by C J Singh
I will. I promise.
I smiled before crawling back to my den, the only sound was the clicking of my claws on the floor.
Chapter 52
Jace
“GET OUT!!!” Eden’s snarling growl blew me off my cot.
I stood up so fast I forgot to grab my crutches, so I stumbled as quickly as I could to the window.
Eden was half out of her den, snarling and yelling at LaRae and another man who had entered her room. They wore masks, gloves, and padding under their lab coats, and of course, they carried tranquilizer guns.
“Leave her alone!” I bellowed and banged on the glass. Not even turning toward me at all, they continued toward her.
Eden panted furiously, baring her teeth. The claws were not the only new part of her, she now had longer canines. Her eyes held a combination of anger and fear, but I knew the anger would take over if she was pushed too far. I ground my teeth and pulled in a deep long breath as her fear and anxiety passed to me. Watching her body, my panting matched hers, and I let out a roar.
I banged on the glass again. “Just leave her be!” David moved to my glass, trying to grab my attention, but I ignored him.
I fell back when a thick rush of aggression hit me, and she flew from her den at the unknown man. Falling to my knees, I screamed, but all I could do was watch. Her claws were out and she swung but missed. I thought for sure she would be sedated. But instead of putting his gun up to sedate her, he gave her face a hard, backhand slap.
My vision turned red watching her hand move to her cheek. My body was tense and I panted through clenched teeth, turning my focus to the man who put his filthy hands on her.
“Jace,” David warned, but I ignored him.
Fisting my hands, I punched the glass hard. Then I punched again and again until I heard it crack. My bruised knuckles were numb from pain, but I continued to punch it and the crack grew.
“Jace!” David moved to block my view, but my only focus was to protect Eden. I watched her face them with curled tight hands. She was getting ready to thrash out.
My knuckles split open and blood splashed onto the glass, but I didn’t stop. I would never stop. I punched the cracked, blood-splattered glass until it shattered.
“Jace! No!” David yelled, diving to the side to protect himself from broken glass exploding out into the lab.
I charged out, injured leg or not, I was getting to Eden. The palms of my hands sliced open by the shattered glass as I crawled through it toward her. I pulled myself to stand on the corner of her room and hopped to her door, using the wall to keep me upright.
“Don’t. You. Touch. Her.” I looked directly into the man’s eyes.
“There’s another one?” he asked, nervously looking quickly to LaRae then back at me. He positioned himself with his back to the wall, so neither Eden nor I was at his back. Clutching his gun, he looked between Eden and me.
LaRae moved toward me slowly. “Jace. It’s OK. We’re not going to hurt her.”
“He hit her.”
Eden’s panting slowed and she crouched, ready to fight if needed. I looked directly at her and held out my hand. “Eden... come here.”
“Jace.” David’s warning came from behind me. He had moved closer but was clearly disheveled from dodging glass, and from the smell of blood, I didn’t think his attempt was successful.
“No. I’m taking her and we are getting out. Now.”
Eden stood and tilted her head at me. “Jace?”
Letting out a small relieved laugh, I said, “Yeah. It’s me, Jace. Come on, let’s get out of here.” I continued to hold out my hand to her.
She took a step toward me, then looked over my shoulder. Her snarl startled me, and I dropped my hand just when the familiar sting of a tranquilizer dart hit my neck. Zane stood near the door, gun in hand.
“Too bad, Jace. Now I have to put you somewhere else. Somewhere away from Eden.” Zane’s words were like ice in my veins.
“Jace!” She growled and started toward me. I fell to my knees, watching her eyes move behind me, fixing on Zane, but he didn’t move a muscle.
“Take her down,” Zane said.
The man in Eden’s cage pulled out his gun and shot Eden just as she reached me.
“No.” I gasped, reaching out my fingers toward her.
The last thing I saw was Eden’s beautiful face falling down next to mine.
Chapter 53
Eden
My eyes fluttered open to the blurry view out the window of my cage from the floor. My heart picked up a few beats as I watched two men drag Jace’s limp body away. A growl grew from deep within my chest and my vision darkened, forming a silhouette around Jace’s unconscious body. All I saw was him, and all I felt was rage.
The stinging prick in my arm turned the growl to a roar, and I flew up slapping away the needle. The man and LaRae both fell back, dropping their tools on the ground. Their eyes wide with fear, watching me slowly move to a crouch and face them.
“She’s awake already?” the man said.
“Her metabolism must be much faster than we expected.”
As they scooted toward the door, I looked back at Jace’s body, now being pulled down the hallway. I looked at LaRae. “Don’t let them take him.” My voice edged on the brink of desperation.
She looked at me with helpless eyes. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know if there is anything I can do.”
The further away Jace got, the less in control I felt. The burning tingle that filled every cell in my body ramped up, and no matter how much I moved or focused, it didn’t die down. I roared, partly due to the burning itch rolling through my body and partly from being ripped away from my anchor. Jace kept me grounded. I couldn’t handle this change without him. My eyes moved between theirs as I scooted back to the door of my den, showing the tip of my fangs. My cheek still had the faint sting from the man’s slap, and I fought the urge to put my hand to it.
