by Zahra Stone
“What is it?” Brax looked over my shoulder, reading with me.
“I think it’s patient files.” Closing the folder, I pulled out another and then another. “These are the records of her experiments.” None of the files had names; she’d allocated each person a number, and that was how they were referred to—all but one. I couldn’t miss the file with the name Shelton scrawled across the top.
My hands shook. I knew what this was. This was Paige’s file. When they’d taken her and injected her with their foul concoction, the mixing of DNA to create a super paranormal. All her patients had died as a result. All except for Paige. The paper crackled as my hands curled into fists. I couldn’t hold the file steady, so I laid it on the table and spread the pages out. Brax, Jordan, and Rae gathered around and read with me.
“Jesus.” Jordan straightened, his hand reaching for Rae, who was frowning.
“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “Does this mean…?”
“There has to be another file.” My voice was devoid of emotion; my heart barely beat in my chest. For in the file was my name. Words like “the continuation of the experiment. Excellent results, Katie Shelton.” Yet I hadn’t been taken; I hadn’t been injected. I’d remember. But something had happened, I was connected somehow, and the answer was in these files.
“Start searching the boxes,” Brax ordered, closing the file and tossing it back in the box.
Systematically we went through the files, but I knew where to look. I had a feeling of such intense trepidation that it couldn’t possibly be leading me in the wrong direction. “Four years ago. Search the boxes from four years ago.”
“Why? Did you remember something?” Brax asked.
I shrugged. “Four years ago, I was pregnant with Abigail. There were lots of appointments, scans, bloods. And the birth was difficult. I could have been compromised at any point.”
Brax plowed through the boxes, tossing them aside until we found the one we needed. He slammed it onto the table and tore off the lid, then hesitated. Slowly he lifted out a file with my name on it and handed it to me. Opening it, I began to read, blinking when the words blurred, not noticing the tears rolling down my cheeks.
The others remained silent, waiting. I finished reading, closed the file, then my eyes.
“Katie?” Rae whispered, reaching for me, but Brax held her back.
“Wait,” he said.
I cleared my throat and opened my eyes, but I couldn’t look at them, couldn’t face the pity I knew I’d see on their faces. Instead, I focused on the file.
“So, it appears Ethan was part of the experiment. One of the earlier adaptions that were successful. And when he got me pregnant with Abigail, that made her…us…part of the experiment too. It was planned. Clinical.”
“Wait! What?” Rae screwed up her face. “So Ethan was a mutant? I thought he was human.”
“It says that he was a fire demon. He fooled me too.” My breath hitched in my throat. He’d tricked me. Fooled me into thinking he was human, that he loved me—and our daughter. Instead, we were nothing but an extension of Ridgeway's crazy experiment.
The wave of hurt that washed over me wasn’t unexpected, but in some ways, it was cleansing. A relief. It made it easier to let him go and move on. But my daughter? That they’d done this to my daughter? That was unforgivable, and the anger that warmed my blood and narrowed my eyes was fast building to a rage that could destroy worlds.
Brax wrapped a hand around my nape as if to hold me steady, yet I wasn’t moving. Maybe he knew I was about to explode, go on a rampage so dark and devastating I’d never return from it.
“Let’s take a minute. This is a shock. Do you mind if we read the file?”
“Go ahead.” I didn’t care; it was mostly medical jargon and some photos, an ultrasound of Abigail. It didn’t say anything in the file about the betrayal, that our relationship had been fake. But they’d died? Had that been part of the plan too? Put them in a life-or-death situation and see if they survived?
Snatching up the file, I flipped through, looking for evidence, but it appears their deaths had been unexpected and unplanned. The car accident had been just that. An accident. Although there was speculation that Abigail should have been able to flame to heal herself. Morons forgot she was a nine-month-old baby with no such instincts. She’d been asleep in her car seat. She didn’t wake up. Something cold settled in me and spread, overriding the grief and the pain.
