by Cynthia Eden
And if Cedric didn’t undo the compulsion…Eric can’t be contained forever. She wouldn’t let that happen to him.
***
Cedric’s eyes slowly opened. He blinked blearily, and Connor waited for the asshole to focus on him. He stood about ten feet from Cedric. Well away from the chains and the guy’s wingspan.
Slowly, Cedric pushed up. He groaned and his hand immediately went to his collar—collars.
“Get these damn things off me!” Cedric shouted.
“Not happening.” Connor kept his voice flat.
Cedric squinted as he stared at him. “You…am I supposed to be scared of you?”
“You should be scared of a whole lot of things. But, yeah, I am one of those things.”
Cedric laughed. “I don’t have to fear anyone or anything.”
We’ll see about that. “You put a compulsion on two good men today. Take that compulsion off them.”
“No.”
“That’s not the right answer.” He pointed toward the ceiling. A net made of gold hung above Cedric. “How about we try that again?”
Cedric swallowed, then said, “I can’t undo it. They’re stuck. Stuck like that until death.”
“You’d better be talking about your death,” Connor warned him. “Because someone will be dying soon, only it won’t be them.”
***
“He’s sedated and restrained.” Holly’s voice was quiet. Almost clinical. Actually, it was clinical. And Ella didn’t think it should have been. Not when the woman was talking about her own brother. “He isn’t a threat to anyone now.”
Ella stared through the observation glass. Eric was strapped down on a table in the other room. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow.
“Do you want me to patch up your wounds?” Holly asked.
“No, they’re fine.” Already healing. She moved closer to the glass. “What’s going to happen?”
“Connor and Duncan will find a way to eliminate the compulsion on him. He’ll be back to normal soon.”
“Will he?” How did you go back once the beast was free? “Did you know…just what he was?”
“Did I know he’d let himself become some kind of walking science experiment for the government?” Now that clinical quality fractured in her voice. “Hell, no. But now I understand why he kept pushing me to find a cure for vampirism. For the werewolf bite. Maybe…I think he wanted to go back. To undo what he’d become.”
She didn’t see his wings. Had he already shifted so that they were hidden once more? “I mean about him being Fey.” She had been right before when she sensed he was like her. And now she was all confused. Was her response to him based on the mating instinct? Or was it deeper? Something even more primal?
Something like…love.
No, no, love is dangerous. Love will make me weak. It wrecked my world before.
When she’d given her heart to the wrong man. A man who was still destroying those close to her.
“I had no idea,” Holly said and Ella believed her. “I don’t even know where he’d get the material for a change like that or how he’d do it.”
She had a suspicion. “Maybe someone in your government has been collecting Fey wings. And using them to make new monsters.” Now she was sad. “We’re kind of like butterflies. If you cut off our wings, we die.”
Holly sucked in a sharp breath. “Ella, I’m sure that Eric didn’t—”
“How did you track us so fast?” That question had been nagging at her. “Don’t get me wrong. It was great to see the cavalry arrive, but I don’t quite understand how you found us so quickly.” She glanced over at Holly. “Or how Eric found me at that church.”
Holly’s gaze cut away from hers.
“I would really like the truth.”
Holly gave a faint nod. “You…you have a tracking device. Embedded beneath the skin of your hand. I put it there…when you got cut trying to escape.”
Her heart seemed to slow. “Eric wanted it there.”
“He was trying to protect you!”
Sadly, Ella glanced back through the glass. “No, I think he was just trying to track me. I know what it’s like to be hunted.” But she hadn’t realized, not until then, that Eric was the one hunting her. Her hand lifted and touched the glass. “So close,” Ella whispered. “I thought I nearly had what I wanted…”
***
“So…” Connor drawled as he studied the prisoner. “You injected yourself with everything you could find…and you made yourself into what—a Fey wannabe? A distorted version of a real beast?”
Cedric just laughed. “Isn’t that what Eric Pate did? What you did? Nature didn’t make you strong enough, so you had to take evolution in your own hands, just like me.”
The bastard sure wasn’t acting weak. Were all the tranqs already out of his system? Talk about a fast metabolism rate.
“But one disadvantage you have…I’m smarter than you are,” Cedric said, smirking. “So much smarter. And I’ve been around for a hell of a lot longer.”
“Get rid of the compulsion on Eric and Lawrence.”
“No,” Cedric said. Then he laughed. “Do you know…I still remember the first time I realized I could work a compulsion—I had a young Fey in my dungeon. I got him to cut off his own wings. Amazing, really…that was when I knew my experiments had worked. I could control anyone or anything—I had that power. And I was going to use it.”
“You’re a sick freak, you know that?” Disgust twisted his lips.
Cedric just laughed. “I’m not the only freak in the place. Your director, Eric Pate. I could smell all the beasts just waiting to spring out of him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have fought his true self for so long. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken all those drugs that he did to keep his control in place…maybe then he would have been able to fight me.” He shrugged. “But maybe not. Maybe nothing would have changed his fate. Now he’s mine. Mine to use and then mine to kill.”
Connor glared at the bastard. “There’s an easy way to end this.” His claws shot out. “I can just kill you now and we’re all be home free.”
