Something slammed into my back causing me to tumbled forward. I hit Cassie and we hit the cylinder. Quiet cursing came up from Cassie and a low moaning came down from the weight on my back. The scent of my serpent accompanied the moans from above me.
“Tabitha? You okay?” I asked.
Her response was another moan. I pushed myself up with my arms and scooted back. Cassie lay at an awkward angle on the round base of the cylinder glaring up at me. I smiled hoping to put her at ease, but her response was to roll her eyes. As Cassie climbed out of the tube I reached back and grabbed my serpent. I slowly lowered her off my back and set her on the ground.
Tabitha’s pink skin glistened with sweat. The fact that she wasn’t responding and that she had shifted back worried me.
A roar so loud it hurt my ears ripped through the cavernous room. I looked up and saw a werewolf that stood twenty feet tall. Thick black fur covered it and it’s claws were five feet long. Teeth three feet long kept it from closing its mouth all the way. The people in their lab coats and hazmat suits had all moved to the walls leaving a clear path from the monstrous wolf to me.
“Miranda?” I didn’t see my wolf so I hoped she would answer my call. “Miranda! Where are you?”
My wolf’s presence became clear to me then, but she didn’t respond. Just behind the giant wolf was where I felt her. Movement behind his left leg caught my attention. Miranda rolled to the side and out from behind the large wolf foot. She clutched at the left side of her rib cage and blood covered her from shoulder to knee.
My vision went red. This behemoth had hurt my wolf. My wolf!
I was running before I realized what I was doing, but it was clear what I was about to do. I opened all three gates and pulled one quarter power from each. I felt my limbs fill with strength and my sense took on a sharp clarity. The Shell skill covered me in protective plates. Then the wolf was before me.
I leapt into the air. The strength of my Tua propelled me up so my fist could strike the monster’s head twenty feet of the ground. Pain shot through my arm from the force of the blow. A loud boom originating from the point of impact went out like a wave of force. I was knocked back and gravity did the rest.
The big wolf rocked back on its feet then came forward. From where I lay on the ground I saw his eyes roll up into his head just before he fell forward onto his knees then to the right landing on his side.
Executing a perfect kick-flip I sprang up and rushed to Miranda. The first thing I noticed was the blood still streaming from her wounds. I closed the gates to Izzy and Tabitha then reversed the gate to Miranda sending her all I had. I sunk down to my knees as my wolf soaked up all I gave her. I watched with glee as her wounds closed and the blood stopped flowing. A couple of seconds later she sat up and wiped a bloody hand over her perfect face.
“Terry?” Miranda asked. “What happened?”
“That happened,” I said as I hitched a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the giant werewolf. “I think he put you out of the fight with his claws, but it’s just a guess as I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”
“Ah,” Miranda said as she nodded. “Yeah, snuck up on me. I remember now. How is everyone else?”
“We are fine,” Tabitha said. I looked over to see her and Izzy walking up to us with the blond in tow.
“You took it down before it did much more than hurt Miranda,” Izzy said. “Fucker deserved a good ass whooping. Now I think we need to leave.”
“We do,” Tabitha said in a rush. “We have to get her out of here.” She pointed to the blond woman. “They can not be allowed to have her. If they make more like her we are all doomed.”
“What is she?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Izzy said. “We need to move now.”
“Right,” I said.
Miranda rose to her feet and then helped me up. The effects of sharing so much with her left me feeling week. Miranda placed her arm around mine and pulled me close to her. She pulled me along with the rest of my Tua following behind.
“Hey,” a woman shouted at us. We stopped and turned around to see a short woman in a lab coat over a knee length black skirt and white blouse rushing toward us. Anger creased her Asian features, but she was still plenty attractive. “You can’t take my subject!” She shouted.
“... aaaand why not?” I asked.
“Because she may not be stable. The process we used to make her is something wholly untested and we don’t know what she may need to survive,” The woman said. She came to a stop a few feet from my group and put her hands on her hips.
