“Harrison?” Her eyes sprang open, her jaw dropped, and understanding stole across her features.
Rex chuckled. “Yes, my dear, you see it all now.”
“Rex!” Jessica called to him from the secure entrance. He turned, saw the worry in her eyes and crossed the distance in no time. “We’ve got trouble. We have an intruder.”
Chapter Twelve
The access door by the large vehicle entrance had been left unguarded, triggering Kai’s suspicion. He had little time to waste on double checking for security, and the sense of time running out made him quick and decisive. Who knew he could be so clever with a screw driver and a pair of pliers?
Using Sari’s description of The Facility’s ventilation system, Kai located the grill of a vent and slipped inside. As soon as he had the grill replaced, he crouched in the square metal tunnel. A cool breeze ruffled his fringe, and he found one of the big rotating turbines silently turning to his left.
Sari was right, the thing was huge with a diameter of at least two meters. How big was this place if it needed a ventilation shaft of this size? Kai could stand up.
In the passageway, two guards rushed toward the door he’d left open. Kai held his breath.
Damn.
Hunters.
While he didn’t think they’d pick up his scent, he worried their super sensitive hearing would detect his breathing. Or maybe they’d hear his frantic heartbeat. The metal box around him seemed to echo the sound right to them.
They didn’t need to find him to know that someone had broken in. He hadn’t been gentle with his lock jimmying, and the evidence left behind didn’t leave much to the imagination. But it didn’t matter. Finding Sari mattered most. Not that he could move with the two Hunters less than ten feet away. He could see them sniff the air in hopes of tracking a foreign scent. Hopefully all they’d smell was eucalyptus. One of the two glanced toward the grill and Kai froze. Could he see the stranger behind the metal grate?
Long, slow seconds ticked by. Kai’s lungs burned from the air trapped inside them. His throat protested. His eyes watered. After what seemed like an eternity, the Hunter shifted his gaze to the other. With a nod, they disappeared, giving Kai a breather. Air rushed out of his lungs, and he rubbed his hands over his face. Close call. Too bloody close.
Find Sari. Get her to safety.
He took a step to the right and stopped. Why hadn’t he thought about Rebecca? There was a good chance she was locked up inside this compound, yet Sari was first and foremost in his mind. Shock gripped him. He didn’t want to analyze his thoughts, didn’t want to have to admit there was also a good chance his sister was long gone from this world. But he was an optimist, and he refused to give up the hope of finding Rebecca alive.
With a shake of his head, he cleared his head of anything to drag him down. He had a very simple mission. Locating Zimmerman or exacting revenge on that twit Stevens didn’t fit into the plan. No. It was all about the two women who brought him here. The sister he loved and the hybrid he’d die for. Kai smiled. He never knew he could feel such strong emotion about a woman, and he sure as hell never would’ve thought he’d be prepared to offer his life in exchange for hers. Sari had affected an unexpected but long overdue change in him and when he found her, he’d thank her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a map on the wall of the tunnel. Upon closer inspection, he found it to be a blueprint of the ventilation system for the entire complex. The place was enormous. There was only one level above ground, appropriately titled “Loading Dock.” Every other level lay below ground. From the map, he saw there were eleven sublevels though he didn’t see a need to visit SL 11, the basement. By the looks of it, that served as the utility floor.
But almost every other sublevel between here and there needed exploration. He doubted he’d have to visit administration or staff quarters, but the four levels marked with “Research Lab” would require closer inspection. Which one held Sari? Which held Rebecca? Why the hell did they need four research labs in the first place?
His eyes roved over the structure of The Facility and stopped momentarily at the mention of an armory and isolation cells. Isolation cells? His imagination sprang into life with a cacophony of nightmarish images. Kai struggled to shut it down. He really had stepped foot in hell, hadn’t he? Somehow, he had trouble believing there was just one mad scientist running amok here. The sooner he got Sari and Rebecca out of here, the better he’d feel.