“Eden?” LaRae asked.
“Get out.”
The man, still hesitating near the door, said, “Just let us get some blood and vitals, and we will.”
LaRae raised her hand to quiet him. “Just leave her be.”
“What? This is crazy. How am I supposed to help you when you don’t do what you’re supposed to do? Just tranquilize her again, and we can get this over with!”
I snapped my eyes to him, stood, and slowly took a step forward. My hands instinctively curled, readying my claws. If he planned to shoot me again, I would attack. This time I wouldn’t miss my mark.
Zane stepped into the doorway, pulling my focus to him.
“He’s right,” Zane said smoothly. “Oh, Eden... I have a friend here to see you, but if you don’t listen, then he may have to leave... forever.”
I tilted my head and grimaced at his condescending words. Dropping my eyes to his neck, I imagined what it would feel like to sink my fangs into his flesh. The taste of his blood I’m sure would be bitter, but worth it to watch the life escape his eyes.
“Eden, you need to cooperate,” Zane said.
“Eden, can... l...” LaRae started.
“Only her.” I nodded toward her and took a step back to my den. “I’ll attack anyone else.”
The strange man hissed and was about to ignore my threat, but I lunged forward with a snarl, snapping my teeth. The pop of them connecting echoed along the glass walls of my cage. He stepped back quickly, bumping into an annoyed Zane.
“Very well, LaRae, do your work.” Zane pushed the man out of my cage.
I sat in the chair and focused on fighting my instinct to flinch away and retreat into myself. LaRae moved slowly and confidently, careful not to startle me. I was impressed she didn’t flinch away from my claws as she prepared my arm for the blood draw.
“Where will they take him?” I whispered
so no one heard.
LaRae didn’t look up from her work. “I don’t know, but I’ll try and find out.”
“Do you think Jace is serious?”
This time she did glance up at me, quickly, but not enough to cause notice from the others in the lab. “Serious? About what?”
“About getting me out.”
She didn’t respond right away but continued to work. When she finished collecting my blood, I immediately pulled my arm toward myself to smell and lick the wound but stopped when I felt eyes watching me. Zane’s face was impassive as always, but David and the man showed... repulsion. Humiliation filled me, and I looked away. Sucking in a deep breath, I concentrated on replacing the humiliation with rage. Why should I be humiliated? They made me.
LaRae finished in silence, but as she wrote her notes, she whispered, keeping her eyes still on her paper. “He loves you. I think he’ll do anything he can to keep you safe.”
I watched her pack up her things while her words registered in my mind. He loves you. The others waited in the lab where Zane looked pleased that he got what he wanted.
“Will you help him?” I asked quickly before she left.
LaRae stopped, pretending to look in her bag for something when she whispered, “I’m beginning to think there isn’t any other way.”
Then she was gone and everyone was flaunting over the information she had written down. Exhausted, I retreated to the safety of my den to think about the boy who loves me.
Chapter 54
Tristan
Using the metal shelf that’s bolted into the stone part of the wall, I pulled myself up repeatedly. My arms burned with fatigue, but I pushed them. Physical activity was all I had sitting here alone, the only person to talk to being Dr. Hahn. My grunts reverberated on the walls and the smell of my sweat filled my nose. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to rid the vision of Eden’s eyes as she watched me from behind the glass. She was barely there. Jace had warned me, but I didn’t expect to see her like an... animal.
I dropped down and quickly moved to my back and worked my abs. As I sat up and touched my elbows to my knees, I watched Dr. Hahn read his papers, writing furiously. That’s all I ever saw him do when he was here. What was he working on?
When my abs burned and I couldn’t breathe, I let myself lie on the cool tile floor. Spreading my hands and legs out, I stared up at the crisp bright ceiling. Jace was there with her. The thought was oddly reassuring, but I couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy. I wanted to be the one that she leaned on. Growing up, it was always a split between Tate and me for who she ran to when she needed to talk. My arms were always open.
I shut my eyes and let out a long breath before heaving myself up to rinse off in the small corner shower. I was over six feet, so it was a tight fit, but it worked. I kept the water cool and let it stream over my body as memories of the night before I was shot came to me. We huddled in the pouring rain; Eden’s face was tucked into my chest as I held my pack over our heads. I could smell the rose-scented soap in her hair and the electric shock from her hand on my stomach. But to her, I’m her brother. I yelled and punched the metal wall of the shower, and the loud reverberating clank hurt my ears. Leaning on the side with my head down, I let the water wash over me, trying to let the jealousy disappear down the drain.
“Tristan?” Dr. Hahn said from the doorway.
“I’m fine.” I swiped a hand over the puffed pink scar of the gunshot on my stomach before turning off the water and stepping out with a towel around my waist. My stomach clenched when I met the hollow grey eyes of Zane.
“What do you want?” I pulled on a clean shirt.
“Oh, I just wanted to check in.” He kept his hands clasped behind his back as he watched me.
“I’m fine.” I pulled up some pants and hung the towel on the hook by the shower.
“I heard you went on a little trip yesterday.”