Cedric’s eyes were slits. “I’m sure you would like to think so, but the truth is, I didn’t come in here, flying blind. I came to this place to get my Ella back.”
“I don’t think she considers herself to be yours.”
Actual sadness seemed to flash across the guy’s gaze. “I have lived a long time,” he murmured. “Long enough that I developed powers others didn’t. After all, I created the first vampires…with my lovely brew. I made them. I made werewolves. I made all those beasts out there. So it really only stands to reason that I control them. No matter how far away from me they are.”
“Keep up the lies,” Connor told him. “They’ll just—”
“Kill her, Eric.”
Ice slid down his spine. “What did you just say?”
Cedric smiled. “I gave another compulsion. I can do that, you see. Once my bite is there, the prey doesn’t have to be close anymore. It’s almost like I poison them…poison their minds so that they can only hear me.”
“Then who the hell did you just order him to kill?”
“Ella.” He laughed. “All those centuries, looking for her, and she betrayed me. Did you think I’d let that happen? No…not ever. He’ll try to kill her, and you see, she’ll have to fight back against him. She’ll fight him and in the end…” Again, that twisted laughter slid from him before Cedric said, “I’m betting on her. She’s the real Fey. They always fight to the death. Then Eric will be no more, and Ella will have learned a very valuable lesson.”
He’s bullshitting. He has to be— “What lesson is that?” Connor demanded.
“You don’t screw around on me.”
Connor stared into his eyes. The bastard wasn’t bullshitting.
“I’m killing you,” Connor said. “That will stop it. That will end—”
“End her? Yes, yes it would.” His eyes gleamed. “Do you know why I kept sea
rching for her, all these years? These long endless years? Because we were linked. I did that. I made it so. Bound us so tightly together. She wouldn’t be with another, no matter what she thought. Ella would always be tied…with me. To me.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Anything is possible,” Cedric snarled right back. “When I had her in my dungeon, I knew I couldn’t live without her. So I made certain she couldn’t live without me. I die, she dies.” When he talked of Ella, his face showed a wild mix of longing and hate. “Fitting, isn’t it? Either one of her lovers will kill her…the big, tough FBI agent who was supposed to save the world or…” His eyes were icy. “Or she’ll die when one of you dumbasses decide it’s time for me to go to hell. The instant that you kill me, Ella is dead, too. She doesn’t win. She doesn’t escape, and she doesn’t live without me!”
Sonofabitch…the guy was crazy. Crazy as all hell. But…
Connor whirled for the door, roaring for the guards outside. I also think the bastard is telling the truth.
***
He was being watched.
Eric lay on the table, heavy metal straps cutting into his skin. Someone had strapped him down to that table. Silver straps. Like that was supposed to do something to him. Holly should have known better.
All of the strengths. None of the weaknesses. He was a true cross-over.
The silver wouldn’t hurt him. But it did annoy him. Holly should have been more careful. Holly…my sister…He could see her in his mind—her hair pulled back, her delicate features worried—
The thought, the image that had been there vanished.
What the hell is happening? What is wrong with me?
He kept his eyes closed. He didn’t want to give anything away to the watcher. He could feel the eyes on him, and Eric tried to figure out what was going on around him.
His mind seemed splintered. When he attempted to grab a thought, a memory of the last few hours, things got hazy.
Rage was in his mind. A fury that felt as if it belonged more to an animal than a man. And he was a man…wasn’t he?
He tried to push past that rage.
He heard a faint squeak. Caught the soft pad of a footstep. Smelled lilacs.
“Are you going to continue pretending that you’re still out?” Her voice was soft and sensual, and it stroked right over him.
For an instant, the rage flared even hotter within him. No one can take her. Need her. Kill…for her.
“I know you’re awake. I saw your breathing change. Holly told me I was crazy to come inside, but I think I can reach you. Or maybe I just hope that I can.”
His eyes opened. His head turned, and Eric saw her. A wild tangle of dark hair. Eyes that saw too deep. Red lips.
And a smile that…seemed to break something in him. Her smile shouldn’t be sad. I don’t want her sad.
“Guess what I just found out? You put a tracking device on me.” Her lips thinned. “Completely not cool, Eric. Very stalker-like, and not part of our deal.”
Deal.
You couldn’t make a deal with the devil. Is that what I am?
She crept closer. The scent of lilacs deepened. He liked that scent.
“Did you know, all along, that you had Fey DNA in you? That your wings would come out if you just let go of that precious control and your wild side took over?”
He didn’t have wings. Wait…a quick flash pushed through his mind. Him, holding the beautiful woman right beside him. Flying.
Sonofabitch.
“What…” The one word was more growl than anything else as he forced himself to speak. “Happened?” More images and memories pushed through his mind. Splinters…
“You’re under a compulsion. Probably some bull about letting your beast out and control just being a memory for you. I don’t know exactly what Cedric said to you—”
Cedric.
And he could see the bastard. Smirking. Blood around him. Gold chains…
Show them all just what a monster…you really are…
Eric roared and shoved upward. The bars restraining him groaned. Bent. Broke.
He jumped to his feet and stood there, his chest heaving, his fangs burning, and his claws most definitely out.
