by Milly Taiden
Liand wore a smug smile. “Do I know my royals or what?”
Jane growled. “Stop dicking around, Liand. You have me. Let the girl and my brother’s team leave.”
“Sorry, Princess. We have to wait for the battalion to arrive.”
She snorted. “Are you really that stupid?” The barrel of the gun jammed into the side of her head. The room tensed.
“Careful, Princess. I’ve found these Earth weapons are effective, even if crude. And no, I’m not stupid. You’ve seen some of this underground compound. Granted, I didn’t start it, but I’ve utilized it to its fullest. Even made a few discoveries over the years. I know exactly what I’m doing and what I need from you.”
“Really?” Ruveen seemed almost uninterested. What was this game he and Jane played? “What could she possibly do—What are you trying to do, Liand? What is your grand plan? Impress me.” Maybe Liand’s ego would give away more than he intended.
“Your princess is going to help me kidnap three hundred men.”
She turned in the chair to face him. “I will do no such thing.”
“Then others will start to go away. Like this.” He pointed the gun at Trent and fired, sending him and the chair over backwards.
* * *
In the locked room on the third floor, Tony pounded on the metal door, leaving dents. “Jane! Jane! Open this door. Jane!” He felt a tug on his jacket and looked down on scared eyes. He fell to his knees in front of the child. “I’m sorry, baby girl. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He felt awkward, not knowing if he should hug her, put his hands on her shoulder, or back away. They stood looking at each other. She answered his question when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing wet eyes to his skin.
He was gone--hook, line, and sinker. His tiger was just as bad. Apparently the little cub’s scent didn’t bother the animal and now they both felt protective of her. Now, along with his mate, he had a cub to save. But how to get out of this concrete room? He leaned back and stood. “Okay, Sari, can I call you Sari?” she nodded with a slight smile. “Okay, Sari, we need to find a way out of this room. Got any ideas?” Tony blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, looking around.
Sari grabbed the door handle. A grinding and quiet scnick sounded. She pulled on the door. Tony jumped forward. “Was the door unlocked?” She shrugged and slipped her hand into his.
Tony put his nose in the hall’s air and sniffed. “No one’s around. Let’s go.” He looked down at her and smiled. He hadn’t consciously noted all the electronic card readers on his way through to find Jane, but now everything registered. Jane wasn’t kidding when she said every door was secured. That meant only one thing: they were hiding a lot of things.
Tony started for the elevator, but then thought it would be guarded, if this Liand dude had any good sense. Instead, he followed his nose as it led toward the heaviest concentration of smells. The location where the most people gathered could easily lead to another exit.
They were extremely fortunate it was nighttime. No telling how many people they would normally pass during normal work hours. He felt a slight pull on his jacket again. He looked down at Sari and she pointed at a door with “Armory” on it.
“Well, that’s an interesting room.” He smiled down at her. “I’d like to see it for myself. Shall we go inside?” She reached up and pulled down the door handle. After the short noises, the door opened. The light popped on as soon as they stepped in. Tony’s jaw hit the floor. “Holy sh—eisterbots.” No cussing in front of the cubs.
Never had he seen so much munitions. There was no question they were an army. He stepped up to a metal shelving unit and started packing his pockets. He stuck with the smaller weapons he recognized. Some items had to be from Jane’s planet. A light tap touched his leg. Sari held out several gold pencil-like things.
“Thank you, bebé. But I don’t know how to work those. Put them back carefully.” She pushed them toward him. “No, sugar cub. Those are Jane’s, not mine. Do you understand?” She nodded, and he went around the corner to the handgun section. After loading down as much as he dared, he found Sari waiting patiently by the door. They continued their way through the maze.
There had to be more than one way out of the compound. Wasn’t that a safety law of some kind? Like aliens were really worried about building code. On their way past a door, he caught the word “Laboratory.” What would a lab be for? They weren’t turning a lump of coal into gold, were they?
