Blade peered around the edge of the fence, studying the squat brick building with frosted glass. The sign in the front had assured him that this was Dr. Scott Richard’s Medical Facility. And while he couldn’t see any cars in the parking lot, he could smell a human inside.
As well as Valli’s lingering scent.
His cat roared in triumph.
When he’d realized who’d taken his female, he’d thought of nothing but getting to her. It had been Hiss who’d insisted that they inform Raphael what had happened and that they were leaving to rescue Valli and bring her home.
Not surprisingly, the leader had demanded that he be in on the hunt, along with Jean-Baptiste, who took it as a personal insult that a human had captured one of his patients.
“You keep a watch out here,” Blade commanded Hiss, who was standing at his side with a handgun aimed at the back door.
Although they were stronger and faster than any human even when they couldn’t shift, most Hunters were trained to use traditional weapons.
It was easier to shoot a man in the heart than rip off his head, even if it wasn’t nearly as satisfying.
He took a step forward, only to be brought to a halt as Hiss reached out to grab his arm.
“Wait.”
Blade turned his head to scowl at the male. “For what?”
Hiss nodded toward the building. “This could be a trap. We’ve both been burned before. I prefer not to repeat the experience.”
“My mate is in danger.” Blade wrenched his arm free of his friend’s grip. “I don’t give a shit if it’s a trap or not.”
Hiss made a sound of frustration. “At least give Raph and Jean-Baptiste a chance to get into place before you go charging in there like a cowboy.”
The two males were doing a sweep of the nearby streets to search for any signs of Benson’s soldiers.
“Cowboys don’t charge,” he corrected his companion. “They gallop to the rescue.”
“Yeah, well…shit.” Hiss’s words echoed behind Blade as he vaulted over the fence and headed directly to the nearby door.
With a speed that would make him all but invisible to the casual observer, Blade was across the parking lot and shoving open the back door. He paused long enough to sniff the air, then he was jogging down the hall to enter a large office that was stuffed with shelves, filing cabinets, and stacks of X-rays on a lighted table.
At the entrance, a man shoved himself to his feet, rounding the desk with an impatient scowl.
“Can I help you?”
His last word came out in a painful grunt as Blade grabbed him by the lapels of his white lab coat and lifted him off the ground before he slammed him against a nearby bookshelf.
“Where is she?” he growled.
The man struggled to suck air back into his lungs, his face flushing with outrage.
“What are you doing?” he rasped, futilely struggling. “Let me go.”
Blade leaned forward, allowing his cat to glow in his eyes. “Where. Is. She.”
The doctor coughed, his eyes darkening with fear as he seemed to understand just who he was dealing with and why he was there.
“You’re a beast.”
Blade curled back his lips, the air sizzling and popping around him. Not even the most oblivious human could fail to sense his power. “You have no idea.”
With a visible effort, the doctor tried to hide his fear behind a brittle pretense of defiance.
“You might be able to act like a savage in your swamps, but in civilized society we have laws,” he blustered. “Leave Bonne or I’ll call the cops and have you arrested.”
“I’m not asking again.” Blade tightened his grip. He couldn’t sense any other humans, but that didn’t mean they weren’t hiding near enough that they could ambush him while he was distracted. “Give me Valli.”
The man’s face paled to a sickly white, but he gamely continued to struggle.
“No.” His voice was hoarse. “She just escaped from you. I’m not handing her back to her kidnapper.”
Blade hissed, his eyes narrowing with rage. “You’re the one who’s holding her captive.”
The man blinked, acting like he was offended by Blade’s accusation.
“Me?” He flailed his legs, as if he could actually hurt Blade with a kick to his shin. “I saved her when she escaped from the Wildlands. She was frantic to come home.”
The kick didn’t hurt, but his words hit Blade with the force of a sledgehammer.
He sucked in a sharp breath, even as his heart whispered that Valli would never leave him. Not willingly.
“Liar,” he growled. “You’re working with Benson.”
More blinking. The fucker looked like a drunk owl.
“Who?”
Blade gave him another slam against the bookcase. “Don’t act stupid.”
A fine layer of sweat covered the doctor’s face. No doubt he was starting to realize that Blade didn’t play by his rules. He was ready, willing, and fully capable of killing him.
“I don’t know any Benson.”
Blade released a low snarl. Did he really think he could lie his way out of this? Or was he just stalling for time? Maybe hoping his friends would arrive and save him from the crazed Pantera.
“Valli told me that you were the one who sent her to the clinic.”
“Oh. You mean Benson Clinic?” He didn’t wait for Blade to respond. “She was ill. I couldn’t cure her, so of course I sent her to doctors who might be capable of discovering what was wrong with her,” he said in defensive tones.
Blade’s nose flared, the memories of the clinic pounding through him.
The darkness. The pain. The drugged horror on Valli’s face as they’d violated her…
“You sent her to become a lab rat for a megalomaniac billionaire who uses vulnerable women to create his vision of super-soldiers,” he accused.
He abruptly released his hold on the man, dropping him to the ground. It was that or pounding him against the shelf until he was a bloody corpse.
For now, he needed the bastard alive.
The doctor awkwardly stumbled before he managed to regain his balance. Lifting his hand, he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“What?” He shook his head. “No. That’s not possible.”
Blade slammed his fist into the wall, punching a hole through the drywall.
“Don’t try to act innocent. The clinic is a front for human and Pantera experimentation. I was held as a prisoner there.”
The doctor squeaked and pressed himself against the bookshelf.
“I was told it was a cutting-edge research facility that specialized in rare illnesses. I would never have... I care about Valli. I’d hoped...”
Blade clenched his jaw. The man might be able to pretend to be confused, but there was no way he could create his panicky scent that made Blade’s nose wrinkle.
Dammit. Had Dr. Richards been another puppet who’d been used by Benson to further his own goals?
If so, then who’d been pulling his strings?
“Who told you that?” he demanded.
“Fran Meyer,” the doctor confessed without hesitation. “She had a family member who went there when no one else could help him.” He waved a trembling hand toward his cluttered desk. “I have a pamphlet and everything.”
“Fran.” The name teased at the edge of his memory. “The woman who invited Valli to Bonne?” He at last managed to recall the story that Valli had told him about her time of roaming around the country and how she’d finally settled down after meeting a woman who’d offered her a home and steady employment.
The doctor nodded. “I think they met on the bus and got to talking. Fran is a good woman. She couldn’t have done anything. Not to Valli.”
Shit. They needed to track down Fran before she could flee. But first he wanted to hold his mate in his arms.
“Where’s Valli?” he demanded. He could catch her scent, but it seemed distant.
“This way. I was just trying to help her. I thought she’d been kidnapped.”
Careful to keep his movements slow, as if smart enough to realize that it wouldn’t take much for Blade to consider him a threat, he headed toward the door. Blade followed close behind, a sudden heat brushing through the air as he heard the front door being pushed open.
Raphael and Jean-Baptiste were in the building.
Seemingly unaware that he was surrounded, the doctor hurried down the hallway, pushing open the last door.
He came to a sharp halt, and Blade barely stopped in time to keep from ramming into him.
“What are you doing?” Blade snapped.
The doctor stepped to the side, revealing the empty room. “She’s gone.”