The Sigma Menace Collection

by Marie Johnston

  Chapter 12

  “What do you mean we can’t go in after him?” Dani was incredulous. “That’s absurd.”

  Bennett hissed a sharp inhale and a little shake of his head to warn her off. Didn’t work, Commander Fitzsimmons was talking crazy. Fucking Guardians.

  The commander leveled her with a stern glare. “We’re meant to police our species, not invade enemy territory. We don’t have the manpower. The twins are up north, two of us are new, two of us are human—one pregnant—leaving me and Bennett. Even with Kaitlyn and Jace, it would be a suicide mission.”

  “What about Master Bellamy? Doesn’t he have a mate?”

  If possible, Bennett fell even more silent and dropped his head so low his chin almost touched his chest. The commander’s jaw muscles ticked and his superhuman teeth probably cracked under the pressure.

  “He’s outta the game,” he said finally. “Irina has no field training.”

  “But my new powers—”

  “Are unknown and unpredictable.” There’s that stern, steady glare again as he patiently waited for it all to sink in.

  They were screwed. Dani had seen enough during her brief time actually residing at the compound to know what they would do to Mercury. He wouldn’t be the same if he ever came back, not if he spent any amount of time imprisoned there. Madame G wanted him to pay and wanted his semen. Tears welled up and threatened to spill. Oh God, aside from the torture, the morbid experiments, he would be made to—

  “If you would’ve let me finish in the first place.” Commander Fitzsimmons crossed his arms over his chest, the biceps bulging in their black sleeves, his piercing hazel eyes softening – just a little. “I brought you in here to talk about your telepathy.”

  Dani hastily wiped her eyes, nodded, trying not to sniffle on top of the tears. “That time in the woods was the only time.”

  “You told Bennett you tried to use it in the drugstore.” When Dani nodded, he continued. “Mercury was probably already knocked out.”

  She shrugged. “I tried to project to both of you two, but it didn’t work. I’m not a telepath.”

  “You’re not telekinetic, either, but you mentally threw half a bookstore at Agent X. Whether it’s a byproduct of the baby or latent powers coming awake, you may be the key to getting Mercury back.”

  Mercury was given a reprieve until another female entered, human this time. The scent… Mercury inhaled again to make sure… tainted. She was dressed like the first one, meant to entice him. Like the first one, it didn’t work.

  “She’ll kill me,” the girl whispered, tears streaming down her face.

  Any pity he may have felt for the trapped human dissolved when she drew out a syringe and slammed it into his thigh.

  Mercury twitched more from the shock of her action than that from any actual pain.

  The human’s lips curled smugly. “Resist the cocktail of love, Guardian,” she taunted, pointing at his manhood. “In two minutes, you won’t be able to keep that monster down.”

  Mercury kept his eyes trained on the drab ceiling, waiting for the effects of the aphrodisiac to kick in, while the recruit kept talking.

  “When I took on this assignment,” her finger trailed down his chest, “I only wanted to climb the ranks, even if it took growing a mutant inside of me. But you are delicious.” She bit her lip, swirling her fingers around his side. “I will enjoy this mission.”

  That’s right, little recruit. Keep talking. The more his captors thought they would win, the more information he could siphon.

  “Madame G will never respect you after sleeping with a shifter. You’ll get thrown back to the bottom of the pile.”

  The woman made an oh please face. “She’s invested plenty in me. I’m invaluable.”

  “Keep thinking that.”

  The open-handed smack she gave his thigh echoed off the walls in the bare room. Mercury’s eyes momentarily opened wide.

  “You like it rough?” she purred.

  “Maybe with the right girl. You ain’t it.”

  That pissed her off, the echoes of the second slap louder than the first.

  The fire from the drug curled its way through his body, threatening to make his mind hazy, trying to suggest the slender, brown-haired woman was like his Daniella. The thought of his mate was a lightning bolt to his groin, making his cock twitch. No more thoughts of his mate.