He’d start at the armory. Stevens had shot her with darts, not bullets, so a tranquilizer gun seemed the ideal weapon. Kai had no intention of killing anyone. Tracing the tunnels of the ventilation system with a finger, he found a vertical tunnel leading down to SL 10. There was one on every side of the square complex, meaning he could use any one of them should someone follow him. He only hoped the eucalyptus cover held strong.
Heading right, he moved through the metal box as quiet as he could. He found a square hole in the bottom, leading down. Ladder rungs were bolted to the side. When Kai looked down into the shaft, vertigo struck him backward. Good thing the place was well ventilated because he needed air. Bloody hell that goes a long way down. He’d never been afraid of heights, but something about that tunnel made him dizzy. Perhaps it was because it led deeper into the fiery pits of this insane place?
Still, he had to suck it up and be a man. People were counting on him. Sitting on the edge of the hole, he wondered if Detective Kane had arrived yet. The guy was going to be pissed that Kai hadn’t waited for him. So arrest me…if I make it out of here alive.
Kai sucked in a deep breath. SL 5 was his target. He started down the ladder, acutely aware that if he slipped and fell, there was nothing to stop him from falling down ten flights. Yeah, the power of positive thinking. He so needed lessons.
A check over her shoulder showed Rex out of hearing range. Sari didn’t care to listen in to anything else that psychopath had to say even if it could save her life. The woman in the darkened room held her attention. Harrison. He’d said her name was Harrison. Was she related to Kai in some way? Or was it just a lucky coincidence?
After seeing Waylon and hearing his version of logic, Sari no longer believed in coincidences. But Kai had never mentioned anything. He was in it to find the cats, to rescue his name within the scientific community. After all, he’d said his reputation was mud because of the search. Proving the cats existed would square the ledger for him.
“And you are?”
The woman’s smooth voice carried on the air like fine chocolate. A sweet, soft lullaby with a hint of husky drawl.
“My name is Sari.”
Coming closer, the woman—Rebecca—stepped into the light. Sari saw the similarity between Rebecca and Kai immediately. They were related. Her heart sank. Whether Rebecca volunteered or was kidnapped, her heart went out to Kai. If he’d been searching all along for this woman…Sari couldn’t let herself think how he’d react.
“You’re related to Kai, aren’t you?”
Rebecca paused. The light showed faint lines crossing her face. At first Sari thought them scars but the longer she looked, the more convinced she became that they were markings. Like very faint tattoos. Evidence of her transformation? Or symbols painted on skin?
“He is my brother. Is he with you?”
Sari couldn’t believe how calm she sounded. Like she was comfortable, at ease with her surroundings and this existence. If Kai had been secretly searching for a lost sister, she doubted he’d be so relaxed upon learning of her fate.
“He’s not in The Facility,” she said, unsure of how much to say. Thinking he was dead didn’t mean he was. “But he was searching for this place. I think he wanted to find you. How long have you been gone?”
A moment’s frown crossed Rebecca’s forehead before she shook her head and said, “It doesn’t matter. This is my home. Kai wouldn’t understand.”
Sari blinked. “I don’t understand. You chose to be here?”
“Not at first, bu
t when Rex promised a cure, how could I turn him down? In becoming a hybrid, I could better fight the cancer ravaging my body.”
Sari was having trouble staying with the conversation. A cure for cancer? What kind of cancer? And what the hell had he turned her into? Sari closed her eyes and tried to clear her cluttered mind. Everything happened too fast. There hadn’t been enough time to sort out the craziness here. First Pitch and his anger directed at her. Then Waylon. Now a hawk hybrid and this woman. What had Rex called her? The tigress?
Oh my.
Sari opened her eyes. The lines on Rebecca’s face made sense, but how, when Rex said he perfected the technique, could she bear a side effect? Harmless or not, those lines appeared permanent. A lasting reminder that she’d become a tiger hybrid. A tiger! Sari’s mind reeled. Hybrid babies, hawks, tigers…what next?
