Charles (Darkness #8)

by K. F. Breene

Charles assessed what was coming his way. They were all large, for humans; about six feet two inches, or six-three. All had broad shoulders and thick chests. Their suits were expensive and pristine, but fit more like sacks over the large bodies bulging with muscle. Each had short hair impossible to grab in a fight, but not military buzz cuts. One had a close-cropped beard.

  No, almost assuredly not ex-armed forces. That was a good thing. If Charles took out former military personnel, someone would report it to a higher up who would report it higher still. An official would overreact, and then someone would get bombed. Hopefully, these were just private guards, hired to help their employer keep secrets.

  A loud knock sounded at the door. Charles pulled it open, letting his pheromones drift out to entrance the minds of these humans.

  The men had one moment of suspicious confusion, probably because of his nudity, before their eyes glazed over. The closest one reached for Charles’ dick.

  “Oh shit.” Charles jogged backward, swatting at the hands. “Sorry. Haven’t used this in a long time.”

  He changed the chemical components that made up the pheromones, something so similar to changing elements for a spell that he wondered why humans couldn’t do it. When the new mix seeped into the air around him, the man dropped his hand, eyes still glazed over.

  “Who do you work for?” Charles asked, ushering the last man in and closing the door behind him.

  “Blake Enterprises,” the front man said.

  “What is their business?”

  The man stared straight ahead with a blank face. “They specialize in pharmaceuticals.”

  “What are they doing up here?”

  “This is their experimentation arm. They use live specimens for the new products.”

  “So, a lab,” Charles clarified.

  “Yes.”

  “And what kinds of things are they experimenting with?”

  The man blinked twice. “I don’t have access to the experiments.”

  “What do you do, then?”

  “I am the Chief of Security.”

  “Why are you here?” Charles patted the man down, finding a sidearm in a holster.

  “We had notice of a possible security breach. This cabin hasn’t been occupied for years. We needed to know who was in here, and why.”

  “Does the lab experiment on humans?” Charles asked, finding similar guns on the other two.

  “No human subjects, no.”

  “Not even humans that change into animals?”

  A light crease formed between the man’s eyebrows. “Those aren’t humans. Those are strange mutations.”

  Charles ire rose. “Do you experiment on these strange mutations?”

  The man kept his mouth shut. His face started to turn red, something in him trying to suppress the need to answer Charles. Charles put more oomph into the pheromones.

  “Yes,” the man blurted in a grunt, spittle flying out of his mouth. “The scientists want to know what causes that mutation. Nothing like it has been documented before.”

  “And have those scientists documented their finding?”

  The man’s face turned a deeper crimson. Obviously this was information he was sworn to protect. Charles had to admit, his effort was valiant.

  “As far as I know, the scientists keep detailed records of what they find, but they have not been published. They are gathering information. These animal-people heal quickly, and have superior sight, hearing, smell, and strength. Those abilities might help soldiers. There are a lot of possibilities.”

  “And possibilities means profits.” A sick feeling churned in Charles’ gut. He felt Ann’s disgust though the link. “How many do you have?”

  “There are more than two dozen alive.”

  “Alive?” Charles shifted, pushing down a surge of rage. “All from this area?”

  “Only a half-dozen or so came from this area. Most have been captured from areas surrounding our other facilities. When we need new blood, we put the traps in effect. Our methods of capture are unique and genius.”

  “Genius. No doubt.” Charles unclenched his fists, willing calm. “And do you keep these specimens in your other facilities?”

  “Absolutely not. Only a privileged few are aware of the existence of these creatures.”

  “Do the idiots standing behind you know all of this?”

  “Most of it, yes. The head guards in this facility need to know of the existence of these creatures to make sure there are no escapes. The creatures have the cunning of humans.”

  “Because they are humans, you fucking disgrace.” Charles took a deep breath. “And what happens when someone that doesn’t know these are creatures empties a trap and finds a person? How do you keep them quiet?”

  “That doesn’t happen. A special serum forces them to change into an animal.”

  “And this serum… how do you administer it?”

  “Like a gas, it is airborne. It acts like a poison, but instead of killing, it forces change.”

  “Is that what lures them to the traps?”

  “Our luring agent is also an airborne serum, pumped out in large doses. It creates confusion and disorientation. Only the creatures can smell it—I do not know why. Something to do with their genetic makeup. Once the trap is triggered, the other serum is released, though we are having a shortage. We’ve picked up a lot more of the creatures in the last few weeks. I’ve heard that the serum is expensive to make.”

  “I bet. You have to cage people and extract… whatever to make it.” Charles looked at his feet. “Well, what I should do is kill you. That’s what I should do. You deserve it. But if I kill you, I lose a lot of valuable information. So what I’m going to do is have you draw out a map for me. Very detailed so the Boss and Tim can make plans. Then I’m going to make you fuck each other, because big, macho men like you are generally homophobic, and it’ll screw with your heads. That’ll be my little fuck you. Then, I’ll let you wake up out of this stupor, preferably with a dick in your ass, and send you back to work, to report. Once we free the shifters, then I’ll kill you. Or Tim will. Or one of the captives.”

