Chapter One
Swiping her entry card across the keypad, Liv pulled the door when the green light signaled and walked into a sauna. “Shit, it’s hot in here!” she mumbled to an empty hallway. Was the air conditioning turned off or was it broken?
For the past two months, she’d worked almost every weekend and knew the air conditioning blasted seven days a week. Then she recalled her boss, Jim, mentioning a new security guard starting this Saturday so maybe he had turned it off without knowing partial staff worked weekends. There was no way she was going to pull an eight-hour shift today, she thought, fanning her face. She was going to have to find out about the HVAC system.
Liv quickened her pace to the lab when sweat beaded her brow. Unloading her purse, lunchbox, and armful of binders, she grabbed a hair tie from her purse to secure her long red hair off the back of her neck. Oh, yeah, way better, she thought when her body cooled a smidge. As much as she loved her long hair, every summer she contemplated cutting it because it was a heavy nightmare when she was hot.
Walking to the thermostat, she checked the settings. That was odd. It was set to seventy degrees which was normal for her lab. Typically, she was chilled to the bone while working and kept a lightweight sweater handy. She wouldn’t need that today, she mused, wiping at the droplets on her upper lip.
She was sweating like a stuck pig and could barely think straight. Shorts and a t-shirt sounded great right about now. Hell, stripping to her bra and panties would be even better. Instead, she had on slacks and a blouse under her lab coat. If she couldn’t find and fix the issue, she was removing the lab coat and didn’t care who might see her and report her infraction. She had dozens, if not hundreds, of slides to examine and with the heat pouring from her body the microscope’s lens would fog.
Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, Liv texted her boss, Jim, to see if he was aware of any problem.
Remembering the central control panel was in the breakroom, she turned and headed down the main hallway, stuffing hot pink earbuds in and connecting to her cell phone. With a swipe of her finger, her favorite song came on, and she cranked up the volume to the point it was blaring in her ears. Bopping down the hall she tried to forget the temperature and enjoy her jam.
The long hallway of Primary Research Lab (PRL) seemed to stretch for miles and, of course, the breakroom was at the far end. The gray tile floor and matching colored walls added to the clinical environment and made the walk feel like the proverbial Green Mile.
Assuming she was alone in the building, Liv’s cowboy boots suddenly felt the need to two-step and her arms agreed as they swung in unison with the fast beat. God, she loved to dance and couldn’t wait to meet her neighbor, Cassie, later that night. They always had fun when they went out, and Liv needed a break from working bazillions of hours.
As she shook her booty to Luke Bryan’s boom-boom, she couldn’t help but notice an open door ahead. Suddenly, her line dancing came to a halt and heat suffused her neck and cheeks. Maybe she wasn’t alone after all.
Typically, all doors to the various labs were closed and locked unless staff was working. Liv hoped someone else had come in to finish their projects and could explain what was going on with the air conditioning. A cursory glance at her phone screen told her Jim hadn’t replied to her message. Not surprising given the man practically lived at the golf course on weekends.
As she approached the open door, she was surprised to see it was a door that remained closed. In fact, in the four years she’d worked there, she hadn’t seen it open once. She had assumed it was a storage room, but as she slowly pushed it open, she realized it was another long hallway.
A gust of cool air hit her damp skin, tempting her to venture further. Okay, this was strange. What was in here that needed a different cooling unit? And, why was this one working while the rest of the building felt like the Sahara Desert?
Instantly alert, she removed her earbuds so she could concentrate on her surroundings. This hallway was the same drab gray color scheme as the rest of the building and multiple doors lined one side. The only illumination in the hallway came from small windows in each door. The windows were set higher than made sense, and, as she approached the first door, she had to stand on tiptoe to peer through it.
Placing a sweaty palm on the door to brace herself she peeked into the room. It was empty, but there was a mattress on the floor, and above the thick pad two chains were attached to the stone wall. “What the hell?” she muttered under her breath.
The mattress and chains were disturbing enough, but it was the metal cuffs at the end of the chains that caused her heart to race and thump against her chest. What was going on in this room? Admittedly, it was pristine and unoccupied, but she could not imagine a use for a mattress or chains in the lab. Although the room was empty, her spidey-senses screamed that something was off.
Curious, she moved to the next window and peered in. It, too, was empty. Crap, Liv thought as she checked each room. Every one of them was empty except for the lone mattresses and chains attached to the walls. What could be going on in this section of the building?
It was common knowledge they performed numerous tests and experiments at PRL, with some done on animals, but this looked like something else altogether. The animals stayed in cages in one large area, not individual rooms like this. What she was looking at resembled prison cells, and, for the first time, she was frightened to be alone at work. Where was that new guard when she needed him?
Metal clanged, startling Liv, and she jumped. Her heart thumped hard against her chest as she realized it came from one of the last five doors along the hallway. Crouching low, she considered her options. Should she high-tail it out of there and ask Jim on Monday?
That sounded reasonable, given sweat soaked her entire back, which wasn’t entirely because of the air conditioner malfunction. The scene reminded her of a horror movie, and she was the dimwitted woman blindly walking into the throes of hell.
Yeah, she should get the hell out of there. But…would she be able to think about anything else for the rest of the weekend? Would she be able to enjoy girl’s night, or, anything else, for that matter?
