by C. J. Barry
Max! she cried, but there was only silence.
Price’s face entered her line of sight, and she heard him talk in a faraway voice. “Bite me, Seneca.”
Then she passed out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Carl leaned back in his chair after Seneca left to get the file. “Do you miss the good days, Max? Back when you and Ell actually had a life together?”
It was an odd question. “Sometimes.”
Carl drummed his fingers on the desk. “It would be nice if you could have that again with Seneca. I know you care about her a great deal.”
The strange feeling Max had when he first walked in turned to wariness. His old friend stood up from behind the desk and walked over to a window that overlooked rooftops. “What would you sacrifice to have that again?”
Max looked at the door behind him. What was taking Seneca so long? “Why are you asking me this now, Carl?”
Carl turned to him. “Is it too much to ask for a life? To ask for peace? For a home. For happiness. We deserve that much, don’t we? Doesn’t everyone?”
Max pushed up from his chair, his body going into full- ready mode. “Yes, we do. And we aren’t going to have it with Hager around.”
“I fear we won’t have it with humans either.”
“We haven’t given them a chance yet.” Max moved for the door. Where was she?
“I think we have,” Carl said. “And they failed.”
Max was about to turn the doorknob when Carl’s voice stopped him.
“I have very few friends left, Max. You are one of them.” Carl gave him a crooked smile. “I don’t want to lose you.”
The smell of Shifters seeped in around the door. Max stared at him. “What have you done?”
“What was necessary.”
Sonofabitch. Max morphed into Shifter form and smashed through the door. He rushed into the office to find it full of Shifters—some in human form with weapons, some in Primary form. In the center was Seneca, gagged, unconscious, and tied to a chair. Price stood behind her, grinning like the bastard he was, with a gun to her head. “Shift back to human, or I’ll blow her brains out.”
Rage flooded his body and Max growled low in his chest. Price’s eyes widened, but he lifted Seneca’s head by her hair and put the gun to her temple.
“Don’t do it, Max,” Carl said from behind him. “You’ll die, and so will she.”
Max swung around to face him, and realized he’d joined Hager. “You set us up.”
Carl didn’t look at all sorry. “This is the only way, Max.”
“Have you forgotten what he did?” he asked.
Carl shook his head. “No, but this is the best chance we have. Shift back now, Max. Please. Hager wants you both alive, but he didn’t specify how much.”
Max could move fast enough to take out Price, he knew that. But he couldn’t risk Seneca getting killed in the melee that followed. On the other hand, she’d blame him for not trying. There was no winning this. He looked at her, the way her black hair flowed around her face, the beauty inside and out that he couldn’t risk. With his last breath, he would save her.
“I shift, she lives,” Max said to Price.
He lifted his chin. “Of course.”
“And when the time comes,” Max said low, “I’m going to rip you limb from limb.”
Price blanched. Max shifted. Seconds later, he was pelted with tranquilizer darts.
Seneca could hear men talking. She was cold and damp, and laid out on something hard. Her head weighed a ton and pounded steadily. Her neck and shoulders hurt. Her throat was like sandpaper. She opened her eyes to pitch blackness. When she tried to touch her face to see if her eyes were really open, she realized her hands and feet were bound together.
Where was she? Where was Max? Her eyes adjusted slowly, and she noticed a thin strip of light outlining a door to her right. A door meant a room. It smelled of mold and dirt, like somewhere underground. Had to be Hager’s lair. She tried her restraints again, but the straps were tight around her wrists and she was lashed to the table with a big strap over her chest. She wriggled but there was no way to reach the strap.
For a long moment, she imagined what she was going to do to that weasel Price next time she saw him. Death was too good for him. He’d betrayed her and Max. And Carl too? She didn’t know.
Another even more disturbing thought arose above the throbbing in her head: She was alive. Why? She’d heard enough about Hager to know that he’d do just about anything with little to no provocation. So why spare her?
Outside the door, voices rose and drew closer. Shadows moved across the sliver of light.
“You promised peace this time,” someone said. “This is war.” His accent was thick and Irish.
Another voice replied, “In order to have peace, you must be prepared for war, Puck. I’m simply ensuring our superior position.”
The one with the accent said, “Like on Govan? When you traded Shifter lives for a superior position? A life of luxury while others died.”
They were talking about how Hager had betrayed the Shifters. Seneca closed her eyes and hung on every word. One of them had to be Hager. Who was the man with the accent?
Hager said, “You didn’t complain then. Your life was good. You had everything you ever needed.”
“Until the government betrayed us, and we lost it all.”
Seneca smirked. Hager betrayed his people to the Govan government and then the government betrayed him? Now, that was justice.
Hager said, “It worked out to our advantage too. We moved to a better home with these humans. Nearly perfect DNA to replicate. The plan is going exactly as we agreed.”
Moved to a better home? Wait. She’d been told that they crashed here by mistake. But what if they didn’t? What if Hager targeted Earth on purpose? She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
“I like these humans.”
