by Cynthia Eden
Right. Staying together with the extra strong vampire-wolf sounded like a wonderful plan to her.
Harris pushed to his feet. “I…I lost the collar.” He shook his head. “No, I convinced the other agents that…it was defective. Burning me too badly. They took it off.” Fear flashed in his gaze. “I need something to control me! What if the beast comes out? What if—”
“It’s several hours until the moon rises,” Connor snapped. “If you get crazy before then, I’ll deck you, okay?”
Harris nodded.
“Now let’s get to the lab before Keegan springs any more surprises on us.” His fingers tightened around Chloe’s. Then he yanked her into his arms and just…held her. “Bastard thought he was going to take you from me. That won’t happen.”
She could feel the frantic beat of his heart against her. “I’m not going anywhere,” she told him.
Chloe meant those words.
When she’d heard the screams behind her, she’d had one thought, just one.
Connor. Get to Connor. Make sure he’s all right. Protect him.
She knew he was the big, bad alpha, but…he was also still hers. Hers to protect. Hers to love.
Even if he didn’t love her back.
He squeezed her a moment longer. “Without you,” he whispered, and she almost thought that she imagined those gruff words, “I’d be lost.”
Then he pulled back. She blinked. Had he really just said—
But Connor was off at a run, and since he was still holding her hand, she had to run with him. They flew down the corridor, and Harris stumbled to keep up with them. The alarm was shrieking, hurting Chloe’s ears, and as they turned and rushed down the hallway that would take them to Holly’s lab, fear pushed through Chloe because she didn’t know what she’d find in there. What if Keegan had managed to escape?
Connor shoved open the lab’s doors.
For an instant, Chloe froze.
Keegan was strapped to a table. And Duncan…Duncan’s fangs were bared. His claws were out. He was trying to go for Keegan’s throat, but Holly was pulling her lover back, or, at least, she was trying to pull him back.
“You’re dead!” Duncan yelled. “Dead! You’re not my brother! You’re nothing!”
And that had Chloe’s mouth dropping open. Because…Duncan was Connor’s brother. And if Keegan was Duncan’s brother…No, no, no! They couldn’t be family!
A wave of unease had her shivering.
Keegan’s head turned then. His eyes locked right on her. And she realized that he had eyes the exact shade as Duncan. But as she stared at him, she also noticed…
His chin…his chin has Connor’s cleft.
His nose is like Duncan’s, but his cheeks are like Connor’s.
Like…Connor.
“Now all the family…” Keegan mumbled, “is together again.”
Connor stared at Keegan, then Duncan.
“I would have…left him to die…too,” Keegan said, his lips twisting. “Good thing…you saved…yourself, Duncan.”
Duncan lurched forward.
“No!” Holly yelled. “Stop it! Can’t you see? This is what he wants! He wants you to attack him! He wants you to be just as twisted on the inside as he is.” She shook Duncan. “But you’re not. You’re nothing like him! You’re nothing like your father! You are mine, Duncan. My lover. My life. So don’t listen to him.”
“Found you a…vampire to fuck…huh?” Keegan rasped. “That’s what I did…too…Brothers just…alike. Fuck and…feed and ch-change…”
Duncan’s whole body was tense, but he made no move to push past Holly.
“He’s our brother?” Connor asked and his voice just sounded dead.
“So he says,” Holly replied curtly. “But until we get the blood work back, nothing’s for certain.”
The twist in Chloe’s gut told her it was certain. As she looked between the three men, she wondered how she hadn’t seen the similarities before.
“Just how fucked up…” Connor said, “does one family really have to be?”
Before Keegan could speak again, Eric burst into the lab. “Stop them!” Eric yelled. “Stop them now!”
Chloe had no idea what he was talking about, but she figured the mess they were all in had just gotten worse.
Eric ran to Keegan. He grabbed the guy’s jaw and jerked Keegan’s head toward him. “You’ve put your entire pack under a compulsion, haven’t you?”
