by K. R. Willis
I swallowed. He definitely had the intimidation thing down. My insides shirked away from his proximity, tying up in knots and making me nauseous.
“Wilkes, leave our nice guest alone,” someone said from the doorway. Brutus backed away, obeying his master like a dog. Drawing in a cleansing breath, I glanced at my new visitor—I was starting to feel like a carnie on display with the way I was strapped to the gurney for everyone to see—and nearly choked. The man standing six feet in front of me I recognized from the television.
My head hurt, but I racked my brain until I thought I remembered his name. “Dr. Johnson?” I asked dumbly. He looked the same as he had when I’d seen him on the television a couple weeks back right after Tom died: blond spiky hair, white lab coat, wire-rimmed glasses. The news bulletin that featured him popped into my head. Dr. Johnson had reported that he’d developed a new weapon to use against supernaturals.
My brain started piecing things together: my blood going missing, vamps and werewolves dying, Dr. Johnson announcing a new supernatural weapon, Janelle Williams AKA Lilith Johnson. Pieces clicked into place like a giant jigsaw puzzle, but instead of it being a game for fun, it was my life.
The look on my face must have given away my train of thought because Dr. Johnson smiled and looked at Brutus. “I think our guest has put a few things together.” Brutus bared his teeth in what I guessed was a smile while Dr. Johnson chuckled.
“But…but why? How?” I babbled. A few things made sense, but so many still didn’t.
“Because of me,” Lilith said as she sauntered into the room. She took her place by Dr. Johnson’s side—her father, I realized, considering they had the same nose and dimple on their chins. Lilith smiled condescendingly down at me and patted me on the leg. “Poor baby.”
“You bitch!” I damn near growled at her. The straps groaned when I fought against them, trying to get to her, but they didn’t budge. “First chance I get, you’re mine.” I’d never hated anyone before, but in that instant, I hated her. She’d pay for what she did to Sally.
My cheek stung when she reached up and slapped me; palm flat, fingers splayed wide. “You should learn a little respect,” she spat. When she stepped back, her eyes glinted amber, showing that her anger had brought her wolf.
“Now, now, Lily…that’s no way to treat our guest,” Dr. Johnson scolded, but his heart wasn’t in it. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, then kissed her on the cheek. Some of the anger simmering in her eyes faded, letting her natural eye color bleed back through. The affection was clear between the two of them, but I was still going to kick both their asses when I got out of these restraints.
“Hellooo…can someone please tell me what the hell is going on before I’m bled to death?”
Brutus started to step toward me, but Dr. Johnson waved him away. He slanted a look my way as though I was a pesky fly on the wall that he wanted nothing more than to squash with one of his meaty hands, but he obeyed. Good doggy.
“I’m sure you have figured out some of what is going on, but seeing how you’re our guest, what do you wish to know?” He disentangled himself from his daughter and walked around to the other side of the gurney where the machine guzzled my blood. With the push of a button, it whoosh-beeped one last time, then stilled. Dr. Johnson leaned over me and pulled the needle out of my arm, rolled the red stained tube up and discarded it in a biohazard container on the wall.
The spot where the needle had been burned slightly, making me want to rub it, but years of donating blood at the hospital made it tolerable. I pushed the sting aside, ignoring it. This would likely be my one chance to get some answers; I couldn’t let it slip by.
“You’re the one killing the supernaturals, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. He opened a door on the machine and withdrew a large container of my blood, wrote something on the label, and handed it to Lilith. “Take this to them.”
Lilith stepped around the gurney, grabbed the container and disappeared from the room without a word. I watched as at least a pint of my blood walked out the door, gone to fuel whatever they used to kill the supernaturals. I had to put a stop to this.
My attention centered back on Dr. Johnson. “How? Why?” I tugged on my straps once again, desperate to be free, but Brutus stepped up next to me and stilled my efforts with his proximity. He really didn’t need much more than his intimidating presence.
