The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)

by Cynthia Eden

  “Looking for your ex, check.” Julian’s voice was barely a breath of sound.

  Madeline wasn’t making any sound at all. Mina elbowed her. “Call out to the agents in there. Tell them who you are and that you have me. Instruct them to let us inside immediately.”

  Madeline didn’t hesitate. They were just a few feet away from the imposing gates that surrounded the station, and she called out, “I’m Agent Slate, and I’ve secured the prisoner we sought. Open the gates so that I can immediately confine her to the holding area.” She lifted her ID and a bright light shone on them.

  Mina’s eyes watered in the face of that spotlight. This has to work. It has to—

  There was a loud screeching as the gates opened. Uniformed men rushed out and surrounded them. Her breath eased out in a relieved sigh when she saw that Garrick wasn’t among that group.

  “She isn’t gagged!” One of the men snapped. “She isn’t secure! She can talk, she can—”

  Julian slapped his hand around Mina’s mouth, and he jerked her back against him in the same move. His body was tight, scarily muscled, and for a moment, she felt a flutter of fear. “I’ve got her,” he stated coldly. “Satisfied?”

  The guards exchanged uneasy glances, obviously not satisfied.

  “Her throat was damaged during the fight,” Julian added, voice rough. “A whole lot of agents were taken down and this lady—she didn’t give up easily. So I had to punch her in the throat.”

  Hardly a good image. She squirmed against him, trying to make the scene look real.

  “We need to get some back-up to the agents at the dock,” Julian blasted when the others just stood there. “Agent Slate and I will take the prisoner inside. You guys get out there and help our team.”

  Finally, finally, the men nodded.

  And a few moments later, with Julian’s hand still covering her mouth, Mina walked back to the prisoner holding area.

  There were cells back there, lots of them. And guards with big guns. She didn’t know if those guns were loaded with tranqs or if they were sporting bullets—silver bullets, wooden bullets, or even your average shoot-to-kill human variety.

  Madeline kept flashing her ID at people. Her movements were stiff and jerky, and Mina really wanted to give her another command, to reinforce her compulsion, but with eyes on them, she knew Julian wouldn’t risk freeing her mouth, not right then. They had to wait just a bit longer…

  They needed to find Eli.

  “Maximum security,” Julian snapped to the guard standing to the left—the guy clutching a really big gun. “Let’s stop screwing around and get her contained.”

  The guy—a young fellow with pale blond hair—spun and quickly typed in a security code on the pad near a big, black door.

  There was a beep, then a hiss, and that door opened.

  “Excellent,” Julian said. “Now keep any other guards back until I have her secure. I don’t want to risk anyone falling under her control.”

  Because Mina was looking straight at Madeline when he spoke those words, she saw the flare of the other woman’s lashes. Madeline’s eyes went bright with emotions.

  Uh, oh. We are running out of time. Mina needed to give that woman a new command, STAT. They crossed through the doorway, and a few seconds later, the door sealed closed behind them with another beep and a hiss. Cautiously, they walked forward. It was almost like being back in Luke’s Chamber of Horrors again except that—

  A low moan came from the right. Her gaze jerked that way. There were no cell bars, just glass. She could see right into that holding room and Eli was on the floor. A very bloody, battered Eli.

  Julian shoved her away from him.

  Madeline shook her head, opened her mouth to scream—

  “You stay silent,” Mina ordered her.

  Madeline’s lips clamped closed.

  A guard was rushing toward them—a man who’d been sitting behind a bank of screens in the middle of that space. “What in the hell is happening?” he shouted, lifting his gun.

  Julian just snatched the gun from him and tossed it away. Then he drove his fist straight into the guard’s face. The guy was unconscious before he hit the floor.

  Mina ran toward the bank of screens. The screens showed different security feeds from the facility. She didn’t see guards rushing toward them, so that meant they were still safe.

  “Disengage his cell door,” Julian ordered.

  She looked up. He was in front of Eli’s holding area. “I don’t know how!”

