by Marie Harte
The phone Carter had given Kennedy to use vibrated, and she took it out of her coat pocket. Who but the Circs here had her number? “Hello?”
“Kennedy, it’s me. Charlie.”
Kennedy stood, shocked, hopeful. “God. Charlie. Are you okay? Where are you? Have you gotten out yet?”
Charlie had told her that by escaping, Kennedy would in turn help Charlie escape. And that in so doing, she’d set in motion a chain of events to take down Lang for good.
“No, I’m not gone yet. But I’m getting closer.” Charlie’s low voice was hard to hear. “I need you back. You and Palmer. You’re the keys to making this work.”
“What? Okay. I’ll get him. We’ll have the team surround—”
“You don’t understand. You have to bring him alone. No other Circs. And Kennedy, you can’t tell him. If he knows, bad things will happen. He’ll die.”
“Wait. What?” The thought of Alex dead killed all the joy inside her.
“It’s a convoluted mess of events. But…do you trust me?”
“With my life.” But with Alex’s life?
“Come to the warehouse tonight. No later than eleven. I mean it. You can’t be a second over eleven p.m. or everything goes to hell.” She sent Kennedy directions. “Just you and Palmer. Yates, Myers, and Sheer will be there. They have to take you in, and you can’t fight it. Not yet.”
“But—”
“They’re going to hurt him. They’re going to hurt you.” Charlie sighed, sounding tired. Broken. “It can’t be helped. But you have to do it. And you can’t fight it, cousin. I mean it. Just surrender gracefully, no matter how much it might kill your new boyfriend not to put a few holes in those assholes.”
Kennedy had never imagined this scenario. She didn’t know what to think. Charlie? Can you hear me? She heard nothing from her cousin, but considering the distance between them, she hadn’t figured on making the connection.
“Kennedy, I need an answer,” Charlie urged.
“O-okay.”
“I have to go. Promise you’ll be careful.”
“I will, if you promise not to sacrifice yourself to end all this.” She’d done it once before, when Kennedy escaped. And after hearing how Katie had died, Kennedy worried her cousin might take the same path and end it all.
Charlie gave a weak laugh. “Oh no. I’m done taking one for the team. Trust me. I want out of here, and I want this evil stopped.” Something shrieked in the background. “Shit. I have to go.”
The phone disconnected.
Kennedy stared at it, trusting her cousin, but not sure about the loose “plan” Charlie had outlined. Get captured? Be tortured? Lie to Alex and don’t bring backup? It felt…wrong. And it sounded completely stupid. But Charlie had never lied to her before.
What if she’s been compromised? What if she’s now working for the enemy? her beast forced her to consider.
Kennedy didn’t know what to do. Charlie’s predictions always came true. And the smart woman typically hedged her instructions so that erring in any one step wouldn’t have disastrous consequences, only mild ones. But Charlie had been pretty emphatic about her conditions. Alex dying? God, no.
The thought of lying to him bothered her more than anything, especially after the bonds they’d forged. But to keep him alive, she’d do anything.
She couldn’t see him letting rogue Circs take him back, even to save her cousin. So she couldn’t tell him. She’d keep true to that point. But she didn’t think she could deliver him to the enemy without some kind of warning.
Or could she?
God, she didn’t know what to do. Just moments ago she’d been so happy, in love with a man she could envision herself with for the long term, and now this. They’d hurt him? What exactly did that mean? She didn’t worry for herself, choosing not to think about what “hurt her” actually meant. But Alex didn’t deserve to die for something he’d had no part in. Saving her cousin was up to Kennedy.
No. She’d go herself. She’d find some way to save Charlie without hurting Alex in the process. She just had to figure out a way to get free and not let anyone know of the turmoil within her. Not easy to do considering her connection to Alex and Bailey’s empathic abilities.
Eli and Gideon weren’t a threat, psychically. Oh, Gideon could do that mind blast thing, but he couldn’t read her thoughts or emotions. She’d seen little of Carter, but he seemed more interested in security than dealing with her, which she found just fine. She hadn’t gotten a handle on his psychic ability, but she had feeling it was similar to the shielding Eli swore he couldn’t do.