“The why is obvious, is it not?” He shut the door on the machine hard enough the whole unit shook. “Those filthy beasts killed my wife and attacked my daughter.” His voice rose with his anger.
Dr. Johnson straightened the wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, composing himself. “As for the how…it is complicated, but I will try to explain it to you in layman’s terms.” He pulled a stethoscope out of his coat pocket, placed it on my chest, and listened to my heartbeat. He listened intently for a moment, and must have been satisfied with what he heard, because he removed the instrument.
Guess he wanted to keep his golden goose healthy and producing.
“A year ago a rogue werewolf attacked my wife.” Tears welled up in his eyes, but anger quickly replaced them. “She did not survive the change.”
A sudden pang of guilt struck me as I thought about how we had decided back in the beginning not to tell the human world about my blood, only the supernaturals. But then the spot on my arm throbbed where the needle had been and my guilt disappeared. This scenario was the exact reason we had chosen not to.
His voice shook when he said, “The last straw came when they attacked my daughter. I was prepared to sell off everything I owned in order to purchase enough silver to take out as many beasts as I could, but then Lily found out about the cure and reported its existence to me.” The tears dried up and his voice no longer shook. “With the first few bags she brought me, I tried to isolate the part of your blood that makes it attack and destroy the virus carried within supernaturals with the hopes of crafting it into a drug to be used on humans.” His blue eyes twinkled.
“It would have been my shining achievement,” Dr. Johnson said. “Cancer, disease…we could have cured them all.” The twinkle faded and his eyebrows scrunched together. “But, unfortunately, your blood cannot be synthesized or coaxed into becoming anything else. It degrades almost instantly when modified. Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to obtain a viable specimen, nor have we been able to successfully replicate it. In essence, your blood does what it does and nothing else.”
“Why not just kill them?” I asked. Not like I wanted him to or anything, but I wanted to know why he had involved me.
He stepped up to the gurney until his face was close to mine. His breath smelled like peppermint. “Do you have any idea how expensive silver is? And how hard it is to obtain in large quantities?” He shook his head as though I was stupid. “I needed a way to kill them quickly, efficiently, without silver, and from a distance. Your blood provides all of that and more.” Dr. Johnson pulled away from me and checked my pulse again.
My chest tightened as reality, the cruel bitch, crawled out of the darkness where she’d been hiding and bit me square on the ass. I’d known that my blood was more than likely responsible for those deaths, but up until that moment, I’d still held out hope. Hearing him say the words punched me in the gut. Tom…Brian. Their deaths really were my fault. How would I ever forgive myself?
“But…how?” I croaked. It was imperative that I find out how my blood killed them so I could fix it.
A cruel smile spread across his face. “After my wife died, I began developing a toxin, ST1, aimed at eliminating supernaturals in my quest for revenge. I just needed a way to administer it. The government couldn’t revoke the PRA without suffering mass upheaval from the supernatural community, but within the last few years, they’ve started looking for ways to get rid of supernaturals, and I had my outlet with the help of your blood. This gave rise to the PRDD, and the government granted me leniency. We stil
l have to keep it discreet from the supernaturals, of course, which is why I need you.”
He ran his finger over the spot where he’d pulled the needle from my arm and scooped up a drop of my blood, then rubbed his fingers together and looked at it thoughtfully. “It really is quite remarkable,” he said. “The first test subjects were killed with a dart I modified to carry a small amount of your blood with the ST1 piggybacking on top of it. Your blood attacks the virus, and then the toxin goes to work. We are currently working on a modification that will allow it to be fired from 9mm handguns.” He tilted his head as he studied the red smear of blood on his fingers. “The toxin blends in and can be easily confused with the supernaturals’ unique DNA, leaving behind only the tiniest anomaly. No one is the wiser, we have our control, and the PRA stays intact.” He chuckled and Brutus joined in.
“What do you mean, no one is the wiser?” I screamed. “They’re blaming me! I’ve got werewolves and vampires hunting me because of you!”