“What the hell do you mean by I might not be stable?” The blond woman crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the lab coat clad woman.
“Well um …” Fear flashed across the woman’s face. I had to wonder how she could rush up to us and boss us around after watching me one-shot the giant werewolf then be afraid of the small blond woman.
“What the hell did you guys do to her?” I asked.
“What he said,” Cassie added as she hitched a thumb in my direction without turning to look at me.
“I know a way out,” The scientist said. She dropped her hands so they hung limp at her sides and her anger gave way to a look of resignation “Look, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I did what I did here for science. I have no part in the machinations of those funding this project. I only want to see my subject survive and thrive. Let me show you the way out and in exchange you take me with you.”
“No fucking way,” Izzy snapped.
“I second that,” Tabitha said.
“Why don't you turn right around and go get bent?” Miranda said.
“You can come,” I said.
“What?” My three Tua and Cassie all said in unison as they turned angry gazes toward me.
I held up the one arm Miranda didn’t have a death grip on. “We don’t know what was done to Cassie,” I said. “Oh, and this is Cassie by the way. Cassie, meet Miranda, Tabitha, and Iz…” Izzy glared at me when I started to say her nickname. “Officer Rodriguez. Anyway, we don’t know what they did to Cassie. It makes sense to have someone on hand that can help her until we can get her safe. If her condition becomes …” I thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with a better word. “... a condition?”
“Damn you for making sense,” Izzy said.
“Do I really have that much to worry about?” Cassie asked with a good bit of fear in her tone.
“I don’t think so,” The scientist said. “But we are not sure yet the exact ramifications of what was done. I would like to play it safe.”
“What the fuck did you do to me?” Cassie hissed. She stepped toward the scientist and her hand took on a green color as her fingers extended into claws.
“Grab her, Izzy,” I said as my turtle was the closest to Cassie.
“Let me go!” Cassie screamed.
“Cassie!” I shouted to get her attention. “We are going to figure this out, okay?” She looked from me to the scientist then back to me with a snarl on her lips. “I know this is fucked, but we may need her to help you. If you kill her something bad could happen and we wouldn’t know what to do. Just leave her alone until we can get you more help.”
“Help with what?” Cassie snapped. I pointed to her hands and she looked down. As she raised her hands to get a good look her mouth fell open and tears fell from her eyes. “What the hell am I?” She whispered.
Light played off her hands in a way that reminded me of a pearlescent paint job on a car. We would have to figure out what she was, but not now. “You are beautiful,” I said. “Whatever they did to you didn’t change that. We will figure it out though, but not here.
I looked at the scientist. “You got a name?”
“Doctor Liz Nguyen,” She replied.
“Nice to meet you, Doctor. Don’t make me regret our meeting. You won’t like what happens.”
“Understood,” she said.
“Please, lead the way,” I said.
“Very w
ell, follow me.” Doctor Nguyen walked passed me and out into the hall. Miranda pulled me along after and my Tua followed with Cassie.
Chapter 34
True to her word Doctor Nguyen led us to a hatch leading to a ladder. Looking up in the cramped space I saw that the ladder went straight up so far I couldn't see the top.
“This will take us out of here?” I asked.
“Yes. This is one of several escape routes in case of emergencies. Just because we are working in a secret facility far underground doesn’t mean we skimped on the safety measures. If we were discovered the last thing we would need are OSHA violations to go along with the list of federal crimes.” She laughed.
“Yeah, I bet, Doc,” I said. “Where does it lead?”
“Up into the woods. About a mile west of the ruins,” Doctor Nguyen said.
“Is it safe?” I asked. Last thing I wanted was to come out in the middle of a werebeast hang out.
“As safe as it can be considering the amount of, um, subjects we have created,” Doctor Nguyen said.
“So we will be safe once we fight our way clear of a shit load of monsters?” Izzy asked. “That about sum it up?”
