He stood and peered around the corner into the front room. A light came on behind the stairs and he could hear crashing noises inside. He walked cautiously through the open door and followed the source of the light to a yellow room lined with charts, grease boards, lab equipment and a large desk against the back wall. Alex was standing behind it, destroying everything on top, inside and all around it. She was grabbing anything within reach and throwing it against the walls of the room, her manic emotions obviously clouding her ability to sense his presence.
Tre quickly scanned the room, to find that there was only one way in and out, and he was currently blocking that path. Now was his chance. He would get Alex, use whatever means necessary to get the information he needed in order to find Nic, then kill her slowly if he learned he was too late to save his friend and Alex was indeed involved. An unfamiliar vise gripped his chest at that thought but he ruthlessly pushed it aside.
He took a step farther into the room, and Alex froze. He watched her carefully as she slowly turned to face him. Her gaze widened in recognition and relief, only to change almost immediately to fear and resignation. That change confirmed everything he’d feared about Alex. She was one of them. Tre noticed that her eyes were swollen from crying and blood was running down her fingers from the damage she had done to the room. Her breathing was labored, her chest rising and falling quickly.
There was a fleeting moment when he wanted to go to her and enfold her in his arms for comfort, but that passed quickly as images of Nic blasted his brain. “Where is she, Alex? Where’s Nicolette?”
A look of confusion passed across her features as Alex dropped the papers in her hands and they scattered across the floor in a flourish. She slowly walked around the desk and Tre tensed, not knowing what she would do now that she was cornered.
His hand remained on his knife, ready to strike as soon as she made a move, but as she came toward him, he realized she wasn’t going to fight him. Shoulders curved inward and her chin tucked, Alex already looked defeated. She shuffled forward and dropped to her knees in front of him. He watched in stunned silence as she laced her fingers together behind her back and looked up at him, eyes wide and leaking tears. “Your timing is impeccable, Tremayne. Go ahead and kill me. Now.”
Chapter Five
Alex closed her eyes and bowed her head in front of Tre. It was obvious he now knew she was Valta and she’d known from an early age what Coteri did to Valta. Hell, after what she’d learned at the facility today, she couldn’t even blame him. She didn’t really want to die but she prayed he would at least make it quick. But in reality, she deserved as much pain as he could give her, considering that she was responsible for what had happened to all those innocent human women. It had been her research that her people had bastardized and used for their own sick thrills. And not on willing participants for her research but on innocent human females. Her stomach rolled at the thought.
How could she have been so stupid? So blind? And how many of her people were involved in this?
Before being forced to leave the facility in the marsh earlier that day, she had wanted to check on the status of the women she’d be treating, full of excitement at the prospect of finally putting her theories to the test with real subjects. The cases currently pinned to the back wall of her office were simply blood sample and genetic research tests acquired from local blood bank samples. She’d had such success with her tests in the lab back in Belize that she’d been given permission to try her theories on human volunteers at the New Orleans facility. She’d been to the facility several times since her arrival in the States but had yet to meet any of her test subjects. Luca, who oversaw both the facility and the territory surrounding New Orleans, had kept telling her the women would arrive shortly and she should continue to settle in so she’d be sufficiently prepared once they arrived. Months later and she still hadn’t met a single subject.
Her goal had been to confront Luca and ask what the delay was, again. Why was she even there if not to test her theories on the human volunteers?
Alex left her lab and was making her way down the corridor to Luca’s office when she slowed her steps. His door was slightly ajar and she heard raised voices. She felt bad for eavesdropping and even turned to leave but what she heard next stopped her in her tracks.
A deep voice she didn’t recognize spoke. “The men have all but used up Subject G, Luca. And Subject F isn’t much better. It’s clear neither is viable, and they’re so mentally damaged after the drugs given to them that they’re not even worth enough to keep around for the men’s sport anymore. It’s time for those two to be taken out with the trash.”
“Fuck,” Luca roared. “So how many does that leave us for Alexandria to begin testing?”
“Three, counting our newest acquisition last night,” the other man answered. “And I think you’ll like this newest one, Luca. She’s got a lot of fight in her, just how you like them. Took three of my men to finally get her out of that shop of hers.” He chuckled. “From what my men said, they had to cut her pretty good just to get her weak enough to take control.”
“Hmmm,” she heard Luca respond. “She does sound intriguing. You just might prove your worth to me yet, dog. Just make sure the men stay away from these three and order them to keep their dicks locked up. I need viable subjects for Alexandria, ones who aren’t too damaged and traumatized, so we can see if she’s truly made the kind of headway in her research that she claims. And I don’t know how much longer I can keep stalling her, so we need these three ready to start the testing soon. I’m counting on you, warrior, and you know what will happen if I’m disappointed in your results. You still have a lot to prove before I can truly trust your motives and your worth.”
Alex couldn’t help the startled breath she inhaled on hearing their conversation. She felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to confront Luca, to rail at him for deceiving her, then kick his ass for what he’d obviously done to countless human victims. But she also needed to know who was involved. Did Valencia know? She had to get out of there and make some calls before she confronted Luca. As she turned to leave, the door to Luca’s office fully opened.
