Present Day

2048

 

When the guard he’d been following turned his way, Julian Stone slid lower in the seat of his rental car. He was all about upholding the law. Usually. But when the law was detaining his mate for something she was innocent of? Julian could see bending the rules. Or breaking them. Actually, he would break every single one he had to if it meant getting Katherine out of this facility. A facility meant to house the worst criminals known to mankind and Gargoyles alike. The US government had spared no expense when they built the FSM – Federal SuperMax – just south of New Abilene, Texas.

Much like the New Atlanta Penitentiary his cousins had built, FSM had been constructed with the Unholy in mind, thus being constructed in the middle of nowhere. Only the government hadn’t been able to capture the beasts. Therefore, they were trying to save face in the eyes of the public by going after anyone and everyone they deemed “bad.” Instead of being taken to the women’s prison, the FBI had hauled Katherine to FSM, much to the dismay of Julian. Not being able to prove the evidence against his mate had been falsified, Julian was at his wit’s end; thus the reason he was devising a plan to bust her out of prison. Getting Katherine out of the heavily secured facility was going to be more difficult than he originally anticipated. As Julian adjusted the focus on his camera, zooming in on the guard, his phone rang.

If it had been anyone else calling, Julian would have let it go to voicemail. It wasn’t anyone; it was his King. “Rafael, what can I do for you?”

“Jules, where are you?”

Fuck. Not only could he not dismiss his cousin, he couldn’t lie to him. Wouldn’t lie to him. “Texas.”

“Would you care to share with the class what the fuck you are doing in Texas and why nobody knew where you are?”

“I told Landon where I was going.” Julian had hoped to fly to Texas, accomplish what he set out to do, and return home before anyone missed him.

“Jules,” Rafael growled.

Julian lowered the camera to his lap but kept his eyes on the agent. “This is where they are holding Katherine. They have her at FSM.”

“Why would the FBI take her to the SuperMax? That is like putting a toddler in a straitjacket instead of timeout.”

“Thus the reason I am in Texas.”

Rafael sighed. When he didn’t continue the conversation, Julian asked, “Rafe, what is going on?”

“This can wait, Jules. Do your homework, but do not attempt to break Katherine out of FSM on your own. That is an order. You bring the information home, and together, we will figure out a solid plan to rescue your mate.”

He should have known his cousin would realize what his intentions were. “I cannot ask anyone else to break the law.”

“You are not asking. We are offering.”

“Thanks, Brother. I will be home as soon as possible.”

“Be well, Julian.”

 “And you, my King.”

Julian could tell by the tone of Rafael’s voice that something was, indeed, going on back home. Something more than he alluded to. Julian needed to get all the information he could about FSM and return to New Atlanta. He knew his family would have his back with regards to his mate, but it still didn’t sit well with him what he was going to ask them to do. Having already procured the blueprints for the facility before leaving New Atlanta, Julian needed photos of the outside as well. He started the car and drove to a nearby strip mall where he could leave the rental while he hiked back to the prison. Using a high-powered lens, Julian took pictures of all sides of the building, including the fencing, motion detectors, doors, guard towers, and entrances. Add these to the pictures he had of certain employees, and Julian felt he had enough information to come up with a viable plan. One that would take a lot of careful preparation and even more careful execution.

Before walking away, Julian closed his eyes and reached out his senses for Katherine. He didn’t expect to be able to feel her considering she wasn’t aware of their connection. Still, he tried. Kat, I’m here, Sweetheart. Hang on. Standing in the middle of the woods longer than he should have, Julian finally gave up when his meditation met with silence.

As bad as he hated to leave Texas, Julian headed back to the hotel to pack and make his way home. The sooner he returned to New Atlanta, the sooner he could enlist his family in his plan to bust Kat out of FSM.

 

 

Katherine walked into her prison cell for the first time without being shoved. The small room was glass on three sides and contained nothing but a stainless platform attached to the wall which held a thin pillow and blanket, where she slept. There was a toilet but no sink. Before today, she’d been treated like the worst kind of criminal. The clothes she had on were rank from being worn for days on end. Her long hair had been a matted mess, and her breath was so far past the point of stinking that she almost gagged on it.