She’d make sure to avoid him just in case. Perhaps feign an illness until she could borrow a car?
Alex walked through the doorway. “You okay?”
She took one look at him and burst into tears. Great, Kennedy. Now he’ll know for sure something’s up. Her beast grumbled, disappointed in the game. No chance of a secret chase now.
He hurried to embrace her. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
Kennedy burrowed deeper into Alex’s warmth, determined to do nothing to put him in harm’s way.
He growled. “Hell, no. I’ve gone through this once. Not again. Now tell me what fool thing that cousin of yours wants you to do.”
She stared up at him in shock.
He gave her a mean smile, one that had her libido and her guard way up. “You’re not the only one getting something out of our connection.” She glanced down and saw his hand on her phone. “Now talk, Kennedy. And don’t leave anything out.”
Chapter Fourteen
THIS HAS TO be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
Alex stood with Kennedy in an abandoned warehouse down by the waterfront in Seattle. At the late hour, only a few transients and the occasional tweaker had neared the building. Most of them had taken one look at him and walked in the opposite direction.
He’d have done the same in their place. He felt like he looked—wild around the eyes, tempted to claw through something just to alleviate the growing tension. His beast hated the thought of being the bait in a trap, not when he could have lain in wait to hunt those hunting him.
His heightened senses made his skin impenetrable to normal armor, but the enemy would come with Circ-piercing weapons. The worst part was knowing he wouldn’t be killed, but that they’d make sure to sedate him so Doctor Crazy could run more tests. Having seen what Lang, Smith, and the others had done to Gideon and the guys—God, Smith had blowtorched Gideon’s balls—Alex had no desire to become a human pin cushion.
The knowledge Kennedy was also in danger was killing him. But her beast refused to let him treat her as something less, to be protected. The creature had stared at him through Kennedy’s eyes, and he took small comfort in knowing his mate could defend herself. Besides, Kennedy was no one’s fool.
Except perhaps, when it came to her family.
He watched her pace, scented as much as saw her nerves, and sighed. Man, even anxious, she was the loveliest woman he’d ever known. She appealed to him no matter what. Even their arguments about him coming with her hadn’t dissuaded him from feeling so much for the stubborn beauty.
Kennedy wore a hooded sweatshirt under a sleeveless vest, hiding her dark red hair, but her eyes gleamed a vivid blue, and she wore no contacts to mask her beastly eyes. Like Bailey, her pupils remained human. A side effect to better let the females blend in, for safety, perhaps? He didn’t know. But he did know he wanted this over like yesterday.
Alex felt exposed, but this opportunity to get to Lang had to be explored. He hadn’t liked lying to his team, but he knew how those with foresight worked. There were key events that had to occur, because they affected the future. And screwing with those events could lead to much worse happening. Charlie had told Kennedy to come with Alex, alone. So they’d come alone. Eleven p.m., on the dot.
But he wasn’t a complete idiot. He’d left behind a message for the guys, as well as ingested a tracker, one that wouldn’t be detected on his bo
dy, thanks to some high tech gear they’d “appropriated” from some government types not long ago.
The question of whether or not the bug would function past electrocution and God only knew what hell they’d put him through, though, that remained.
Alex glanced around at the three-story building. Broken glass windows at the top of the structure allowed moonlight to stream inside and cast shadows over the concrete pillars and mounds of rubble over the cement floor. The main bay doors had been ajar, security around the rundown place nonexistent. He wondered what exactly this place had been before it had been abandoned. Not part of the shipyard, he didn’t think.
The smell of chemicals and an odd metal hinted at something else…
Or perhaps that was the smell of Lang’s men already set up and prepared to take him and Kennedy in. He still couldn’t believe he’d gone along with her reasoning, but her psychic cousin had insisted, allowing him to rationalize the instructions.
A deeper, angrier part of him knew the urge to put his hands around Yates’s neck and squeeze, or better yet, to disembowel Myers again. Except this time he’d make sure Myers died before leaving his body to rot.
