by Dena Christy
CHAPTER 17
Samara looked over at Eric from her prone position on the bed. He was in the act of pulling on a pair of jeans, and she thought it was a shame he was covering his beautiful behind. He looked over at her and grinned, as if he could read her thoughts.
“It’s time to get going, sweetheart,” he said, his voice taking on a tender tone.
Before Samara could reply the door to their bedroom and the door leading from the bathroom both flew open and crashed against the wall. Samara stared in disbelief as Alex charged in and pointed a Taser at Eric. The prongs connected with the skin on her lover’s chest and his body jerked violently before he dropped to the floor, arching and shaking.
“Eric!” she screamed as gloved hands reached out to hold her hands above her head. She writhed against her captor, attempting to kick him and trying to pull her arms free. Another wolf slapped a handcuff on her right wrist before threading the other cuff through the bars on the bed. He attached the manacle to her other wrist and they released her. Her eyes narrowed when Alex approached her and sat down on the bed. She saw the mark on his cheek and hissed at him.
“You’re a dead man, do you realize that? Cadric knows what you’ve done and he will send his people in here to kill you,” she said, pulling against her restraints.
“Why don’t you be a good girl and wait for me to take care of your lover? I’ll be back to deal with you later,” Alex said as his eyes ran over her naked body. She fought against the shiver of revulsion at the lust present in his eyes. She had a feeling that killing her wasn’t the first thing on Alex’s list when he came back.
“I’m not even going to bother waiting for the other members of the Order. I’m going to kill you myself,” she said through gritted teeth.
“You’re welcome to try. I always like a woman with a little bit of fight in her.”
Two of the guards picked Eric’s prone body up off the floor and carried him out of the room. The other guards followed them, leaving Alex behind.
He raised his Taser, and the two prongs shot out and embedded themselves in her shoulder. The puncture wounds felt like nothing when compared to the electricity coursing through her body. Then she felt nothing and everything went black.
SAMARA OPENED her eyes and blinked in confusion. The memory of what had happened came back to her when she felt the cold press of the handcuffs against her wrists. She had no idea how much time had passed since Alex had rendered her unconscious with the Taser. The room was dark now, and she hoped she could get herself free in time to save Eric. The chains on the handcuffs clinked against the brass of the bed frame as she pulled it taut. She pulled her arms outward, the muscles of her shoulders straining as she used all her strength against the chain. Grimacing at the pain where the cuffs cut into her wrists, ignoring the blood running down her forearm, she pulled harder. Her arms flew apart when the chain snapped in two.
She rolled over and stood beside the bed. Her legs felt like jelly. Bracing her hand against the headboard, she stood still until she found her equilibrium. Once she was steady she made her way to her bag and pulled on her jeans. She pulled out an old black T-shirt, and stared at it for a fleeting moment, thinking it was especially appropriate to put on a shirt for Godsmack’s song “Release the Demons” on the front.
As soon as she’d finished dressing, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her demon form. For a moment she worried it wouldn’t come, now that she was half wolf, but soon enough she felt the familiar ache between her shoulder blades as her wings sprouted from her back and ripped through her shirt. Strength flooded every cell in her body. Her hands transformed, her fingernails changing to three-inch razor-sharp talons. Her skin turned silver, and she knew her eyes would be glowing red above sharpened cheekbones more prominent than normal. She ran her tongue along her teeth, satisfied that she now possessed fangs that could rip through flesh. Cadric had forbidden her to take her demon form, because it rendered her less in control of herself. Bloodlust pounded through her veins, and a voice roared in her head to get to Eric and kill whoever thought to harm him.
She turned to the door just as it eased open. Her night vision was sharp, and she watched the guard who had chained her to the bed push open the door.
She let out a sharp hiss as she lunged at him, intending to rip him to pieces. He moved out of the way at the last second and she fetched up against the wall. This served only to piss her off and she turned back to him.
“Samara, it’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help you.”
“You lie.” The voice coming out of her mouth would not have been recognizable by anyone who knew her. It had taken a dark, thick quality, giving her already husky voice a dangerous edge.
“I’m with the Order. My name is Ryan,” he said as he opened his shirt and revealed the mark on his chest.
“Where have they taken Eric?” she asked, deciding to let him live for the moment.
“He’s in Horn’s lab. I’ll show you the way there. We have to hurry, before they do God knows what to him.”
Samara followed him out. A cold smile twisted her lips when she thought about what she was going to do to Alex once she found him.
ERIC OPENED HIS EYES, and for a moment the room was hazy and blurry before him. As the room came into focus, he realized he was sitting in a chair. The metal back was warm against the skin of his back, so he knew he’d been in this position for a while. His arms were behind him, and when he tried to move them he felt resistance and heard the clank of a chain against the back of the chair. The burning in his wrists told him they were using silver cuffs to restrain him. He would not be able to break it, nor would he be able to turn into a wolf to escape.
He looked around the room, surprised to see he was alone. The only furniture was the chair he was sitting in. A large mirror loomed on the other side of the room, and he knew someone was observing him from the other side.
