I hesitate by the door, waiting. This is not our fight, but it's too late, too awkward to leave now.
Dr. Corbin's pale face twists with fear and fury. "You know what they'll do to us once we fix this problem for them. They won't believe the zombie virus was Tom's fault. They'll lock us both up forever, Reuel. They'll throw away our research. We won't be able to pursue our programs, our ideas—no more pushing the horizon of the possible. Are you willing to live like that? Scientifically impotent? Restrained? Unable to make more magnificent creatures like you?"
Reuel stares at her bleakly. "Maybe that would be a good thing. You saw what happened with Darius."
Her hands flutter and jerk, fingers twitching nervously, and she tucks them into her lab coat pockets. "Darius was possibly a failure, maybe, and maybe not—but we still have the formula we planned to use on him." She nods to Atlan.
"That was never the priority, and it's no longer on the table," Reuel says evenly.
She stares at him, dumbfounded. "You're not serious. All the months we spent distilling that serum, perfecting it, and you can just—brush it aside. Well, I'm not willing to give up on our research—our dreams. I refuse to bow to military idiots—I refuse to be locked up—I won't be put in a box, no, no! You've lost your way, Reuel. You just need to be reminded of who we are together, what we can achieve!"
Her voice rises to a shriek, and her right hand whips out of her lab coat pocket.
She dives for Atlan. Something glitters in her hand—a syringe.
No time to think—
I throw myself at Atlan, knocking him out of the way.
There's a sharp pain in my back, a seeping of cold fluid along my spine.
Dr. Corbin screams, and Reuel's shocked roar blasts my ears.
And then—
Something inside me—pops.
Cracks
Crinkles, and breaks apart into a million million pieces and I
I am unraveled
Undone.
Change is coming—no, it's happening now. It surges under my skin, breaking through, expanding, stretching into new points and curves.
Someone is speaking to me, low and earnest. Warm hands on my twisting body, holding me steady as I warp and break. My eyes are changing and I can't see, but I cling to the voice.
"It's okay, Trouble. It's okay. I love you no matter what, always, forever. I've got you. I've got you."
A fresh burst of pain from my back, and I scream, inhuman, from lungs that no longer feel like my own.
And still I hear Atlan's broken whisper, "Shh, Trouble. I've got you."
THE END
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Captured by the Chimera Zombie-Master Page 20