I didn’t take my eyes from him, but from my peripheral vision, I saw Dr. Hahn’s nervous twitching. “So?”
“So? How did she seem?”
I fisted my hand to keep it from connecting with his jaw. His shallowness was infuriating. “Distant.”
“Distant?”
“Yeah. She didn’t even talk to me. If you knew her like I do, the girl doesn’t shut up. Especially when she hasn’t seen me in a while.”
He smiled. “Must be hard knowing Jace is there with her and not you.”
I pursed my lips and looked at my feet.
“I can change that, though.”
“What?” My eyes snapped to his and a smile snaked across his face.
“I can put you where Jace is.”
A flutter of triumph hit my chest, and I wanted to jump up and down. I could be the one for her to go to, not Jace. That’s how it should be, but... “What’s the catch?”
“Catch? No catch really, but if you could maybe try and get her to tell us how she made Jace. That would be helpful.”
There it was. She wasn’t cooperating, so they needed me to get her to. “What happened to Jace?”
“He became... a liability. I had to move him.”
“So, he’s alive.”
He widened his eyes. “Of course, he’s alive. What kind of man do you think I am?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
He gave me a knowing smile. “No. I suppose I don’t. So. Do we have a deal?”
If Jace couldn’t get her to, I don’t know how much I could, but just the opportunity to see her daily was enough for me. “I can’t promise anything.”
“No, no. Of course not. Just do your best.”
“Ok. Deal.”
“Good! I’ll make it happen today.” Without hesitation, he pivoted and walked out of my room, and before I could blink, he was moving down the hallway.
I fisted my hands again, but this time, it was because I was giving myself a silent cheer instead of wanting to punch Zane’s face.
Chapter 55
Jace
Groaning, I woke to cold, damp concrete on my cheek. I pushed myself up and winced at the new pain on my hands, now bruised and covered in dried blood. Blinking through blurry eyes, I examined my new surroundings. I was in a new cage, only this one wasn’t as nice. There were no windows, only metal bars. It was an old prison cell. Since there were no longer prisons, they moved some to the basement of the labs many years ago for the more difficult subjects.
“Where am I?” My voice was dry and raspy.
“Oh, thank goodness. You’re OK.” David shuffled over to the bars, looking in at me. The bags under his eyes aged him, and I fought the urge to hug him.
“Why are you here?” I grumbled, sliding myself over to the small metal cot in the corner. Where were my crutches?
“I needed to make sure you’re OK. You are my son.”
I pulled myself onto the cot. “I’m not your son.” My words clipped out through painful grunts.
“Whatever you may think, I still think of you as my son. I love you.”
Too tired to argue, I rolled my eyes.
“Dr. Andrews,” a man said as he moved to David’s side, brushing his messy white hair from his eyes.
“Yes?” David responded.
The man cleared his throat nervously. “You wanted me to let you know when Zane was on his way.”
David pushed back from the bars. “Yes. Of course. How much time?”
“Five minutes.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hahn.”
I jerked my head up at the name to get a better look at the man. It was the same wild-haired doctor that had helped Eden. Noticing my eyes on him, he smiled.
“Hello, hello, Jace. I’m—”
“Dr. Hahn.”
He smiled broadly. “Yes.”
David sighed loudly. “Well, I better be off
before Zane gets here, but please, do me a favor.” He paused, watching me. “Don’t upset Zane. Right now, he’s letting you live, so don’t do anything to change that decision... all right?”
“Letting me live? You call this living?” I motioned my hands around the dark, damp cell. “It’s the basement. I’ll probably get bitten by mice in my sleep and die from infection. This isn’t living.”
David fisted his hands. “It’s the best I could do! I have to go. Just please, I beg you. Don’t piss him off, Jace.”
I didn’t respond as he left the room; his footsteps echoed against the stone walls. I looked back at Dr. Hahn. “You work in this room?”
He let out a nervous laugh. “No, no, but I have been assigned to you, so I’ll come daily to check on you.”
“Great.”
Not only did he move me to the cells in the basement, but he was leaving me here alone most of the time. I let out a loud echoing snarl of frustration, startling Dr. Hahn into dropping his pen and paper. Smiling with satisfaction, I sat back and waited for Zane to arrive.
***
I heard the footsteps before his slimy smile showed itself. I wanted to scratch it right off his face, but David’s words repeated in my head. Don’t upset Zane.
“Jace. How are the hands?” He stopped on the other side of the bars, giving my bruised bloody hands a quick look.
Unconsciously, I fisted them but winced at the pain. “Fine.”
“Good. Now, your little... display earlier really had me thinking. You truly care for Eden, don’t you?” He watched me, but I didn’t respond. “I thought so. So, here’s how it’s going to be. You live down here, and if you’re a good little boy, then you can see her. Now, if you begin to be more trouble. . . well then, you can’t see her and who knows what else I’ll have done to her.”
I swallowed down the low rumbling growl threatening to burst from me as I stared into his dark hazel eyes
“What do you want with her?”
He smiled, “She’s the key.”
“The key?”
“Yes. The key. Once I figure out exactly how she created you, then I can make everyone immune and continue my mission to use the virus to control what’s left of this burnt world.”