Hager replied, “Well, they don’t like us, and that’s all that matters. We destroyed the ship. We can’t flee this planet like we did the last one. There are no other options. We live here in peace, or we die here fighting. One way or the other, we will be accepted.”
Seneca felt her mouth open in disbelief. Hager destroyed the ship. It was no mistake. He had stranded the Shifters here. Why?
The other man said, “You destroyed it because you were afraid the Govan government would find out that you stole it from them.”
Unbelievable, Seneca thought. He stole the ship and then used it to transport as many Shifters as he could here. Those Shifters thought they were leaving to find a new home. All they were doing was providing Hager with an army. What kind of monster did that? He had to die.
The Irishman stuttered. “We . . . we ruined our people . . . We have no children. No future.”
There was a short pause. “You and I agreed when we left Govan that we would do whatever was necessary to survive. If that means we fight for our place, then that’s what we do, little brother.”
Hager had a brother? Oh great, there were two of them.
“And what of the humans?” the brother asked. “Do you plan to wipe them out too?”
Seneca froze, waiting. Hager replied, “Not at all. In fact, they will serve us. We can live forever through their bodies. We’re immortal here, Puck. Immortal.”
Seneca felt horror ice up her veins. It was a scenario she had never imagined in her worst nightmares, and she’d had some bad nightmares. She couldn’t let that happen. Not to her people. Not to Max or the Shifters. They didn’t know any of this, she was sure of it. If they did, Hager wouldn’t be alive right now.
The door opened, and she pretended to be unconscious. She heard them approach and fought the instinct to open her eyes. Although, if they wanted her dead, she’d already be dead.
“She’s still out.”
Hager said, “Good. Move her to the chamber before the others arrive. I want her to wake up surrounded by Shifters.”
Bastard. Like she needed
one more reason to hate him.
“She won’t join us,” the brother said. “She’s stubborn.”
Stubborn? They had no idea.
“I can be very persuasive,” Hager said, with a chill in his voice.
“And then what?”
“Then we either have a celebration or an execution.”
Hell.
Seneca waited for Hager to leave the room. She felt his brother gently remove the thick strap that held her to the table. Her mind raced through her options and settled on the only one that held a glimmer of hope.
“Your name is Puck?” she asked.
The man stepped back, surprised by the fact that she was awake. She turned her head and looked at him, silhouetted in the doorway. He was a small man, hunched and old. But the light behind him highlighted the biggest Shifter shadow she’d ever seen. Larger even than Max. Powerful, pure energy pulsed around him, his frail human figure nearly lost inside it.
He stepped closer to her. “I am. How do you feel?”
She studied his face and found genuine kindness. What was he doing with the likes of Hager? “I have a headache.”
“Aye, I bet you do. I apologize for this . . . situation.”
She sat up slowly and swung her bound feet over the edge of the table. “It’s not your fault. Your brother means a great deal to you. I understand that.”
Puck’s shoulder rounded slightly and he bowed his head. “He is all I have left.”
“I know what your people have suffered.” Seneca eyed the distance between them. She couldn’t jump far enough to force-shift him. She needed to get him closer. She needed common ground. “Do you think, when he’s done, there will be peace?”
The little man looked up at her with great sadness. “I hope so.”
“Did it work on Govan?” she pressed.
He shook his head. “No.”
“How many lives were lost there? How many more will be lost here? Or does he only care about his own life?”
Puck winced. “He’s smarter than I am. Always has been.”
She smiled. “Smarter doesn’t mean right. Right is what’s in your heart. Think with your heart, Puck.”
“My brother doesn’t like it when I think.” Puck moved to a small table against the wall and picked up a syringe full of something she was sure was meant for her. Seneca’s pulse sped up. She didn’t have much time left. He was going to drug her again. “You’re right, you know. I won’t join you.”
Puck came to her, syringe in hand. “My brother always gets what he wants.”
“I’d rather die than betray my people. I’d rather fight your brother than do what I know in my heart is wrong.”
Puck held the needle inches away as he stared at her. Please, she thought. Please listen.
“We aren’t different from you,” she whispered, fear lacing her voice. She couldn’t win this alone. She needed help. “We’re all related, Puck. We all love.”
Puck’s face reddened as he jabbed the needle into her shoulder. “I am sorry.”
UVC light flooded Max’s tiny cell. His head was cloudy thanks to the aftereffects of the tranquilizers. He’d been stripped down to his jeans. And Seneca was nowhere to be seen, which worried him, a lot. It occurred to him about five minutes after he woke up here that Hager didn’t need him. If he had Carl, then he knew all about XCEL and the Committee, and probably a whole lot more than Max could ever give him. And Hager knew Max would never agree to work for him.
Which left only one conclusion: Hager had wanted Seneca all along. And the only reason he would want her was if he had discovered her ability to identify and force-shift Shifters.
“Shit,” Max said under his breath. He should have realized that the first time they tried to grab her in the parking garage, but he thought it was for the XCEL agent contract. He’d missed a vital clue.
Which led him to the next question: Why was he still alive? An excellent question, and one he’d been thinking about for the past hour. The only reason he could come up with was as incentive—to force Seneca to work for Hager. She would do it for him. He knew that without a doubt.