“You’re growling,” Kennedy whispered.
“This is stupid. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?”
Of course her belligerence did nothing but turn him on. “Yeah, because you’re a girl. Lang wants nothing more than to breed more Circs.” They’d had this discussion nonstop since she’d told him flat out to shut up. “Kennedy, trust me. You don’t want this. There’s still time to go.” Though he doubted it now. He’d sensed them drawing closer, the enemy just outside the building.
No, now inside, creeping on near-silent feet a level above.
“I’ve said what I had to say.” She glared at him, but he heard her soothing in his mind, even if she wasn’t aware of it. After bonding the way they had, their mental pathways had opened. As if subconsciously, both recognized no threat in the other. Alex liked the idea, while a small part of him was uncomfortable with the knowledge that she could hurt him like no one else could.
“Why don’t you just talk to me in here all the time?” He tapped his forehead.
She flushed. “It feels intrusive. I don’t do it much unless I have to.”
“I like it.”
Her shy smile undid him. “Really?”
He smiled back. That’s when he felt rogue Circs draw closer, felt the dozen humans hovering on the inner girders on the second level. A subtle shift in energy differentiated powerful rogues nearby from the regular rogues. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought more than just the B series had come.
They’re here, she whispered in his mind, and he felt her pushing her power out as she concentrated. Yates, Myers, Sheer, some rogues, and a bunch of men with guns. Just like Charlie told us.
“I know.” His adrenaline pumped, and his beast fought him, rejecting the idea of overwhelming odds. It hadn’t liked that the team had split in the first place. Gideon and Carter had gone to investigate a fake lead Kennedy had given them, courtesy of her psychic cousin. A lie, obviously, yet the guys hadn’t sensed anything wrong with her information. Only Bailey had given him a few strange looks, though she hadn’t said anything.
She remained behind to watch their home base with Eli, where the pair would also work on more hand-to-hand training. Alex had taken Gideon aside to let him know Kennedy was out-wrestling Bailey. That hadn’t gone over well with their empath, but Alex would be damned if he’d hold back from Gideon, who took all their training and welfare into account. With their enemies close, they needed to be as strong as possible.
He watched, unmoving, as Myers and Yates left the shadows of the warehouse to join them. Finally.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” Myers said, his voice raspy, as if he’d suffered damage to his vocal chords at some point. He laughed, and the sound of his crazy rang through the building, now filled with armed enemy waiting for an excuse to fill him full of holes. Of the other rogue Circs, he saw no sign, only felt their presence.
Backup in case we escape. Smart plan, his beast said. Alex agreed.
Yates looked a little rougher than he had before. Alex had expected Myers to look like shit. The guy had been degenerating, according to what Carter had found on him through some backdoor code cracking. Apparently Caldane, that cannibalistic whack-job, had taken Myers as his personal pet. Alex hated Myers, but he had a feeling anything Caldane had already done to the guy had been a better punishment than Alex could deliver. Well, besides death.
So what had they done to Yates?
“If it isn’t Lang’s pet rapist and Caldane’s newest girlfriend.” Alex sneered at the pair. Yates had always considered himself a leader; he’d never liked Alex’s ability to withstand his bullying. Myers had a homophobic streak a mile wide, and it came as no shock that being fucked up the ass would screw up his already weak mind.
Myers’s face turned red, and hatred shone in his beady brown eyes. The veins on his neck stood out, his thick, muscular torso in odd proportion to his thinner, lower half. The guy looked jacked up on steroids, but Alex scented an internal sickness that grew stronger as Myers neared.
No doubt Lang continued to tinker with his Circs, injecting them with more bad crap to see what his test subjects could really do.
Yates kept staring at Kennedy, which made her both nervous and angry, Alex was happy to see. “Kennedy. I’ve missed you.”
A low laugh came from the shadows. “Yeah, because his little bitch was getting it from someone else. That hurts, doesn’t it?” Sheer taunted. He stood in the darkness in front of Alex, but the fiery glow in his eyes pinpointed his location. The effect of flames for eyes was both frightening and mind-boggling. Because as much as Alex and the team weren’t human, they couldn’t handle fire.
