Olento Research Series Boxed Set: A Paranormal Science Fiction Thriller

by Sarah Noffke

  “Don’t waste your time,” the man on the ground said. “The net is made out of material almost as indestructible as you. You’re trapped for good.”

  Cole took a step forward and then halted. Everyone froze when the scream cut through the air. Zephyr wanted to turn but kept his eyes on the three men before him. He knew the person making that sound. He knew what this meant and it served to untie him. “Rio,” he said, an expectation in his voice.

  “I’m on it, boss,” Rio said and he felt him move away, toward the screaming that seemed to have no end. They couldn’t hurt Rox, so what were the guards doing that was causing her to yell as if there was no end to the sound?

  “What’s going on?” Cole said, his eyes on Zephyr and then whatever was at his back.

  “The men who took us seem to have gone after one of the members of my team. That’s the people they were going to take you away to. It’s not a safe house but rather the place were you made, changed,” Zephyr said.

  “Is that true?” Cole asked, over the screams, Rox’s pleading for help. The sounds were growing distant, like she was growing distant.

  “No,” Malcolm said at once. “You belong with us. Come now.”

  So he wasn’t convinced yet. The screaming had interrupted Zephyr’s influence. He almost had Malcolm and Derek, but now he realized how strong Mika’s brainwashing was on the men.

  “Look, if I need to use force I will, but you three will come with—”

  “BOSS!” Rio’s voice cut Zephyr off. Made his werewolf blood pulse suddenly in his head. This wasn’t good. Without another thought Zephyr spun. In werewolf form he took off, sprinting through the forest, darting around trees easily, the forest a blur of colors around him. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Rio’s voice said it all.

  Up ahead he saw Rio’s back, straight and rigid. He slowed as he approached, realizing that the screaming was still going on, but had grown too distant for him to hear without using his werewolf senses. When he came around Rio he halted, seeing what he was staring at. Tracks. The tracks from a Jeep that had sped out of the woods; it was loaded heavy on the back end, by the way the tracks looked.

  “What happened?” Zephyr asked.

  “I ran up and they had her bound and loaded into the Jeep. By the time I got here they were speeding away. That’s when I called you,” Rio said, his words a rush, a result of his anxiety.

  “Fuck!” Zephyr said, morphing back into man form. This couldn’t be happening. One of the most important members of his pack was gone. One of the most important people in his life. He’d failed Rox. He’d let them capture her. Now he had to break into Olento Research. And immediately.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Dream Travelers, on average, live one hundred years.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You’re even more incompetent than that guy,” Adelaide said, throwing a finger in Connor’s direction. “Not only did you fail to capture three werewolves who were apparently hanging out in front of you, but you lost our resident hooker.”

  “Adds…” Zephyr said, a warning in his voice. This wasn’t the time for jokes like that. He knew it was just her coping mechanism, but still. He couldn’t handle that kind of behavior right now.

  “What?!” she yelled. “How could you allow them to take her? Why didn’t you run after them? You’ve got the ability to switch.” She was mad. Madder than he’d ever seen her. This seemed personal for a rare change.

  “It wouldn’t have mattered,” Rio interjected. “I tried. The vehicle was too fast and running through the mud slowed us down. By the time Zephyr got there, they were already too far away.”

  “Do you know what Mika will do with her?” Adelaide said, her voice still elevated.

  “He can’t kill her,” Zephyr said, but there was no hope in that statement. There were much worse things than death.

  “No, he’ll fucking torture her. She isn’t a wolf like you all,” she said, throwing her arm at the room filled with the pack members all wearing morose expressions. “Rox is a fucking enemy. She’s an FBI agent. She’s a bloody Lucidite. He’s going to do everything to try and destroy her spirit and you fucking let them take her.”

  “I didn’t…” Zephyr said, trailing away, his hands pressing to the side of his head. He did let them take her though. If he hadn’t sent Rio at first, if he’d gone after her himself in werewolf form, then she wouldn’t be gone. But he hadn’t wanted to lose the other three werewolves. And now that irony made him sick enough to vomit.

  “And after he’s done making her pay for being in opposition to him then he’s going to experiment on her, but not in the nice way like Aiden would do,” Adelaide said.

  “I know!” Zephyr boomed, his head filling with heat.

  “I’m glad you know, because that should have been you. It should have been anyone but Rox. She’s got no fucking stake in this and yet she continues to put her ass on the line for you all,” Adelaide said, her face red with anger. It was just then that Zephyr realized how much those two girls hid. These girls were more on the same team than his own pack. They were bonded in that they were outsiders and girls trying to prove something in what always felt like a man’s world. There’s no understanding women, but it was easy to understand that there was a bond between these two women that could be stronger than that of the pack’s.

  “I’ll get her back. We all will. We were planning on breaking in there. Now we just have to do it sooner rather than later,” Zephyr said.

  “Especially now that Mika has three werewolves,” Adelaide said.

  “Are you sure that Cole and the others went back to Olento Research?” Connor asked.