“Alexandria, this is a surprise. I think you’d better come in.”
Luca’s eyes were flat, cold and Alex knew her only choice at that moment was to do as she was told. She moved slowly into the office and turned to face Luca, her anger simmering to a boiling point after hearing his admission.
After moving into the office, she paused in an effort to rein in her anger, but failed miserably. “Just what in the hell is going on here?” she shouted.
Luca glided across the room and slowly sat in the chair behind his desk, a bored expression on his face. “Alexandria, you know as well as I do that we have to impregnate these women as soon as possible to find out what you, my darling, are doing wrong.”
Alex threw her hands in the air. “What I’m doing wrong? What are you talking about? I overheard what you and this asshole said about your men drugging and raping those poor women.” Her gaze turned as she noticed movement from the asshole, who was now slowly stalking toward her, his burning gaze leaving no doubt he intended to do her harm. Luca raised a hand to halt the man’s progress.
Alex returned her focus to Luca. “How could you possibly do this?” she asked in disbelief. This wasn’t the man she knew. “You told me we had human volunteers. Women who were receptive to the testing in an effort to help reproductive research. And now that I hear the truth from your own lips, you dare to tell me I’m doing something wrong? That those poor women were being drugged and raped by your men and it’s because of me? Because we can’t sustain a full-term pregnancy with regularity and you were tired of waiting on my research?”
Luca stood and moved to stand in front of her once again. His piercing blue eyes held her gaze. “Because you can’t find a way to consistently keep a full pregnancy. Not we, Alexandria.”
Alex lunged at him, fully intent on clawing out his eyes, but she was imm
ediately stopped by a large arm being wrapped around her neck. The asshole pulled her neck back tightly enough that she struggled for air. Her neck would be bruised but she didn’t care. She looked back at Luca only to find him smiling. “You are a fucking devil, you know that?”
He ran his fingers through his hair and took a step closer. “Maybe so, Alexandria. And you would be smart to remember that. Unfortunately, such is the calling of my position. But you also need to understand that I’m not beyond doing what I need to do to succeed in our little project.”
She held back her sobs of fury as the asshole finally released her. She sent him a glare of pure hatred before she returned her attention to Luca. “You told me these women were all here of their own free will. That everything was consensual. I believed we were finally going to be able to do human trials based on my research. I don’t understand—why are you allowing this to happen? Why can’t we use consenting volunteers?”
He walked past her and stood in the doorway, his back to her. “We have some of the same gifts, dearest, remember?” He tapped a finger to his left temple. “I assure you, after a few minutes with me, the subjects were absolutely consenting, in all aspects of my methods. I’m not entirely heartless.”
She heard the asshole behind her chuckle.
Bile rose in her throat at the remembered use of her “gift” with Tre. Only now did she see Luca for what he really was.
He turned to look at her then, his eyes glacial, cold and unfamiliar. She felt a small tremor in her mind, a push, and knew he was trying to use his gift on her. She threw up her shields in defense.
“You will ignore what you heard and continue to work on making preparations to begin testing on our remaining three subjects. My expectations are that within the next six months, all three subjects will be pregnant, be able to carry through a full-term pregnancy and deliver successfully. The two successes we’ve already experienced were obviously flukes, since we can’t seem to replicate the outcome with any regularity. That, my dear, is where your precious research comes in.”
Alex’s jaw dropped open in stunned disbelief at what she was hearing. Who was this man in front of her?
Luca sighed and walked toward her, his features softening as he approached. Now he finally resembled the man she knew. “You remember what I told you about the Coteri, Alexandria? What they do to the women they imprison? This is no different, sweeting, except I’m sure our methods are more humane. If a few human women get mildly hurt in our research to protect our kind, so be it. The future of our race is more important than a few injured humans. What you overheard about us discarding the test subjects with the trash was simply our way of saying they are no longer of use to us in our testing. Their memories will be wiped and they will be released back to their sorry, human world with no permanent damage. But understand this—my loyalty and devotion will always be with our race.”
Luca let out a soft sigh as he took a step closer and traced his fingers over what she was sure was a bruise on her neck from the asshole. For a fleeting moment she thought she saw regret flash through his gaze.
His voice gentled. “Now go home and rest, Alexandria. Come back tomorrow and be ready to start working with our newest subjects. Your research is imperative to our success and I need you with me on this.” He brushed a soft kiss across her cheek before turning to leave.
Alex watched numbly as Luca left the office, seemingly without a care in the world. Her heart wanted to believe him about the women being released but she wasn’t stupid. How had she never seen this side of him? And what was she, for not realizing it sooner? They had been so close. She’d grown up with him and looked up to him. She was closer to Luca than anyone, even her own mother. She had trusted him with no limits. Believed everything he’d ever told her, including the stories he had shared with her about the Coteri and their evil ways. Her heart was breaking. She didn’t believe him about not harming the human test subjects. She wasn’t an idiot. But oh God, she really wanted to believe that those poor women were never really hurt and had been released unharmed.
