Chapter Eight
Bailey had done her best. She’d driven hard, taking minimal breaks and staying away from people in general. She’d reached Ohio, nearly into Pennsylvania, when she felt as if she were being followed.
Silly to think that, but she couldn’t shake a sixth sense that they’d found her. The proverbial they belonging to U-Ground. She’d been fortunate to bury the alternate personality that seemed to get all fangy at the hint of trouble. And she’d been making good time. Another nine and a half hours without break and she’d be there. She figured to give herself a few hours to sleep before arriving, but she’d definitely get there by Friday.
Someone on her tail changed things.
After passing Toledo, she found a cheap but decent motel a few miles off the freeway and booked a room. After relaxing enough to get the sleep she desperately needed, she fell into some pretty intense dreams.
Four men she’d seen before having loads of sex. They were brutal, beautiful, and fierce. And they had claws, fangs, and weird eyes that classified them as Circ.
“We’re coming for you,” one of them said. He had black hair, bright green eyes, and a square jaw that begged to be kissed—or smacked. The masculine arrogance in that particular Circ provoked a challenging reaction she couldn’t refuse. His muscular frame promised pleasure if she had the courage to reach for him. He’d never be an easy lover, but God, would he be thorough.
“Oh yeah. I can lick you in all the best places,” another male said, this one tattooed all over both arms, his dark eyes seeming to see inside her. He looked and felt dangerous, but his sinful smile hit her squarely in the heart.
The large blond with them could have broken her in half. But when he kissed the other giant, the one with the bulging muscles and sad gray eyes, she felt his heart in his kiss. So much passion, such kindness, all wrapped in a body that had killed without hesitation.
She grew wet watching them, wanting to be a part of that closeness. But that togetherness didn’t come without a cost. Because the rough, passionate taking demanded so much more of the men than sex. She sensed emotions flashing, pain and pleasure intermingling, a sharing of the past and the present, leading to her future…
She woke, shaking and flushed and so damn horny she wanted to climb the next man to walk through her door. But instead of her four sexy Circs, a nightmare from her past burst through the locks. Nightfall and a full moon silhouetted Myers’s entrance.
“Well, well. Smells tasty in here.” He looked terrible. Bloodshot eyes, pale features, and big hands clenching and unclenching by his sides told her he’d been through hell.
She couldn’t bring herself to feel bad about it though.
Next to him, Yates muscled through. “Damn. I’m smelling a bitch in heat.”
Myers chuckled. “Looks like we made it in time.” He glanced over his shoulder, then shut the door. “Let’s handle this before we get back with Sheer and Caldane. Be nice to sample the goods before she’s broken.”
Yates ran a hand over his crotch and smiled. “Yeah.” Like Myers, he didn’t look civilized. But he seemed healthier, better rested, at least. “I’d say you need a piece. After dealing with Caldane last night, you earned it.”
She shivered, not liking how vulnerable she felt. Man, if Myers and Yates thought this Caldane character was bad, he had to be awful.
Hurtful, bad, yes. The energy emanating from the pair reeked of that other one. The evil one. Must get away. Regroup. Challenge when chances of winning are better.
The presence inside her erupted. She let it consume her, no longer battling her need to be in charge. If they did rape her, she wanted no part in remembering what happened. A blackout would be more than welcome. But she had a feeling the animal inside her wouldn’t succumb. It would tear the men apart the way it had those guys in Nebraska.
This time, she didn’t fade away, not entirely. Bailey felt present, yet distant, as if watching a movie. The men drew closer, and her fangs and claws sprouted.
“Perfect. A piece of Circ ass.” Yates stripped off his shirt. “I’ve been dying to pound into a woman who won’t buckle under some rough handling.”
Myers agreed and toed off his shoes before removing the rest of his clothes. His erection disgusted her. And his rotten scent and negative energy repulsed her. Not a fitting mate. Neither male.
They might not be fitting, but they were strong. And in greater number. She subtly sniffed and scented more Circ nearby. Bailey knew she’d have a problem if she waited for their friends to arrive.
She flew into Myers and dug her fingers into his crotch.
