Holden's Mate

by Meg Ripley

  “I know that, too.” And she did. Brinkmann was the one who had constantly pushed her ethics when it came to testing and their human subjects, justifying it all with the fact that these men had been injured in service to the government and it was only right that they be permitted to live their lives again. And the soldiers had signed all sorts of waivers and contracts that made it seem like everything was fine, but Alyssa knew better. The kind of work they were doing would make people question the ethics and morals of it all, especially when they saw the statistics. There were men who now had use of their limbs again—their own limbs even, and not necessarily bionic ones—and others who would no longer have to suffer from their internal injuries. But then there were the others, the ones who lost too much blood on the surgery table or who didn’t react well to injections and gene therapies. They had lost plenty of them. This, too, could be justified with the ones who had lived, but Alyssa knew that wouldn’t work if and when the media got a hold of the truth. The general public also wouldn’t be pleased when they found out how naturally violent Brinkmann’s therapies had made the soldiers, and how difficult it was to keep them happy once he had worked on them. They had numerous men living at Bios Labs, and all because they didn’t qualify to be returned to society.

  And Dirk wasn’t wrong. Brinkmann was the kind of man who wouldn’t take any of the blame. He would claim he had been lied to, that Alyssa used him and did what she wanted in the name of science. If things got bad, he would skip the country and never be seen again. But she couldn’t let any of this go on any longer. At the very least, she had to get Dirk out of there. She would figure out the rest of her plan afterwards.

  “Maybe you should tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours,” Dirk said as they wound their way up the stairs, being careful not to run and call attention to themselves. “I can see the gears clicking behind your eyes, but I don’t think I’ve seen your mouth shut so tightly.”

  “I don’t know,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m still thinking.”

  “Well, let me in on your ideas. I have friends, guys who could help.”

  She paused on the stairs, one hand on the rail as she turned around and glared at him. “Oh, really? Who’s going to help us now? Who’s going to believe that you’re a dragon and that you need to escape from a mad scientist?”

  Dirk shrugged. “Well…”

  “Seriously?” But there was no time to ask him more.

  The door at the top of the stairs opened, admitting a rather happy Dr. Brinkmann. He stopped on the landing as soon as he saw the two of them. His dark eyes narrowed and his mouth curved down into a deep frown. “What is this?”

  Alyssa cleared her throat, her pulse beating so loud she could swear it was echoing in the stairwell. “I thought I would bring him upstairs for some other testing. I’d like to see what kind of vision he has, as well as his hearing. Later on, I think we need to set up some digital recorders so we can get video of him changing back and forth.”

  Brinkmann folded his arms across his chest. He wasn’t a big man, but the gesture reminded them that he was still quite powerful. “And I suppose you’re going to tell me you can’t do that in the containment cell?”

  “I could,” she admitted. There was no getting around that. “But Dirk has been living in the community his entire life without eating anyone, and I don’t see any reason to treat him like a rabid dog.” As she said the words, she realized she had no idea if Dirk had ever eaten anyone or not; that wasn’t exactly something they had talked about. But he had been gentle with her, and there was no reason not to trust him until she knew otherwise. “He’s agreed to be part of the study so that he can learn more about our lab and decide if he’s still interested in backing us.”

  “Alyssa,” Dr. Brinkmann warned, “he’s dangerous. You saw his teeth and his claws. If he’s acting cooperative, it’s just so he can take advantage of you.” He took a few steps down the stairs toward them.

  “We can’t go back down,” Dirk whispered. “The soldiers are down there. We can take this guy easily enough and get out of here.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but there are just as many guards upstairs. We’re screwed.”

  Dr. Brinkmann laughed. “Young, foolish lovers! You don’t think I can see you whispering to each other? You don’t think I noticed how you looked at each other last night at dinner? Drop the act. It’ll make things easier on both of us.”

  “Just follow my lead,” Alyssa whispered. Louder, she said to her boss, “I was just explaining to him that he’ll be safer in the containment unit. I’m not afraid of him, but I can see how others might be. It’s for his own safety, and he understands.” She turned around, following Dirk back down the stairs. She could feel Brinkmann’s gaze on the back of her neck like a laser sight.