“Figured it…would be a good idea.” His voice sounded slurred to Chloe.
“They are killing themselves! The silver in their collars is turned up to full power and they’re still fighting. They’re clawing at the cell bars and burning.”
Keegan laughed. A rough, choking sound.
“They’re your pack! Are you seriously going to let them all die?”
Keegan was silent. Chloe found herself leaning forward, holding her breath, and then he said, “If I don’t get what…I want…I’m going to let everyone…die.”
Then his gaze slid to her. His face hardened.
And she knew what he wanted.
Chapter Thirteen
“Kill him,” Connor said flatly as he moved to stand in front of Chloe. Hell, no, he didn’t like the way the guy was staring at Chloe. And Keegan was far too aware and chatty for his taste. Eric should have pumped him full of twice as many drugs. “The compulsion will end if you kill him.” Seemed like the easiest plan to him.
Brother or no fucking brother.
Because if the guy was telling the truth, then, from what Connor had seen, Keegan had far more of their father’s traits than anyone else. And dear old dad had been a sadistic bastard to the very end.
“Y-you don’t have to kill him.” Chloe’s hand wrapped around Connor’s arm. “Another vampire just needs to bite the werewolves. That vamp’s compulsion can replace the one he gave to his pack.”
Eric’s head snapped up. “What?” Connor could practically see the wheels turning in his head. “Hell, yes, that could work.”
“It did work on Harris,” Chloe said.
Eric whirled for the door. “Shane can do it. No one can resist that guy’s compulsion.” Then he was racing away again.
Connor kept his position in front of Chloe. “My vote is still for killing Keegan now. Why take the chance and let him keep living?”
Chloe had been afraid the guy on the gurney would compel her. And what if he did? What if that jerk took control of Chloe’s mind?
No one could hurt her. When Connor had found her and Harris together, hell, he’d nearly lost his control. And Harris had almost lost his head.
Holly glanced over at him. “There’s more going on here than we realize.” Connor noticed that she still hadn’t let go of Duncan. Probably because she realized that the guy could attack at any moment. If he felt even half the rage that Connor did, then the temptation to kill Keegan had to be surging strong and hard through his veins.
Holly narrowed her eyes on Keegan. “How did you get a vampire to transform you?”
“Interesting thing…the vamp has to be female…only the female vamps can transfer the power…”
Connor’s father had realized that, at the end.
How had this guy learned the truth?
From someone at Purgatory? Did someone tip Keegan off? Had someone there been watching that final battle with Connor, Duncan, and their father? And that watcher had given the information to Keegan?
“You think…the only prison…is Purgatory?” Keegan’s lips twisted but he lay docilely on the table. “Senator Quick…he had a back-up. Not dangerous paranormals there…weak ones. Easy to control. To use. To…kill.”
“No!” Horror sharpened Chloe’s voice. “That’s not true!” She tried to run around Connor and get to Keegan.
Connor caught her and held tight.
“True,” Keegan whispered, his lips twisting. “Started it…for you…because he wanted to make you…stronger…so they died…for you.”
Connor felt t
he tremble that slid over her body. “No.”
Keegan’s smile stretched. “Can take you…to them…you can…save them…”
She shook her head.
“If not…they die…tonight…by…midnight.”
***
Eric ran back into containment. Shane was standing near the cages, glaring at the men who seemed determined to die.
“Fools,” Shane muttered. “You’re just hurting—”
“Bite them!” Eric ordered.
Shane spun to face him. “Do what?”
“Bite them. Then compel them. Your compulsion will cancel out the order that Keegan bastard gave to them all.” Because no one could resist one of Shane’s compulsions. The guy was the most powerful vampire that Eric had ever encountered, and Shane was also the reason why Eric wasn’t exactly human anymore.
“You’re telling me to take werewolf blood,” Shane said as his eyes widened a bit. “And with this many wolves, it’s going to be a gorge fest.”
Which meant Shane would get one serious power rush.