  His jaw locked. “I do.” Then he lifted his hand and drove his fist into the cell door.

  Alarms immediately began blasting. Heavy, deafening alarms. Mina jerked in shock and—and a door to her left opened.

  Laughter came from that room—laughter that reached her even over that terrible, shrieking alarm. And it was laughter that she knew.

  “Hello, Mina,” Garrick greeted her. The jerk sounded…happy. Pleased. “I knew you’d make it this far. I was waiting for you.”

  Madeline slapped her hands over her ears and sank to the floor.

  Six black-clad agents ran from behind Garrick. They didn’t run to surround Mina, though. Instead, they went right for Julian. He swiped out at them with his claws, fighting them, punching. The guards lifted their guns.

  “Stop!” Mina yelled as she surged toward Julian. “Don’t hurt him—”

  Hard arms grabbed her. Garrick yanked her back against his body. “They can’t hear your voice. Not over that alarm. It was one of the safety precautions that I had in place. As soon as you entered this area, there was a thirty-second timer in place. It counted down…and then your time was up.”

  She’d thought the alarm had sounded because Julian hit the cell, but…it had all been part of Garrick’s plan? She drove her elbow back into his ribs. He grunted at the impact, but didn’t let her go. So she head-butted him. She kicked back with her heels. She clawed at him and—

  Bam. Bam.

  The bullets blasted into Julian. He stopped fighting.

  His body fell.

  “No!” Mina screamed. She twisted in Garrick’s hold. “No!”

  The agents came at her then. They swarmed her and she found herself being thrown into the cell right next to Eli’s. They tossed her onto the floor, throwing her down hard, then running out. She leapt to her feet and raced toward the door, but Garrick shut that glass door in her face and, staring at her, he engaged the lock.

  “Let me out!” Mina screamed. She could see Julian, still slumped on the floor. Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.

  Garrick cupped his hand around his ear. “What is that? Come again?’ He smiled at her. “Sorry, my dear, but I can’t hear a word you’re saying. No one can.”

  She slammed her fist into the glass, again and again—but the glass didn’t give.

  Garrick laughed. “You can hear us—I’ve got the speaker feed going into the cell I prepared for you—but no one can hear your beautiful voice. And that means…you’re helpless.”

  No, this couldn’t be happening.

  She kept pounding on the glass.

  “It won’t break,” Garrick assured her. “It won’t shatter. It is a special material the guys at NASA actually came up with to use in space but, hey, we recognized just how useful the material would be right here on earth. With people like…you.” A faint smile still curved his lips. “I told you, Mina, you wouldn’t get away again. I just had to use the right bait to pull you back in to me.” His gaze slid to Eli. The guy hadn’t moved from his position on the floor. A pool of congealed blood surrounded his prone form. “Though I don’t think that bait will last much longer. He put up more of a fight than we expected and he seems very weak now.”

  She screamed—and the sound just echoed back to her.

  “Don’t worry. Eli’s not dead…yet.” Garrick motioned to the guards. They picked up Julian and his head sagged. “And neither is your new friend. I find I am quite curious about him. I do believe I saw claws spring from hi
s fingertips.”

  Damn him. “You’re going to regret this.” But he couldn’t hear her. He wasn’t even looking at her. Garrick had turned away. He was following the guards who were carrying Julian out of there. They were leaving her in the cell. “No!”

  Garrick glanced back at her. “Where’s Thorne?”

  I have no idea.

  “Did you trade him in for the guy with the claws? Did you think that was the smarter choice?” He gave a sad shake of his head. “You just bring everyone down to hell with you, don’t you, Mina? I guess it’s a talent you have.”

  He walked out, taking Julian, leaving her there and—

  Madeline stepped in front of Mina’s cell. A Madeline who had a face contorted with rage. “You bitch,” Madeline snarled.

  Mina’s chin lifted.

  “I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer. We will break you, and I will make sure that it hurts.”

  Hardly the words of a kind, caring federal agent.

  More like the words of a killer.