Bile rose in my throat. They had killed Tom and Brian to test their new weapon. A weapon they wouldn’t have if not for me. Once again, tears welled up in my eyes, but the straps still restrained my hands, preventing me from wiping them away. Instead, I set my jaw and stared at Dr. Johnson with tears rolling down my heated cheeks, and hoped with all my heart he could see what I had in store for him the first chance I got.
Whatever he saw wiped the smile from his lips.
“What will you do with me?” I gritted out.
“You will be our guest,” he said. “We can’t reproduce your blood, so we will have to get it from the source on a regular basis.” He turned away from me and spoke to Brutus. “Take her to her room. Make sure she is…comfortable.” My heart raced as he strode out the door. His loafers shuffled on the tile as he walked down the hallway, no doubt on his way to help do whatever it was they did with my blood.
That left me alone with Brutus. Maybe I could escape when he took me to my room. I looked at Brutus, and thought about how best to take him. He smiled as though I was the butt end of an inside joke. He turned his back to me and opened a cabinet hanging on the wall, shuffled through several bottles—I couldn’t read the labels—before finding what he was looking for. My mouth soured and my stomach roiled. This couldn’t be good.
Brutus smiled even wider when he faced me once more, a bottle of Chloroform in one hand and a rag in the other. “Lily said you put up quite da fight, so I figures it bes’ not to take any chances.”
I fought with all my might: turning my head away, kicking, screaming, even tried to bite the bastard a few times, but there was nothing I could do against the big brute as his meaty hand that held the soaked rag covered my nose. I held my breath as long as I could, but eventually my brain overrode everything else and I took several deep breaths.
It only took a few seconds for the world to go dark.
Again.
CHAPTER 29
The room I found myself in when I woke up resembled a walk-in closet roughly twelve by twelve feet with just enough room for a small cot to lie on, a sink, and a toilet. Solid white walls, solid white ceiling, one undersized window, and only one door leading in or out.
Fear settled into my bones and took root as I thought about the fact Dr. Johnson planned to farm my blood for a weapon that killed supernaturals and no one knew where to find me. I paced back and forth, my steps jerky and unsure. What the hell was I supposed to do? How could I get out?
As if emphasizing the point, the Lorum tingled. I fought the urge to rub my shoulder blade back and forth along the wall. I didn’t know how long I’d been captive, but seeing as how I hadn’t dropped dead from whatever connection Loukas had with me through the Lorum, I assumed I still had time.
The stone felt cool to the touch as I made a circuit around the room, checking every nook and cranny for weakness. Someone had welded the hinges in place and then capped them with some sort of material I hadn’t seen before. It was damn strong, preventing me from wedging anything underneath the lip where I could get some leverage and pop the pin.
The mechanized lock only opened from the outside with a hand scanner and key code pad. The tiny one-foot by one-foot window set into the door at head height that allowed them to see into the room had been reinforced around the edges, welded, and had chain-link between the two panes. Not like I could squeeze through that tiny an opening even if I did manage to somehow break through all those layers. I may be thin, but I’d have to be downright anorexic and lubed with automotive grease to even think about squeezing through there.
While inspecting a miniscule, waist-high opening with a metal cover in the middle of the door, I heard booted footsteps echo from somewhere down the hall. They slowed as they approached my door. I quickly searched the room, looking for anything I might use as a weapon, but unless I planned on picking up the cot, which I couldn’t because they had bolted it to the floor—I’d checked—or ripping off the toilet seat, there was nothing in the room. They’d already thought of that, too.
The scanner beeped as it accepted the person outside my door’s hand print, keys clacked as they entered their code, then the door clicked as the bolts tumbled. I held my breath and stepped away from the door, ready to jump whoever entered my cell.
My hopes of attacking some puny science nerd and escaping vanished when Brutus opened the door. His bulky frame filled the doorway, each shoulder bunched inward in a kind of shrug as he maneuvered through. His head nearly touched the top board when he ducked through the opening and stepped to the side, letting Lilith in. My cheeks heated and I bit my tongue to keep from going at her like a wild cat. With Brutus standing right behind her, the only thing jumping Lilith would get me would be Brutus’s fist slamming my face through the floor.