  Forcing calm, even breaths, Mercury could have bored a hole in the ceiling with the intensity of his gaze. He drowned out the prattling of the woman, refusing to be distracted for even another tidbit of information.

  Breathe in, breathe out. Think of cleaning up the recruit massacre at the lodge a few months ago. Think of scrubbing floors, replacing windows, dirty laundry.

  The heat pressed harder, the woman was cooing into his ear all kinds of naughty sayings. His mate was not here, there was no reason to get hard. Mercury kept that thought in his head as he closed his eyes, willing his body to burn off the drug faster. His metabolism spiked, tiny droplets of sweat broke out on his chest, the burning reached a crescendo, his mind fogging, threatening to lust for his mate.

  Breathe in, breathe out. The coolness of the room began to seep into his body once more. The next breath out was a sigh of relief.

  “I don’t believe it!” The woman was one part incredulous, two parts pissed.

  “I think y’all have a shit chemist.” Mercury’s voice was rough, betraying his cavalier attitude to hint at the extreme internal struggle he just faced.

  She slapped him again, this time on the stomach, followed by another, and another. The slaps turned to punches, her screams of outrage echoing through the room. The beating didn’t last long, she wore out quickly. It was more of an irritation to him than painful.

  Her hair a mess, her lip bleeding from biting it, she stood back and huffed at Mercury and then stormed out.

  Hours passed. Mercury dozed, sleeping off the rest of the drug; the cold metal table not as uncomfortable for him as his captors planned. There was no point struggling… yet. The silver would weaken him so he’d wait. Eventually, they’d release him; for a bathroom break, for transport, it didn’t matter. He’d wait it out and make his move. His senses told him his Daniella was not at the compound, therefore he could be patient.

  He sensed evil before the door opened. Well, shit.

  This time there was no pretending he was asleep. He’d need all his senses for this.

  The door opened and she walked in. Tall, with ink black hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her hair was so dark, like it swallowed not only any light that hit it, but the life-giving essence of the air around it.

  Madame G gracefully moved to Mercury’s side, coming up even with his head. Deep, black eyes—inhuman eyes—stared down impassively. “You are making this difficult.”

  “Sucks to be you.”

  Displeasure rippled through her porcelain features.

  “We are offering you a new start, with a new mate. One that isn’t full of lies and deceit. I tried with a female shifter, but since you picked a human initially, I sent one for you to try.”

  “I have only one mate.”

  Madame G cocked her head, looking at him imploringly. “Do you?”

  Hiding his confusion, Mercury held her stare. Still wearing absolutely nothing, still tied at each corner, yet Madame G never spared his body a glance. He was nothing but an experiment, an animal to be tested. A means to what end, and he needed to find out why.

  “Daniella was quite the Agent, I hated to spare her for this mission. Her natural disgust of your species when she popped up on my doorstep was refreshing. She learned quickly how to kill your kind, performing each task with such zeal.”

  “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

  Madame G drew back, surprised at his easy disbelief of her portrayal of his mate.

  “If Dani was still your faithful Agent,” he continued, “and you didn’t fear your mission ruined, there would’ve been no need to bring me here.�
�� He lifted his hands as far as they could go in the cuffs, looking up at them. “Yet, here I am.”

  The tall, vile woman set her expression. “I will give you one more chance to give up your seed. Otherwise, I will talk to our doctor about going in after it.”

  She was turning to go, Mercury’s words stopped her. “What will a baby net for Sigma? Power? Control?”

  Madame G gave a derisive snort. “Sigma wouldn’t know what to do with this kind of power,” she spit out. “They are weak, their grand plan not grand enough. Why wipe out shifters when I can use them to rule the world?”

  One last look of greedy disdain and she spun, heading to the door. Not a hair on her high ponytail even fluttered, the fabric of her standard long, blood-red kimono silent.

  Mercury debated his next question. She wouldn’t kill him, he was too important. They’d keep him strapped to this table, do unholy things, but not death. Not intentionally, anyway.

  “What did you sell your soul for?”

  Madame G froze. The light in the room seemed to dim, like an invisible vacuum opened around the dark lady, thinning the air, making breathing difficult.

