by Meg Ripley
She lifted one shoulder. “Permanently, at least so far. Obviously, it’s not going to help us as much if we have to keep giving them continuous injections to keep them in that state. The fewer interactions we have with them the better, but we’re still waiting to see how long the effects of the drug will last. Subject 245 has remained in his reptilian state for over two weeks now.”
“I see,” Ash replied quietly, trying not to react too much. The idea wasn’t one he liked to entertain. “What other conclusions can we draw?”
A young man next to her with thick glasses and messy hair spoke up. “Even if we manage to keep them in their reptilian state, I don’t see how we can ever possibly use them.”
“What do you mean?” Use them?
The nerd shrugged. “I mean, how you can you truly utilize a weapon you can’t control? Sure, we’ve been able to keep them as dragons—at least for the time being—but that’s about the extent of our progress. Take Subject 245 for example. Yes, he’s a dragon. No, he doesn’t show any signs of reverting. But he’s also completely unmanageable. We have to tranquilize him several times a day just to keep him from killing himself, and even then we’re not able to completely sedate him. We didn’t have that problem when he was in his human form, which leads me to believe that his resistance to current medication has something to do with what form he’s currently in.”
Ash felt a chill sweep over his body like a wave. Their goal was to weaponize the dragons. These scientists not only knew that shifters existed—something that was foreboding for any shifter, regardless of species—but they were planning to exploit them. In his mind’s eye, Ash could see all the possible scenarios the government thought they were going to get out of it. Ruthless killing machines who could be sent to dangerous territories with the simple command to kill on sight? That sounded just like something they’d do.
He cleared his throat and fiddled with his pen. “I see. While I wasn’t here to take over, I was asked to see how everything was going and assess if any sort of improvements were needed. The first thing I suggest is altering the way we’re taking care of our patients. They’re thin and dehydrated, to say the least. One older subject that I took care of yesterday appeared to be at death’s door. These creatures aren’t going to be of any use to anyone if they’re dead.”
Dr. Blake flung his hand carelessly in the air. “Who cares? Even if the government doesn’t use them as their latest weapon, we owe it to the scientific community to see just what they’re capable of. Besides that, we know they’re just going to get killed in battle, anyway. There’s not much point in worrying about them.”
“I think there is,” Ash argued. “In the studies that I conducted, the subjects did much better when they were kept in decent conditions. That means we need to do a better job of feeding them and finding a way to keep them from getting so listless. Maybe some vitamin and saline injections, too.”
Dr. Blake pounded his fist on the table. “This isn’t the humane society, Cunningham. We’re not here to make them happy so someone will want to adopt them. We’re talking about dangerous animals; ones who’d just as soon bite our heads off! What you’re proposing is ridiculous and a waste of time.”
Ash forced another smile onto this face. He knew that he was just as capable of ripping Dr. Blake limb from limb as the dragons were, but it’d have to wait. “I’m wasting time?” he asked. “Is that why they sent me here to speed up this experiment and get the fucking show on the road? You might not know anything about my work, Dr. Blake, but the U.S. Army most certainly does, and they wouldn’t have spent the money getting me down here if I wasn’t worth it.”
“What you said makes total sense,” enthused the young woman. Ash realized he might have to actually learn their names at some point, depending on how long he was stuck there. “The drugs might be having a different effect on the dragons if they’re not in good health. It shouldn’t take all that much more effort to give them a better life while they’re here.” The other scientists nodded and murmured in agreement.
“Ridiculous,” Dr. Blake repeated, more subdued this time now that it was clear everyone was against him. “The next thing I know, you’ll be sending them on a spa cruise to thank them for their troubles!”
Ash didn’t want to anger the man, but only because he wasn’t ready to show his hand just yet. “All I ask right now, doc, is that you give it a chance. See if it makes things go a little more smoothly. It’s just an idea.”
Dr. Blake lifted his chin and puckered his mouth. He knew he was being cajoled like a petulant child, but he didn’t seem to mind. “Have it your way, but I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the results.”
“Thank you.”
The rest of the meeting flew by in a blur of various statistics and ideas. Ash tried to pay attention, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what was truly happening there. If the government had its way, the skies over enemy territory would soon be filled with fire breathing dragons.
* * *
He was still thinking hard as he swept through the cavern an hour later, his lab coat flying out to either side of him. His assigned bodyguard rushed to keep up, and he managed to get the argumentative soldier moved somewhere else. The last thing Ash needed right now was to be unnecessarily questioned.
What he did need was to find a way to get the dragons on his side, especially since they would start feeling much better soon if he had anything to do with it. There were still some kinks to work out, and he knew he’d be spending a lot of time reporting in later that evening, but he’d find a way to make this work.
“That one,” he barked. This time, he stuck around as the soldiers got her out of the cell. It was the same woman who’d shoved him into the lab table just a couple of days ago. She’d combed her hair out with her fingers. There was more confidence to her step and a pugnacious upturn of her nose as she walked along next to him and headed toward the mobile lab.
