Page 2 of His Asset

My vision blurred as tears fell and my burning, blistering, pulsating flesh left me barely holding it together.I was rocking back and forth when the door behind me was shoved open.That my master didn’t shut and lock it showcased his urgency.

Despite my distress, wild hope surged inside me.

At least I didn’t need to fake my suffering.The scalding pain was insidious and vicious.I was beginning to feel faint, the room doing a slow spin around me.

“Bella, what the hell happened?”

That I was no longer a number barely crossed my mind as my master—Adam Segmund to anyone else—ran toward me.I could no longer hold back a sob as I lifted my leg, displaying my blistered flesh.He inhaled sharply, his hands gentle as he crouched and lifted the hem of my dress to peer more closely at my burn.

He looked up at me, and despite my blurring vision I noticed his golden-brown eyes darkening to black when he said fiercely, “We need to get your ankle under cold water.”

I shook my head.“No.Not until you take off my ankle cuff.I-It’s melting into my flesh.”

He didn’t hesitate.Loosening his maroon tie, he tucked his hand inside his navy jacket and white dress shirt, then pulled free the gold chain from around his neck.He held the carved gold medallion in his palm and said hoarsely, “I can only take your ankle cuff off for a short time.”

I nodded and said meekly, “I know.”

He pushed the flat of his thumb against the square button on the medallion.Aclicksounded and my cuff loosened, taking with it some of my melted skin.I flinched and sucked in a strangled breath, but otherwise I couldn’t move.

Shock held me in place.

I’d worn the ankle cuff for twenty years.It’d kept me enslaved to the scientists and their sponsors, then kept me imprisoned here with my master by the simple fact I’d never get away thanks to the tracking device inside it.

Having it off was my one and only real chance at freedom.

My master gently peeled away the ankle cuff and dropped it to the floor.The bottom of my leg was a burned and blistered mess, the redness as raw and angry as the feelings I’d kept buried deep inside for longer than I wanted to remember.

He winced, his styled dark hair glinting under the security lights.“Let me carry you to the shower and get cold water on the injury, then I’ll apply some burn cream before I bring my medical team in here.”

I pushed away a sudden flare of guilt as I looked down at him and said, “Let’s not.”

He blinked, his long dark lashes sweeping low to cover his brilliant tawny stare that was suddenly clouded with doubt.A heartbeat later his lashes swept apart and his eyes sparked with clarity.“You intentionally hurt yourself.”

It wasn’t a question and I didn’t have time for lies.“I did.”He was already halfway to straightening to his six-foot-five height when I pushed to my feet and slammed my knee into his groin.He doubled over with a harshoomphand I head-butted his face with every bit of strength I had.

He grunted, his nose spurting blood.

My battered skull felt as though it had split in two, my vision blurring even worse by the impact.But there was no more time to waste.He’d hate me for what I’d done and I’d gladly die before being captured and imprisoned once again.

Slamming the chair sideward as I twisted away, I ran for my life, adrenaline taking away all my pain.I’d taken him by surprise today, but it’d never happen again.He wasn’t just a brilliant scientist with a keen mind; he was a martial arts expert.

Not only had I seen him overcome and defeat other men in his dojo at home where he regularly practiced, he’d once knocked three men unconscious when they’d tried to overpower and rob him after one of our rare expeditions outside his home.

There would be no second chances for me.

I grabbed my runners and dived through the door, slamming it closed behind me before I activated its red lock button, the same one he’d pressed on me every day for the last twelve months.

I made out his muffled shout, the tormented break in his voice.I paused for a second, then pushed my feet into my white runners.He didn’t care about me, not really.He cared more that he was losing his asset, a lab-bred species that, thanks to me surviving against all odds, was unlike anything—anyone—else on Earth.

He collected unique, priceless things, and I was one of them.

Though I’d learned there were other species that had been bred with humans, none of them had intermingled bat genetics.So far, the blend had proven unreliable, and only I seemed immune to dying young.

Perhaps that was why I’d locked hold onto the one human who pretended to care.I just hoped my noxious Stockholm syndrome would eventually fade.I’d read all about it in one of my daily one hour screen sessions, where I crammed as much information into my head as possible.

Did he not get that I wanted to make my own choices, right or wrong?That I wanted to explore the world freely and use my abilities without fearing they’d be used against me?That my body was my own including my heart, which was the most fragile part of me, and one he could so easily break?

Tugging off my dress, I tossed it aside.There was no way I could fly with fabric covering my wings.I’d have to make do with my black panties and my bra with its back strap that fitted perfectly under my wings.They rippled open as I raced down the long, curving corridor where more bulletproof windows showcased mountain views to the left, priceless paintings on the right between artifacts that were set inside niches in the rock wall.