"Get up," he told her, yanking on the leash hard, driving her up against his chest.
"Give me a damned minute," she spat back at him, trying to settle her hands against the table. "You've kept me pinned down so long, I can't sit up right."
With a rough gesture—with hands so painfully familiar, yet all wrong—he lifted her to the floor. "Here. Walk with me," he told her, wrapping the velvet cord about his hand in a loop, giving him more control over her.
It was all she could do to follow him, her stiletto boots stumbling and dragging in the wake of his long strides.
I'm glad Scott killed you in the future, she thought. And if I have my way about it, we'll both kill you this time around.
He nearly dragged her toward the far end of the stone corridor, then around a bend, and at that point she glimpsed a large steel door. It reminded her of a submarine hatch or some sort of bunker. Maybe the whole place down here was far more than the basement of a warehouse, she suddenly thought. What if the seemingly innocent structure up above actually perched atop one of the Antousians' own bases, much like Jared's lodge capped off all of Base Ten?
Jake halted, yanking her flush against his side. She trembled, desperately wanting to shove out of his grasp—he had the same bulk, the same build and height as the man she loved, and yet everything about him revolted her completely.
He punched a code into a panel on the wall, shoving her head down cruelly before he did so. He kept her held by the nape of her neck, pinned against his hip, until a beeping noise sounded, and the armored door before them swung open.
With a pinching gesture, he dragged her back upright. "Come on," he told her with a gruff shove. "Get in there."
Shelby blinked at the bright lights on the other side of the door, a contrast to the darkly lit hallway. As grimy and dank as her cell had been, this room nearly sparkled. At the far side was a chrome desk, an array of computers—a whole bank of electronics, in fact—and other monitoring devices. A man with dark hair sat on the other side of the desk, his back to them as he studied some sort of screen.
"I've got her, boss," Jake told the man. "Take a look. Think you'll be impressed."
With a quick sniff, Shelby tried to scent the leader, to determine whether he was alien or human, but came up blank. Odd, usually she could get a reading right away.
But then he slowly rotated in his shiny metal chair, still keeping his gaze on the monitor. "So, looks like my boy's brought us another fine young woman," the man said, at last fixing her with his brown-eyed gaze. When he did, Shelby actually swayed on her feet so badly that Tierny gave the leash a jerk to punish her.
"Stop that!" the alien on the other side of the desk roared. "Release her right now, Tierny."
"But—"
He rose to his feet, sweeping past the desk. "I said release her," he repeated much more softly, his shocked gaze riveted on her face.
Dully she was aware of being unfastened, of Tierny's leash falling with a thud to the floor. Of time itself grinding down, then speeding up.
"You must have drugged me," was all she could think to say, giving her head a little clearing shake.
"No," he half whispered, then addressed Tierny: "Get the hell out of here. I need to talk to Shelby."
"You know this nank?" Tierny stepped backward in surprise.
The man looked him up and down. "Just get out."
With a shuffling movement, the human was gone, leaving her to stare up into a pair of eyes that she'd never thought to see again. It wasn't possible; he couldn't be here. She'd watched him die; he'd been inside the Texas facility when it exploded.…
"Nate?" she whispered uncertainly, feeling the floor grow unstable beneath her feet.
Chapter Nineteen
The emotion in his eyes was undeniable as he lifted a hand to her cheek. "Shelby," he said softly.
"Don't touch me."
He stepped closer. "Listen to me—"
"Nate is dead." She wheeled to face him, thrusting a finger at him. "You ain't Nate, no way in freaking hell! You're some sort of shape-shifter, trying to manipulate me."
"No," he told her slowly, guiding her with him toward a sofa, "I did not die."
"I saw it happen!" she shrieked, ducking out of his grasp. "I watched as Nate changed into … into … a vlksai. And then he had me dragged out of that warehouse before it exploded. He was still inside. You were still inside. So you're not here, and you're not alive. Whoever you are, you're just another vlksai trying to mind-fuck me."