  The men just stood, blinking at the wall.

  Shoulders tight with what was going on up on that hilltop, Charles went to his bag and took out some maps. He placed them on the table, rage simmering deeply inside of him. “Come over here and give me all the necessary security information.”

  As the man robotically walked over, Charles said, “Just to clarify, all the shifters are in this facility?”

  “Yes.”

  Charles pushed the man into a seat. He handed over a pen. “Do you have any scientists outside of this facility that know about the… creatures?”

  “Not that I am aware of, but I couldn’t be sure.”

  “So if this whole place blows up, what will happen?”

  A crease formed between the man’s eyebrows again. “I really couldn’t say.”

  Charles nodded, because he expected that much, and gave instructions.

  * * *

  Ann sat in the bathroom, fear, unease and rage burning through her. She experienced very similar feelings in Charles. And while she could’ve left the bathroom, as Charles had the men firmly in hand, she didn’t trust herself not to lose sight of the goal and kill them all right where they stood.

  She wondered what kind of experimentation they were doing. And how. To get the hormones and whatever else they needed for the serums, more than a few people had probably died.

  This was the kind of thing Tim always tried to protect his people from. Fighting with each other was stupid. It was pointless. Fighting with Stefan’s people was just as bad. This, right here, was the real danger; these were the real enemies. Scientists trying to answer questions were some of the scariest people alive. Even worse? Greedy executives looking at a bottom line with curious scientists under their thumb.

  And here they had both. Scientists to investigate, and executives to sell what the scientists found. They were no better than
human traffickers.

  Ann stood in a rush of anger and glanced out the window, wanting to get the hell away from this place. At least until she was allowed to go in and blow it all up.

  Movement caught her eye. Thirty feet out, about twenty feet beyond Charles’ spells, an unusually large coyote looked right at her.

  A thrill went through her.

  It was a shifter.

  “Charles!”

  Its ear twitched, hearing her. It didn’t move, though, just continued to stare.

  “Yeah?” Charles pushed into the small bathroom, right behind her. He saw what she did right away.

  “It’s a shifter.” Ann raised her hand to point.

  As soon as Charles appeared, though, the animal took off, scampering through the trees and brush.

  “Has to be the one from the other night. Same size and color.” Charles stepped back, turning to peer in the main room.

  “Do you think he’s with them?”

  “I don’t see how he couldn’t be, or he would get trapped.” Charles put his hands on his hips. “But I don’t see how he could be, with the way these idiots were talking. Doesn’t make sense.”

  “How much longer with those guards?” Ann asked, tightness squeezing her throat.

  Charles’ eyes softened. He stroked the side of her face. “We’ll kill ’em all, don’t worry.”

  “I know. How much longer?”

  A grin tweaked his mouth. “Jesus. Impatient much? Want to jump me again? Because I’d be up for it. Magic dick is back in the zone.”

  “If there was an Olympic sport for thinking about sex, you’d win. Hands down. Gold medal. You’d beat out even boys in puberty.”

  “Beat out. Like masturbate. Ha! Yeah, I’d win. I can marathon masturbate when I’m bored.”

  “Oh my God.” Ann threw up her hands. “How. Much. Longer?”

  Charles glanced back into the main room. “These guys are hard-headed, but dense. It takes very little in the way of pheromones to keep them complacent once you’ve got them on the hook.” He walked back into the room, his perfect butt grabbing Ann’s attention. Her core started to burn, wanting to touch him.

  “The link gives you away, horny!” Charles laughed as he looked down at the table where the guard was working at the map. “Not long now. He’s almost done.”

  Ann’s face burned as she went back to the window, looking for that shifter.

  “I can feel your embarrassment,” Charles called. “You are going to hate this link.”

  “Already do,” she muttered, trying to shut out his delight filtering through the link.

  It took another ten minutes for the map to be finished. Charles snapped off a few pictures and texted them to Jameson, Stefan, and Tim. After that, he led the guards outside to stage an elaborate setup Sasha would probably not approve of. When he finally came back, his face was grim and his emotions were wary and frustrated.

  “What’s the matter?” Ann asked, zipping up her duffle bag.

  “We need to grab a few pictures of the front entrance and the side fence. Jameson and Tim both want visuals.”

  “But why? We have everything mapped out. We even have the codes to get into the main gate.”

  Charles started packing up before finally putting on his clothes. She didn’t mind nudity—not many shifters did—but the man was distracting at best. She couldn’t keep her eyes off certain parts of his body.

  “The guard didn’t have exact measurements. Jameson and Tim both want distances.”

  Ann blew out a breath. “Fine. Should we do it now?”

  Charles looked out the window. The light was dwindling into the harshness of late afternoon. “Let’s give those guards a couple hours to… sort themselves out and head back to their offices. Some humans can fight through the falseness of pheromones, which becomes ten times easier if they see something to jog their memory.”

  A restless unease filled Ann. As Charles took out his knitting, she got to work straightening the cabin and making some food, anything to keep busy. They’d be going back into danger, if only for a little while. Anywhere near that facility was a bad place to be.

