"You should clean up first," he tells me. "You're covered in blood, and I think that's a piece of colon on your back."
Grudgingly, I sit down and start licking my fur. The blood doesn't taste quite as good as when it's straight from the vein, but I still enjoy it. Behind me, the heartbeats have fallen silent. My sisters have killed the two remaining mutants. Good girls. They're coming back towards me, followed by more footsteps. Ryker and Lennox. I recognise them immediately. They're accompanied by the light-footed pawsteps of several cats.
The speaker in the lab makes a buzzing sound before a familiar voice returns. "I'm almost impressed. Maybe we should have given you these quantities of B4 blood before. It's certainly got a fascinating effect."
"Do you know him?" Gryphon whispers.
"No," Ivy says at the same time as her sister mutters, "Maybe."
“No,” I meow, a loud rumble that the others likely won’t understand.
Gryphon pets my head absentmindedly. Finally. Maybe I need to growl more to get my cuddles from him.
Ryker and Lennox burst into the lab, followed by lots of cats. Some of them have blood on their fur; they must have seen some action too.
Ryker stares at the pile of bodies on the floor. “You’ve been busy. Who made the mess outside? Kat, I presume?”
I grin at him, exposing my sharp teeth. He presumes correctly.
“She’s stoned,” Gryphon explains. “Too much blood. We need to get her out of here before she does something stupid.”
I growl. I may be a little fuzzy, but I can recognise an insult when I hear one.
He ignores me. “And that’s K2. I’ve tamed her with my siren song for now, so she’s safe to be around. What have you found downstairs?”
Lennox shrugs. “Lots of boring storage rooms. A couple of mutants tried to stop us, but that wasn’t much of a problem. We were about to come upstairs anyway when Eiryss came to fetch us.”
The large tabby meows proudly when her name is mentioned.
“Such a lovely reunion.” The voice from the speaker is making me angry. I stop licking myself and get to my feet, growling at the speaker. “It’s a pity I have to kill you all. I’ll be looking forward to doing autopsies on your bodies though. You should be proud; you’ll help science tremendously.”
I hiss and run to the door, jumping as high as I can, just about reaching the speaker. My claws sink into the metal and rip it apart. The speaker lands on the floor with a satisfying crash, together with little pieces of wall. Oops.
“Thanks Kat, I was close to doing the same.” Lennox grins. “That guy was talking too much. Shall we continue our exploration?”
To be fair, I’d much prefer to stay here and relax, close to all the bleeding bodies who’re waiting to be drunk dry. I’m no longer hungry, but there’s always room for dessert.
Suddenly, a click comes from the doors.
Ryker runs over and pulls the handle. “They’re locked!”
I lazily trot to the doors. They won’t be a match for me. I’m stronger than a set of lifeless doors. They don’t even have claws.
Before I get to throw myself at them, a hissing sound makes me look up at the ceiling. Blue smoke is streaming into the room through little valves that I thought were for water to rain down in case of a fire.
“Gas!” Gryphon shouts. “We need to get out of here.”
Lennox pulls some lock picks from a hidden pocket near his collar. I like how he puts his picks and darts in the same place I do. It creates a sort of bond between us. He runs to the doors and goes on his knees, getting to work with trying to open the lock. I still think I should just attack the doors and be done with it, but for some reason, the others don’t agree with my plan.
The smoke is now covering the entire ceiling and is slowly drifting down. It’s slow, but it’ll be reaching us soon. In the face of danger, my mind clears a little. We need to get out. Yes, Gryphon already said that, but it’s taken me a while to really understand his words.
Ryker coughs. “Not sure what this is but I doubt it’s good. Wrap some cloth around your mouth.”
And then he takes off his shirt and rips it to pieces. I could have helped him with that. His bare chest makes my mouth water. He’s gorgeous and totally lickable. I’m kind of hoping that his shirt won’t be enough and he’ll have to take off his trousers too.