“Are you such cowards that you have to restrain me?” he said, his upper lip curling into a sneer as he looked into the mirror. It didn’t take long for the door to the room to open. James Horn walked in, carrying a large syringe in his hand.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this, Eric,” he said, and Eric could detect genuine regret in his voice.
“Then why are you doing it?” he asked, growling as he strained against his bonds. It was no use, he couldn’t get free from the silver cuffs biting into the flesh of his wrists.
“I have no choice now. Things have gone too far to turn back. All I wanted was to perfect my research, but I went to the wrong kind of people for funding. I realized too late that they’d given me flawed material.”
“What’s wrong with the formula?” Eric asked, trying to buy time to try to think of a way to get out of here. He had to escape; he didn’t know where Samara was and Alex had yet to appear. He could be anywhere, doing anything to her.
“Some of the genetic material they provided me with was infected with rabies. It wasn’t until the wolves we were testing with it started going feral that I realized something was wrong.”
“Why didn’t you just destroy the formula?” Eric asked as he flinched at the cold, alcohol-covered cotton ball Horn was rubbing on the skin of his shoulder. Eric knew he was going to inject him with the formula. He had to keep Horn talking, to distract him enough to keep him from doing it.
“I tried Eric, believe me, I tried. They threatened to kill my mother if I did. These people are capable of killing the innocent if it furthers their goals.”
“Is that why they had Rowan killed?”
“Rowan? We didn’t kill Rowan. When he got back to Kingston the Order sent an assassin after him. We had nothing to do with his death.”
Eric fell silent. If the Order was responsible for Rowan’s death, there could only be one assassin who would have carried out the death warrant.
Samara.
“So how does it feel to know you’ve been fucking your brother’s murderer?” a voice asked from the door
.
Eric looked up to see Alex standing in the doorframe, a smug look of satisfaction on his face. The broken circle on his face burned livid red, and Eric knew he’d been right not to trust him. Too bad this realization came too late. He felt a painful pinch in his arm and jerked his head over to see Horn emptying the syringe into the flesh of his shoulder.
“And now you will have to meet the same fate as you brother,” Alex said, coming into the room and locking the door behind him. “But don’t worry. Samara won’t be the one to kill you. She won’t be returning to the Order. I have loftier plans for her. I’m going to enjoy filling her with my seed, and producing a super wolf with her.”
“You prick!” Eric yelled, straining against his chains. His chair scraped on the floor as he lunged at Alex. “You’re a dead man if you do.”
“And who’s going to kill me? You? Can it be you still have feelings for her after all she’s done to you?”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth about what happened to Rowan?” Eric asked, desperate to assure himself that Samara could not have killed his brother.
“Why would I lie about this? You’ll be dead in no time, and Samara will be mine.”
The mirror at the far end of the room exploded, spraying shards of glass as a creature flew through it and landed on its feet.
“I don’t fucking think so,” it said to Alex, and cold horror flooded Eric’s body when he realized the creature was Samara. The words she had spoken, and her long platinum hair were his only clue.
She had transformed into something both hideous and beautiful. Her skin was silver, her hands twisted claws with three-inch talons that looked like daggers coming out of the ends of her fingers.
It was her face, however, that disturbed him most. Her eyes glowed blood red, and her features had twisted and sharpened, erasing her angelic beauty.
She stepped further into the room, her movements imbued with fluid grace. Eric watched, helpless to aid her, as Horn pulled a Taser out of his pocket and rushed at her. He stood in front of her, pointing the weapon at her. It trembled in his hand.
Her blood red lips peeled back, revealing fangs and sharp, pointed teeth. Before Horn could act, one of her wings swooped out from behind her, its razor-sharp edge slicing through the flesh of Horn’s neck. His head fell to the floor and rolled like a bloody ball, before coming to rest close to where Eric was sitting. Eric had to turn away from the look of horror frozen on Horn’s face. Horn’s body made a dull thud as it hit the floor.
“Samara,” Alex said, his hands coming up in a pleading gesture. “You don’t want to do this. I’m a part of the Order. We’re part of the same team.”
“The mark on your face suggests otherwise,” she said as she approached him.
“Hadria will never forgive you if you kill me. She loves me,” Alex said as he pressed his back against the door.
“Hadria will understand why you need to die,” Samara said, reaching out to touch his arm.
Eric watched as Alex froze, a strained look on his face. Her clawed hand reached for his neck, her talons piercing his skin. Eric watched with horror as the blood ran down Alex’s neck. He remembered feeling a sharp pain in his neck the day before Nick had informed him of Rowan’s disappearance. He felt his heart shattering in his chest when he realized the woman he had grown to love and trust had killed his brother.
Unable to turn his face away, he watched Samara jerk Alex to her to place her mouth on his. Alex’s body jerked and his eyes bulged in their sockets. After what seem like forever, but what could only have been a few minutes, she released his body and Alex fell to the side. His sightless eyes stared at Eric.
“Are you here to kill me now?” Eric rasped out, barely able to look at the twisted creature she’d become. He saw a look of surprise come over her face.