  She had it all worked out now. They would go back to the lab, pretending not to fight with Brinkmann. Before they got to the containment unit, though, they would make a break for it toward the second stairwell. There would still be someone guarding it, but it wasn’t used as frequently and it might not be expected. And they would know that Brinkmann was behind them, not in front of them. With any luck, he wouldn’t be able to sound the alarm before they got away.

  But before she could say a word to Dirk, an arm grabbed her from behind. Brinkmann dragged her backwards, her heels pounding against the linoleum. She yanked uselessly at his arm where it wrapped around her neck and cut off her air. There was movement behind her she couldn’t quite discern, and then something cold and metallic was pressing against her temple.

  Dirk swirled at the noise, anger flashing in his eyes. He didn’t hesitate a moment to morph, his body immediately lengthening and stretching. His skin undulated, rising up from his body for a moment and coming back down as silver scales. The wings that she had so admired before shot out from his back, tearing through his shirt and sending a shelf of glass beakers crashing to the floor. The silver of Dirk’s eyes covered his entire body. His strong, powerful human form was now triply so, with a thick back and scaly haunches. His talons clicked against the floor as he approached Brinkmann. “Let her go.”

  8

  Dirk had spent plenty of time as a dragon, but it had always been for fun until now. He had morphed when he wanted to enjoy the wind through his wings or a good hunt, but he took on the form now because he knew it was the best way he could protect Alyssa. She looked so small and fragile in Brinkmann’s arms, and a shudder of hate made its way down his spine at the thought of another man touching her. He felt the fire burning inside his chest, the desperation to fight with tooth and claw and flame without worrying about any consequences. But he couldn’t hurt Alyssa, and Dirk had a good feeling Brinkmann knew that.

  The doctor laughed, pressing the sidearm from one of his soldiers into Alyssa’s temple. He looked like he knew how to use it, too. “It’s interesting to see a look of shock on a dragon’s face. Maybe our little Alyssa here was right about getting video footage of you. You’re quite fascinating.”

  “I said, let her go.” Dirk paced forward, keeping his body low and lean. He was a massive target, and the Bios Labs soldiers had closed in around him. There was no way he was going to get out of there alive, but he was alright with that. He just had to save Alyssa. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

  “Doesn’t she? You might have been the one who wanted a tour of the place and who decided to come back uninvited, but she’s the one who tried to let you back out. That’s not something any good scientist would do, not knowing the kind of difference a study about you might make in the world.”

  Dirk nodded, keeping his eyes on the doctor. He couldn’t bear to look at Alyssa, not with the terror that was written all over her face. “Science is important, but there are other things that are even more significant.”

  “Like what?” Brinkmann chided. “You can’t really expect me to believe there’s something better than being the first person on Earth to find a real, live dragon.”
>
  “Like doing the right thing,” Dirk answered. “Besides, you aren’t the first person. There are more like me, lots more. And they’ve been seen by humans. Where do you think all the myths have come from? You were worried about me being dangerous, and you were right. I can rip you to shreds at any moment.” He ran his tongue across his knifelike teeth to drive the point home.

  “Touch me and my men will kill you on the spot,” Brinkmann promised. “I don’t know yet what that hide of yours is made of, but I can promise you that we don’t use ordinary bullets around here. Super soldiers are one hell of a secret to keep, and we guard it very well. Trust me, I’d be more than happy to have you stuffed and mounted.”

  Once again, Dirk felt the swelling of fire in his chest. He could fill half the room with the flames that were burning inside him, but he would only succeed in hurting Alyssa. He was trapped. He had been foolish in ever thinking he could sneak in and discover the truth behind Bios Labs. In this form, he almost couldn’t remember why he had done it. Human curiosity wasn’t something that registered well with a reptilian brain. “Then tell me what you want.” He knew what the answer would be: The doctor would want him to stay and be studied in exchange for Alyssa’s life. Dirk was willing to give that.