He hands out strips of his shirt and they all follow his lead, knotting it around their head so that their lower half of the face is covered. They all look like bandits now. They’ve forgotten K2 though, who’s standing away from the group, her face blank.
I rip the last remaining piece of cloth from Ryker’s hand and walk over to K2. She doesn’t react. Stupid sister.
“Good thinking.” Gryphon takes the fabric from me and wraps it around K2’s mouth and nose. “Lennox, any progress with the door?”
“No, it’s got some kind of mechanism that constantly changes. Whenever I’m close to unlocking it, it transforms. I’m trying to discern some kind of pattern, but I’ve not found one yet.”
“Hurry up,” Ryker coughs. The smoke is now low enough to reach their heads.
They all crouch low, even K2 after Gryphon tells her to do it. She’s like a puppet whose strings need to be pulled for every single thing.
I prowl around the room, impatient for Lennox to finally open those doors. The blue fog is giving me the creeps. Maybe I should have some more blood to steady my nerves. Yes, that feels like a good idea. I choose the closest corpse and lap up some of the blood still trickling from his neck. The head is somewhere else, so it’s a bit like blood from the tap. As soon as it runs down my throat, the world turns happier. Colours are brighter. The lab is beautiful. And that smoke…gorgeous.
“Oh no, she’s had more blood,” Ivy groans, followed by several coughs. “Is she always this stupid when she’s shifted?”
I growl and expose my canines menacingly. Blood drips from the fur on my face. Such a waste.
“I don’t feel so good.” Four sits down on the floor, her face pale behind the cloth.
“Lennox, hurry up!” Gryphon shouts. “This stuff is poisoning us.”
I have enough. I run to the doors and throw myself against them, just about managing to avoid crashing into Lennox. They don’t budge. I snarl and do it again, and again. The metal groans under my onslaught but the doors hold.
“It’s no use. Let me continue with the lock picks,” Lennox says, coughs interrupting his words.
I look around the room. The others are all on the floor, pale and moving slowly. The gas is affecting them severely. I don’t feel any different though. Maybe it’s because I’m shifted. I run to Ryker and nudge his leg.
“Shift,” I order.
Luckily, he understands me. “I can’t. I tried. Whatever they’re poisoning us with is stopping me from shifting.”
“Same for us,” Ivy coughs weakly. Her eyes flutter shut. Her sister is already unconscious and the others are close to fainting as well. Their coughs are getting weaker.
Fuck. This is bad. I need to do something. I’m the only one still functioning. They’re relying on me.
Suddenly, my mind is crystal clear. I know what to do.
Chapter Ten
Their heartbeats are getting weaker and their breathing shallow. The gas is killing my family, my friends. Even the cats are affected, meowing pitifully as they huddle together as if being together will somehow save them.
Lennox slowly sinks to the ground, crumpling into a heap. I nudge him with my paw, but he doesn’t react. Fuck. I need to act now before it’s too late.
The wall to the right of the doors is covered in shelving, but it doesn’t take me long to demolish them, revealing the wall behind. When I destroyed the speaker, I saw how brittle the wall was. If I’m lucky, it’s weak enough for me to break through.
I step back and draw on all the strength I possess. I’m glad I drank all that blood now. I feel stronger than ever before.
I run, jump a
nd crash into the wall, my claws leaving deep marks in the plaster. It hurts, but I do it again, and again. With every time, more bits of cement fall to the floor. I think I’ve broken a rib or two, judging from the agony in my side, but I don’t stop. I will heal.
I tear at the wall. A sharp pain shoots through my left paw. Fuck, I broke a claw, but there, next to where it’s embedded in the plaster, is a tiny hole. Finally. Using my right paw like a human fist, I punch the wall – and it crumbles in a cloud of dust. Fresh air hits me and I breathe in deep. And cough because of all the dust. Very clever, Kat.
I push against the edges of the hole with all my strength, widening it further until it’s big enough for me to walk through without my fur getting caught on the ragged edges. Lennox was the last to pass out, so he’s the first I drag out of the lab by carefully wrapping my jaws around his leg. I can’t avoid piercing his skin with my sharp teeth, but better for him to have some puncture marks than being dead.