The alien stared down at her, dark emotion in his eyes. "I survived," was all he said, his gaze never wavering.
"You survived," she repeated bitterly. "Made a miraculous escape, huh? Wow, you're a regular freaking Houdini. Imagine that."
"Do you still have the primexia stone I gave you? Did you keep wearing it?" he whispered, his eyes glinting with emotion. And that was when her tremors truly overtook her, and she had the dull thought that she was heading straight into shock.
"You could have lifted that from my memories, too," she argued weakly, even though her mind was beginning to draw terrible, horrifying conclusions about the Antousian in front of her.
As if sensing her panic, he reached for a bottle of water on his desk. While he was turned away, she took advantage of the moment to study the alien's profile. It was amazing how much like Nate he really did look—but any shape-shifter could easily have accomplished that. "When they drugged me," she said, "they pulled Nate's image from my memories. That's got to be how you're doing this."
"Here," he told her, pushing the cup of water into her hands. But she flung it at him furiously, drenching the front of his tight black T-shirt.
He brushed at the wet fabric. "Shelby, I realize this is all a great shock."
"Don't!" she screamed in a blistering voice. "Don't try and soothe me, not about this!"
She backed away from him, folding her arms protectively across her chest, but stumbled over a small chair right behind her and went sprawling. Nate advanced upon her, brown eyes suddenly blazing bright gold; she scooted backward, closing her eyes.
"I got out of there before the explosion," he explained.
"Lies and more lies." She waved a hand between them. "That's what you trade in. Just like all of your people." She couldn't stop shaking, her whole body wracked with jarring tremors.
The man sighed, squatting down in front of her. "Shelby, whether you want to believe it or not, I'm your Nate."
She began laughing hysterically. "My Nate? My Nate? Oh, puhlease. Even if you did survive, you sure as hell weren't ever my Nate." She looked him in the eye. "Don't even try going that route. Nate betrayed me. Betrayed me and our friends—and so many people who I loved died because of what he did." He couldn't seem to meet her gaze. "Nate broke me, my spirit, my heart.… He took everything good inside of me and … and …" She couldn't finish.
The man before her winced visibly. "Too many people died that day," was all he said, and a sick feeling began to crawl across her skin. "I've always regretted that fact—and, whether you believe it or not, I've always regretted hurting you."
"Hurting me?" she scoffed, "Hurting me? You used me, boy, plain and simple. If you are Nate, that is."
His expression hardened. "I did what I had to do … for my people."
"Nate." She blinked, pressed her eyes shut, then opened them again. "Tell me how it was I watched you die, then. Huh? I mourned you and grieved you for years. For years. Why would you let me hurt like that?" She dropped her head heavily into her hands.
"You saw what I wanted you to see, Shelby." She felt fingertips skim across her forehead, a brush of energy touching her consciousness. "It was safer if you thought I was dead. I wanted to protect you. It was the least I could do after … well, everything. I never intended for us to fall so deeply for each other. It wasn't supposed to happen that way."
If I just stay like this, tight as a ball, the nightmare will end. She drew deep inside of herself, pulled at her energy until it
grew intense and centered right in her core. She struggled to focus on memories, sensations, anything to protect herself from actually feeling the moment.
"What are you going to do to me?" she mumbled, burying her face in her arms. "What are your people going to do?"
"I'll take care of you."
She would have believed that lie, too, once upon a time. And maybe that was why that sick realization became more certain inside of her. Nate had always promised he'd protect her, and even now.…
She dropped her arms away from her face. "You didn't have to ask me to bond with you or give me that stupid mating stone. …"
"Like I said, Shelby, I never intended"—he coughed, cleared his throat, then continued—"I didn't mean for it to go so far. It wasn't the plan."
"Why play me at all?" she shrieked, throwing her hands up. "I was just a flipping medic. I didn't know anything of value. I couldn't have been worth anything to you."
"Having relationships made me look believable. You were part of my cover."
"Fuck you!" she spat.