“It’s time,” I growled, “time to take Ridgeway down. And I’m going to be the one to do it. She’s mine.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
My pyre gun was in my hand; I had another in the waistband of my pants, blades, and other deadly goodies jammed in my belt. We’d grabbed a golf cart and followed the tracks down a tunnel, Brax behind the wheel.
We had the element of surprise, and we used it well. Ridgeway and her crew had no idea we’d discovered Section 27, breached the underground facility, and had made our way all the way to the medical facility housed hundreds of meters beneath the red soil.
Now, as we rounded a corner, my mouth curled at what lay before us. The building was one level, with a red cross on the front. And lit up like a Christmas tree. We’d hit pay dirt. She was here. A guard stood at a metal door; a machine gun slung across his shoulder. He hadn’t seen us yet, the golf cart moving almost silently across the ground. Brax glanced over at me and nodded. Ready. With the gracefulness of a jungle cat, he slid from the seat and rolled, ducking low and sprinting to the side of the building. Rae and Jordan followed. I moved to the driver's seat, and with a savage grin, I hit the gas.
The cart surged forward, and the guard avoided being run over by leaping onto the hood. Immediately he punched through the windshield and tried to grab me, but I was ready with my gun, hitting him directly in the chest. Blood bloomed, and I ducked under the steering wheel while the buggy crashed into the doors of the medical facility. The screech of metal was deafening as the cart punched a path into the building. Without hesitation, I leaped through the shattered windshield and rolled off the hood, gun in hand, ready to shoot anything that moved.
Brax was right behind me, and together we swept the foyer, but it was empty. Lowering his weapon, he snaked out a hand and curled it around my nape, pulled me toward him, and kissed me. When he ended the kiss, he gave me an unblinking stare.
“When it is time, no matter what we find, I want you to unleash everything you have in you. Hold nothing back. You’ve got strength, and I want you to use all of it. Give in to the rage and let it feed you. Kill anything that stands in your way. Remember, if they’re here and not restrained, then they’re Ridgeway’s, and they’re your enemy.”
“I’m ready.” Mentally I threw my conscience down a dark, deep well I would fish out later. Assuming there was a later.
Then we heard it. The sound of booted feet running in our direction. They were coming.
“Brax.” I gripped his hand, and my eyes screamed everything there wasn’t time to say. He squeezed back and gave me a devilish smile.
“Hold that thought, Katie. I intend to collect on it.”
A gun in each hand, I squared my shoulders. A snarl of vengeance tore from my throat, and my eyes blazed as Ridgeway’s men burst into the foyer, opening fire on us. I saw the fangs, knew they were vampires, impossibly fast and extremely lethal. Keeping cover behind a reception desk, I fired, taking down one, then another. There were so many of them it became a blur, and they were upon us. Brax grabbed the shoulder strap of a machine gun and whipped it around the neck of the nearest vampire, and with a merciless jerk, the vampire’s head snapped off, and Brax whirled to tackle the next one.
Keeping out of the line of gunfire from Rae and Jordan, who had taken shelter behind the golf cart, I joined Brax, sinking my blade into the back of a vampire who’d been about to jump him from behind. I slashed and gouged his heart, shredding it, before pulling out my knife and searching for my next victim.
Launching m
yself airborne, I practically flew across the room and landed on another vamp. Silver flashed and buried into his heart, and with a twist, I finished him. I was knocked off my feet by a punishing blow and pitched forward. Using the momentum, I curled my body under, and my attacker sailed over my head. None of them were prepared for my speed. As soon as he’d hit the wall, Rae or Jordan, I’m not sure who shot him.
More were coming. We were outnumbered, but they hadn’t anticipated the rage fueling me. Grabbing a body from the floor, I hauled it up and used it as a shield. Fangs that were meant for my neck tore into dead flesh instead. The next few minutes were filled with body-to-body combat, gunfire, and silver blades. Instead of tiring, I was euphoric. My fire demon exalted in the thrill of the hunt. And then the vampires began to scatter. They sensed their impending defeat and made a fatal mistake. Turning their backs on us. I unleashed silver throwing stars, rapid-firing them into their hearts. Take that, motherfuckers!