He looked down at his companion. “Let’s take a look in there, want to?” She opened the door with the usual sounds from the locking mechanism.
When stepping in, he knew this wasn’t a normal lab by any means. It smelled bad. Like death. Not only did it have a wild mix of elements like vials, beakers, and tubes, but newborn baby beds seen in maternity wards at hospitals, and bottles, and a lightweight sledge hammer. What?
Machines and monitors beeped and chimed from the tiny beds on the other side of the room. Tony lifted the blanket from a tiny baby. Its cheeks turned red like it wanted to scream. But instead, the face split open, spurting blood, revealing a deformed insectile face. The body lay motionless.
Tony stifled his shout and dropped the blanket and stepped back. That was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen. He might throw-up what little of his lunch was left.
Another bed had an ivy runner coming from the inside. Did they put the plant in with the child to eat? He slowly lifted the blanket to see a fleshy baby, but with vines as arms and legs that reached toward him. What the hell? Were they mixing plant and animal DNA with human bodies?
How long had they been doing this? Was it successful? He looked around for crawling plants or giant roaches with two legs. This would give the cub nightmares, and him, too. Time to go.
Back in the hallway, Tony let his tiger lead while he brainstormed how the hell to get them out of this. He found himself at a white door and Sari opened it. They stood in a bright white room filled with tables, countertops, chairs, and scattered food packages. Of course, where would the animal naturally go? Food. Bite it. The cub hasn’t eaten. She grows weak.
Tony glanced at her, then picked her up. “Let’s see if we can find something to eat in here.” Scrounging sparse cabinets, they quickly snatched up breakfast bars, fig cookies, a small bag of BBQ chips, and juice from the fridge. Bottom cabinets held a few pans and bowls, but were mostly empty. He realized he hadn’t eaten since lunch. The group was going to start supper when they discovered Jane was gone. A few more breakfast bars went missing from the cabinet.
A door on the other side of the break room didn’t require a badge to open. Where did it go? He peeked through to see the beginnings of a working platform. He couldn’t see much more without opening the door further. He closed the door and looked back at Sari. She had her head resting on her hands on the table, eyes closed.
On a snap decision, Tony walked out the door. He swore he just stepped onto the Deathstar, fully operational. Keeping to the shadows, he pulled a clipboard from a wall bin and pretended he belonged there. At an entrance wide enough to fit a house, he turned the corner and stopped. His tiger eyes stared down an aisle as long as a 777 airbus landing strip.
Lined in row upon row were car-sized, one-man space crafts. They looked like giant chrome M&Ms lying on four metal legs. He hurried to one of the contraptions that looked to have its “hood” up with parts scattered around a partially empty crate. Reaching the craft, he rubbed his hand across the rear end of the sleek curve. The machine vibrated and a section of the belly folded down, revealing a ramp into the M&M’s middle.
Without a second thought, Tony walked up the ramp to peek inside. At the top of the incline sat one seat bolted into the floor, with a heavy harness attached. In front of that was a black glass control panel with a monitor attached to the wall above it.
In his imagination, he pictured himself strapped into the seat with a touch control command center before him where his fingers danced
over buttons guiding the small craft between deadly laser bolts, attacking enemy ships. Holy shit. That’s what this was—a single-man spaceship fighter.
There had to be a few hundred sitting there ready to go. He wondered where all the pilots were. His town didn’t house nearly enough people, even if the cows were trained.
He launched out to the platform then scuttled toward the dark corner. Okay, this was a bit much for him to comprehend at the moment. He needed to get back to his little partner in crime.
Hurrying back around the corner, Tony saw two camo-dressed men talking and walking toward the break room. Even with his tiger, he would never make it ahead of them.
He took off in a sprint, his tiger and his brain scolding him for doing such a stupid thing as leaving the cub alone. He prepared to shift and kill to keep what was his safe. He’d have to walk around naked, then. Maybe shifting wasn’t the best idea either. Shit.