Doctor Nguyen offered up a half hearted grin. “Yeah?” She shrugged. “Sorry?”
“I didn’t think this was going to be easy.” I shrugged. “We’ll get through this.”
“And how are we going to get through an army and keep these two safe?” Izzy asked.
“I hate to split hairs,” Tabitha chimed in. “But she has a point.”
“Simple,” I said. “With my Tua at my side there is nothing we can’t get through.”
Tabitha smiled but Izzy shook her head. Miranda laughed. “You think you could be any cornier?” Miranda asked me.
Now it was my turn to laugh. “It’s true. With the three of you at my side I don’t see how we can fail. All of you give me strength and I give you all something, even though I have no clue how it works.”
Miranda pulled me close and kissed me on the cheek. “That is a valid point. OK, I believe we can do this.”
“Me too,” Tabitha said.
“Whatever,” Izzy added.
“And now that you are finished with your pep rally, we should go,” Cassie said. “I don’t want to be here any longer than we already have.”
“You heard the lady, Doctor. Lead on.” I waved toward the ladder.
Doctor Nguyen bowed her head slightly then took the first steps onto the ladder and up to freedom. I waved Cassie on next.
“You go after her,” Izzy said. “Until you are one hundred we need to stay between you and danger. Miranda will help you climb then Tabitha and I will follow with me in the rear.”
“No,” Tabitha said. “I will help Terry climb. No offense Miranda, but when it comes to muscle snakes have a little bit of an advantage.”
“No offense taken,” Miranda said. “I still feel a little weakened from almost being killed. I think you helping Terry is a good plan.” She snuggled her head against mine. “Sorry, love.”
“It’s okay, my wolf. I know you would if you could.”
Miranda smiled and stepped back. Tabitha took her place and guided me to the ladder. I felt much stronger, but I was not back to one hundred percent so I let my Tua do what they felt was best. I mounted the ladder and started climbing with Tabitha directly under me.
I heard my wolf mount the metal rungs a moment later followed by Izzy. No one spoke as we climbed higher and higher. It didn’t take long for me to start to feel fatigue settle in. Once more my bond with my Tua showed how valuable it was. Tabitha moved up along the side of the ladder and wrapped her long scaled legs around my waste. Using her arms she pulled us both up, but I still continued to do the best I could one rung at a time.
All the gates were closed but the warmth of Tabitha’s legs as they were wrapped around my waste invigorated me. The feel of her made me long for our bed back in the bunker.
“You and me both,” Miranda thought.
“And don’t forget about me,” Tabitha added. “I’m so ready to get you and Terry alone in bed.”
That thought floored me. I had my suspicions from the looks Tabitha gave Miranda but damn. I needed to get out of here and give Tabitha exactly what she wanted. Not for selfish reasons either, but for her. Really.
“You set of an IED of sexual fantasy in Terry’s head with that one, Tabby,” Miranda thought and I could hear the mirth in her tone
“Since that is the case I think I am going to let him watch what I do to you, Miranda.”
“Oh I like the sounds of that,” Miranda returned.
My hand slipped in the next ladder rung and I fell forward with my arm going through the rungs.
“Terry!” Tabitha screamed in my mind as she tightened her legs around me. The air was squeezed out of me and I knew then what the prey of a python felt like.
“Aaaghk…” I croaked.
“Sorry, Terry,” Tabitha thought as she lessened the pressure around my ribs.
Free from certain freshly squozen death I took in a large gasp of air. I had to be careful that the safety net that was Tabitha wasn’t going to safety me to death.
“I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay, Tabitha. I know you didn’t mean it,” I thought to my serpent.
“What is going on down there?” Doctor Nguyen whispered from her spot above us.
“Sorry,” I whispered back as loud as I thought needed for my words to reach her.
Doctor Nguyen hissed. “We are in what is basically an echo chamber. You do not need to speak that loud.”
“Sorry,” I said in a lower volume whisper.