  But then, Mina knew Garrick and Madeline were exactly that—cold-blooded killers. And they’d tried to make her into the same type of monster. She’d escaped from them before, stopping their plans.

  This time…would she be so lucky?

  ***

  Luke touched down at the dock. He landed as a man, fully dressed, as the old magic flowed easily through him. He wasn’t like other shifters, after all. They bowed to him.

  He looked around, but the agents who’d been there before were gone. There wasn’t even blood on the ground any longer. Someone had done one hell of a fast clean-up job.

  A growl rumbled in his throat. His head tilted back as he pulled in the scents around him.

  You can run, but you can’t hide. Not from me. Not ever from me. He inhaled again. No blood on the ground, but I can still catch that coppery scent in the air.

  He heard the fast thud of footsteps, and Luke whirled.

  Rayce was there, breathing heavily, glaring at him. “Do you know…” he panted, “how fucking hard it is…to track you…when you fly?”

  The guy was naked, sweating, and obviously fresh from a shift. Luke waved his hand and clothes covered his friend.

  “Thanks,” Rayce muttered. “Forgot how…freaky it is…when you do that…”

  When he worked his magic? Or when he shifted?

  Luke stalked toward Rayce. “You had a job to do.”

  Rayce lifted his head. “Yeah…that job was to…protect my friend’s back. Your back.”

  Luke shook his head. “You were to protect her.” And now Mina was gone. “You’d better know where she is…”

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Rayce’s breathing had slowed. “You were my priority. For all I knew, your idiot brother was going to skin you.”

  As if that hadn’t been done before. Good thing he regenerated so easily.

  “Julian stayed with her,” Rayce added quickly. “I went after you. Not my fault I can’t fly.”

  Luke glared at him a moment longer.

  “What is the deal?” Real shock was in Rayce’s voice. “How are you so twisted up over her? Are you sure her voice isn’t still messing with your head?”

  It wasn’t her voice. It was her.

  Luke inhaled again, catching the scents around him. “They left us a blood trail to follow.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that.” Rayce’s mutter definitely wasn’t thrilled. “Probably because it’s a trap. This whole thing has been a trap from the word go and you know it.”

  Yes, he did. And he’d planned for the human’s tricks. After all, he’d known that Garrick McAdams would play dirty. Luke just hadn’t planned on his interfering ass of a brother. “They can’t cage me.” He rolled back his shoulders and felt the stretch of his wings. Why waste time? He’d fly and follow that blood scent.

  “Oh, shit, here we go again…” Rayce swallowed. “Can you…try to slow down?”

  He rose into the air. “No.”

  Death wasn’t slow. Death was fast. He’d show the humans just what hell they’d unleashed. No one messed with his paranormals. No one touched those who belonged to him.

  No one.

  ***

  Julian groaned as he opened his eyes. His chest hurt but considering his last memory was of bullets blasting into him, that pain was hardly surprising.

  The fact that he was still alive? That was a bit of good news.

  But the fact that he was chained to a wall in a pitch black room? Not so much fun.

  “Sonofabitch.” The curse slipped from him. Luke was going to kick his ass over this. He’d gotten caught. Worse, he’d let Mina get caught. And Luke didn’t exactly act all sane where she was concerned.

  Julian rose, testing the length of the chains. They were thick, hard, and made of silver, but he wasn’t a freaking werewolf, so that silver didn’t burn him. Good thing they caught me and not Rayce.

  He’d get out. Eventually. He just might have to cut off his own hand first, not the most ideal of options but—

  A faint rustle reached him.

  His head turned and he stared into the darkness. A cat could see well into the dark. He knew his eyes would be glowing, shining with the power of his beast, as he gazed at—

  His cell-mate?

  Hell. He wasn’t even alone in there. His nose twitched. Blood. Dirt. Someone had been in that cell for a very, very long time. “Come on out,” he growled. “I won’t bite.”

  Footsteps shuffled forward. He saw the tangle of long, blonde hair. Fragile shoulders. A small body. And—

  Her head tipped back. Her fangs gleamed, even in the dark. “I might.” Then she flew at him, her fangs going right for his throat.