She didn’t retreat. She should have. She took a step closer. “I figured those wouldn’t really hold you for long.” Her hand lifted and he saw the gun she held. “I think I’m supposed to pump you full of tranq, but I don’t want to do that.”
Bad plan. I’ll have that gun out of your hand before you can fire the first shot.
“Do you know who I am?”
Absolutely. Even through the rage and pain and madness that was his mind, he recognized her. “Mine.”
Her lips curled and her half-smile made his chest ache even more. “It’s not like my name is ‘Mine,’ you know. I’m a person. Not a thing you own.”
He wanted to own her. Possess her. Claim her.
Love her?
Eric shook his head. Hard.
“Come on,” she urged him. “Say my name. You can do it. You know me.”
He did. “El…la…” Again. Speech was way too hard. Because a beast didn’t speak.
And her smile stretched. Her eyes lit up. A real smile. That ache he felt got worse. Something is very wrong with me.
“That’s right. I’m Ella. And you’re Eric. You’re the director of the Para Unit. Do you remember the Para Unit?”
Vampires. Werewolves. Humans. Hell.
He nodded. His breathing rasped out. Every instinct he had screamed that he should attack—but attack what? Who?
Not her. Not ever her.
“And Purgatory? Do you remember Purgatory?”
A flash came in his mind again. A prison, surrounded by the rough waves of an ocean. Silver bars. Drugged vampires. Once more, he managed a grim nod.
Her shoulders sagged. “Good. We’re making progress.” Then she stepped even closer to him. Her right hand lifted and pressed to his bare chest, right over his heart. He felt her touch, burning right through him. Sliding beneath his skin. Straight to his soul.
I don’t have one.
Did he?
“If you can’t come back to me, if you keep attacking your own men, they will try to send you to Purgatory. They’ll think you broke. That the beast won.” Her smile was gone now. “I won’t let that happen to you. I’ll do anything to save you.”
Why? He couldn’t force that word out.
Desire burned in him. Her touch had ignited a firestorm. His cock ached and he wanted to lift her up, spread her legs, and fuck her deep and hard. Right there.
He wanted to bite her and mark her.
He wanted to keep her.
Love…Again, that one word whispered through him.
But…
“Eric?” She rose onto her tip-toes, standing before him, seemingly completely unaware of the danger right in front of her. “Please, I need you to talk to me. I need you to come back to me.”
His hand lifted and his claws trailed over her arm. It would be so easy to attack.
A beast would attack.
Not her.
She shivered. “I can go to Cedric. I can offer him a deal. I can—”
He yanked her up, spun around and put her down on that exam table, caging her with his arms and his legs.
Ella gulped and peered up at him through her lashes. “That was fast. I’m guessing the tranqs aren’t in your system now? Super-fast metabolism,” she muttered. “Super-fast.”
“Fuck.”
Her brows shot up. “Uh, Eric—”
He kissed her. Too rough. Too hard. Too deep. Her hands rose up and pushed against his chest. She was trying to stop him.
Because I’m wrong. I’m…beast?
He nipped her lower lip, and she gasped. Her lips parted more and he drove his tongue inside. His cock was so full and thick, and being in her—he had to get inside of her.
But she turned her head away. “Eric, I don’t—”
“Help.” Speaking was so damn hard. He needed her to understand. Something was rising in him. He could feel it. The muscles in his back were aching. The bones seeming to bend. He was changing and he couldn’t stop it.
But in his mind, he’d remembered a time when he’d felt in utter control—of every part of himself. When he’d felt… “Peace,” Eric rasped.
She stilled.
He’d been at peace when he’d been in her. With her. Then all his demons had quieted. It had been the best moment of his life.
With her.
Her eyes searched his. “I think I’m getting this…” She tossed her shirt aside, baring her breasts to him. Small but round, with beautiful, dark tips. “Just to be clear…I want you. I always have, and I think I always will.”
He took her breast in his mouth. Tasted her. And the madness in his mind quieted, just for a moment.
Not a beast. A man. That’s what she does. She—
He felt the wings break through his back. Ella gasped and stiffened in his arms.
He stepped back, just far enough to yank off her jeans. His claws pretty much shredded her panties, but he didn’t touch her skin. He couldn’t hurt her.
Ella was special.
Ella was…
Everything.
“Your wings are beautiful,” she told him.
And she was staring at him with awe in her eyes. There was no fear there. No doubt. She trusted him so completely.
When he didn’t trust himself.
“S-sorry…” For all he’d done. For—
“Shut up and kiss me,” Ella told him. “And then fuck me. Hard and wild. The way we both like.”
No, she wasn’t afraid. She wanted him—every bit of him. And she was fighting to keep him with her. Fighting the darkness and the madness. She’d said that she would do anything to bring him back.
And he would do anything to stay with her.
His mouth took hers. Deep and wild. Her taste pushed through his madness and just drove up his desire. A lust that was taking over everything else.
If he didn’t have her right then, he was afraid to see what he’d do.
What I’ll become.
Because Ella was his peace. She was his hope.
He made sure nothing was between them. He touched her, flesh to flesh. He reached down to position his cock—