  As soon as it started, it was over. Madame G slowly turned back, moving with eerie stillness.

  “What do you know of souls?” her soft voice half sneer, half innocent inquiry.

  If he wasn’t already tied down, he’d be pinned to the tabletop by her black stare alone. Her thin red lips in a firm line, her porcelain skin highlighted along the cheekbones by an angry blush. So Madame G wasn’t impervious after all.

  “I can see you are no longer in control of yours, sucking life out of the world around you.” How else could he explain the effect she had on the very air around her? He lived for fifty years running in nature, surrounded by living, vibrant creatures. And then another hundred years working for his people, who sought to live in harmony with the earth and worship her blessings.

  Seeing he was affecting her, albeit negatively, he pressed on. “Was it not enough? Is that why you need a baby?”

  One long, slender hand lifted out of her robe, her fingernail colored black, transformed before his eyes into a long, tapered claw. She rested the tip against his shoulder, not breaking the skin. Yet.

  “I do have a soul, Guardian,” she nearly hissed. “It’s growing in your little mate, dark and strong. Your baby is one third you, one third Daniella, and,” the claw dug in and she slashed down to his navel, “one third me.”

  Mercury made a point of not flinching. Burning like salt had been dumped in the wound and washed away by acid, blood welled up and dripped down his sides. Madame G brought her claw to her mouth, displaying an impressive set of fangs, and swirled her tongue around the tip.

  “Mmmm. They knew how strong you were. Did you know that?”

  Mercury stilled. They? He had the feeling she was going to drop a big, stinky, can-I-believe-her, shit bomb on him.

  “Your precious Lycan Council didn’t know what to make of the clan with not only unusual abilities, but the rumors that they could choose their own mates.”

  “The fuck you say.” Choosing mates? Ludicrous. Shifters sometimes waited centuries for their destined mates.

  “Fuck,” Madame G said flatly, sending chills skating over his skin at her seriousness. “Can you imagine the panic the council felt?” She continued, her tone smooth like silk. “The control they would lose? The social and evolutionary bounds shifters could make? They might start thinking for themselves instead of being cowed into submission for the benevolent, all-knowing council. Why, a mutt-blood might even land a spot on the council.”

  Madame G, rolled her eyes to the ceiling, in an uncharacteristic, overly dramatic display. “Could you imagine?” The forced awe in her voice barely left any room for the dripping sarcasm. “A clan with that power, and those abilities, coming to the attention of the terror-spawning boogey-man, Sigma.”

  Mercury’s heart nearly stopped, anticipating what was coming next. Cold dread settled deeply into his bones and he willed her to just stop talking.

  “Tell me, young Guardian? Would it be better for your council to let that clan fall into Sigma’s hands? Or destroy them themselves?”

  This time when she turned to leave, he didn’t stop her.

  Left alone in the silence, surrounded by the stench of evil, Mercury ruminated on the gut-twisting conversation. First of all, was the evil bitch telling the truth? He would scour this hellhole looking for any information she might have, even one word, about his origins, his family. To even know a name of someone from his childhood would give him an identity before he was the boy who was raised by wolves.

  Secondly, it wasn’t possible for shifters to choose their own mates. When he first saw Dani, covered in blood, taking on Agents with calm fluidity, he was smitten. She was badass. Then he smelled her and before his baby registered in his awareness, she smelled delightful. She smelled, like—

  Well, shit. With mates, it was smell first, smitten later.

  But he sensed her before that. Sensed something was wrong for weeks before he scented her.

  Or was it the baby? Surely, she’d been in danger before with no awareness on his part.

  Didn’t matter. She was his and he wouldn’t give up on ridding their lives of Madame G’s influence. That meant first, figuring out a way to get her essence out of his child. Without killing him.

  Him? Yep, Mercury sensed his baby was a boy. Strong and sturdy like his dad, athletic and intelligent like his mother. He wondered if Dani knew as much.