  Shit. It just wasn’t his night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mina inched closer to the cell beside hers. She put her hand on the glass. Eli was looking up at her, and the poor man barely seemed to breathe. “I wish I could help you.” His face was battered, bruised. Dark circles surrounded his eyes. “It’s my fault this happened to you.” Her fault he was lying there, dying.

  It wasn’t an easy death, either. Every breath was a struggle. And she hated it so much. No one should be in such agony.

  Eli’s eyes began to close. The air around her seemed to get colder. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She’d come to save him, not to watch him breathe his last breath. Not to—

  “I’m back, Mina.” Garrick’s cocky voice blasted through her speakers. Her shoulders jerked. “And I have a present for you.”

  He could shove any presents right up his—

  “It’s a necklace. One that I think you’ll like.”

  She didn’t want to look away from Eli so she didn’t. If he was dying, she wanted him to know he wasn’t alone.

  “Or actually…” Garrick mused. “You might hate the necklace. But I’ll love it. Because you see, it will allow me to control that wonderful voice of yours.”

  Her hand moved to her throat. Fear slithered through her.

  “I’m going to slide this necklace in the cell to you. Then you’re going to put it on. You’ll secure it, and when it’s in place, I’ll let you out of there.”

  Because he thought he’d have control of her. Just because she was wearing some dumb necklace?

  “If you cooperate, if you put on the necklace for me…I’ll see to it that Eli gets medical attention.”

  Her heart lurched in her chest.

  Eli shook his head. Such a faint movement.

  “I want you to put the necklace on, Mina.” Garrick’s voice had hardened. “I want you to show me that you can work with me after all this time. We need to rebuild our trust.”

  He was insane. He could take their trust and shove it up his—

  She heard a series of beeps. Then a grating behind her.

  “Put on the necklace,” Garrick ordered her. “Or…well, I guess you could just keep standing there, watching that guy struggle for breath.”

  Damn him. Mina whirled away from Eli
and saw that a small tray had been opened near the bottom of her cell. The tray came from some kind of compartment that she hadn’t noticed before. She ran to it and inside—it wasn’t a necklace. It was a choker. Almost…a collar.

  Still on her knees next to that tray, she looked up at Garrick.

  He smiled—the charming smile that had tricked her so long ago. “Put it on,” he urged.

  Her fingers were trembling as she lifted it up to her throat. Her hands slid beneath her hair as she brought the clasp to the back of her neck. It hooked together easily and was tight against her skin. Black, but with a heavy emerald stone in the middle that—

  Something stabbed into her throat, a quick piercing that felt like a knife. She grabbed for the choker, but it wouldn’t come off. It seemed to have banded to her skin. She clawed at it because that pain was excruciating. It hurt so much and—

  Garrick lifted his hand and revealed a small device cradled in his fingers. “If you stop fighting, it won’t hurt as much.”

  She stilled.

  “Good. See…that’s what I’m talking about…rebuilding our relationship, one painful step at a time.”

  He might not be able to hear her, but she could still rage at him. “You fucking—”

  Mina felt shock rush through her. She’d just tried to speak, but no sound had escaped her lips.

  And he seemed to delight in her shock. “That was perfect.” He waved his hand and her cell door immediately opened. “Worked like a charm.”

  She tried to speak again. “You’re a sick sonofa—”

  No sound. Her lips were moving. She was mouthing the words, but no sound would emerge.

  He grabbed her arms and pulled her close. He pressed a wild kiss to her lips and she clawed her nails down the side of his face. But Garrick just laughed. “It really was a charm, my Mina.” He tapped the emerald in the middle of her choker. “Other paranormals chose to cooperate with my team. You should have done the same.” His fingers stroked her skin, right above the choker, lingering near her rapid pulse. “A witch gave me this. Said she knew just how to reign in your power. Of course, I had our techs tweak things a bit. When science and magic work together, the results are quite spectacular.”