The men entered the break room and the door closed.
SEVENTEEN
The gunshot rang loud in the warm room, but hell was loosed before Trent’s tipped chair hit the floor. Brock whipped his hand around, eyes flashing red, and Liand flew from his seat with Jane and stuck to the wall like he was glued to human-sized flypaper. The gun in his hand landed softly on the coffee table.
A green flame in his eyes, Ruveen picked up the gun and smiled at Brock. “We seem to be of the same kindred, my friend.” Brock’s demon was quiet, almost…content?
Cyn and Erica surrounded Trent, checking him over. Erica ripped open his camo jacket, popping buttons to get to his chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his bulletproof vest. The bullet impression was directly over his heart. He wouldn’t have survived the hit, even with his wolf.
He moaned and raised a hand to his chest. “Fuck. That’s gonna hurt tomorrow.”
Erica smiled. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you.”
Brock floated Liand to the sofa, keeping him as stiff as a board. Ruveen glanced at his sister. “Would you like the honors?”
“Gladly.” She laid hands on his head.
Brock released the man when his eyes glazed over. “What’s she doing to him?”
“Just incapacitating him until we’re ready to deal with him. Let’s get the other two from the holding cell and get out of here.”
Ruveen escorted everyone into the elevator, Erica dragging in a bedraggled Trent last. Ruveen lifted a worried brow. “We can come back and get you, man.”
“Naw, I love this pain stuff. Now that I’m mated, I’m a glutton for the attention I get.” Trent winked at Erica as she blushed. Ruveen shook his head with a smile then stepped in and pushed the three button.
Brock opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when his demon took over. Immediately, something didn’t feel right. Something was forgotten. What? The elevator descended. When the doors started to open, Brock followed Ruveen’s eyes. They registered men with guns. Fuck!
That’s when Brock realized what Ruveen’s power was. The other man used his quick reflexes to throw a shield, invisible to all others but Brock, and saved their lives. The “crew” Liand ordered twenty minutes ago opened fire when realizing who was, and wasn’t, in the lift.
A steady stream of automatic munitions ricocheted off the invisible barrier, slamming into the elevator’s ceiling. Glass shards and debris rained down. Loud popping sounds issued from the tunnel above and the cab lurched. Another pop and they went into free fall.
Brock’s feet lifted from the floor as the car screamed to the bottom. Only the fourth floor was below, so surely they wouldn’t fall that far. The car picked up speed.
Brock could hear his mate’s thoughts. It was entirely possible they could die now. With all the wonderful things that had happened in her life, her time to go was in an elevator shaft. At least she was with Brock. No fucking way he’d let her die now that he had her again.
No, sweetheart. We’re not going out like this. This is just a minor setback. Trust me.
Everything happened so quickly, it felt like it took forever to reach the bottom. With no warning, the air around them trembled, the cab’s walls bowed out and the remaining ceiling crashed to the floor. But each person remained standing, feet still inches above the floor.
After a breath, Ruveen turned. “Is everyone all right? I’m putting you on your feet again.” All settled with a nod and shaky legs.
Erica looked at Jane’s brother, shock on her face. “You can do that? Levitate things?”
Brock raised his brows. It seemed Ruveen had a lot more power than just throwing up a shield.
Ruveen shrugged. “Comes with the family genes. Anyone know what’s on the bottom floor?”
Everyone looked to Jane. She shook her head. “I heard it was restricted from everyone. That’s it.”
Brock stepped up to the bent and skewed doors and pried them apart. Metal groaned and scraped against metal as the opening slowly widened. The outer doors to the floor were in better shape and slid to the sides quickly.
Brock felt like he was stepping onto another world. The walls and ceiling were solid rock, like they were in a cave. The air was cold and damp, and smelled a bit musty. The tunnel continued straight ahead with a single bulb glowing every several yards.
Not too far in, the wall turned from rock into smooth, cool metal. The tunnel widened into a constructed frame with a grated metal floor that clanked under their foot falls. Wherever they were, it was definitely not nature made.