Sheer looked like a demon come to life. From what Alex remembered about the deviant, he thought becoming Circ had probably exacerbated Sheer’s preexistent need to cause pain. The bastard had been crazy before becoming Circ; now he was ten times worse.
“How did it feel, Kennedy?” Sheer added with a chuckle. “Getting fucked by Palmer’s big prick was tasty, eh? Our friend Yates missed you so much he tried getting it on with your cousin. But she’s not you.” Sheer tsked. Yates appeared furious, glaring at him. “Couldn’t knock her up, could you, Robert? Not pretty little Charlie, not when you’re hard and aching for Kennedy. And me.”
“Fuck you,” Yates spat.
Myers had yet to take his gaze from Alex, while Alex watched the interplay between their disturbed team with morbid fascination. Perhaps the key to defeating them would be to let Yates’s team turn on each other.
Unfortunately, they regrouped quickly enough.
“Come with us,” Yates ordered Kennedy. “Dr. Lang expects us back.” He smiled at Alex. “We’ve missed you, Palmer. In fact, I think Smith wants a word. They’re thinking of reinstating you. You’ll rejoin our pack. We could use the muscle, or at least, Caldane can.”
Myers flinched. It was subtle, but Alex saw it. He subtly glanced around, looking for Caldane, but he didn’t sense the bastard near. Fortunately. So no Caldane to deal with. Alex kept waiting for Lang or Smith to drop in. No way those controlling assholes would let Sheer or Yates handle a mission unaccompanied, not of this scope. Lang was a dick, but he treasured his precious female subjects, until he used them up, stole their children, then buried their corpses.
Alex scoffed. “Rejoin you? Why would I? As I see it, Caldane has his own bitch already.” He grinned at Myers, aware of Kennedy stepping closer to him. “Bet you liked taking it up the ass, didn’t you, Myers?”
Yates bent him over right in front of me, Kennedy pathed. And ew, I can’t scrub that image from my brain.
Perfect. Thanks. “I hear you’re tight with Yates too. So all those homophobic rants months ago were to cover your own needs, eh? No judgement, here, guy. It’s all good.”
The words sti
rred Myers to levels of rage that might kill him, was all Alex could think as he watched Myers’s body change. The bastard grew inches taller and thicker in the chest and arms.
“Oh my God.” Kennedy gaped and clutched Alex’s arm. “Maybe don’t taunt him anymore.”
“Why not?” Sheer asked, sounding casual. “He’s just a huge pussy who can’t do anything but suck dick. And he’s not great at that either.” He sighed.
“Wow, that’s harsh.” Alex knew taunting them wasn’t smart, but since they hadn’t hurt him yet, he intended to do his best to take out as many rogues as he could before they shipped him and Kennedy to wherever Lang intended them to go. Stalling their departure helped as well, giving the team more time to find him. By now, Eli would have noticed he was missing and found the note he’d left.
Myers ignored Sheer and Yates, his focus on Alex. “You think you’re funny, Palmer.” The rows of teeth filling his mouth made it difficult for Myers to talk. Alex stared, mesmerized, as Myers slowly transitioned into a mutant.
“Hell.” Yates backed away. “I knew Smith had given him too much of that serum. Sheer, do something.”
“I am. I’m watching.” He waved at the men in the rafters and yelled, “Let it play out.” Then he grinned at Alex. “Your show, Palmer. Consider it tryouts to join the team.”
Myers didn’t like hearing that. Neither did Alex, but the opportunity to deal with Myers was impossible to resist.
“Alex, no,” Kennedy said. Don’t do this. We should just go with them.
Myers isn’t going to let me. And this way, there’ll be one less psycho in the world. The possibility of finally dealing with Myers, of seeing Katie’s tearstained face before she died, filled him with rage. The need to avenge Katie grew until he could think of nothing else. Stay back out of the way. Yates doesn’t want to hurt you. Stay near him until I finish with this.