Twenty minutes earlier, Katherine had been allowed to bathe, brush her teeth, and change her clothes. She was given drab orange scrubs. If she wasn’t in prison, she might laugh. Katherine hated orange. Her hair was still tangled, but at least it was clean. It had taken every bit of fortitude to get near the running water. Having been water-boarded, the thought of the spray hitting her face took her breath on reflex. Her longing to be clean won out over her fear, and she managed to get through the ordeal without panicking.

When she arrived at the prison, the first thing they tried to get her to talk was to withhold food. Katherine was already on the thin side, but now her ribs were sticking out and her cheeks were sunken in. She’d caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as the guard was leading her away from the female agents’ locker room. FSM was not equipped to handle women inmates, or so she’d read years ago. When Katherine didn’t see any other female prisoners or a women’s shower, she believed it to still be true. The things she was being accused of were heinous, and if someone was guilty of those same crimes, she had no trouble with them being held at the SuperMax.

Instead of sitting on the cold, aluminum slab that doubled as her bed, Katherine opted to stretch out on the floor. Yoga had always been her stress reliever, but after the first few days of her “therapy,” as the agents called it, she’d not been able to do more than lie down. Her ear ached from where her eardrum had been pierced, and she could no longer hear out of it. She had no visible signs of where she’d been tortured. At that thought, she scratched at her neck. A spot on her nape had begun itching in the last few days, and Kat figured she’d been injected with some sort of mind-controlling drug.

As the therapy continued to fail to produce answers, the types of torture changed from physical to mental. When the female agent who oversaw the initial interrogation suggested hypnosis, Katherine begged her to try. Her pleas of innocence had gone unheard. She screamed until her voice gave out that she had no idea about any of the things she’d been accused of. The fact that her government could be so cruel to her had broken Katherine’s spirit. She’d never given much thought to torturing criminals. Now, it was all she could think about as she endured it day after day.

She’d lost track of the number of days since her life had been turned on its axis. Katherine still held onto the sliver of hope that Julian was trying to prove her innocence. That sliver was all she had left at that point. Did he know where the Feds had taken her? What about David? When thinking about the man she’d been dating, Katherine had no regrets. He was her cameraman at the station, and they were together all day every day. They’d gone out a few times but hadn’t taken things to a more physical level. Not that he hadn’t tried. As with the others who came before him, Katherine didn’t feel much of a spark. She agreed to try dating because he was convenient. Remembering the disappointed look on his face when Dane Abbott arrested her at work, she doubted David had given her a second thought.

Katherine didn’t take much time for men. Instead, she threw herself into her job. At twenty-five, she was an up-and-coming investigative reporter. There were too many unknown variables about her life as a child, so she decided to find a career where searching for information was part of the job. Some of the stories that landed Katherine behind the camera were boring. Some were downright scary. Others had her pulling out the metaphoric shovel and digging into the lives of the elusive. Elusive men like Rafael Stone, cousin to Julian Stone – the one who’d claimed her. You are mine.

The warmth from Julian’s hand was a fading memory. “Because you belong to me, Sweetheart. After I prove your innocence, I’ll tell you everything, but know this Kat – you are mine.” His words, while confusing, had become her mantra. And the kiss? As long as she lived, Katherine would never forget the intensity with which Julian Stone pressed their lips together. The way he held her body against his, gripping her hair tightly. She’d never felt such a connection with any of the other men she’d encountered. Now, she wasn’t so sure it hadn’t been a cruel dream.