Brock stepped behind Ruveen. “What do you think?”
He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I think a myth has come to life.” Brock didn’t question him. He didn’t want to know yet.
Ruveen stopped when they came to a door marked in a word he translated: Laboratory. He stepped back and examined the door. “Sis, tell me what you’ve noticed so far.”
“I see similarities between this part of the cave and our long range ship design. It seems like portions of a man-made structure has merged with rock to create a tunnel.” Jane saw the door. “Tunnel with rooms, obviously. But this whole thing feels clunky and…old.” Her brother placed a hand aside the door and it partially opened. He turned sideways and slid into the room. A few overhead lights came on, one fizzed and went out.
The room was in decent shape with complete ceiling and walls, minus spider webs and spots of water on the floor. Tables and counters were covered in untouched dust, thick enough to conceal writing on papers and gadgets that looked like old electronic tablets. Test tubes and vials lay scattered on the floor and tables.
The room had an eerie feel. Like lab techs suddenly stopped what they were doing and never came back. Small incubator-like beds lined a wall. A couple beds had dried vines and leaves wrapped around the edges and lying on the floor.
Toward the back, several sets of large glass jars sat in rows. The light was too dim to make out much detail, but the more Brock looked from one jar to the next, his skin and stomach crawled. “Ruveen, tell me I’m not seeing what I think I am.”
The two men studied the jars in sequential order. The first was filled with infantile bones with a misshapen skull lying on the bottom. Some kind of brown gooey stuff crawled up the sides. The next contained the same size bones, but the head had a definite canine shape. The next four jars were filled with blue goo and held complete tiny bodies in suspension. Each container seemed to be a progression of the previous. Traits of a dog, or perhaps wolf, grew more pronounced in each jar.
Another set was the same, except the bodily change resembled a bear. Trent and Brock followed the change for each group. Cyn spoke quietly. “I watched a series on Discovery Channel about the Egyptians and their possible contact with creatures not from Earth.
“One show talked about how Egyptian art reflected the world they lived in. They drew what they saw. No fairies or genies, but things they could put their hands on. That brought up questions about their god Horus, among others. He’s depicted as a falcon-headed man. Logically then, such a creatur
e really existed.
“Which would mean someone was mixing brownie and cookie dough and making brookies. Ruveen, did your ancestors have the technological capabilities to splice cells or replicate DNA?”
“They had knowledge along those lines, but I don’t know if they applied it as such. It is certainly interesting to wonder if there was a desire to combine animal and human DNA. But for what purpose? The wolf is definitely a local animal found in abundance they could experiment with. A bear is also common. Tony is a tiger. Where do they originate?”
“Tigers are from Asia originally. His were-species must have been created after the process was perfected through trial and error. Or by a different group, maybe.”
Jane cleared her throat. “Tony said there was an unusually high amount of shifters in this area. If shifters were created in this lab, then sent into the area to populate naturally, that would answer the question of why.”
Brock wondered. Could the logical conclusion be that shifters were created by stranded aliens, bored with nothing to do? How could “true mates” exist if nature didn’t create them? Love at first sight. Accidentally bumping into your destined spouse. That didn’t sound right.
And what were the chances that three true mate sets were drawn and working together unknowingly for years? That couldn’t be coincidence. There was more at play here.
Jane’s voice brought everyone back to reality. “Let’s move on. I want to get out of here before something happens we don’t care for. Tony’s waiting for us, probably bored out of his skull.”
EIGHTEEN
Tony’s heart simply stopped. He and Sari were doing so well in this mad house, avoiding others and narrowing down escape options. Now they would be at square one, probably with a guard this time. Whatever happened, he wouldn’t be separated from her.
A few more steps along the platform, and he ripped the door open. Both men in the room froze and stared at him. His eyes skimmed the space. One guy stood by a vending machine and the other at the open refrigerator door. No Sari.