“You needn’t fear,” Rebecca said, coming closer. She touched Sari’s exposed arm. The warmth of Rebecca’s skin comforting her amidst the hell she found herself in. “I am proud of what I’ve become.”
“But you’re locked away! You’ve abandoned your family! I’m trying to understand, but I really don’t.”
Rebecca’s fingers flitted over the soft leather binding Sari to the cold metal of the wheelchair, drawing her gaze. She saw the jagged nails, the callused palm. It hadn’t all been smooth sailing for the Tigress, had it? Why did Sari get the feeling the woman had taken every hardship with the grace and poise of a lady? She hadn’t squealed and wailed like Sari, hadn’t cried herself to sleep. That would have earned Rex’s ultimate faith and admiration.
It surprised Sari that he still considered her worth salvaging.
“My brother is a good man, Sari, but he would never understand my choice.”
“He won’t understand you calling this place home. How can you forgive Rex for taking you against your will? Why do you let him keep you locked in a cell? I’m sure you’ve earned the same rights as the Hunters, at the very least. Or don’t you trust yourself?”
The woman jerked backward. That was the catch, wasn’t it? Rex had offered her a chance to beat her cancer, but it came at a price. Though she claimed to be comfortable with her hybrid existence, she didn’t trust it. She might be healthy and cancer free, but she hadn’t come to grips with her altered reality.
“You have the urge to hunt, don’t you? You’ve asked them to feed you no meat because the smell of it stirs up the cat inside. You’re happy to live in this box because you think it protects everyone from you, but what it really means is that you don’t have to deal with the consequences.”
“Stop it.”
Sari shook her head. “I know. I know every little urge and desire you have. You may be a tiger and I a jaguar, but deep down they’re the same. For all the high-tech, wiz-bang gadgetry Rex has, he doesn’t have an answer to controlling the feline instinct, does he? He relies on you, on your strength of character, and your desire to keep some sense of order in your life.”
The woman began to retreat toward the darkness. “You don’t know the first thing about me.” Her voice grew fragile and afraid.
Sari leaned as far forward as the binds would allow. “I can help you overcome the urges, Rebecca. I’ve been through it, and I know it can be done. You don’t have to be alone in this.”
Footsteps echoed down the hall and without warning, the wheelchair jerked backward. Sari lost sight of Rebecca when the door swung closed, and she jumped when Rex shoved his face close to hers. Anger flushed his cheeks with warm blood. His heart pounded and he reeked of fear.
“What’s it going to be, little one? Are with me or not?”
He wanted a decision. Now. Something, or someone, had pushed his timetable up a gear.
Kai?
“Not.”
He pulled away, his fists clenching and unclenching in pure frustration. “You stupid child. I can offer you a blessed life. You could be any hybrid you want and yet you choose to stay as you are. A Failure.”
“You can’t do it, can you?”
He paused in his aggravated state and stared at her, puzzled. “Do what?”
“Make me human again. You have to turn me into a different kind of hybrid because the gene sequences can’t be removed, they need to be replaced.”
He didn’t deny her claim. Any hope of being normal again vanished, but it didn’t matter. Sari realized she wouldn’t have chosen that option. Despite the crazy hormones and the millions of unanswered questions, she would have chosen to remain as she was. Developing complete control over the urges within and the desire to shift would take time, sure, but she still wanted the chance to do it. She wanted it more than ever now. It was her way of stealing back the power Rex had taken from her. In all his righteous ramblings, he hadn’t convinced her to revert.
She glanced toward the Tigress’ door and, in that moment, understood Rebecca’s choices. Despite the altered reality of her life, Sari didn’t want to change a thing. She never had. Waking up to find she was something other than human shocked the living hell out of her, and the first shift had left her in agony, but through it all, she had never thought change what she’d become.
She had embraced her hybrid life.
“So you’re choosing to die, are you?”
With a blink, her sights zeroed in on Zimmerman. Ripping out his throat never seemed so appealing, but it was out of the question. As much as she hated to admit it, he needed to remain alive. Even if only to see through the birth of the baby hybrids, he wasn’t expendable. Shit.