  It’d always been that way with him. Was that one of the reasons his clan was decimated? He knew things about the world around him no one else seemed to notice. Not usually significant, he chalked it up to the way he was raised, spending all those years as a wolf.

  His ability’s increasing unpredictability caused him to not give it much thought, adapting instead to using his body and physical prowess. Once he was grounded by his mate and had a long conversation with Commander Fitzsimmons and Master Bellamy, he would give more thought and effort to training his abilities.

  Closing his eyes again, he thought of Dani. His Daniella.

  Mercury. The dim echo of her voice made him wonder if he’d reached the point of hallucination.

  Mercury. Now that was more than a dim echo.

  Dani? It couldn’t be. Their telepathy sucked. They’d warn the whole compound.

  It’s working! Bennett and Commander Fitzsimmons say they can’t hear us so we should be private.

  Where are you? No! Don’t tell me, just in case.

  Are you hurt? The concern from her strengthened him.

  Just a scratch. I can’t shift until they release the shackles. But they’re coming to surgically extract what they’re looking for.

  Have they –? she broke off.

  I’ve been slapped around by a few women, but my virtue is still intact. He felt her relief through their connection.

  Is there a way for you to get out?

  I can’t change without these shackles taking a limb off. And they’re silver.

  Have you tried releasing them mentally, like your door and gun safe?

  He never put those two actions together. The locks were probably similar. What a great freaking idea. But would it work, or take his hand off? The limits of his ability were unknown and they’d been increasingly unpredictable. After Bennett’s rescue almost a century ago involving a keg of gunpowder and almost killing them all, he never trusted his control enough to practice, let alone use in the field. All the Guardians in the West Creek pack had similar stories.

  Sensing his hesitation, Dani kept encouraging him. Your cabin locks and safes are all mentally controlled. This is no different. Do you remember the layout of the compound?

  I don’t know where I am exactly, but I’m guessing one of the lower level torture cells. It’s not a monitored cell.

  Those are on the east side of lower level two. Let us know when you get free. Her complete faith in his abilities humb
led him and cemented his resolve. He would be free and in her arms by nightfall. Or daybreak. His sense of time was whacked underground.

  And Mercury, I love you, so if you get killed, I’ll be really pissed.

  There he was, grinning like a bonehead alone in the room. I love you, too, and will endeavor not to incur your wrath.

  You’d better not. There was a grin in her message. Be safe.

  The connection broke, like a lamp going dark in his mind.

  Centering himself from within, he expanded his mind out to the cuff around one wrist. He flowed around the cold metal, sensing any other forces at work. Feeling no spells or dark powers within the spring-loaded barbs meant to trigger with any major movement while the lock was set, he let his consciousness drift gently into the lock. It was a simple handcuff lock and all the locks worked off the same key. Cool beans.

  Time to wait.

  The lock clicked and the door swung open to reveal the most accurate stereotype of mad scientist Mercury could have imagined. The middle-aged human man with unkempt hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and a crisp white lab coat carried a tray of equipment. The equipment may have looked normal on any other tray, but since Mercury knew it was destined for his manhood, it looked pretty damned sinister.

  The man set the tray down on a rolling table without sparing Mercury a glance, but never turning his back completely to the shackled male.

  Snapping a pair of nitrile gloves on his hands, he then picked up a scalpel and vial.

  Mercury jerked against his cuffs and smelled a spike in the doctor’s interest. Sick bastard. To keep the show going, Mercury growled, baring his fangs.

  “There, there. There’s a good boy.” The doctor’s voice was low and soothing like he was talking to a raging puppy. “No worries, it’s not silver. You’ll heal and I’ll repeat the procedure as often as needed.”

  The sick smile displaying yellowed teeth from excessive coffee drinking was filled with dark anticipation.

  When the doctor’s black eyes landed on Mercury’s privates, there were four simultaneous clicks and the cuffs opened.

  Mercury whipped one arm around the doctor’s neck without leaving the table, spun him around using his other arm, and yanked. The neck snapped and the doctor’s body went limp. The scalpel clattered to the floor.