I drag him halfway down the corridor where the air is clear. If I’m lucky, he’ll recover fast enough to help me with the others. Then I run back into the lab, where the blue fumes are making it hard to see. I listen for their heartbeats. The cats are worst off, their little hearts close to stopping. I manage to grab three of them by the scruffs of their necks, like a mother her kittens, and carry them out. It takes me five runs until all the cats are evacuated. By the time I drop the last batch near Lennox, he’s moving ever so slightly. Good, he’s recovering. It seems the effect of the gas doesn’t last long once you’re out of its reach.
Four is next to be dragged out. Her heart is fluttering weakly. I keep waiting for it to stop; she’s that poorly. When I gently lay her next to Lennox, he’s already sitting up, looking dazed but no longer as pale.
“How did you-“ His eyes fall on the hole in the wall. “Oh.”
I grin at him, but there’s no time to linger. I run back and forth until Ivy, K2 and Gryphon are all outside. Lennox takes off their cloth masks and helps them sit up when they slowly awake from their poison-induced sleep.
Ryker is last. His heartbeat seemed the strongest when I decided in which order to get them out, but just when I clamp my jaws around his upper arm, his breathing stops and one second later, his heart beats for the final time. Panic floods my mind. He’s dead. I need to help him, but he won’t be able to be revived here among the poison.
I grip his arm and pull him outside as fast as I can. His body bumps against tables and chairs, but I don’t care. As soon as I’ve got him out of the room, I shift. I shouldn’t be able to, not after such a short time and all that energy I expended, but it’s instinctual. It hurts, but that’s nothing against the pain in my heart as I look at his lifeless face.
I gently bend back his head and pinch his nose shut before pressing my mouth against his. I give him my breath, my life; I’d give anything to get him back.
Another breath, then I lay my hands on his chest and start compressions. We were taught CPR at the Pack, along with extensive first aid. Assassins get hurt a lot. This is the first time I’ve actually had to do it in real life. The Pack turned us into solitary killers who rarely worked together, so I was never there when one of us got killed. If I could, I’d go back and kill lots of people, just to practice CPR on them.
Two more breaths. His lips are growing cold.
More chest compressions.
I dimly notice the others approaching, but I keep my focus on Ryker.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Please, Ryker. Wake up.
My mouth on his. Breathe. Breathe.
His chest lifts, but that’s only because I’m giving him my own air.
Come on, Ryker, you can do this. Don’t leave me.
One. Two. Ba-bumm. His heart beats. Then stops again. But it beat on its own accord, that gives me hope. Three. Four. Five.
Ba-bumm. Ba-bumm.
It keeps beating and then he takes his first rattling breath. I could kiss him for doing this. He’s a fighter and now he’s battled death and won. Not many people can say the same.
Lennox puts his hands on my shoulders and I let myself fall back against his legs. I’m exhausted. The adrenaline is rapidly disappearing, leaving me tired and aching all over. My left side is the worst. I wish we could go home now to recover, but we don’t have that luxury. I have a scientist to find and kill. With some torture in between. Oh yes, he’s going to suffer.
Gryphon stays with K2, Ryker and most of the cats. Ryker is still unconscious but his heart is beating steadily once more. I hate having to leave him like that, but I know that Gryphon will do all he can to look after my favourite cat, even though he’s still injured himself. As soon as Ryker wakes up, they’re to leave the building and return home. I wish we could search the lab, but the blue smoke is still pouring from the ceiling. We’ve moved Ryker to the very end of the corridor where he’s far away from the fumes, and if the fog spreads, Gryphon will have K2 to help him carry Ryker somewhere safer.
Lennox, the twins and I return to the stairwell and go up to the next floor. It looks exactly like the one below. Rows and rows of small offices with large double doors at the end. Let’s hope the entire building isn’t all like that. It will take forever to search every room. Luckily, we’re not human and have excellent senses at our disposal.
