He hoped like fuck nothing had changed.
He worried Brick hadn’t taken into account the lab’s reactions to his seer’s immunity to the venom. Maybe Brick thought they’d just kick him back to the prison if it didn’t work, and now had no way to get him out. After all, according to Brick, the vampires on the outside hadn’t been able to find this facility on their own.
Black at least understood now why Brick wanted his help to break into this freak-show in the first place. Truthfully, the idea of helping that fucking vampire burn this place to the ground was almost appealing to him at this point.
Based on what Dr. Nguyen said just now, they would figure out he wasn’t quite like other people very soon. Luckily, so far they hadn’t done anything overly invasive to him. They hadn’t even stripped him naked, so he doubted anyone but Puzzle had seen his cock.
He grimaced at that thought, as well.
Bottom line was, he was out of time.
He had to get the fuck out of here.
If Dr. Sadist and her band of merry idiots found out he wasn’t human, there was a good chance he’d never leave this underground lab ever again.
AT LEAST BRICK had been right about one thing.
The venom really wasn’t as bad after the first few rounds.
This batch made him nauseous, but it was more like a mild case of food poisoning than anything close to what he’d experienced that first night. He’d really thought he was going to fucking die that night. He came close to even welcoming it a few times.
He was back in the room with Puzzle now.
The vampire curled up against his side, his head resting on Black’s chest as he watched the chocolate movie for probably the twentieth time since Black had been in here. Black had started dreaming some of the songs, his mind making up new cautionary lyrics for the Oompa-Loompas, most of which involved killing vampires and beheading doctors in white lab coats.
More and more, he felt like the vampire’s pet dog.
A pet dog the vampire seemed increasingly addicted to eating and fucking, usually at the same time, and usually while he was far enough in Black’s mind that Black couldn’t do much about either. He’d more or less given up trying to effect that side of things, at least for now.
Reasoning with Puzzle when it came to food didn’t work. It was like trying to reason with a perpetually hungry child about candy––a bloodsucking, rapey child who couldn’t comprehend why Black didn’t want it to violate his body every few seconds.
He didn’t give up entirely, though.
“You could do it, if you wanted,” Black said, his voice coaxing, persuasive. “They must have something in here you could use. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t bother to tie me up.”
The vampire sighed, snuggling deeper against Black’s side and pressing his cool cheek to Black’s chest. He’d just spent the last hour or so feeding off Black in short bursts... all the while sending him impressions of Miri to get both of them off.
Now the vampire was full and sleepy and sexually sated... which is when he usually wanted to do what he was doing now, meaning use Black as furniture and watch his stupid chocolate movie.
“Come on,” Black coaxed. “You said you’d help me, if you could.”
Sighing in more frustration that time, Puzzle raised his head. Then, moving in that liquid way of his, he slid up Black’s body, sitting astride him, high up on his waist. He began massaging his chest, looking down at his neck.
“All right,” he said, his voice bordering on grumpy. “Show me.”
Black shifted under him, hiding his discomfort at having Puzzle pressing down against him. Fighting the grimace off his face at the intrusion in his light, he turned his head, exposing as much of his neck and the connecting part of the collar as he could.
Puzzle leaned down over him, peering at the collar’s locking mechanism from only a few inches away. He fingered the edges of it, including where it went into the skin of his neck and wrapped around his spine.
“You think cutting this would get it off you?” Puzzle said.
“If you cut it, that part connected to me should retract.”
“Why do you think that?”
Black clenched his jaw, but answered in the same tone. “Because that’s how they work. You saw it, Puzzle. You saw me wearing collars in that other world.”
Puzzle pressed against him again, still stroking his chest. He continued examining the collar though, and after a few seconds more, he shook his head.
“No,” he said. “It won’t work.”
Black clenched his jaw again, fighting frustration. “Yes. It will.”
