Page 15

Brad paced the cell, his body on edge. They’d taken Mae hours ago and he’d not seen anyone since. He’d seen many women come and go since he’d been taken. For a while he’d desensitized himself from it all, but Mae had changed that for him. He felt a strange friendship forming with her. It wasn’t sexual, but he did care about her and her well-being.

He heard footsteps and then smelled one of the guards. He smelled something else too. Strawberries and mint? What a strange combination. His wolf took notice of the scent as well, wanting to know the source.

Brad looked through the display window into Mae’s cell as the door to her room opened. It wasn’t Mae who entered. A leggy redhead staggered in, turning to glare at the guard near her.

“Hey, I told you that Ezra said to bring you to this cell,” the man said. “Stop looking at me like you want to rip my nuts off.”

“Oh, I do,” she snapped, her voice making Brad’s cock stir. “I want to spoon feed them to you, asshole.”

The guard nodded. “I know. Crazy bitch.”

He shut the cell door and the woman folded her arms under her large breasts.

“Dick!”

Brad grinned, liking her fire.

She looked around the cell and froze when she turned to see the window between the cells. Her brows met. “Who are you?”

“Brad. And you?”

“Alice,” she said, glancing around the room more. Gasping, she ran to the bed and bent. When she stood she had Mae’s glasses in her hand. Her gaze snapped to him. “Who was in here before me?’

“That is Mae’s cell,” he said softly. “They took her hours ago. She was having a reaction to the drugs they’re giving us.”

Alice shook, clutching the glasses in one hand, looking much more vulnerable than she had when she’d first arrived. “They have Mae too?”

“You know her?” he asked.

“She’s my best friend,” answered Alice, the fight seeming to leave her. She sank to the floor and sat, holding the glasses to her chest. “She’s so innocent and always forgetting things. She’s not a fighter. She can’t handle this.”

Brad didn’t point out that not many people could handle it. Another thought hit him. “How long have you been here?”

She didn’t respond at first, when she finally did, she sounded tired. “At this facility, just today. I was at a different one for a couple of weeks. I think. Time is hard to keep without a clock.”

He knew what she meant.

She kept going, “They said I was too difficult to deal with at the other place. They brought me here. Something about it being higher security or something. Oh gods, they’ve had Mae this whole time, haven’t they?”

Brad’s chest tightened at the sound of her grief. “She’s been here just over two weeks. She mentioned being taken the night of a blind date.”

Alice gasped and met his gaze. “I was taken then too.”

The door to the room Alice was in opened and Ezra entered. Brad couldn’t help but feel a spark of jealousy at the way Alice’s body relaxed at the sight of the man. “They have my friend Mae.”

Ezra nodded. “I know.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded, holding Mae’s glasses to her chest as though they were precious. “You came with me from the other place and you never once mentioned they have my best friend too?”

He sighed. “I only just found out this morning. I didn’t know that two of you were taken from the same location. That information wasn’t presented to me prior. She’s fine, Alice. I promise.”

“Did they force her to breed?” asked Alice, her face paling. “Like they threatened to do to me?”

Ezra snorted and Brad punched the window, flipping the man off. It was no laughing matter. Ezra shook his head. “Relax, wolf. I’m only laughing because any man who tries to get near Alice has been very sorry.”

Brad wasn’t sure he bought the beautiful creature in the cell next to him was capable of more than a harsh verbal tongue lashing, but this was the second guard to reference her piss and vinegar.

Alice shrugged nonchalantly. “I told them they weren’t touching me. They should have listened.”

“Not sure the one you went at this morning will ever have use of his manhood again,” said Ezra with a grin.

Alice smiled, looking very proud of herself. “Good. Asshole should know it’s wrong to touch a woman who doesn’t want to be touched. Now every time his dick doesn’t work, he’ll remember why that is.”

Brad liked her. A lot.

Ezra held his hand out. “Mae needs her glasses. She’s resting now and I made sure to leave someone with her who will keep her safe.”

Alice stiffened, her gaze narrowing. “This Caesar guy you’re working with?”

“The fact you were able to read my thoughts before I figured it out and started blocking you is unnerving,” said Ezra. “And to answer your question, no. Caesar isn’t with her. He’s not checked in with me yet. He should have.”

“You think something happened to him, don’t you?”

Ezra offered a curt nod. “I have to say you’re one of the few people in my long life who can do that—who can read me. I’m not really a fan of it.”

Alice shrugged again as if it was no big deal. “Never met a guy who could shift into a dragon. Hell, I didn’t think dragons were ever real.”

“Most people assume werewolves aren’t real,” replied Ezra. “And I think Brad would be the first to dispute that claim.”

“I’m a lycan,” he said, posturing. He wasn’t bitten, dammit. There was a difference.

Ezra glanced at him. “You’re a hell of a lot more than just a lycan now after the Corporation got their hands on you and you know it.”

“The Corporation?” he asked and then stepped back. “The people who took me to start with?”

Ezra spoke, “I was planted with them, in one of their German facilities to start with. It became clear I was needed on this end more.”

Alice stepped closer to Ezra and handed him the glasses. “Tell Brad about the Shadow Agent Ops thing.”

Groaning, Ezra eyed her. “Announce it to everyone, why don’t you, little succubus?”

She was a succubus?