What she couldn’t figure out was why. Katherine had interacted with Julian on both a professional level as well as personal. The personal being he called out to her one day when she was leaving the coffee shop after speaking with the Chief of Police. Their conversation that day had been brief, but she felt as if they’d known each other forever. Any time Katherine was close to the man, her body tended to go on the fritz – as in she wanted to climb his tall, lithe frame and rut against him like a dog in heat. Obviously, there was something she’d missed between the last time they spoke and when he visited her at the penitentiary. Because you belong to me, Sweetheart. She couldn’t say the thought didn’t thrill her. Julian Stone was a high-profile, wealthy, not to mention exquisite specimen of a man. Now, all she had to do was survive being locked up to get the explanation he promised.

There was a lot in Katherine’s life she didn’t remember. That she didn’t understand. That she didn’t believe. She believed Julian when he said he’d prove her innocence. With nothing to do but think, Katherine wracked her brain for anything she might have subconsciously repressed from when she was young. Was it possible there was someone in her past who could be responsible for the terrible things she’d been accused of? Her whole life she’d had the same dream of when she was a small child. When she asked her foster parents about it, they told her it was just a dream, nothing more. She never believed them. Too many times Katherine saw flashes of a smile. Of being held. Feeling loved. Those flashes were of a stranger, though. Not the father she remembered.

The clicking of heavy heels sounded in the hallway. That meant her time of reflection was over. Kat turned her head toward the front wall and waited to see who her tormentor for the day would be. Dark shoes appeared in her line of vision, and Katherine allowed her eyes to roam all the way up to the newcomers face. “Miss Fox, I’m Special Agent Sonja Rayaz. You’ll be spending some time with me this afternoon. If you would, please, come with me.”

Katherine rose. It wasn’t like she had a choice. She could either go willingly or suffer further abuse. She wiped at any dust that may have accumulated on her backside. The agent unlocked her door and held it open. Kat stepped through as she mentally prepared herself for whatever this woman had in store. The agent motioned for Katherine to follow her.

“No handcuffs?” Katherine asked before she could stop her mouth.

“Would you prefer I put them on you?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then we should be fine without them. Besides, should you try anything, I can kill you with my bare hands before you could even blink.” The woman wasn’t much larger than Katherine, but she didn’t want to test that theory. She had endured enough pain to last five lifetimes. The agent led her down the hallway before turning down another corridor which led to a small room equipped with a reclining leather chair, like you’d see in a dentist’s office, as well as a lot of high-tech looking equipment. “Please have a seat. I’m not going to strap you in unless you want me to. What I’m going to do is probe your mind. It won’t be painful unless you fight it.”

“I won’t fight. I want the truth more than you do,” she vowed. And she would try her best to remember. If the FBI could get information out of her brain that would clear her name, she was all for it. It beat the hell out of almost being drowned. She sat down in the chair and got as comfortable as she could. The room was cold, so she ran her hands up and down her arms, shivering as she remembered being left in an icy cold room while still wet from the waterboarding.

The agent rolled a cart across the room and began attaching electrode patches to Katherine’s temples. “I need you to clear your mind for me. I’m going to delve into your past and see if I can’t jar some memories loose.  I’m also going to put you into a temporary hypnotic state, but you won’t be so far under that you’re completely at my mercy.” The agent flipped a few switches, and the machine whirred to life. Kat didn’t think she could be hypnotized, but she didn’t tell the woman that.

“I’m going to start with a few basic questions. What is your full name?”

“Katherine Annalise Fox.”

“Where do you live?”

“New Atlanta.”

“What is your occupation?”

“I’m a news reporter.”

“Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?”

“I did have a boyfriend.”

“Did?”

“Yes. I doubt he’ll be waiting on me.”

“Where did you grow up?”

“In New Atlanta.”

“Who are your parents?”

“I was raised by John and Lucinda Prater. My parents are dead.”

“Okay, who were your parents?”

“I… don’t remember my mother. My father was Tobias Fox.”

“Do you remember what happened to your father?”

“Yes… he…” Katherine tensed up at the memory. She had been around seven at the time, but bits and pieces came back to her when she didn’t want them to. “He was killed.”

“I want you to close your eyes. I know this is painful, but I want you to think back, Miss Fox. Tell me everything you remember about that day.”