Max laid his head back against the cold concrete wall. He’d trusted Carl with his life and Seneca’s. How could he have not seen that betrayal? And now Seneca would be at Hager’s beck and call, and Max would be her motivation. He clenched his fists tightly at the thought of Seneca bound and broken. He’d rather die than reduce her to that.
He studied the cell again. Four solid concrete walls. One small door bolted shut. UVC light overhead, ten feet up and protected by thick glass. He’d already tried to smash the door in his human form with no success. The light was too high to reach and there was no way to destroy the UVC bulb. If only he could shift, he was certain he’d be able to get through the door.
But if he shifted under the UVC light, he could die right here and Hager would live on. He’d never attempted to shift in the UV rays of daylight. On the other hand, Shifters had an uncanny way of adapting to their changing environments. Maybe he’d be the lucky one. Besides, he only needed to be alive long enough to save Seneca.
Max looked up at the light. He had two choices: Take his chances to shift and save Seneca, or sit here and be used to control her.
Max got to his feet and felt something in his pocket. He reached in and found Ell’s necklace. It spun on the chain, its inner light brilliant. Ell had always believed in hope, blindly and without reservation. A crazy faith that he never understood. And she always had faith in him, even when he didn’t.
Noko’s words echoed in his mind. You have a purpose here. Listen carefully, and you will find it.
He clenched the necklace in his fist. He’d found it.
Max closed his eyes and concentrated on every cell of his being. He thought how it would feel to fly, high above like an eagle, seeing a perfect Earth. He dredged up tiny scraps of hope from the people he cared about. He prayed to a god he didn’t have.
And made his choice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Seneca awoke in the center of a low, underground chamber. She lifted her heavy head. Through the drug-induced fog, she saw a half dozen Shifters lining the walls and chatting among themselves.
Straight ahead was a distinguished forty-something man in a gray suit sitting in a leather chair with his legs crossed, watching her. Hager. Behind him was Puck, quietly staring at the floor.
She looked around for Max but didn’t see him. The fog dissipated a little more, and she took a split-second inventory of herself. Rope bound her hands on her lap, and each of her feet was tied to a chair leg. Aside from the drug hangover, she appeared injury-free. So far.
She was still underground, in a low-arched wine cellar about thirty feet wide and longer than she could see. Racks of wine hugged the walls and created partitions down the length of the wide tunnel. No windows and no doors in sight. She couldn’t turn her head to see anything behind her because it felt like it would fall off.
“Welcome back to the living,” the man in the gray suit said. The room became noticeably quieter as every head turned to him. He stood and approached her. “The name is Hager. Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Fuck you,” she whispered, her throat raw.
One eyebrow cocked. “How eloquent.”
“Okay, try this. Fuck you, you miserable piece of shit. Better?”
He laughed. “You are exactly how I imagined. I have an offer for you.”
Go to hell, dickhead, she thought as she tried the ropes, but they were nice and tight. Her limbs felt tired and sluggish. If she had better control, she’d rush Hager, taking the chair with her. Then she’d force-shift his ass, maybe a few times. She’d never attempted that, but who knew? It might even kill him. That’d be worth the price of admission alone. Right now, though, she needed more time to recover.
Hager continued. “As you may be aware, we are creating a consortium of Shifters to protect ourselves.”
“That’s bullshit. You’re building an ar
my.”
He ignored her and waved to the others. “These are my borough lords.”
She scanned the group of men, who stared stoically at her. All Shifters. All looking perfectly human and normal. “And here I thought you guys just wanted world peace.”
“Peace takes too long on your planet. So we’ve decided to do it our own way,” Hager answered. “And we could use someone with your talents to make this transition of power a more painless process.”
“Transition of power. Wow, you make it sound so easy.”
“I’m giving you a wonderful opportunity,” he said. “And of course, you would have special privileges.”
She shook her head slowly. “What could you possibly give me to make me even think about working for you?”
“Max Dempsey. He’s here. And he’s alive. For now.”
The blood froze in her veins, clearing her head with remarkable speed.
“On the other hand, if you refuse,” Hager continued, “then we would have no choice but to terminate him.”
It shouldn’t have surprised her that he’d use Max to force her to work for him. She cast a look at Puck, but he just pressed his lips together and looked down at the ground. “And what would we be doing in your organization?”
Hager smiled. “Max would be protecting you. I wouldn’t want to take any chances with your precious gift.”
Her gift. Ah, all her brain cells clicked in unison. And that explained why she was alive and why he wanted her to join him.
Hager crossed his arms over his chest. “You can force Shifters to shift against their will.”
There was a collective gasp from the Shifters lining the walls. So Hager hadn’t told them. What else hasn’t he told them? she wondered. It might be worth finding out.
She laughed lightly. “That’s impossible. No one can do that.”
“You can.”
Seneca looked at the closest borough lord, a handsome, thirty-something guy with short brown hair and a deep chin dimple. He looked like a stockbroker. “Sounds crazy to me. Do you believe him?”