  For only a moment, Brinkmann looked uncertain. “You say there are more like you?”

  “Many more,” Dirk assured him. “And they would be just as happy to rip your limbs from your body as me.”

  This didn’t seem to upset him. He was too hellbent on his “discovery” to care about mortal peril. “Fine. Then you submit yourself to my care, and you tell me where to find them. Maybe you’re right about other humans already knowing about creatures like you, but that just means I need to have access to lots of them. I’ll have a study so massive that no other scientist will be able to replicate it before I can get it published.” His dark hair had fallen down over his forehead now, and his obsidian eyes flashed as he saw the future. “Forget super soldiers and government contracts. I can do something so revolutionary that they’ll be talking about me in textbooks for years to come.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” Dirk was used to meals on a plate, and he had never before been tempted to eat a human. But Brinkmann was pushing himself further and further into the category of prey. “You can have me, but you can’t have anyone else. I’ll be enough.”

  “No!” Brinkmann shoved the gun harder against Alyssa’s skull. She choked in his grasp. “It’ll never be enough! You don’t know how hard I’ve worked and what little I have to show for it! You have no idea what it’s like to be a scientist who isn’t part of the scientific community.”

  “Actually, he knows that quite well.”

  Brinkmann and the soldiers turned at the voice that had just spoken from the doorway. A tall man leaned confidently against the wall, and he held a gun in his hand that looked surprisingly like the ones the Bios soldiers carried. He watched the group with mild gray eyes, eyes that Dirk had seen in the mirror his entire life. “He’s been living that life for quite a few years now, but I don’t think he’s quite as desperate to make friends as you are.”

  “Who the hell are you?” Brinkmann demanded. “And how did you get in here?”

  On cue, another man appeared behind him. His dusty-colored hair was cut short, and he had bright blue eyes that turned down at the corners. In his hands he carried a small device instead of a gun, and he wore a wry smile on his face. “Oh, that was me. Sorry to have to bust through all your security devices, but it’s not very hard when you run one of the world’s largest software companies. You really ought to replace those locks.”

  Dirk glanced at the newcomers only long enough to register who they were. He knew that the moment he looked away, Brinkmann would do something stupid. “Dad, Ethan. Why are you here? I can handle this.”

  Mr. Bennett strolled casually forward, looking around the lab as though he was considering buying the place. “I’m sure you can, Son, but the thing is that you don’t have to. We might have our differences, but I’m still your father. Ethan told me your plans for snooping around here, and when he mentioned he hadn’t heard from you in a while, we figured we should make sure everything was going according to your plan.”

  “If you’re here to ask me to reconsider my investment strategy, this isn’t the time.” Dirk knew he should have been glad to see he had backup, but at that point, he couldn’t be sure of what to expect from his father. They hadn’t spoken since their recent disagreement.

  “I know that, but this isn’t about business. There are more important things, shall we say. We can talk about all that later. Right now, I think it’s high time we put this madman where he belongs.” Mr. Bennett set the gun down on a nearby lab table just before his hands twisted into talons. His face stretched and elongated as it formed a muzzle of scaled lips and smoking nostrils. Though Mr. Bennett was losing his hair, he still had plenty of spikes adorning the back of his head, and he raised his wings of tarnished silver.

  Dirk couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his father shift. Mr. Bennett had stayed in his human form more often than not. The dark iridescence of his scales showed, even in the fluorescent light of the lab.

  “Holy shit!” Dr. Brinkmann giggled. “This is too good to be true! Alright, boys, let’s catch ourselves some dragons!”

  The soldiers burst into action. Some were armed with guns, and others had artificial weapons that had been implanted directly into their bodies. They immediately put all of them to use, firing as the dragons charged.

  Mr. Bennett sent a blast of smoke throughout the room, momentarily stunning the soldiers when they couldn’t acquire their targets. Dirk shot forward, knowing about where Brinkmann and Alyssa had stood a moment ago, but he rammed headlong into a soldier. His thick body went sprawling on the floor in front of the dragon, his weapon discharging into the ceiling. Dirk bent his head to the floor and cast the man aside, ready to find Alyssa and get her to safety.