He swore and tried to get her off him, while Yates laughed. She ducked a blow to the face and retaliated by going for his eyes. He’d heal soon enough, but she’d take out at least one of his senses for a short time. She hurt him, then turned to Yates before he decided to help his friend. But Yates had been ready for her. He caught her mid-leap and redirected her into the into the mirror above the dresser.
She hit hard, and it shattered, but she felt no pain.
Bailey picked up a shard and shoved it deep in his neck. Blood spurted—a lethal wound. But Yates only smiled and slowly pulled it out. “I like ‘em feisty. Come here, baby. Let’s continue that kiss from before.”
She had one shot. Dodging his grab, she darted into the bathroom, locked the door behind her, then dove through the small window next to the sink, one too small for the men chasing her, but big enough that she could squeeze through.
She fell and righted herself, only to see a man even more muscled than Myers leaning against the wooden railing surrounding the motel. She could see him clearly in the moonlight. He had dirty-blond hair and blazing, bright red eyes. He saw her and smiled, showing serrated fangs.
Good Lord.
Totally not someone she wanted to get to know better.
Bailey ran, vaulting the four foot fence with ease, glad she’d seen fit to sleep in her clothes and shoes, prepared for a quick getaway should the need arise. Unfortunately, she needed to be quicker, because she heard the red-eyed man following. No doubt Myers and Yates would join in as well. A chase, something guaranteed to excite the predators after her.
Running deeper into the woods, away from the main road, would be suicide. But what choice did she have? They’d cut her off from the motel. She could hear them flanking her, guiding her away from any source of help.
Yet…maybe she could lead them around in circles. Go into the woods, hide, then double back? She’d left Katie’s precious files in her hotel room, and she refused to go anywhere else without it. She’d already learned so much about the Circs, Dr. Lang and his research. Which, if she were honest with herself, she had a feeling she’d need to know. Because somehow, they’d turned her into a Circ.
She had freakin’ claws. And fangs. All her senses were enhanced. She could see in the dark as well as she could during the day. Her ability to identify by scent was off-the-charts accurate. She sniffed.
Bunny, squirrel, psychotic Circ, owl…
After looping around the forest, masking her scent, then putting on bursts of speed that shocked her, she circled back to the motel, her sense of direction unerring. Out front, next to her tiny car, sat a large black SUV and a blue muscle car. No one sat with either vehicle, but she knew those cars belonged to the men after her. She’d seen only one small Hyundai parked near hers before hitting the sheets.
What were the odds all the men with Myers and Yates would have followed her into the woods? Someone had to have stayed behind, waiting in case she showed back up.
She had to take that chance. Creeping close to the wall of the building, she neared her room.
In her adrenaline-buzzed state, something odd happened. The woman and creature inside her melded, bringing intellect and instinct together. She stopped in place and took in the sights, sounds, and smells around her, then formulated a plan.
Bailey smiled, then rushed toward that SUV…
Myers growled low in his throat, wincing at the large scratch down his eye. After his nightmare of a fuckfest last night, all he’d wanted was something easy to go down, something fun—like a less-than-willing female. And all the better to have the Circ they’d been promised months ago.
The perfect female created just for his team.
He frowned, wondering if he and Yates could get away with disposing of Caldane. Sheer was bad enough, a bastard and a freaky perv. But he could be contained. Caldane, on the other hand…
Fucking Amelia Norton. Smith and Lang bowed to every damn thing the woman wanted. Dr. Lang had complained that Caldane had grown unmanageable and would be better put to use as a research tool. In other words, as an organ donor. But Smith had sucked up to the bitch, who was determined to keep the guy around. He’d convinced Lang that he’d handle Caldane. Lang, with too much else on his plate, had agreed and gone on to new pursuits. No matter how little sense it made to keep Caldane around, Smith would do it because Amelia Norton found the monster “fascinating.”
The woman was as bad as Caldane.
Myers cringed, remembering how the fiend had torn into him with an unhealthy lust. The creature, more beast than man, slaked his hungers with a ferociousness that kept everyone else back once he fixated on a victim. Into blood and pain, he’d done more than rip into Myers’s body. The psychopath had also psychically raped Myers’s mind.