“What do you want?” I snapped. I couldn’t attack and beat her like I wanted to, but I sure as hell didn’t have to be nice to her.
She pooched out her bottom lip in the worst imitation of a pout I’d ever seen. “Ah, you don’t like me much, do you?” she mocked. Lilith stepped toward me and reached her hand out. I swatted her hand away and dodged to the right.
“Don’t touch me,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
She wagged her finger at me and clucked her tongue. “Now, now, don’t be rude. Wilkes here doesn’t like it when anyone’s rude to me.” Brutus grunted his agreement like a good monkey.
Lilith paced across the room, inspecting the cot and sink as she did. She shook her head and looked at me piteously. That pissed me off even more than her mocking. I clenched my fists and moved back against the wall opposite where she stood, avoiding her.
“You know, it’s sad really. About your little friend. If only she’d stayed away from what belonged to me, this all could have been avoided.” She ran her fingers along the sheet-covered cot, flicking her fingers and flipping the pillow over thoughtlessly.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. Lilith turned and looked at me then, the look in her eyes so fierce I almost took a step back, but caught myself. No way would I give her the satisfaction.
“Tom was mine,” she spat. “He should have loved me! Not her.” Her arms pumped at her sides as she stalked toward me, cornering me against the wall. “When he refused to turn me, I thought it was because of that stupid rule they have against fraternizing with humans.” She turned and stomped off several feet. “Tom was all about the rules, always begging for his Alpha’s approval, so I found someone else less rule-oriented, tricked him into thinking I loved him, then convinced him to turn me.”
My thoughts jumped to Brian. Lily. He thought she loved him so he turned her, just to find out she betrayed him. Anger heated my cheeks as I remembered our dance at the Blu Moon, and our lost opportunity. All because of what Lily had done to him. Well, that and because of my big mouth, but that was a demon I’d have to live with. As for Lily, she had even more things to pay for now.
Lilith drifted back over toward me. “Even after I’d gone through all that trouble and pa
in to become a werewolf, he still didn’t want to be with me,” Lilith whined. “Ooh nooo, ’cause he already loved that red-headed whore.”
Common sense flew out the window. I doubled up my fist, twisted to the right, and swung at Lilith with everything I had. I aimed for her jaw and imagined my fist connecting with bone, prayed I’d break every bone in her face.
But right before my fist hit home, Lilith dodged to the left and Brutus’ hand caught my fist. Pain exploded from my hand as he squeezed—hard—before letting go. I pulled my arm close to my side and backed away several steps. Lilith laughed at my failed attempt, which made me even angrier.
“How dare you speak of her,” I growled, the threat in my voice surprised even me. The sting of tears burned my eyes as I bit my tongue and tasted the coppery tang of blood. “Sally has more class in her pinky finger than you will ever have in your entire body.” I shook. I didn’t know how, I didn’t care how long it took; she would pay for what she’d done to Sally, Tom, and Brian.
Lilith smiled. “Had, dear…past tense. After I knocked you unconscious, I called in a clean-up crew to remove the body. They were preparing to haul her away when I dragged you to my car.” She turned and walked back over to where Brutus stood in the doorway.
It’s not true, it’s not true, I repeated over and over in my head. Sally isn’t dead. She’s just trying to get to me. I had to keep telling myself that or I’d fall apart.
Lilith spoke, drawing me back to the present. “Daddy dearest, of course, believed me when I told him a werewolf attacked me. He never would have understood me falling in love with a werewolf—especially after what happened to Momma. Says they’re filthy, savage beasts.” She stepped intimately close to Brutus. “So naturally, he developed a weapon in retaliation of what they’d done, and I tested it for him.” She ran a hand down Brutus’ arm and smiled when he shivered at her touch. No wonder she felt perfectly safe telling me this in front of him—he was enamored with her.