“Consider this your free pass.”
Shane smiled. He flashed fang. And when the next werewolf shoved his hands against the silver bars, Shane just reached out, grabbed that hand, and sank his fangs into the guy’s wrist.
One by one, Shane fed. He compelled. And soon, the men weren’t enraged and on a crash course with death.
They were curled up on the floor. Sleeping.
Olivia ran into the room. “The guards are stable! And—um, Shane?”
He turned toward her. For an instant, even Eric thought about backing up because that guy looked damn scary.
“Shane?” Olivia said again as she edged closer to him. “What did you do?”
Gorged. “He saved their lives,” Eric said.
And he had.
But now it looked like Shane might be on too much of a feeding high.
Olivia wrapped her arms around Shane. “Focus on me.”
He shuddered, and his arms wrapped around her.
Mates…they could really do the damnedest things.
***
“He is their brother.”
Their group—such as it was—had gathered in Eric’s office.
The chaos was over. For the moment, anyway. Eric had told them all that the werewolves had been controlled, and Chloe hadn’t asked a whole lot of questions about that control—especially once she’d gotten a look at Shane.
The vamp was in the office with them, but Olivia was keeping a close eye on him. And a hand. Chloe had noticed that Olivia was constantly touching her vamp. Trying to soothe him?
“I did a rush order on the blood work and DNA,” Holly said, clearing her throat. “Had to use some of those special connections that Eric has…” She slanted a glance toward him. “But we hit a match. Keegan wasn’t lying. I’m sorry to say it, Duncan and Connor, but Keegan really is your brother.”
Chloe wanted to reach out to Connor. To touch him the way that Olivia touched the vamp, but Connor had marched away from her. He stood near a window, staring out as dusk swept over the area.
“He killed our mother’s family.” This news came from Duncan.
Connor’s shoulders stiffened.
“He said…he said they blamed him. That they saw our father in him, and he killed them all.”
“I see our father in him,” Connor said. “He’s just as eaten up with hate and evil as our old man ever was.”
Eric was behind his desk. His gaze slid from Duncan to Connor…then to Chloe. Eric exhaled and said, “I think he may be telling the truth about another prison facility.”
Chloe shook her head.
“Someone had to transform him,” Eric continued roughly. “And from my own intel work, I can tell you that I’d already begun to suspect that the senator had taken some not-so-willing volunteers for his experiments. I’d actually thought he was trying to experiment in Purgatory, but my men found no evidence of that. When Case Killian was working undercover as the warden, he had a full run of the prison, and he never saw any experiments.” He shook his head. “No, the senator was doing those somewhere else. Somewhere that he could monitor. And I believe that he was using weaker prey.”
“The better to control and to kill,” Connor muttered.
Eric nodded. Chloe didn’t think Connor saw that faint movement.
Her heart seemed to be encased in ice. Those people—they could be suffering or dying right at that moment.
No, no, he said they had until midnight.
“I doubt they’re criminals,” Eric continued. “Probably just unlucky bastards that the senator found and imprisoned. Victims that he didn’t think anyone would miss.”
Her father had been such a stellar human being. Shame wrapped heavily around her. “We have to find them,” Chloe said.
All eyes turned to her—including Connor’s glittering stare.
“If they’re out there, we have to help them.”
“The only person who knows their location is Keegan,” Eric said, his jaw locking. “Shane checked with the other prisoners, he compelled them…but they don’t know where the place is.”
“Then we can compel Keegan! We can make him—”
Connor shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. You can’t compel…someone…something like us.”
Connor wasn’t a thing. He was her lover. Her mate.
Her shoulders straightened. “Keegan said he would take us to them.”
“No,” Holly’s voice was soft. “He said he would take you to them, Chloe.”
She nodded. “Then let’s do it.”
And they were all back to looking at her like she was crazy. So maybe she was. After everything that had happened, how could she not be?