“No,” Puzzle said, shaking his head a second time. “It won’t.” Adjusting his weight on Black’s chest, he sighed, meeting his gaze. “I’ve seen these before, too. I’ve seen the ones they make here... not just the ones from your other world. I know how they work.”
“So how do you get them off?” Black said.
“You don’t,” Puzzle said, frowning. “Not without the collar-holder.” He fingered the brushed metal again. “If I cut this, the connecting piece would explode.”
Black turned, staring up at him. “What?”
“You heard me. They put explosives in the connectors... I’ve seen it before. Anyway, I can see it now. Not well, with you cuffed to the bed, but enough to know it’s there.”
At Black’s continued stare, Puzzle sighed.
“We can see in multiple light spectrums, Quentin,” he said, massaging his chest. “I can see the electronics in there. I can see the living parts, too.”
Black flinched, then made his expression utterly still. “Living parts?”
Puzzle nodded, pursing his lips. “Collars like this are one of the animal machines, right? The ones your people make? I was told the original design came from Charles... that vicious one of yours, the one who leads your people. My people modified the design from there, changing some of the locking mechanisms and the punishment settings.”
Frowning deeper as he watched Black think about this, Puzzle shrugged. “Maybe that’s why you don’t know about the explosives? Because vampires put them there? Either way, you really should know more about how these work, Quentin. You could have killed yourself, messing around with this at that prison with your friend.”
Black swallowed, dropping his head back down on the pillow.
He felt sick. Sicker than he had from the venom.
“They got the technology from Charles,” he said, his voice deadened.
“Well... yes. Of course,” Puzzle said, stroking his face. “Where else would we get it? We’d never encountered anything like you before. And clearly, we couldn’t allow you to hunt us. Your kind is a lot more dangerous than humans...”
Black didn’t answer. Staring straight up, he focused on the room’s white ceiling.
“Dr. Nguyen isn’t going to let me go, Puzzle. I’m supposed to go back... they have no way to find me here if I don’t get sent back to the prison.” He met Puzzle’s gaze, his jaw hardening. “Do you understand? I know you must have felt it on me. I’m supposed to tell Brick how to––”
Puzzle clamped his hand over Black’s mouth. When Black froze, looking up from where he was cuffed to the bed, Puzzle raised a finger to his lips, shushing him.
When he took his hand away, Black stared at him. “The room’s bugged?” he growled. “We’ve been talking about my fucking race, Puzzle.”
“Not bugged.” Puzzle shook his head, again pursing his lips in bewilderment. “My people. Don’t you understand? They can hear us through the walls.”
Black frowned, looking at those same walls. “Seriously?”
Puzzle nodded. “That’s how they all knew what you were right away. I knew I could never hide it from them, so I didn’t worry too much about us being quiet about that.” Leaning down to Black’s ear, he murmured right up against his skin. “But if they know our people are coming, Quentin, they might... overreact. I don’t want them to ruin Master Brick’s plans.�
�
Still breathing by Black’s ear, Puzzle hesitated.
Then he breathed more words, even softer than before.
“I know it is bad for you right now, my beautiful, beautiful Quentin. But we all suffer here. Do you see that? We all suffer. We all make our way through that nightmare as best as we can.” Kissing Black’s face, he spoke into his ear again, softer still. “Mustn’t wake them too early,” he murmured. “Can’t wake them up too soon...”
Black frowned as Puzzle raised his head.
“It won’t make any difference if I don’t leave, Puzzle,” he growled.
Puzzle smiled. “Don’t worry. He’s very clever. He’ll think of something.”
Black didn’t have to ask who he meant.
Puzzle slid his hands under Black’s shirt, stroking his chest and shoulders as he pushed the cotton cloth up his body. Black writhed again in discomfort, wincing at the pain that rose the longer the vampire touched him.
When Puzzle reached for his face again, Black jerked away.
“Cut it out,” he growled, out of breath. “Jesus. Haven’t you gotten enough of me tonight? Leave me alone.”