  Shots rang throughout the lab, pinging off the walls and coming dangerously close to Dirk’s hide. He hoped Dr. Brinkmann was lying about their special ammunition, but he wasn’t going to test the theory.

  A heavy weight landed on his back, right between his wings. Dirk roared in pain as something sharp slipped between his scales and buried itself in his flesh. He swiveled his head on his long neck to see a guard had jumped right on top of him. He had an artificial lower arm that Dr. Brinkmann had outfitted like a Swiss Army knife, and the blade bit deep.

  A blur of blue came crashing through the smoke and sailed over Dirk’s back, his claws snatching up the attacker. The two of them tumbled to the floor, and Ethan dispatched the soldier with a solid smack of his clawed hand. The man lay stunned on the linoleum, no longer a threat.

  There was no time to bother with thanks. “Where’s Alyssa?” Dirk shouted. He hadn’t seen her. If Brinkmann got her out of the building…

  “They went that way!” Ethan gestured with his head before moving on to fight a knot of soldiers who had seen them. “I’ll keep them at bay.”

  Dirk turned in the direction his friend had indicated, realizing immediately where they were going. He got to the containment unit just as Brinkmann dragged Alyssa through the door. The doctor had changed his grip to her braid, and he dragged the young scientist by the hair like a caveman. Alyssa reached out for the doorframe, but her boss was too strong.

  He longed to snap his jaws over the doctor’s neck, but Brinkmann could fire the gun and kill Alyssa before he had a chance. He managed to jam his arm in the door before the other man could shut it. Dirk flung the door back. It smashed against the wall of the unit and fell off its hinges. A bullet cracked against the glass just over Dirk’s shoulder but missed the doorway, keeping Alyssa safe for the moment.

  “What are you going to do now?” Brinkmann teased. “You’ve started a war you can’t win, but you can still bargain your way out of it. Turn yourself over and I’ll let her go.”

  Alyssa
was in front of the doctor on her knees. She gave Dirk a pleading look. “Don’t do it. Just let him kill me,” she begged, tears magnifying her big blue eyes. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  He didn’t know how to tell her that something already had happened to him. She had happened to him. She had waltzed in and completely changed his life, and there was no going back from that now. He stepped closer to avoid the smoke that was now billowing into the cell and looked at the doctor. “How do I know you’ll keep your word?”

  Alyssa sobbed and struggled at their feet, and Brinkmann yanked hard on her hair once again. “I think we both know what I want more than anything.”

  Dirk took a deep breath that only fed the fire in his chest. He could hear the shouts and roars from behind him, but he had no way of knowing how well the fight was going. The dragons were strong, but they were outnumbered by a long shot. If he sacrificed himself, he would be saving not only Alyssa, but Ethan and his father as well. It was the only choice.

  But just as he nodded his assent, Alyssa reached up with a long stick in her hand: the splint she had used on Dirk’s wing, the one he no longer needed by the time he had changed back to his human appearance. She whacked Brinkmann across the face with the end of it.

  Brinkman flinched and flung his head backwards. The hit wasn’t very hard, but it was enough that it made him bring up the muzzle of his gun in surprise. Dirk took his chance, charging forward and sinking his teeth into the doctor’s arm. The weapon fired. The bullet cracked past Dirk’s ear and into the ballistic glass, lodging halfway through it and sending a web of cracks through the corner of the unit. The doctor dropped the gun but had yet to let go of Alyssa. Dirk crunched down harder on his arm, feeling the brittle bones inside it break, and Brinkmann’s grip finally slipped from Alyssa’s braid.

  The smoke was beginning to dissipate, and the soldiers turned to look at the containment unit just as Dirk came slithering out of it with Alyssa in his arms. They raised their guns as Brinkmann slid to the floor, his blood streaking against the glass. With his one good hand, he grabbed the gun he had dropped and aimed it at his own head. Dirk looked away when he heard the shot.