With the vampires scattering, Brax and I headed down the corridor they’d come from. I caught a glimpse of Ridgeway and a small man who I assumed to be Leroy Byers sprinting away from us.
“Ridgeway!” I snarled. “I’m coming for you!”
Ridgeway turned her head with a look of disbelief. Byers didn’t. He just ran faster. They reached a door, fumbled frantically with a keypad before the door opened, and then slammed shut behind them. I reached it, slamming my fist against it and pulling at the handle. It was reinforced.
“Stand back. I’ve got it.” Brax pushed me aside and then slapped something onto the lock. Explosives. I curled into the wall opposite, and Brax wrapped himself over me, protecting me from any shrapnel from the blast.
“Okay?” he asked, his eyes running over me, searching for signs of injury.
“I’m good. You?” I panted, blue electricity sparking from my fingertips.
“All good. Let’s do this!”
Side by side, we burst through the doors; guns drawn. Ridgeway and Byers cowered behind what appeared to be a cryogenic chamber in the middle of the room.
Byers shot his hands into the air. “I give up,” he squeaked, “I surrender.” Brax shot him, and my mouth fell open as Byers hit the floor, a hole in his forehead spilling blood.
“What the hell?” Ridgeway rasped, stepping back to avoid the pool of blood from getting on her shoes. I glanced at Brax. Yeah, what the hell?
He shrugged, glanced my way, saying, “Sorry, babe. I’ve got different orders than you. SIA likes to bring them in alive. The Secret Service? Not so much.”
I hesitated, then nodded. “I’m okay with that.”
“What?” Ridgeway screeched, suddenly realizing her predicament. “No. I’m unarmed. You can’t shoot me.”
“I’ve got no reason not to.” Brax kept his gun on her but didn’t pull the trigger. “Who’s in the deep freeze?”
Her lips tightened into a straight line; then, her head cocked as if considering.
“If you kill me, you’ll never get him back,” she said.
“Who?” God, she had balls, massive ones, so bold as to try and negotiate with us, with Brax, who had just demonstrated his intentions of shooting a ray of pure energy through her skull.
She reached a hand into the pocket of the white lab coat she wore, and Brax swore. “Easy. Don’t try anything stupid,” he warned.
“Relax. I’m not armed,” she drawled. I couldn’t get over how not freaked out she was. Paige had been right: Ridgeway was one cold-hearted bitch.
She pulled out a phone. “May I?”
“What, call for help? No, you may not. Give.” Brax stepped forward and snatched the phone from her. She kept her hands in the air, but the smile curling her red lips was pure evil.
“I have a little…insurance policy,” she said, “if you care to go to the messages marked ‘Duke.’”
“Duke?” I seized on the name. She didn’t mean my Duke, did she? Duke Ellis, whom I’d planted a tracking device on since he’d accepted a commission to retrieve the Amulet of the Alliance. While Brax did as Ridgeway requested, I pulled out my phone and opened the tracking app. What I saw froze the blood in my veins.
“You didn’t.” My voice was icy calm, but my heart thundered in my chest, and I could feel my demon ready to launch at her, to tear her limb from limb.
“I did.” She smiled, and I shot her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ridgeway fell to the floor, clutching her shoulder, blood pouring between her fingers. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt like hell.
“You shot me!” Her eyes widened, astonished.
“Restrain her,” I told Brax, holstering my gun and turning my attention back to my phone screen. The good thing about a tracking device was it told me exactly where Duke was. About a hundred yards from here. She’d taken him. She’d taken my best friend. I prayed that she hadn’t injected him with her DNA-changing concoction yet.
“Go,” Brax said, holding Ridgeway's phone up. I glanced at it. On the screen was a photo of Duke, tied to an examination table, a gag over his mouth, and a look of fury in his eyes.
“Wait!” Brax held up a hand, then aimed his gun at Ridgeway’s head. “Is the Red Witch here? Or the Gunslinger?”
“What? No.” Ridgeway shook her head, pushing herself along the floor and away from Brax. He followed, standing over her.