The vampire pouted, looking down at him. “You’re sad now,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you sad. I only told you the truth.”
Black winced, jerking away again when the other used a finger to trace his lips.
“God,” Puzzle said. “I love your mouth. I see why she loves it too. I really want you to give me head. What if we did that, only I made you think you were doing it with her? Or maybe that she was here, watching us? Would you like that?”
“You put anything in my mouth, Puzzle, and I guarantee you’re going to lose it.”
Puzzle frowned, but only nodded, sighing.
“Okay,” he said, his voice meek.
He didn’t stop touching him though, and Black found his breathing coming harder when the vampire slid a hand between his legs.
“Goddamn it,” he growled. “Cut it out! I mean it. Leave me alone!”
That time, Puzzle ignored him.
Lowering his mouth, he bit Black in the chest on the upper left side. His fangs gradually extended into the muscle and flesh of Black’s chest. He started drawing blood out of him and Black groaned, unable to help it when Miri’s face appeared in front of him.
It wasn’t just her face... he could feel her.
He could fucking feel her as Puzzle continued to feed. He could tell himself over and over again that it was an illusion, that the vampire was only projecting his own memories back at him, confusing his light, but it didn’t change any part of his light’s response.
He groaned louder when the feeling strengthened.
“Fuck you,” he managed. Miri’s presence grew stronger and Black got lost in it, feeling all of the remaining blood in his body rush to his cock. “Goddamn it...”
Puzzle sucked harder, a plume of lust coming off him as he gripped Black’s side and ribs in one of his hands. Still drinking, he began moving his body against Black’s without detaching from his chest, his other hand still massaging him between his legs.
By the time Black came, he’d almost forgotten the vampire altogether.
Eyes closed, lost in his own light, all he could feel was Miri’s. The pain blinded him, wiped away all other attempts at thought, at reason. It got bad enough at one point that he lost control altogether... like it always did if the vampire was determined enough, patient enough, willing to take his time and wait Black out.
Somehow, in some way Black hadn’t yet determined, Puzzle kept him from igniting the collar. Rather than making it easier to fight the vampire, it made it harder. Black ended up drunk in that space of feeling Miri but not, lost as he looked for her, fighting to hold onto the small bits Puzzle fed him, teased him with, used to pull on him.
By the end, he had no idea where he was at all, or who he was with.
He saw Miri hanging over him, sitting astride him in the dark. He felt Miri’s hand on him as he thrust up against her, massaging him maddeningly sensually, like she always did when she knew he’d lost control... when she knew he’d do anything she wanted. It was Miri whose mouth was on his chest, who pulled on him with her teeth and tongue... and he groaned her name when he came, totally lost in that dream, unable to see anything past it.
When he opened his eyes at first, seeing a stranger hanging over him, hair sweated to the sides of his delicate neck, Black had no idea where he was.
Some part of him couldn’t stop looking for her, even then. He looked for her in that mirage, looking past and through the vampire even as Puzzle smiled at him, wiping his bloody mouth with a pale hand. Murmuring to Black, the vampire used that same hand to stroke the hair back from Black’s face as he nuzzled his face and neck.
Black continued to look, until he was too exhausted, his light too utterly depleted.
By then, the vampire was curled up against his side once more, his head resting contentedly on Black’s chest. Black found his eyes going to the television when he realized the movie still played. He watched, numb, as one of the children on the wall screen slowly turned purple and blue, blowing up to the size of a bloated beachball.
Not long after that, Black dozed off.
That fucking chocolate movie still danced and sang through his dreams once he did.
HE WOKE VIOLENTLY, his mind shocked brutally into awareness. His eyes took in a room he barely recognized, a room full of guards wearing kevlar and holding shields. Some of them were shouting. Black’s eyes opened to those shouts, to bright lights and confusion, right before he heard hissing and a wailing scream.