“We can’t leave them. We have no idea what’s being done to them. What if Keegan left orders for someone to make a paranormal army? What if my father did?” Because that crap would be right up his alley. “This started with me, and it needs to end with me.” So many lives wasted, and why? For her?
I’m not worthy of anyone else dying.
“You’re not a Para Agent,” Eric pointed out.
Uh, yes, she was aware of that fact. No shiny badge for her.
“And I’m not just going to let a powerhouse like Keegan waltz through the doors of this base and head out into the sunset.”
And the sun was setting. The full moon would be out soon. She could feel it calling to her.
“Then what are you going to do?” Chloe wanted to know. “Ship him off to Purgatory? Keep him in isolation there? Hope he never breaks free and drinks from all the werewolves there? Compels them—”
“I’m working on a game plan,” Eric said.
Right. “In the meantime, I have a plan.” After years of being afraid and hiding, it was time for her to do something. “I’m the unkillable woman.”
She saw Eric’s eyelids flicker.
Connor took a step toward her.
“What’s the worst that can happen to me? I mean, I go in with Keegan and he kills me again. So, what?” Her gaze slid to Olivia. “I’ll just come back.”
Olivia had paled—and she was a vamp now, so she’d been a little pale to begin with. “But what if you don’t?” Olivia asked. “My wishes…they were messed up, Chloe.”
“You wanted me to always come back,” she reminded her.
“But that doesn’t mean you will always come back the same!” Olivia fired back. “Who knows what could happen to you! You can’t just—”
“I’m like a cat with nine lives.” She lifted her chin and glanced back over at Eric. “Come on, if I were one of your agents, you know you’d use me.”
“The fuck he would,” Connor snapped and he stalked toward her.
But Eric nodded and looked thoughtful. “I would.”
“Then send me out. Connor and Duncan are the two who can defeat him in a fight, right? Send them as back-up, just like you did at Eclipse. If anything goes wrong, they can attack with fangs bared a
nd claws at the ready.” Her words were coming a little too fast. She needed to slow them down and also slow down her racing heartbeat.
Connor stood in front of her now. A furrow had appeared between his brows. “Why are you saying this? There’s no way Eric is going to let you walk out with a killer!”
Actually, she thought Eric was considering it.
Connor’s hands curled around her shoulders. “Why?”
“Because it’s not about me. It’s not about me running and protecting myself.” What she’d always planned. To run. To disappear. To leave everything else behind.
Selfish.
“Those people out there…if they were imprisoned because of me, then I owe them. I have to try and help them.”
“Even if you die?” Connor asked.
She smiled at him. “I come back.” I’ll always come back for you.
Being with Connor had made her realize something important. She wasn’t alone. There were others out there that she could depend on, others who could depend on her. With the Para Agents in that room, Chloe actually felt as if she belonged. She hadn’t belonged anywhere, not really, in a very long time.
I belong with Connor. And she needed to prove herself. To Connor. To them all. To show them that she could be more than the woman who tried to escape.
She could be the woman who fought.
“No.” Connor shook his head. “No, you can’t be put at risk like this. No.”
“Yes,” Eric said in the same instant.
And Connor rushed across that room toward Eric. His hands slapped onto Eric’s desk. “I’m done. No more jobs for you. Nothing. You want to throw my ass back in Purgatory? Then go ahead.” He gave a grim shake of his head. “But I’m not working for you. I’m not going to let you risk Chloe. I’m taking her out of here. That’s what she wanted from the beginning, and I should have listened to her. I should have put Chloe first because she is the one who matters most to me.”
Chloe couldn’t breathe.
“Her protection, her safety, will always come first. She is mine, and I am damn well hers.”
She had to blink away tears. Connor was so sexy to her right then.
Even though his claws were digging into Eric’s desk, he was just hot.
Then Connor spun toward her. He marched back to Chloe’s side, and he offered her a claw-tipped hand. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” His gaze held hers. “Any place you want to go. No one will know your past and we’ll make the future anything you want it to be.”