"This is war, Shelby. You know it, and I know it." He shook his head. "Your people are insurgents, and I did what had to be done in order to stop them."
Without thinking, she drew back her hand and slapped him so hard that her handprint glared harsh red against his fair cheek. He kept his head to the side for a moment, then slowly turned to look at her again. "I'll let you get away with that. Once. I owe you that much. But don't strike me again, Shelby. I don't care who you are or what you once were to me. I won't put up with that kind of thing."
"That was for asking me to marry you when you had no intention of following through."
"I did care for you."
"Yeah? Well, I loved you! I loved you, and you took that and just … just …" She drew her hand back again, unable to stop herself, but this time he caught it in his firm grasp.
"Don't hit me again, Shelby. We may have a past, but you're my captive now."
Only then did she realize she'd begun to sob uncontrollably, her shoulders and body shaking with it. "You used me."
"I'm sorry," he said, pulling her against his body with shocking gentleness, "but I'm going to have to put you under."
Then, once again, her entire world went black.
Kelsey heard Jared whispering in her ear, his voice tickling at the fringes of her consciousness. She groaned, shifting on the bed, and reached for him. She'd been so incredibly exhausted, she couldn't stay awake.
"You're back?" she mumbled, her eyes fluttering open. Relief washed over her as she rolled toward the sound of his voice.
Kelsha!
She jerked awake in alarm. The sound of his voice was panicked, edged with terror. Struggling to sit up, she glanced all around their bedroom. "Jared? Are you here?" she called out.
No answer. With a frantic look at the bedside alarm clock, she realized it was well after two a.m. Without meaning to, she'd slept hours when she'd intended to take just a quick nap. But that wasn't the only thing that frightened her. The semidarkness was being illuminated by Erica: Her entire belly was glowing brighter than it had at any other time during her pregnancy.
What could have sent Erica into her Change like this, and so dramatically? She thought of hearing Jared cry out to her just before she'd woken up. What if Erica sensed something, somehow knew that her daddy was in danger?
Jared is fine. Jared is safe, she tried telling herself. You're imagining things. Any minute and you're going to hear from Thea that the mission was a success and that he's back on the hangar deck.
Then she swore she heard Jared once again, his voice so vividly strong, he might as well have been in the room with her … and he sounded agonized. Hands fluttering against her belly, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried her best to tap into the bond, but she couldn't feel him at all.
Kelsey's heartbeat went crazy inside her chest, and she struggled to calm herself so she could soothe Erica. "Baby," she murmured, rubbing her blazing-hot belly, "baby girl, you need to settle down. You're okay, just shh … calm down." In response, her stomach seemed to glow even brighter, and a sharp dagger of pain nailed her in the side.
Not now. I can't go into labor now, not like this.
Between her legs, she felt a faint trickle of dampness, and that was when the full-bore panic descended, robbing the very breath from her lungs. I have to get help.
With a careful shove, she moved sideways, and the trickling between her legs got warmer and wetter. Sliding across the bed, moving slowly and cautiously, Kelsey finally reached her comm. Taking a deep breath, she signaled the med complex and tried to convince herself that both Jared and Erica were safe.
Thea tore down the back stairs that led to Jared and Kelsey's quarters. The horrible news seemed to only be getting worse, with the comm transmission from the med sector indicating that Kelsey was in the midst of a medical emergency and that Erica was in crisis. She practically tumbled down the final two steps, and the image that greeted her, of the medics working on Kelsey, who lay flat on her back in bed, brought tears to Thea's eyes.
Jared's capture—as well as Jake's and Shelby's—had been terrible enough, the news so horrible that Thea had spent the past hour deliberating how to break it to Kelsey. But this? Seeing their queen laid out, an oxygen mask over her mouth, and Erica glowing so brightly inside her belly that it was a wonder Kelsey hadn't been scorched alive from the inside out … well, it was almost more than Thea could bear.
She took slow steps inside the room, and the chief medical adviser glanced up at her, his expression intent. "I don't want to move her, not yet," he explained.