“Don’t be sorry, just keep it down and keep moving. About a quarter of the way up.” Then I heard the ringing of her feet hitting another ladder rung.
Tabitha started back up pulling me along. A wave of guilt and shame rolled off my serpent and I realized she blamed herself.
“Hey, Tabitha,” I thought to her.
“Yes, Terry?” The tone of her voice brought to mind a puppy that had been caught peeing on the floor because it couldn’t hold it any longer but knew it had fucked up.
“I love you, Tabitha. Just wanted you to know that.”
Shame became warmth and guilt morphed into pleasure. “I love you too, Terry.”
“If you all focused more on climbing and less on making me gag, you wouldn’t have been chastised,” Izzy thought to the group.
No one said, or thought, anything for a while. The only sounds were heavy breathing and ringing of our steps. With nothing to occupy my mind I felt more than I wanted too. My muscles screamed from the exertion and the ladder tube was getting hot.
“Hey, Izzy,” I thought to my turtle.
“What is it, Terry?” She asked.
“I love you too, Izzy.”
There was a low bang followed by a series of mumbled curses. A chuckle escaped me and another series of curses came from below.
“You okay down there, love?” I thought to Izzy.
“Fuck you, Terry!” She thought back.
“Don’t tease me if you don’t mean it.”
“You wish,” Izzy thought.
I made sure to make my tone as serious as I could. I wanted Izzy to get the message loud and clear. “Yes I do, Izzy. Very much so.”
The expected harsh remark didn’t come. So I put my focus squarely on my turtle and while she remained guarded I felt a trickle of confusion coming through her emotional firewall.
To my eyes Izzy was a beautiful woman. More than that she was strong, smart, and had a big heart under her shell, pun intended. Simply having her as one of my Tua was not enough. I wanted more from Izzy which made me feel a little like a scumbag. I had two beautiful women that were willing and wanted me, yet it wasn’t enough. What was wrong with me
“You give us power like we have never had, or could imagine,” Miranda thought to me. This time her statement was for my mind alone. “More than that you are kind and lov
ing. If anyone deserves to have all the love from all his Tua it is you, Terry. Know that I am working towards giving you all you deserve. And don't you go feeling guilty. Both Tabby and I want you to be happy and surrounded by love.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it as I didn't need my tongue for mental communications. “I … I don't’ know what to say.”
“Then leave it at that. I didn’t need a response.”
We fell back into silence while we climbed. I used the time to digest what I was told because it was still something I should have figured out myself, but surprised me. Maybe it was just the way I was raised that made it difficult to fathom my women wanting me to be in a polygamous relationship.
The first time I realized there was a problem with my serpent was almost to the halfway point when I felt her shake slightly. That's when I got out of my own head and started paying attention. Her breathing was coming in quick gasps and as I looked up I saw her arms trembling.
“Are you okay, Tabitha?” I thought.
“I’m fine,” She thought back.
“No, you are not. Let go and climb alone. I can keep up,” I thought.
“But …”
“No buts. I can do it, Tabitha. Have a little faith in me.”
“I do, Terry. Okay, I’ll do as you ask.” Tabitha’s legs uncoiled from my waste and she climbed ahead as I stopped to let her get free.
Truth was my body hurt and I was still drained. But I was never alone. I opened the turtle and wolf gates just a touch. Thanks to the Connection abilities I shared with my women just a touch from them was a lot to me. Energy pulsed in my veins and the pain in my muscles lessened. I let out a sigh and started up again.
Climbing a ladder straight up turned out to be a lot more work than I would have thought. Even with the support of my wolf and turtle the strain became evident on me. Like Tabitha earlier my arms started to take on a constant shake and my breathing became labored. Opening up my senses revealed what I thought it would. All of my Tua were experiencing fatigue from the exertion of climbing, and so were Doctor Nguyen and Cassie.
We reached a blue line painted on the wall around us. “What does that mean, Doctor?” I whispered
Shiftless: Tuatha Series Book 1 Page 21