The sheer horror of having no control over his body or mind, no place to retreat into while Caldane savaged him, had him reliving the torment in detail. Fortunately, that brought on a rage he needed to keep from going insane. The anger simmered, grew.
Bailey Duncan. The woman should have been safely in their custody. He could have been impregnating the little witch instead of getting brutalized by a monster. She’d screwed with the wrong guy, and she’d pay, dearly. He rejoined Yates and tracked Bailey’s scent, away from the darker interior of the forest behind the motel.
“Think she doubled back?”
“Yeah.”
Yates frowned. “Sheer’s in the room.”
“At least Caldane’s ahead of us.” But Sheer was little better. “Shit. Hurry up. If Sheer gets to her first, he’ll kill her before we can have any fun.”
They turned and ran back the way they’d come. As they drew closer, they heard a car crash. Flames lit the night sky. They ran faster.
***
Alex frowned and gripped the steering wheel. Gideon had seriously taken charge, to the extent even Elijah listened to him. He had no idea why, but he too felt the need to follow Gideon. Even his aching need for revenge didn’t outweigh supporting Gideon’s actions.
They’d all taken turns driving the large SUV without stopping. All day and into the night. They’d nearly arrived at their destination. “This Hayashi guy was pretty specific.” Alex didn’t trust the information.
“You think it’s a trap of some kind?” Carter rumbled. He sat in the back next to Elijah while Gideon napped beside Alex.
“Could be.” Alex saw Carter shake his head in the rearview.
“No way. If they’d wanted to off us, they’d have done it on their private property. No one would have known. This is about something else.” He paused. “Bailey Duncan. You know her, Alex?”
Alex had been thinking about her since Doc had mentioned the woman. “I did a little digging into one of Katie’s documents.” He’d copied her files, keeping the information on the sly while turning “all of it over to the government.” Yeah, right. “She had a few email chats with Bailey. They were friends.”
Typical of his sister to keep her personal life private. Though they’d been psychically linked all their lives, their family had never been close. Their mother an alcoholic, their father nonexistent, gone when they’d turned five, they’d had no one but each other to rely on. Yet something had always held Katie back. Her flashes of the past had soured her on trusting anyone, it seemed. Like him, she caught glimpses of the past through touch. But while he got images off inanimate objects, Katie caught visions through touching people.
Too bad this Hayashi guy hadn’t been around to predict her future sooner. Then Katie might still be alive. Alex clenched the steering wheel. No matter what anyone said, he knew she’d passed. He felt the void inside him where she should be. No matter how long it took, he’d find who’d hurt her and make them pay.
“Easy, Alex,” Gideon murmured, his eyes still closed. “Don’t want to get delayed by a speeding ticket.”
Alex took their speed back down to eighty, but just ten miles over was no biggie. They reached a sign for Elmore, turned off the interstate, and followed GPS directions to the BlackLight Motel.
As they turned onto the motel’s street, Alex saw flames shooting high into the black sky.
“What the hell?” Eli sat up straight. “Shit. Slow down, Alex. We got problems.”
Alex slowed, and Eli bailed. He dove out of the car and started running. Gideon swore and followed him, while Carter remained in the vehicle and rolled down the window.
“There. Pull into the motel lot. Smell ‘em? Circs. Bad ones.” Carter sounded grim.
Alex sped into the lot and screeched to a halt, but Carter had already gone. Wishing the guys hadn’t taken off in opposite directions, he parked the car and hurried after them, calling on his senses to follow…Gideon.
He ran in a northerly direction and heard grunting, punching, and then the sound of muffled gunfire.
“Damn it.” Alex put on a burst of speed and rammed into a Circ standing some distance from Gideon, aiming at the back of Gideon’s head. Alex recognized the sick smell immediately. “Myers.”
Myers rolled over and socked Alex in the jaw. “Palmer. Now this just makes my day.”
Alex got to his feet, facing Myers, and blinked at the change in the man. In just five days, Myers had gone from cocky asshole to looking like grim death. Alex smirked. “What the hell happened, Myers? Karma catch up with you?”