Ash could feel his eyes on her as he waited for the door to close behind them after one last uncertain look from the soldiers.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, and I know for the most part I don’t like it, but I do want to say thank you for making Edi feel better,” the dragon told him quietly, apparently just as aware as he was that someone could be listening in. “She was able to get some food down today and her fever seems to be gone.”
“Good,” Ash replied genuinely. It’d broken his heart to see the old woman moaning on his exam table the previous day. He hadn’t known for sure what was wrong with her, but some anti-inflammatories, a saline IV, and a hot bowl of soup could make anyone feel better, at least a little. A good dose of IV glutathione hadn’t hurt, either. “Hopefully it was just a virus of some sort.”
She glared at him doubtfully. “How would she get a virus in a place like this? It was probably something Dr. Blake did to her.” She swept her gaze away from him, staring angrily into the corner of the lab instead.
Ash sighed. There was a chance she was right. He hadn’t had a chance to dig through all the records yet. Blake and the rest of the team had been keeping extensive notes, and once he’d understood what their mission was, he hadn’t worried too much about the details. “I suppose it’s possible.”
He picked up his clipboard, noting that it only had her subject number at the top. “What’s your name?”
Her head spun fast as she turned to look at him again. “What?”
“Your name,” he repeated, trying to be patient. But he knew he was on a time limit.
“Why do you want to know?” She narrowed her eyes.
He stepped closer and set the clipboard on the exam table. “Because I’m here to help you.”
“Ha!” Her bark of laughter was too loud, and it made Ash glance toward the door. “I’ll believe that as soon as all this ice melts and we find ourselves on a tropical beach.”
“I’m serious,” he insisted. Damn it. He could’ve gone to any of the dragons to explain his situation. Well, almost any of them. The
angry blue dragon wouldn’t have been the best candidate. But there were plenty of others he could’ve tried to talk to. He needed them to understand what he was there to do and how they could help both him and themselves. “I’m not with the military, at least not anymore, and I’m here to help you and the rest of the dragons.”
She was silent for a breath as she studied his face, her azure eyes drifting down his nose, along his jawline, and back up to his salt and pepper hair. He felt her scrutiny like a physical presence, as though she’d reached out and touched him with her fingers. Ash felt himself leaning slightly closer, wishing that she would.
“I don’t believe you,” she finally said.
Ash rubbed his hand over his eyes. “All right. Then at least tell me why not.” There had to be some way to reason with her.
The dragon shook her head. “Nobody else knows we’re here. Up until your buddies showed up, we’d been living alone for decades. And it doesn’t make sense that someone would come swooping in here to rescue us if they don’t know we exist.”
“Okay. Fair enough. Let me try this again.” He couldn’t reveal that he was with the Special Ops Shifter Force, not unless it was absolutely necessary. That secret was new enough to him, and with her living in Antarctica for so long, he doubted she’d heard of them anyway. “You’re a shifter. There are other types of shifters in the world, right?”
She nodded slowly, her forehead creasing. “Right.”
“I’m one of them.”
Her eyes were a magnet for his own. She stared into his soul, and yet he couldn’t look away. His bear was going wild inside him. He didn’t understand why. This nameless woman made both his brain and his body do strange things. It was difficult to think around her, and his former commanding officers would’ve been disappointed in his lack of eloquence.
“You’re telling me you’re a shifter,” she said slowly. Ash noted the slightest change in her eyes, but it was clear she was still skeptical. “I think you’ve been inhaling too many fumes here in this little laboratory. Or you’ve been working too hard. You need to take a vacation.”
Ash sighed. “It’s not like that. I can’t give you all the details right now. I don’t even have them all, and I certainly don’t have much time. If I keep you in here for too long and you’re not howling in pain, then Blake and the others are going to start wondering what’s going on.”
She waved her hand at the door where they both knew the soldiers were waiting on the other side. “Would you prefer I start screaming? I’ve never thought of myself as an actress, but I suppose I can try.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
“All I’m asking you to do right now is to believe me. I want you to understand that I’m not the enemy. There’s nothing I want more right now than to see you and the rest of the dragons released from here safe and sound.” He spoke quietly, his face only inches from hers. He could feel the distance between them, down to the very millimeter.
She hopped off the lab table, increasing the distance and pulling her face away from his. “That’s a lovely thought, but I’m afraid it’s not realistic.”
“You’re just a difficult woman, aren’t you?” The words had come out of his mouth unbidden, and he instantly wished he could take them back. He sounded like such an ass, and the only thing he wanted was to help. It wasn’t even about the SOS Force anymore, except for the fact that he would need their assistance to make this happen.
“Just realistic,” she corrected him. “And if you’re a shifter like you say you are, then why don’t they have you locked up, too?”
Ash realized that although he’d given her that piece of information as his way of proving his identity, he’d actually given her a weapon. This dragon could turn him in to Dr. Blake, and then he’d be a test subject right along with them. It was too late, though. “They don’t know,” he ground out.
She inspected him as though she were looking for some physical evidence of what he’d said. “And I don’t know, either.”