“Why would I kill you? I’m here to save you,” she said as she came toward him.
“You cannot save me. Horn injected me with the formula. It will only be a matter of time before the Order instructs you to kill me.”
She hesitated for a second before coming around behind him and ripping the cuffs off his wrists. His arms screamed in protest when he moved them from behind the chair. He stood and immediately his legs gave way. The room spun as her arms came around him, and the look of concern on her demonic face was the last thing Eric saw as the world around him faded.
CHAPTER 18
Samara cradled Eric’s limp body against her as she moved back to the corner of the room. She could not risk taking him out of here. She would not be able to fight and protect him at the same time. When she settled in the corner, her wings moved around to enclose him in a protective shield. She felt him stir against her, and she looked down at the face of the man she had grown to love.
“Is it true?” he asked, his voice coming out in a whisper, and she could see he was struggling to stay awake.
“Is what true?”
“Were you ordered to kill my brother?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes. But there is something you must understand.”
“I don’t need to understand anything.” The weakness in his voice belied the harshness of his words. “You lied to me from the beginning. I’m sorry I ever trusted you.”
Samara felt a knifing pain in her chest that she could not suppress. She needed to make him understand what had happened with his brother.
“Eric, please listen to me—” she began.
“I don’t want to listen to any more of your lies. When this is over I never want to see you again.” His eyes closed and his body sagged against her. She could feel the sting of tears burning her eyes.
She tensed and hissed when a compound guard came racing into the room. He had a gun in his hand, pointed at her as he looked around the room. His eyes widened when he saw his boss’ body, minus his head, lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
The gun roared in the silence of the room, the bullet deflecting off a bone in one of Samara’s wings. She stood, her wings peeling back so her arm could lash out at the guard with her clawed hand.
She lay Eric on the floor as blood ran down the guard’s face where her claws had laid open his skin. She stepped over Eric’s body, putting herself between him and those who sought to harm him. Two more guards came into the room, and while she was distracted the guard who first attacked tried to go around her to get to Eric.
Something in her mind snapped. Howling her fury, her wing swooped out and down. It sliced through the guard from the top of his right shoulder to underneath his left armpit. Horror registered on the other guards’ faces when they saw the two pieces of his body flop to the floor.
“If you want me, come for me,” Samara said. Nothing of the woman inside the demon remained. She looked at the guards through the red haze of rage. They turned and tried to run from the room, but Samara was faster and made certain they didn’t reach the hall alive.
HADRIA LOOKED AROUND HER, seeing the scene of the fight they had gone through to get into the compound. Many of Horn’s guards lay dead, and the metallic scent of blood was pungent inside the complex. When it came to a fight, members of the Order were efficient, especially the vampire members.
One of the vampires was running up the hall toward where Nick and Hadria were standing.
“What’s the problem?” Nick asked, and Hadria felt him tense beside her.
“We need Hadria to come with us. We’ve found Samara but she won’t let us approach her. She is in her demon form and keeps slashing her wings at anyone who comes near. We are trying to see how the wolf she’s holding is faring, but she won’t let him go.”
Hadria sprinted down the hall, her heart pounding in her throat. She could hear Nick and the vampire’s footfalls behind her as she raced down the corridor. She didn’t need directions to the room Samara was in. Three members of the Order were standing on the threshold with the door wide open.
“Let me through,” she said, but they barred her way.
“You d
on’t want to go in there. She’s already injured one of our members,” a tall vampire said. He pointed to another team member who was cradling his bloody arm to his chest. “We’re in contact with Cadric to see if he wants us to take her out. She’s a danger to the wolf in there and to the other members of the team.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Hadria said through gritted teeth. She shoved him aside and walked into the room, with Nick close behind her.
Shock stopped her in her tracks at the sight before her. Bodies littered the floor of the room, and the place was covered in blood. Samara sat in one corner with Eric’s head resting against her shoulder. Hadria couldn’t believe Samara’s transformation. Her demon form was more extreme than Hadria had ever seen. The beautiful woman she had raised from a young child was nowhere in evidence. In her place was a twisted, silver creature baring her sharp teeth as she hissed.
“Samara, honey, we are here to get you out of here. You need to let go of Eric so we can check to make sure he’s okay,” Hadria said as she took a tentative step forward. Nick pulled her back when Samara growled at her, her red eyes narrowing.
“Stay away,” she said. “They’ll kill him if I let him go.”
“No one is going to kill Eric. Please Samara, you have to let us help you.”
Hadria watched Samara, hoping her words would penetrate the fog the girl was in. She saw Eric stir in Samara’s arms, and he reached up a shaky hand to touch Samara’s cheek.
“Everything will be fine now, Samara,” he said, his voice quiet. “Please let them help us.”
The tension leached out of Samara’s body, and Hadria could see his words had made an impression on her. Her wings receded, the silver color of her skin faded and her eyes turned back to their normal green color. In a matters of moments, the woman Hadria had always known was sitting before them.
“What happened, Eric?” Nick asked as he approached.