“You could say that.” Myers swung and kicked at him, keeping him at a distance. “But you know, what goes around comes around. You turned on us, you bastard. You were part of our team, and you left us high and dry.”
“Bullshit. I was tired of you beating up on Lang’s helpless victims. And God knows what you were doing on your off time.” Then he realized something. Myers smelled like Circ. “Hold on. I thought you were too smart to take the serum? That’s what Pratt said, that none of you were stupid enough to take an experimental drug that turned so many guys crazy.”
“Pratt lied.” Myers flashed a set of fangs and withdrew a knife from his pocket, not using claws. “But I guess you lied too, because you’re as Circ as they come.”
Alex wondered if the guy had limitations, because Alex had never sensed the Circ in Myers until now. “It wasn’t anything I planned. Lang or Smith must have doctored my food. I didn’t sign on for this.” Not for any of it, damn it. Katie…
“I’m crying for you.” Myers sneered. “Because of your dumbass betrayal, they paired us with a new guy. Caldane.”
Alex blinked. “Are you shitting me?” Caldane had been on the termination list when Alex had first been introduced to the world of Circs. A man who’d been psychotic to begin with, he’d been an experiment in learning what the serum did to an unhealthy psyche. He’d turned from serial killer crazy into monstrous times ten. “I thought he’d been moved to another facility months ago?” At the time, Alex had imagined the unsuccessful candidates were incarcerated or rehabilitated elsewhere. Now he knew better.
“Nope. Norton likes to keep her pets close.”
Norton. He committed that name to memory and let Myers get near enough to land a hit, to keep the bastard talking. “Yeah? And what about you? You still taking it up the ass from Smith and Lang, like a good little beast?” Apparently the wrong thing to say, because Myers went apeshit.
He started a beatdown Alex was hard pressed to get out of. Then Myers aimed his knife at Alex’s throat. Alex stopped him, but it wasn’t easy. They struggled for control of the blade, and Alex’s fingers brushed the hilt.
“No. Please.” Katie sobbed, disheveled, obviously abused. Tears tracked down her bruised cheeks and bloodied lips.
Around her, Myers, Yates and another man, Sheer, stared down at her as if fascinated.
“Come on, pretty lady. You’ve been spilling secrets. We all know about it. How about you tell us the truth? Who knows about our facility and what we really do at U-Ground?”
Katie sobbed, then spat in Myers’s face. “Fuck you.”
“We’re gonna get back to that, precious,” Yates said with a chuckle. “But how about you tell us the truth? Who are you working with? Who else is on the inside, because it isn’t just you. I can smell it on you. Something familiar…”
Katie screamed and grabbed at the knife in Myers’s hand, then dragged him down on top of her, plunging the blade through her heart. As her eyes closed, she whispered, “I always knew this was coming, but it’s okay. You needed to see this. You need to find the others. Save Bailey. Love…you.”
A dying message meant for Alex, because she’d known he’d find the truth.
Alex froze, staring into Myers’s eyes, caught in a hell he couldn’t get out of. “It was you. You killed her.”
Myers shoved him back and grinned. “You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve killed a lot of bad pussy.”
Alex lost it. He launched himself at Myers and started hitting. He gave his furious beast free reign and sliced his claws into Myers over and over, leaving a bloody mess on the ground. Blood and entrails gathered. Screams from mutant Circs surrounded the motel, enemies gathering closer. But nothing mattered but getting revenge for Katie.
He shook off the hands trying to separate him from his conquest, needing to rip out the bastard’s throat with his teeth. He leaned closer…
“No, stop!” A female in distress broke through to him. Katie? She was dead, wasn’t she? But the woman who’d cried out had golden brown hair, long, like Katie. She ran from some bastard, trying to survive in a world gone horribly wrong.
“Katie.” He dropped what was left of Myers and ran after her, determined to save his sister. Past and present mired his reality, leaving him with nothing but memories to hold onto, a sister who needed him. Now.
He scented his pack drawing near, coming to help. He flashed his fangs in a raw smile, satisfied that they’d corner their prey and attack, leaving nothing but bones behind. He’d save Katie this time. He had to.