“You’d better not be lying. Because I won’t kill you. I’ll just make you wish you were dead.”
At that moment, I couldn’t have loved him more. It filled me, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I was full of love for this man. My heart sang with it, and I touched a hand to my chest in wonder.
I shook myself out of my stupor when Brax turned to me. “Be careful, okay? Be on the lookout. Also, as an extra incentive for Ridgeway…” He stepped over her body to the cryo-chamber and shot the control panel. The gentle hum that had been coming from the machine slowly faded to nothing.
“Nooooooo,” she cried, crawling on her hands and knees towards the unit.
“Whoever’s in there doesn’t have much time,” Brax said, his tone light, “so you’d better pray Katie gets back here with Duke real fast.”
I cast a glance to the unit, curious beyond measure as to who was inside, but with Brax damaging the controls, I guess we’d find out soon enough. Turning on my heel, I sprinted out of the room. I watched my phone screen as I kept running until I busted into a room further down the corridor. As suspected, Duke was tied down to the table. His head turned toward me, and he began making noises behind his gag.
“Duke!” Sliding my phone into my pocket, I rushed forward, fingers fumbling with his restraints.
Gunfire erupted from behind me. I spun, and the bullet meant for my chest tore through my shoulder instead. Duke had a guard, one I hadn’t noticed when I burst through the door. He fired again, hitting me in the leg. I fell, momentarily stunned by the impact and cursing myself for stupidly rushing in like that.
I reached for my holster, but the guard was over me, a gun aimed at my head.
“I wouldn’t,” he said. I closed my eyes for a moment, the throbs of pain from the bullets almost paralyzing me. “Down on your knees. I’ve got you at gunpoint. Ridgway’s going to love this,” he crowed. “She’s been wanting another Shelton.”
I didn’t move. If I didn’t return, Brax would come looking for me. Seconds ticked by, and I knew what the guard was thinking. He thought I was dying. He thought I was bleeding out on the floor. Duke was thrashing on the table, yelling beneath his gag, his words muffled, but I could take a guess at the language he was using. I just had to wait a little longer, not for Brax, but for Duke. I’d loosened the restraint on one hand. He’d be free any second, and all I needed was that distraction.
“Hey!” Bingo. I felt the breeze of Duke’s hand as he reached out toward the guard, and in that split second, I charged him, batting his gun aside to fire harmlessly into the wall. I snapped his neck before Duke had finished freeing himself from t
he table.
“Katie, you’re shot. How bad is it?” Duke rushed toward me, an arm sliding around me to support my weight.
“I’m fine. Healing already.” But I let myself lean on him because the bullet wounds hurt like hell. “Are you okay? Did they inject you with anything?” I ran my eyes over him, reassuring myself he was all right.
“Nah. I’m good. Where’s Brax? I heard the gunfight.”
“He’s a few doors down. Come on; we’d better get back before he kills Ridgeway. He’s on a hair-trigger right now.”
With Duke supporting me, we made our way back to the room where Brax had Ridgeway under gunpoint.
“You’re shot!” Brax took in my injuries, his eyes blazing.
“My own fault, but I’m okay. I’ll heal. Thank you for not killing her.” I nodded toward Ridgeway, who was sobbing and hugging the leg of the cryo-chamber.
Brax tossed his gun to Duke. “Keep that trained on her. If she moves, shoot.” Then he kicked a chair over to me and commanded me to sit while he dug around in the drawers of a medical supply cupboard, tossing things onto the floor until he held up two bandages triumphantly.
“Who is in the box?” Duke asked, eyeballing the big metal tube that now had puffs of white rising from it. Whoever was inside was defrosting. I looked at Brax, who was crouched in front of me, wrapping my thigh in a bandage.
“Don’t know yet. She’s not talking. I’m guessing it’s someone important—to Ridgeway at least—and that damaging the controls wasn’t a good thing.”
“You murderer!” Ridgeway sobbed louder, hysterical in her grief. “You’re killing him.”
“What? Just like you killed all those innocent people in your quest for a super paranormal?” Brax drawled, continuing to administer first aid to my injuries.