Her stomach rolled at her sudden new reality. All her study and research had been twisted to justify everything Luca was doing in the name of the Valta. And Valencia. Oh God, was she part of this too? Surely not—please not. Her mind raced with the myriad emotions flowing through her. She had no center, no compass. Everything she had ever known and believed was now in question. She was suffocating under the truth flooding her.
Alex closed her eyes and moved to leave. The burly warrior who had put her in a chokehold stepped into her path and clasped her arm tightly. He was huge, with hard, gray eyes and short brown hair. His arms were the size of tree trunks and she absently pressed her fingers to her sore neck, remembering his earlier hold. His right biceps had a distorted tattoo that she couldn’t make out and a burn mark that crept up the side of his neck to end at his chiseled jaw line. And at this moment, she wanted nothing more than to drive her knee into his junk and get the hell out of this nightmare.
His hold tightened. “I don’t think so, Doctor. You and I are going to walk out of here together and I am putting you back in your boat. You will go home and come back in the morning with a fresh outlook on things and be ready to begin your testing. Got that, doc?”
Alex raised her hands in surrender, knowing he was too big and powerful for her to break his hold. “Fine. But you can take your fucking hands off me. I can walk on my own.”
The guard grinned and slowly released her as he guided Alex through the door and out to the docks. “I like your spunk, doc. You’ve got guts to stand up to Luca the way you did back there. Just watch that pretty ass of yours so you don’t go too far with him. If you haven’t noticed, he’s got a bit of a temper.” His heated gaze slowly perused her from head to toe and she instinctively took a step back. The bastard chuckled at her reaction.
As he’d said he would, he helped her into the boat and pushed it out of the slip. She started the engine and gunned the wind boat out of the cove. She had to get home. Home to destroy all her years of research and get the hell out of there. Where she’d go she didn’t know, and right now she didn’t care.
And now here she was. Kneeling in her study with her research surrounding her, staring up at the gorgeous Coteri warrior, the man who had taken her body to heights of ecstasy she had only dreamed about, and who now was about to kill her with no mercy. Hell, she deserved it. She had been blind to what Luca was doing to those women. Yes, Luca had told her they were all willing participants in the project and she stupidly believed him. Believed that she was doing something meaningful. Believed her work would actually help her people. But she had been a fool and her participation made her just as responsible as Luca.
She looked up at Tre and saw the rage, pain and confusion in his gaze. She realized he now knew what she was and even though he didn’t recognize the enormity of her role, he was still going to kill her.
“Where is Nicolette, Alex? Tell me now.”
Fury was all Alex could hear when he spoke. This Nicolette must mean something to him, and he thought Alex was somehow responsible for the woman’s disappearance. She bowed her head in understanding. Jesus. This girl must be one of the ones recently taken. She had to be at the marshland facility. And it was obvious that the woman meant something to him, was important to him. And why in the hell did that thought twist her stomach into knots?
“I don’t know anyone named Nicolette, Tre,” she replied softly.
She felt his hands dig into her arms as he pulled her to her feet and started to shake her. Hard. “You will tell me where she is or I swear to you, you’ll beg to die!”
Alex kicked out and pushed, breaking his hold on her. She backed away from him until she bumped against her desk. “I already am, you big ass! Didn’t you hear what I just said? Kill me! I know that’s what you want. It’s what all Coteri want to do to Valta, right?”
Tears started to flow from her eyes again. She didn’t bother to swipe them away. “I don
’t know a Nicolette. I swear. I thought what I was doing was a good thing. Something that would change our way of life, give my race a chance at survival.” Alex put her hands out, sweeping them around the carnage of her study. “All this was supposed to help my people. Help to defeat you and the evil the Coteri represents. But after what I saw today, I just want it over. Which is why I was destroying all my work, until you interrupted me.”
Tre slowly walked toward her. His voice was cold, hard. “What did you see today, Alex? Tell me.” He slowly reached for her and she recoiled.
“Just keep your hands off me, Tre.” Her breath shuttered. “I don’t think I can take you touching me right now because all I can think of is you holding me and making it all go away.” Her gaze met his as unwanted tears flooded down her cheeks.
Now that was something Tre hadn’t expected to hear. And he really didn’t expect to soften toward her after hearing it. She just looked so vulnerable standing in front of him with her shoulders curved inward and tears running down her face. How could she be part of the Valta? How could she have thought what she was doing was a good thing? And how the hell had he not realized what she was the first time he’d seen her? Her being Valta should have set off his internal alarms immediately after seeing her. And when he’d followed her out of the bar that night, all he’d sensed had been a Coteri female he hadn’t met before, not the evil stench that normally surrounded anything Valta.
Tre’s gaze zeroed in on the bruising around her delicate neck. A low growl escaped before he could suppress it as he wondered who’d dared harm her, but he quickly found his control. He raised his hands as a peace offering. He needed her calm and talking so he could find out what she knew about Nic. “Fine. No touching. But you have to tell me what you saw, Alex. A woman’s life is at stake here, and I won’t risk her. Not for anything.”
He saw her wince at his statement. A fine thread of guilt floated through him but he wiped it away as soon as his eyes caught what was on the wall behind her.
Infinite Desire Page 5