  Chapter Nine

  “Okay, just stay behind me. This is no time to play hero.” Charles pinned Ann with a hard stare he’d learned from the Boss. Ordinarily, she would’ve scowled really hard and made some cutting remark, but this time all she did was stare up at him with hazy eyes.

  They were no more than fifty yards from the front of the facility as the darkness consumed the last of the day. According to Ann, the smell of the sweet serum was powerful, overcoming her senses and muddling her thoughts. Her eyes were a little clearer tonight than they had been last night though. The effect on her wasn’t as strong. Either his blood and magic was giving her a buffer, or she was getting used to it and able to fight the effects.

  They wouldn’t be there long enough to figure out which it was.

  Charles checked the expensive camera hanging around his neck. It was set to night vision so as not to make a flash. He also had his phone, but still no service. He squinted into the light filtering through the trees from powerful lamps at the front gates.

  A paved road to his right saw a car passing every ten minutes or so, no doubt employees heading home for the night. This was the perfect time to move closer and get what he needed. The hustle and mass exodus, together with guard shift changes, would be keeping everyone preoccupied.

  “Okay.” Charles took another breath and brought Ann in close, hugging her tight. He felt a soft warmth seep through the link, one of love and trust. His heart swelled and his breath grew heavy, never really understanding the depths of her affection until he had been able to get past all her snarky defenses and felt them.

  “Just stay with me, okay?” he whispered as he laid his cheek on the top of her head. “You’ll be fine.”

  He felt her nod into his chest.

  “Okay,” he said again, preparing. He let the hard viciousness of battle chase away the soft sentiment from having her close. With the possible danger ahead of them came a clarity to his thoughts and senses. He was ready to protect what was his at all costs. “Let’s do this.”

  He took her hand as he started walking, tugging her so she’d walk directly behind him. If there was a trap, he wanted to be the one to fall into it. When he was sure she would comply, he let go, watching his steps and scanning for any human tracks.

  They made their way through the trees easily. Light now littered the ground, blaring through the branches and lighting the road a few feet to their right. More cars streamed slowly by, the drivers staring straight ahead. Not one person looked in Charles’ direction.

  Charles crept to the tree line and hunkered down, reaching behind him and grabbing Ann’s shirt, pulling her down beside him. She blinked ahead groggily, shook her head, formed a scowl, and then lost her focus again. She was fighting it, but like any drug, whatever she was ingesting was winning.

  Ignoring the raging fear and unease he felt through their link, the effects of her fighting what was happening to her, Charles started snapping pictures of the fence and what lay beyond.

  The front of the building had a guard box with two guards in it, checking ID’s visually as well as scanning the badges through a machine. And that was to leave. Charles was sure that security would be at least as tight to enter as well. A parking lot inside the gates still held at least two dozen cars.

  The main entrance to the facility had another keypad beside two large glass doors. Light shone down on the entrance. Cameras dotted both the walkway and the doors, covering every angle.

  It would be tough for a human without magic to get in here. It would be almost impossible for a shifter.

  Charles grabbed Ann’s upper arm and lifted as he stood, pulling her up beside him. These people were obviously protecting a great secret. It was great news, because outside of this facility, Charles bet not many people would know about it. All this security, in a remote location, meant the big powers proba
bly didn’t even trust their employees.

  The better news was that for all they thought they knew, and all their intelligence, they were still just humans. Humans without access to their magic. They didn’t know what else lurked in the night. They didn’t know about people like Sasha or Paulie.

  They didn’t know what kind of retaliation they were inviting by capturing shifters,

  Charles tugged Ann closer to the gate, hating how much she stumbled. Hating what that airborne drug was doing to her.

  He crouched again at the corner of the road and the tree line, pulling Ann down behind him. He snapped off a bunch of pictures of the guards and the cars, of the entrance, and things he didn’t even think were relevant. Too much information was better than not enough. He then did the same with his phone, just in case, focusing on space and possible points of entry. Anything they couldn’t see had already been written down and pointed out by the guard Charles had interviewed.

  They had what they needed.

  “Let’s go.” Charles pulled Ann up again, like a ragdoll, and backed away from the road. When the trees obscured them, Charles turned and glanced down at Ann.

  She stood loose and limp, staring at nothing. Her battle to fight the confusion had failed. She stumbled blindly, with no clue of what lay around her. Even the emotions coming through the link were lacked any real clarity.

  Charles took Ann’s hand and pulled her behind, towing her. He noticed a notch in a tree as they passed, a newish slash cutting the bark. He stopped for a moment to take a picture, seeing a pulley at the top with a cable threaded through.

  The trap hadn’t been sprung.

  His brows furrowed as he continued on, wondering why. Perhaps it hadn’t been reset?

  Ten feet away he found another slash with the same setup. He took pictures of that, too, the makeup of the trap slightly different, and the gash in the side of the tree to anchor the cable much older.

  It didn’t spring, either.

  “I don’t like this,” he mumbled to himself.

  “What?” Ann asked quietly.

  He glanced at her, seeing her eyes less hooded and the dullness less apparent. “You better?”