She looked him over. “Like he’s going to tell them. He wants them dead as much as me. Maybe more.”

Ezra stared in Brad’s direction. “I’m guessing much, much more, Alice. Brad has been held against his will nearly a year, at least from what I can tell by his paper trail.”

Brad touched the glass. “Do you know about Vic or Kimberly?”

Ezra glanced at the door and then back to the window. “Vic is still being held by the Corporation. They have him buried deep in one of the black sites. I suspect they intended the same for you, but you were liberated from their holding station.”

Liberated?

One bad situation to another was more like it. And odds were, he’d be auctioned off to the fucking Corporation and end up right back where he started from. “I’m not going back.”

“Didn’t think you’d want to,” said Ezra.

“Kimberly?” he asked, needing to know about his friend.

“Kimberly has been free for months. That is all I know. I’ve been in too deep to keep up on it all.”

Exhaling, Brad put his head against the glass. Kimberly was safe. Good. At least one of them had made it out. He looked to Ezra. “Get Mae and Alice out of here no matter the cost. Use me as a diversion if need be. I want them safe.”

“You don’t even know me,” snapped Alice. “Why would you sacrifice yourself for me? Are you stupid?”

“I still want you safe.”

Ezra stood tall. “I want all of you safe.”

Brad didn’t bother to get his hopes up. They’d been dashed far too many times in the past to bother and his spirit couldn’t take another letdown.

The door to Mae’s cell opened and another of the guards appeared. “Ezra, we have a problem. Something is happening at the other facility. Felix has given the green light on Operation Red.”

As Ezra tensed, Brad knew what Operation Red was. It was the call to eliminate all the prisoners. He’d heard the term used before. Ezra nodded and held a hand up. “Go to the main room. I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll deal with these two myself.”

The guard left and Ezra grabbed Alice’s arm. “Alice, you need to listen to Brad. Caesar isn’t responding to my calls, and with what Felix ordered, I know something bad has happened to him.” He looked to Brad. “Alice, I’m going to trust Brad to get you out of here.”

She stiffened.

Ezra kept his gaze on Brad. “I’m unlocking you. Can I trust you with her?”

“I’m not leaving this place without Mae,” said Alice, her stubbornness showing.

Ezra held her firmly. “An operative I trust is with her. I need to get there and make sure he’s come out of the drugs given to him before any of these assholes decide to start the killings with him. The two of you need to get out. If Felix has Caesar, he’ll find a way to break him. It’s what he does. Caesar is strong, but not that strong.”

Brad moved to the door of his cell and waited. It opened and Ezra was there, holding Alice. He thrust the woman at Brad. “Take her and go.”

Alice huffed.

Ezra snatched the glasses from her hand. “Mae will need these.”

“I’m not leaving without my friend,” pressed Alice, her temper showing.

Brad and Ezra locked gazes and there was no question of what had to be done. If Brad didn’t get Alice out of the place, she’d be killed. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Bending, he grabbed her and flung her over his shoulder, the smell of her washing over him, exciting his shifter side as well as the man.

She shouted and hit at his back with her tiny fists. “Put me down!”

He swatted her backside and she yelped. “Silence, woman. I’m getting you out of here.”

Ezra nodded and then pointed in the opposite direction. “Left, right and then two lefts. An exit is there. I have a safe house not far from here.” He gave the address and then cast a worried look at Alice.

“Copy that,” said Brad, moving quickly with Alice over his shoulder. He wasn’t far when sirens went off, hurting his sensitive hearing. He winced and had to set Alice down for a moment to gather his bearings. He feared she might run or try to rip his nuts off too.

She eased closer to him. “Brad?”

He swayed, the pain in his head great. Whatever the Corporation had done had intensified all his shifter aspects. The alarms felt as if they were loud enough to pierce his eardrums.

Alice was suddenly there, her hands over his ears, her face before his. The woman was stunning. Her gaze locked on his and it was if she was turning down the volume around them. He knew better. Knew she couldn’t be, but still, her presence helped him gain control.

She gasped and twisted. As she did, Brad realized they were no longer alone and the men descending upon them were not friendlies. With a roar, he pulled Alice behind him protectively and went at the guards. They rammed him with a shock stick. He’d been hit with them before. They were charged with volts of electricity. Enough to drop a shifter male. But Brad was no ordinary shifter male and he wasn’t about to let them near Alice.

He swung and knocked one off his feet. His charger dropped and Alice grabbed it, jabbing it at the man nearest her. Brad twisted, expecting the little minx to light him up too. She didn’t. She touched under his nose and came away with blood.

He couldn’t worry about his body right now or how long it would hold up. He had to get her out. He grabbed her free hand and spun, following the path Ezra had told him to take. They made it several more paces before gunfire erupted. Brad threw Alice against the wall, shielding her, taking a couple of bullets.

He winced but didn’t go down. He couldn’t. He had to get the woman to safety.

My woman , he thought.

The bullets continued and he felt the smallest of pinches in his legs and side. Ignoring the pain, he looked down at the redhead pinned to the wall to be sure she was safe.

He was about to ask when the compound rocked, the telltale sound of grenades sounding. Brad seized the moment to yank Alice from the wall and rush her down the hall, taking the last turn Ezra had told him would lead to freedom.

“You’re bleeding!” yelled Alice a second before heat swelled around them.