“There’s someone above us,” Ivy whispers.
I listen as hard as I can. “Three people,” I say after a moment. “Two of them mutants.”
By now, I’m pretty adept at telling them apart from other species. Their heartbeats are faster, but their breathing is a little slower than that of humans or shifters.
“Let’s hope that’s the guy we’re looking for.” Lennox rubs the back of his neck. “I’m debating whether to shift. Ripping his throat out seems more satisfying than poking him with knives.”
Four pulls a little vial from her pocket. “I suggest poison. It seems fitting.”
I take it from her and give it a sniff. Sundried apples with a hint of fennel. “Daughter’s Revenge?”
She shrugs. “One of my favourites. Slow and painful.”
“I know, I’ve used it a couple of times. Not the most elegant of poisons, but it’s certainly effective. Let’s make him talk first though. He’s no use to us when he’s foaming on the mouth or missing his throat.”
Lennox chuckles. “Finally you’re talking sense. Did the poison make you sane again?”
I elbow him in the ribs. “No, you being in danger did.”
“I think you’re going to have to explain what happened there, later,” Four complains. “You should have told us about your little problem beforehand.”
“My little problem?” I scoff. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Getting stoned on the blood of the dead isn’t a problem?” She puts her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “You endangered us all with your behaviour.”
I bare my teeth before I can control myself. “How many more brutes than you did I kill? Twenty-five, maybe? So be quiet and stop complaining.”
She purses her lips but doesn’t respond.
I ignore her and start heading up the stairs to the floor where the three people are hiding. This one doesn't have the same layout as the two storeys below. Yes, there's another corridor, but glass doors lead to open meeting rooms, not tiny office cubicles. At the end of the hallway are the familiar double doors, but they're open. Not another lab, I hope. I really want a change of scenery. And no more poison.
The heartbeats lead me to one of the doors on the right. The others are close behind me, their weapons drawn. My knives at the ready, I step towards the frosted glass door. I can't look through it, but I can hear their breathing inside. Definitely the people we're looking for.
"Ready," Lennox whispers.
I nod and without further ado, storm into the room. I take in the scene in a flash. Two grunts protectively guarding a blond man. He seems familiar, but I don't have time to think about where I might have seen him before. I
s he the one who talked to us through the speakers? I need to hear his voice to make sure.
The grunts don't attack, so I don't either. I want to know what this is all about first before I gut them.
"You shouldn't be alive," the man says. Yes, it's him. His voice sounds older than he looks. His blond hair falls to just above his grey eyes. He's attractive in a very siren way. I'm sure women would love to spend the night with him if they got the chance. Men, too. He wears a slim fitting black suit, unlike the two grunts who're in tight t-shirts and jeans. That seems to be their uniform here.
"Well, we are. Now who are you?"
I resist giving him a snarl. I don't want to appear too feral - for now. Until I get to torture him. I'm really looking forward to that.
"I'd rather you stay in the dark. We put a lot of effort into erasing your memories. It would be a pity to change that."
I launch myself forward, faster than ever, and embed my knives in the necks of the two grunts. They fall to the ground and before they can recover, the twins are by my side, cutting off one head each. I give them an appreciative nod. We're a good team.
The man wipes some blood splatters from his pretty face. "That wasn't necessary."
I laugh at him. "Oh, it really was. Now, I'm asking one last time, who are you?"
"Someone interested in you. Very interested. In fact, I've been following the three of you ever since I started my career as one of Professor Lakefield's students."
Now I know where I’ve seen him before. That other scientist showed me pictures when I was his captive. One of them was a blond man, a younger version of this siren.
"How come we don't remember you?" I ask him, twirling my knives in my hands as a gentle nudge of encouragement.
"Because we've made you forget. We conditioned you to forget all the little inconvenient moments we had with you. It was important especially for you, K1, to not make you feel like a lab rat. By erasing your memories of all the tests and experiments we did on you, it always felt like the first time for you. It helped us establish a baseline and then see your reactions change depending on what we did to you."
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