  “All I know is that they disappeared. Rio and I searched the entire forest and didn’t find anything to suggest otherwise,” Zephyr said. He’d lost his influence the moment he left to rescue Rox. That’s why he’d sent Rio initially, but then he ended up losing both. It filled his mouth with a sour taste.

  “All right, well since I’m not as incompetent as you all, I have a strategy for breaking into Olento Research that should work,” Adelaide said, only to be interrupted by a strange coughing fit by Connor.

  “Oh, yeah, fine,” she said, throwing a repulsed look in his direction. “Connor kind of helped. But the strategy is going to take some serious finessing to ensure it works for all our purposes. We’re going to need to go over it and practice a ton. Everyone is in on this operation and no one is getting hurt or left behind.”

  Zephyr looked at Adelaide, seeing what he’d always seen in the girl, but just now recognizing it for what it was. She was like him, a survivor. She was a warrior, and although she’d pretended not to be, this was a woman who never left her team behind. Everything was wrong presently, but they had everything they needed to make it right.

  Hold on, Rox, Zephyr said in his head, in his heart. I’m coming to get you. Hold on, girl.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “The Lucidites hold as a philosophy that it is better for both races if Dream Travelers keep their identity secret.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Scream after scream after scream filled the space. It hurt Rox’s ears. How could one’s own scream do that to a person? Maybe it was the fact that there was nowhere for it to go but to echo off the stainless steel box. Her voice was raw from screaming and still it was all she could do, feeling the panic well up in her, like a plant’s roots outgrowing its container. The anxiety had to go somewhere. It had to come out. Rox beat her fists and feet against the box, not feeling the pain that one would if they rammed their extremities into metal. And yet, the worst part was that the door didn’t give way. The hinges didn’t budge. There was no way out of this coffin where she’d awoken to find herself.

  Mika had thought of everything. That evil, horrible, devilish man had figured out how to do the one thing that should be impossible. He’d figured out how to trap and kill Rox. First he’d trapped her in t
he net. Once there they’d chloroformed her, like fucking rapists. And then she awoke to find herself in this box, which was only big enough for her to beat her limbs a few inches.

  The screaming fear from her childhood rode in on the waves of her panic. Being locked up was by far the worst possible situation for Rox. She could breathe and yet bringing air into her lungs felt like a constant chore, like at any moment the ability would be ripped from her. And the heat radiated around her, making her think she’d soon start twitching from the sweat pouring off of her.

  Rox closed her eyes only to hear the screaming in her head, although it had stopped passing through her mouth. Her throat was now parched and her voice aching. She was trapped. And she knew without a doubt that Mika wasn’t going to be civil and open the box to allow her meals or relief. No, he planned for her to die there. This was his way of punishing her. He intended for Rox to die and this was one of the only real ways she could. Mika was going to dehydrate and starve her. He was going to end her the way that those stranded die. He was going to take the basics and keep them just out of her reach. But the stress would be her biggest undoing. It was the stress that had caused her to scream when she knew she should be preserving her energy. The stress was why she couldn’t dream travel to safety. Rox stuck her nose to the tiny holes along the top of the box, sucking in a breath of fresh air from the outside. At least she could breathe. Even if she felt strangled, at least she really wasn’t. She just had to hold on long enough. Come on, Zephyr, come and get me. Come on, Addy, don’t let me die like this.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Many of the most influential people in history were Dream Travelers.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Victory never felt so good. Maybe it was best that Mika had first failed before winning. This felt better. This tasted more delicious than if he’d originally captured the werewolves from the beginning.

  He wouldn’t have a Dream Traveler with an impossible gift in his possession if things had gone this way at first. He grinned to himself, enjoying the sound of her screams. When they waned then he’d do other things to her. Not feed her. Not allow her anything she’d enjoy. No, he’d deliver more stress to her. Mika had heard about this GAD-C and knew from the beginning that it would offer an escape to Rox or any of the other Lucidites that he captured. However, one can’t dream travel when under extreme stress. This was a common principle. So know one’s limitations and they will forever be trapped.

  He picked up one foot and then set it down softly, instead of loudly, like usually. The werewolves were asleep in their cages. His newest, Cole Cosgrove, hadn’t responded favorably to returning to a lab identical to the one where he’d been changed. He also hadn’t liked the cell he’d been assigned to or the fact that he’d be locked up until his training was complete. However, he’d gone with Derek and Malcolm willingly, so who he was really mad at was himself. Deception was the biggest power play of them all and the one Mika had mastered long ago. Everything is about perception.

  Now the werewolves were asleep and tomorrow Cole’s training would start. He’d be hard to train after being deceived, but it wouldn’t be impossible. Now what Mika needed was information on where to get the other werewolves. He needed more. He wanted them all. He couldn’t be stopped now.

  Turning, he focused on the man he had brought into the lab. The one with all white hair and blue eyes. “I need you to tell me what you see of Zephyr Flournoy,” he said to the man he paid to have clairvoyant abilities.