“Fine.” Ash was only barely in control of his own body, maintaining just enough command to keep himself from pinning her against the wall and inhaling her scent. What he was about to do was difficult and dangerous, but he didn’t see any other option. He wondered only briefly what Drake and the others would think if they could see him as he yanked back the sleeve of his lab coat.
A shiver rippled up his spine, across his shoulders, and down his arm, where he let it expand. He clenched his jaw against a low moan as a patch of white fur erupted from his forearm.
The woman stared at it. Her fingers twitched, and he was instantly reminded of the way she’d touched him only a few days ago. That seemed like an eternity ago now, and Ash couldn’t explain why he longed for her to do exactly that.
“I’m a shifter,” he repeated huskily.
“I suppose that’s true enough. It doesn’t prove that you’re actually here to help, though.” She turned away from him again.
He felt his shoulders slump in defeat. “I suppose not.”
She gestured at the various medical equipment around the lab. “Is that all? Or are you going to shoot me up with something?”
Ash felt like the evil wizard who’d been vanquished from the castle. This woman was simply impossible, and he wasn’t sure she would ever believe him. “No. I’m not here to do that.”
“Right. I’ll just be on my way then.” She headed for the door.
Ash was instantly behind her, knowing it would give everything away if she just marched out of the lab by herself. She glanced up at him as he took her elbow, but for once, they understood each other. She spoke just as he reached for the knob.
“It’s Lane, by the way.”
“What?”
“My name. It’s Lane.”
When she was gone, Ash took a moment to forge the records for her visit to the lab, lest Blake have any more reason to question who he was and why he was there. It was difficult to even come up with reasonable numbers on his own in the wake of her presence. This woman had such an effect on him that it made Ash wonder if he’d even be able to complete this mission. After flicking back to look at the previous records so that he could make a decent forgery, he grabbed a parka and headed outside.
A scowl towards the guards at the perimeter allowed him to leave without question, and Ash headed into the wilderness. He didn’t have any specific direction in mind. He only knew that he needed to get away from this awful place for a moment and figure out how he was going to take the dragons with him, with or without Lane’s help.
7
It was late. The dragons who were able to sleep were snoozing away, and even the night guard of soldiers was lax. They relied on the bars to keep the dragons at bay.
Lane listened to the sounds of heavy breathing around her, noting the sound of someone weeping further on down the cavern. She wished she could reach out to whoever was still awake and grieving over their situation, but it would only call attention from the guards.
Instead, she flopped angrily on her uncomfortable pallet. It would’ve almost been easier if Dr. Cunningham had been the villain she’d pegged him for. Then it wouldn’t matter how undeniably attractive he was or that he’d helped Edi. The way he affected her would simply be a product of the various chemicals constantly being pumped into her immune system, but that was a difficult excuse to use when he hadn’t done anything of the sort. She huffed as she writhed on the hard floor.
“Are you sick, child?” Edi’s muffled voice asked in the darkness.
“Only in my mind, I think,” Lane replied quietly. “I can’t seem to shut my brain off.”
“Sometimes it helps to talk about it.”
Lane nodded, but then she stopped. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to burden you. You need your rest.”
The dark form of the older woman moved, sitting up next to Lane. “I can sleep all day if I want to, dear. Lay it on me.”
Taking a deep breath, Lane hesitated as she thought of all the other dragons around them. I
f anyone woke up, they could hear the awful secret she was about to reveal. But they were her flight, her people. They’d known her for decades, and the only reason they didn’t already know what was going on with her was because they’d been separated and assigned numbers.
“It’s about the new doctor. He’s different,” she began.
“I can agree with that. I wasn’t sure what to expect when they brought me to him. I thought they might put me out of my misery, so to speak. But he was very gentle, and he made me feel a lot better. I’m not sure how much of a benefit that is, considering I’m still here, but I’ll take what I can get.”
Lane smiled, even though she knew Edi couldn’t see it. “I’m glad he was able to help you. I worried so much that I’d made the wrong decision when I told him you were ill. But I could tell right away there was something different about him.”
“Maybe the government decided to send in someone with morals.”
She couldn’t help but let out a snicker of laughter at that. “That’s a possibility, but there’s much more to him than what we can see on the surface.”
“Oh? Then maybe you should stop beating around the bush and just tell me what’s going on.”
Lane lowered her voice to the barest whisper. “He’s not part of the scientific team. I don’t even know if Dr. Cunningham is his real name, but he told me today that he’s here to help us. I tried to argue with him about that because I just couldn’t believe it was possibly true. But then he told me he’s a shifter.”
Edi sucked in a breath. “One of us?”
“Not exactly. He’s a polar bear. And I wasn’t even sure I believed him, but he showed me. He’s the polar bear I saw here in the cavern just a little bit before he arrived as a new scientist. I mean, he didn’t say that, and I was too shocked to ask him, but it makes sense.” She shivered as she recalled the image of that bear just on the other side of the bars and the way his fur had felt under her hand. When Dr. Cunningham had shown her the same fur bursting from his skin, it’d been all she could do not to touch it.