“I’m choosing me, Rex.”
He threw his hands in the air and shrugged. “Your choice, honey.”
With that he spun her chair toward the elevator and moved toward it, fast. Smartass cracks aside, she needed to speak to him and find out what was going on. Every question she asked received a stern silent reply. Whatever made him rush her back to her cage had the place abuzz with movement. She heard it through the concrete walls and floors, felt it in the air.
The chair stopped at her cage door, but he didn’t untie her. Part of her expected him to cut her throat or shoot her, but he did nothing. Rex simply stood in the middle of their cages for a long time without speaking. Finally, he opened his mouth.
“Goodbye.”
She braced for the moment he threw her in the cage, but it never came. He turned tail and disappeared into the elevator without another word. Sari blinked in shock. If he was prepared to leave her in her chair, then either someone else would do the dirty work or he planned on killing them all where they sat or lay. Rex had said goodbye, his voice soft and reverent, with a hint of sadness.
Damn it. Why hadn’t she listened in on Rex before? At least now she’d know what was going on.
“Why did he just leave you like that?” Pitch snarled. “What did you do to piss him off?”
“He said goodbye,” Mystery added. “Like he didn’t expect to see us again. He’s never said goodbye before.”
Sari’s head swung back and forth between the two of them, glad that a light had been left on in the lab. Part of her wanted to know if they’d even missed her while she was gone. Did they care anymore? Or had their worlds shrunk so much that they only saw their predicaments? On some level, she wondered if the damage to Pitch’s personality would keep him from rejoining society. Could he ever blend in, take on a job, live a normal life?
For the time being, she ignored Pitch and his anger. Turning to Mystery, she met the woman’s eyes.
“Can you reach the wheel?”
Her heart thumped hard against her ribs while she watched Mystery reach through the bars and wrap her fingers around the wheel of Sari’s chair. The chair jerked, then rolled backwards, toward Mystery who readied herself by exposing her claws.
Kai balanced on one leg and forced the other forward through the ventilation grate. It crashed to the floor with a loud bang, raising a thick cloud of choking dust. People in the room beyond coughed and sniffled, but as Kai watched the dust settle, he shook his head at the famili
ar figures locked in holding cells.
“Harrison?” Sarah looked bewildered.
He waved a hand through the cloud to clear his vision. “Yeah, it’s me. You know, this commando crap isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” He beamed a smile at Sarah. “Now how did I know I’d find you here, Makepeace?”
Seeing her unharmed eased the pressure in his chest. He glanced at the other cell and nodded. “Tom.”
“The one and only.”
Kai stepped through the opening in the wall and closed in on the cells. “So you didn’t double cross us?”
“Me, double cross you? More like the other way around. I’m the one stuck in a jail cell, and Mara’s been hidden away somewhere in this bloody place.”
Kai’s jaw tightened, the muscles bulged. “And Sari?”
Tom shook his head. “Haven’t seen or heard her. Rex hasn’t taken me into his confidence, either. I’m not exactly one of his favorites anymore.”
Without a word, Kai crossed the floor to the small desk and began rummaging through the papers on top. He spotted the keys hanging on the wall behind the desk, grabbed them and returned to the cells. He opened Sarah’s first, hugging her once she was free. As she moved toward the armory, Kai focused on releasing Tom.
Kai paused, the key not quite inside the lock. “Is there anything you should tell me before I let you out of here?”
Tom’s head snapped up, as if was listening for noise. “There’s a lot of movement. The Hunters are on the move. And there’s a truck in the cargo elevator.” Their eyes met. “The place has a self-destruct mechanism. Rex is the only one who can set it off. Gas will fill the air, but you’ll hear the warning siren. There are gas masks over there. You’ll want the syringe in that glass case over there.”
Tom pointed at the single syringe. Kai glanced over his shoulder and then frowned at Tom. “Who’s that for?”
“Sari. There’s an airborne virus mixed in with the gas, genetically engineered to kill her. If you don’t get to her with the antidote in time, she will die.”
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