  “I’ll try and focus on him,” the man said, his eyes closing as he sat relaxed in the seat before him.

  “No,” Mika said in a hush. “I don’t need you to try. I need you to do it. I have to know what Zephyr is doing next. He’ll be acting. Trying to get his werewolves and his FBI agent. I have to be prepared. Is he coming after me? After Olento Research? You have to tell me.”

  This was the best clairvoyant they had presently. Soon the aneurysms would kill him but first he had to know what was happening. Mika was going to beat Zephyr and the Lucidites. All he needed was the advantage. He needed to know when and how they would strike. He’d wait and be on the defense. That was fine. He’d be ready.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Spending more than twelve hours in the dreamscape is inadvisable.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Leaning in the doorway to the office, Adelaide found it hard to believe she couldn’t properly enter the space. And furthermore, she was surprised it had been so long since she visited this space. It now felt like the right time, whereas before it wasn’t.

  “Is there a particular reason you’re casually lingering in the hallway?” Connor asked at her back. She knew someone was approaching, but didn’t care to turn and look at the repugnant face of whoever it was. The Lucidites were always smiling. It was fake and a wasteful gesture. However, Connor’s face didn’t repulse her, and his smile was genuine enough when it happened that she didn’t mind it so much.

  Without turning to face him she said, “I never do anything casually. I’m the queen of terse behavior.”

  He laughed, coming around to stand on the other side of the doorway. Too close. His back pressed against the frame and a clever look flecked his green eyes. “That’s true. And I enjoy how you never let me get away with anything with my words.”

  “Well, words were invented for a reason. It’s irritating that Americans misuse them. Things that are mildly interesting aren’t hilarious. And when the elevator is slow it isn’t obnoxious. It might be inconvenient or annoying. I’m in the business of words and using them correctly. Call things what they are and describe people accurately,” Adelaide said.

  Crossing his arms and leaning back, Connor crossed one foot over the other. “How would you describe me?” he asked and then quickly added, “And don’t include drug addict in the description. I want you to really work at this depiction.”

  Without hesitation Adelaide walked straight into the office, her chest vibrating as she did. Her eyes roamed over the British flag that covered the stainless steel wall at the back. It was flanked by shelves of books. And a minimalist desk sat in the corner, a leather seat behind it and a metal folding chair on the other side.

  Connor, seeming to finally lay his eyes on the space, stood up properly, following Adelaide into the room. “Is this your office?”

  She shook her head, her eyes scanning over the shelves which were stuffed with first-edition books covering every subject imaginable.

  “Oh,” he said simply, his eyes widening.

  “I haven’t been here since he…” She trailed away, her eyes studying the things most people wouldn’t notice, the way the books were lined up straight and organized by subject and alphabetically.

  “Why would Ren’s office still be like this? I thought he took a demotion a few months before his death,” Connor said, also studying the space.

  “He did. Twice, actually. Ren became an agent after twenty years as the head strategist. That didn’t last long, but then he elected Trent for the position when he decided to kill himself. But Trent wouldn’t take the office. He keeps his office inside the strategic department. And Trey won’t get rid of anything in here,” she said.

  “I can see why,” Connor said, his eyes on the metal folding chair.

  “What does that mean?” she said, turning and looking at him directly.

  “The space feels like him, well, how I imagine being in his company would feel. Like for instance, he sat in a cozy leather chair but offered guests a metal folding chair. Seems like he wasn’t encouraging guests to feel real comfortable,” Connor said.

  “Or stay long,” Adelaide said with a laugh. It was strange how well Connor understood her father. He was perceptive too, in a way that most weren’t. Most people didn’t really see the world around them. They weren’t wearing blinders as much as seeing only that which they wanted to. But Connor looked at his environment for clues.

  “You’d make a good agent for the strategic d
epartment,” she said, because it was true and also because the silence wasn’t okay. It felt like if it wasn’t filled with words then it would be with uncomfortable stares.

  “You think so?” Connor said.

  “Doesn’t matter what I think. Trent is the one who handpicks agents,” she said with a shrug.

  “Well, maybe once this Olento Research business is over and we have Rox back then I’ll think about it,” Connor said, his face growing serious.

  “Yeah,” Adelaide said, her expression copying his.

  “I’m going through the werewolf integration process later today,” Connor said.

  “That’s a good idea. I want as many of you through the process before we storm into Olento,” Adelaide said, but she was actually glad that Connor would be the second. He needed to be in control of the change. She needed him to be in control of the change.

  “You seem different lately,” Connor said.

  “Every day we are different. Every day we are someone new,” Adelaide said.

  “There you go, holding me to my words. And although true, you seem more confident. More yourself,” Connor.

  “How was I not myself before? Wouldn’t that be impossible?” she asked.

  “You’d think, but you were more of an incarnation of Ren. For some reason now, you seem like a new person. Like the person I always saw underneath that needed to come out,” Connor said.