Nope. It would drive Liv nuts, and she would think of nothing else but this mysterious hallway. She had to know what made that noise, and, what, if anything, was going on in this sector of the building. Cue the scary music, she thought, as she decided to go forward with her impulsive decision.
Taking several deep breaths to calm her shaky nerves, Liv slowly took several small steps and stood on her tiptoes to look through the small window. What she saw horrified her and she double-blinked to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. She strained her eyes against the dim lighting in the room.
Nope, she wasn’t hallucinating…or maybe she was. No way could she be looking at a man, an abnormally large man at that, sleeping on the mattress. His hands were cuffed and chained to the wall. He was filthy, wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants covered in grime. He was curled in a ball and shivering. His skin was tanned, but he looked sickly in the fetal position.
Wanting to help, she reached for the handle and turned, but it was locked. She was about to pound on the glass to wake him when she heard muffled sounds coming from the room beside it.
Quietly stepping to the next door, heart pounding a million beats per second, she inched her way along the wall until she could barely see through the window. Another man chained to the wall was on all fours, covering his head and face with his arms, while a security guard pummeled him with his baton.
Liv didn’t recognize the guard but noticed he was wearing the company’s black uniform. The guard was vicious in his attack. Was this the new guy Jim hired?
She was stuck in this terrible fight or flight moment as she watched the abuse, stunned beyond belief. Honor said she couldn’t walk away, but she had no idea what she could do against the armed man. She was tiny in comparison.
Standing beside the guard was David Cook, another research scientist. Liv had worked closely with David on several projects and liked the guy. She couldn’t imagine he was okay with standing by and watching such brutality, but his wide-legged stance and crossed arms belied that. And then she overheard David order the man to be hit again. They were full on beating a defenseless man. What kind of experiment were they running?
One thing was certain. Liv would be damned if she walked away now.
Reaching for the handle, she half-wished it was locked, as well, but it turned and gave way. She thrust open the heavy metal door and entered with confidence and purpose. Maybe if she acted like she was supposed to be there, they’d treat her accordingly. Fake it till you make it like Cassie always said.
“Can somebody explain to me what’s going on?” Liv demanded, hands on hips.
The two men turned, and the one on the floor looked her way. He was just as dirty as the other man in the room beside his. Wearing the same black sweatpants, he looked like he hadn’t bathed or shaved in months, possibly years. His jet-black hair was matted and fell down his back. A full beard covered most of his face and was long and stringy. He looked like a mountain man from the Great Smokies. His frame was large like his neighbor’s, and that’s when it dawned on Liv. These two men were shifters.
“Olivia, what are you doing here?” David asked, obviously shocked to see her standing there. “This really doesn’t concern you,” he added.
“I don’t understand what you’re doing. Please explain why these men are chained and being mistreated. This is not what we do here,” she implored, voice shaky with emotion. She hated that she wore her heart on her sleeve. Why couldn’t she be Miss Badass and come in guns blazing and threaten to report them?
“Darlin’, you best be getting’ on. I’d hate to take you over my knee and teach you what happens to little girls who don’t mind their own business,” the guard sneered then licked his lips. Liv’s stomach turned at the thought of the man getting within ten feet of her.
He was a big, burly man that looked like he would happily follow through with his threat. Guessing him to be in his late forties, he appeared to be in excellent physical shape. It was his crazy brown eyes that made her so nervous.
The man on the floor moved, and the guard raised his baton and struck his back with two consecutive blows. The shifter fell flat on his chest and face, covering his head as best he could.
Liv took another step forward. “Is that necessary? He can’t even defend himself. David, please do something,” she begged.
“Olivia, it’s not what it looks like. He’s a shifter and can’t be trusted. They’re wild and unpredictable. The cuffs are for his protection as much as for ours. Just go. Now!” David demanded sternly, but Liv heard the sincerity in his tone.
She knew very little about shifters and hadn’t spent any time with one, but she’d heard stories. The news portrayed shifters exactly as David described. Wild, violent and unpredictable. Shifters were recognizable to humans by their large size. They were taller, more muscular, with bigger hands and feet. The man on the floor looked like he could win a Mr. Universe contest hands down. If he was bathed and shaved, of course.
Liv acknowledged it was a very segregated society between humans and shifters and both preferred it that way. Shifters lived in their isolated communities and typically owned the businesses within. So long as they paid taxes and obeyed laws and regulations, everyone was happy.
There were rumors shifters were extremely violent, savage even. The man on the floor was agitated, growling at the guard hovering over him and Liv wondered if she was about to witness their capabilities firsthand.
“I’ll leave if the two of you come with me. I can’t go if I think you will continue beating him,” Liv stated, crossing arms over her chest. Yeah, she could be stubborn and defiant, and she felt this man could use a friend right now.
“Why you little bitch, I’ll show you the meaning of punishment,” the guard spat and started towards Liv.
With lightning speed, the shifter was on his feet and grabbed the guard in a headlock. Before Liv could react, he wrapped the metal chain around his neck and pulled, snapping the man’s neck. Liv could only imagine the strength it must take to do such a thing. Immediately, the guard slumped to the ground like a rag doll.
Liv’s piercing scream bounced off the concrete walls while at the same time David charged towards the shifter, tranquilizer gun in hand.