He raised his head, groaning when his mind tilted. He tried again anyway, fighting to clear his eyes. He managed to focus on the commotion on the other end of the room, right before the overheads switched off, making the amount of light easier to deal with.
He felt weak, overly drained. He fought not to think about the night before.
Then two of those guards were by his ankles, unlocking him from the corners of the bed. Cuffing his ankles back together, they moved to his wrists to repeat the ritual, then the one to his right pulled Black roughly up to sitting and then to his feet, supporting him with an arm around his waist.
“Fucking bloodsucker nearly killed him,” the guard said, disgust in his voice. “Jesus Christ. We need to clean him up before we bring him upstairs, or they’re going to ask questions. We don’t want him going to their infirmary until the bites have healed...”
“I don’t understand this.” Dr. Nguyen’s voice managed to cut through the commotion on both ends of the room. “They’ve never interrupted us in the middle of a sequence before. Don’t we have contracts in place to prevent this kind of thing? It’s outrageous!”
“All I know is, they have the right paperwork to bring him back,” the guard told her grimly. “They say it’s temporary. He’ll be returned to the lab when this gets resolved.”
“When what gets resolved?” she fumed.
“I honestly don’t know, ma’am. It appears we aren’t being given that information, but the request was approved.” The man grimaced then, looking at the bite marks on Black’s bare chest. Again, Black felt a dark cloud of his revulsion. “And if you don’t want to get caught with your pants down next time, doc, why don’t you house the poor bastard alone for awhile when he gets back? Instead of letting these fucking things have their way with them all the time?”
Dr. Nguyen gave him a scathing look. “You’re overstepping, Captain. Your role here is to provide security. Don’t meddle in areas in which you know nothing. That man is a dangerous criminal... someone who’s lucky to be alive at all.”
“If you say so,” the guard returned evenly. “But he’s still a human being, whatever he’s done.” The guard’s voice grew several shades colder. “I’m beginning to question if you are, though. Aren’t we all in this together? I thought the whole point of these ‘experiments’ was to protect human beings from these things... not feed us to
them.”
That time, Dr. Nguyen only rolled her eyes, folding her arms across the front of the white lab coat she wore over her clothes.
By then, Black could focus more on the rest of the room.
Six other guards surrounded a single form huddled in the corner under the elevated television set. The person hunched there was shirtless, skinny, and appeared to be holding his head in both hands. He rocked himself back and forth, screeching like his body was on fire.
Despite how wretched Puzzle sounded, the guards didn’t relax their stances. They continued to watch him tensely despite his submissive pose, their expressions wary bordering on nervous. From their hands sparked long-handled electric cattle prods with blue-white currents.
“Face the wall!” the one in the center said, holding his prod towards Puzzle’s face. “Now! Hands flat and to the wall!”
Puzzle didn’t stop rocking himself, or wailing, his hands holding his head.
“Now!” the guard shouted. “Face the wall now!”
It didn’t take Black long to realize they must have spent some time subduing the vampire already. He must have been really fucking out of it, to sleep through that.
Even as he thought it, Dr. Nguyen raised her voice, speaking sharply above the sound of Puzzle’s wails and the guards’ commands.
“Stop fighting the drugs and do as David says, Puzzle,” she said sternly. “You don’t want to force them to give you another shot, do you?”
“But he’s mine! You can’t take him!” Puzzle was in tears, hissing and growling each exhaled breath as he panted. Black winced at the pure despair in the vampire’s voice. “You can’t! Please! Please don’t take him! I’ll do anything...”
“Puzzle.” The doctor folded her arms tighter, making her voice even more stern. “You must have known this was coming. I was crystal clear that if you or any of the others abused one of your companions, you would lose that companion.” Her voice grew almost motherly. “Puzzle, this is ridiculous. You will get a new companion in a few days... if you behave yourself with that one, we’ll let you keep it longer.”
Black And Blue (Quentin Black Mystery #5) Page 27