Kelsey's eyes widened when she caught sight of Thea, and she gestured wildly. "Keep still, my lady," the doctor told her, trying to settle her hands, but Kelsey grew only more agitated, waving at Thea.
The doctor turned to Thea, his expression severe. She wondered if he'd already heard the news of Jared's capture because he gave his head a slight shake—as if to say, "Don't tell her, not now."
Thea swallowed and slowly approached the bedside. Kelsey writhed, yanking at her oxygen mask, and even though the medics tried to stop her, she managed to pop it off. "Tell … me … he's safe," she gasped.
Thea gave her head a slight bob, praying Kelsey would forgive her this lie. "He'll be here … soon. Soon he'll be back," she whispered in a wooden tone, knowing all the color had to be drained out of her face.
Kelsey's eyes welled with tears, and then slid shut as the medics positioned the mask back over her face. Thea knew then and there that Kelsey had already guessed the truth: It was the reason that she and Erica were in such crisis. Thea walked to the far side of the bed, the one where Jared normally slept, and climbed onto the mattress. The medics were at Kelsey's other side; Thea kept herself out of the way, sliding cautiously across the covers until she was right beside her friend, who was covered in wires and surrounded by beeping monitors. Thea reached for her hand, and Kelsey stared up at her, blinking helplessly, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
"It's going to be okay," Thea promised. And she meant it: She would not let Jared's enemies win this battle; she would do everything within her power to bring him home safely. "You just be strong for Erica. That's your only concern right now, all right?"
Through the mask, Kelsey spoke in a muffled voice, and even though the words were slightly garbled, Thea understood them nonetheless: "They have him."
She squeezed her queen's hand. "For now," she admitted quietly. "But not for long, my lady. I promise you, not for long."
"You tell me where Shelby is—right now." Jake tried desperately to ignore the hideous garbled sound of his words as they passed over his Antousian vocal cords. Like water breaking over rocks, only with more vibrato and distortion. He'd been transported, blindfolded, through a long series of winding corridors and shafts, held naked and at gunpoint by a female Antousian who had introduced herself as Kryn Zoltners. It was the same curvy brunette he'd seen Jared talking with right before all
hell had broken loose.
After some waiting, he'd been taken in a vehicle over bumpy terrain, nighttime air cold against his bare skin. Then, with a graceless shove, he'd been hiked up a small flight of stairs and brought inside what he'd come to realize was a small cabin of sorts. Kryn had explained coolly that Shelby was being held elsewhere—and Jared, well, that wasn't information she was prepared to dispense.
"Where is Jared Bennett? Shelby Tyler?" Jake demanded. "You tell me where they are. Now!"
"In good time, Jakob." Kryn spun to face him, a long velvet-covered belt in her hand, and she tapped it against her open palm like a whip. "First you'll tell me who you are, imposter. We know you aren't the Jake Tierny who's been supplying us with humans. He's a human, and you"—she raked her gaze up and down his naked form—"you are quite clearly not. So why don't you tell me how it is you chose to replicate Tierny's body? Shape-shifter? Or something else?"
Jake slid on the modular settee, backing himself—quite literally—into a corner. With one palm, he worked to hide his permanent erection, cupping it protectively; with the other arm he covered both of his nipples. He didn't want this Antousian bitch to see any more of his naked body than she had to.
"My, you are a shy one," she hissed, clucking her tongue. She dragged her gaze up and down his nude body once again. "Surprising, too, since from what I can tell, you are quite the physical creature."
Jake was aware that his breathing increased slightly, and his fingers twitched protectively against his cock. "What do you know about my physicality?"
She leaned close, whispering in his ear. "Just look at you. You're magnificent."
In a flash, he had hold of her ponytail and used it to drag her down atop the settee; she practically landed in his lap. Drawing his face up against hers, he snapped his distended jaws menacingly: He might not be Antousian in his heart, but the blood still flowed in his veins. "Bring Shelby to me. Bring her, or you die." The words mingled with his quick panting, modulating over his rough vocal cords.
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