With her knees hugged tight to her chest, Katie made herself as small as possible, praying the big man wouldn’t find her hiding spot. Her momma had told her to run, so she did. As fast as her legs would take her, she ran downstairs to the dark basement with her momma right behind her. A sliver of light seeped through the small rectangular window on the opposite wall from where she was hidden behind the water heater. Her eyes were hurting from having them closed tightly, waiting for the big man to… But he didn’t. He yelled at her momma then he hit her.

Yell. Hit. Scream.

Yell. Hit. Scream.

Yell. Hit.

Katie pulled her shirt up into her mouth to keep from crying out, but she couldn’t keep from peeing on herself. When her momma didn’t scream anymore, the man stopped yelling at her. Instead, he let out some words Katie had heard her papa use, but her momma told her they were bad. Katie knew she was next, but he shouted out one last curse and trod heavily up the steps. When there were no more sounds from overhead, Katie crept over to where her momma’s body lay unmoving.

The flashing red and blue lights bounced off the walls, alternatively highlighting the red marks splattered across the wall of the basement. Heavy footfalls thudded against the floor overhead. The footsteps got louder. Closer. Katie couldn’t move. She’d made it as far as her momma’s body and was frozen in place again. Her momma wasn’t breathing. Katie’s ear was glued to her momma’s chest, and her eyes were fixated on the red splatters on the wall.

“We’ve got two bodies down here,” a man yelled as his flashlight shone over Katie. Fingers touched her neck before reaching out for her mother’s. “The child is alive. Get an ambulance!” A big hand pushed Katie’s hair back from her face. “Sweetheart, can you hear me? Where are you hurt?”

Katie couldn’t find her voice, but if she could, she would’ve told him her chest hurt, and she was cold. More people came downstairs. The beams of a bunch of flashlights bounced around the room, and Katie once again closed her eyes. The voices ran together as someone pried her hands away from her momma’s shirt. Her body was lifted away after they looked her over, making sure she wasn’t hurt. Strong arms like her papa’s carried her up the stairs. It wasn’t until they had taken her outside before she opened her eyes. Being seven, she didn’t realize what all was going on other than she was being put in the back of an ambulance and taken away from her parents. She needed to stay there. She needed to stay and check on her papa. Where was he? Had the big man hurt him too?

“Very good, Katherine. When you mentioned your parents earlier, you said you didn’t remember your mother, but you just told me about her. Why is that?”

Katherine replayed the scene in her head. Her mother was in a mental hospital, so why was she seeing this woman in her memory? Something wasn’t right. “My mother was hospitalized.”

“But you just told me your mother was killed by ‘the big man’.”

“I know, but… Something’s off. I don’t know…”

“It’s okay. Do you remember what happened after that?”

Katherine had fought so hard to put that part of her life out of her memory. She focused on being with John and Lucinda in a loving environment. She had hit the foster parent lottery with those two. “I went to live with my foster parents.”

“Describe the house for me.”

“It was red brick in a nice neighborhood.”

“Did you ever visit anyone who lived in the country?”

Katherine tensed up. She knew where this line of questioning was going even though her mind was relaxed. “Lucinda’s parents lived on a farm in Alabama. We went there every summer for a week.”

“Thank you, Miss Fox. I want you to think of what makes you happiest in the world, and I’ll come back in a few minutes.”

The agent’s heavy heels sounded against the floor as she retreated from the room. Katherine didn’t open her eyes. She was confused as to why she would talk about a mother she didn’t know. Maybe you just don’t remember her. Why would she remember her father in such detail but not her mother? The agent had instructed her to think about what made her happiest. When she wiped the image of the bleeding woman out of her mind, she allowed herself to drift. What made her happiest in the world? An unbidden image of Julian Stone was the first thing she thought of.

Kat, I’m here, Sweetheart. Hang on.

And now she was hearing Julian’s voice in her head. Delving into her subconscious had really done a number on her mind. Kat. She really liked that he called her that. If only she could hear him say it for real.