Page 25 of It’s Kind of a Bunny Story (Hey There, Hop Stuff #3)
He moved into a small, temperature-controlled room. It didn’t take him long to return with a tray of tiny vials filled with a purple liquid.
“Aren’t injections normally more clear-ish?” I asked, eyeing the liquid warily.
“Is anything ever normal when it comes to the paranormal world?” He gave me a soft smile.
“Are you sure about this?” He stuck a needle into one vial and drew the liquid into the syringe.
“Charlee, there’s no going back if you change your mind.
And since no one has been injected with the toxin, there’s nothing I can give you if you start going downhill. ”
“Got it. I’m a guinea pig—or rabbit, in this situation. Since I’m a rabbit shifter, isn’t this a type of animal testing?” I teased, trying to put both our nerves at ease.
Boone’s dry laugh held no humor. “Do you want it in your arm or your leg?”
“Is it going to make me sore?” I asked.
“That’s very likely.”
“Then let’s do my arm. I need to get out of here as soon as you inject me, and that might be difficult if I can’t walk.”
Boone leaned toward me, then paused, staring at my arm. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to see he didn’t want to inject me.
“Listen, you don’t have to do this. You’ve probably taken an oath or something to not harm people. I can do this myself,” I offered, holding out my hand for him to give me the syringe.
Boone drew in a deep breath. “No. If you’re determined to do this, I’d rather make sure it’s done correctly.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” That I felt relieved was an understatement.
I talked a good game. But realistically, I didn’t know if I had the guts to stab myself with a needle… let alone multiple needles.
Unable to help myself, I winced as he jabbed my arm.
Neither of us spoke as he prepared a second injection. He’d just pushed the syringe’s plunger on the third when the silence was broken by tires screeching and car doors thudding outside.
Boone rushed to a monitor in the corner and pulled up footage from a security camera out front. “Time’s up. You’ve got to go before?—”
Blaring alarms cut off the rest of his sentence. My ears ached from the wailing screech that bounced off the walls and made it impossible to think.
“Charlee, come on!” Grabbing the arm he hadn’t jabbed with needles, Boone practically hauled me toward a small side door in the lab.
“Where are we going?” I shouted, barely remembering to hang onto the knife’s handle.
For all I knew, Boone was leading me straight to the guards. ‘Check it out, guys! I caught the missing bunny who’s been causing us all these problems.’
Yep, that would definitely get him a hefty reward.
“There are three entrances into this building. Front, back, and a small loading door where we used to get deliveries. Deliveries are brought through the front now, so no one uses that door. I’m sure they’ve already blocked off the front and back, but there’s a chance they may have forgotten about that side door.
Hurry!” He shoved me down a hallway. “Go past the two doors on the left. The storage room is the door on the right at the end of the hall. There are cardboard boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling against the back wall, but there’s a small gap behind them.
You should be able to fit. That’s where the door is. ”
Before I could even say thank you, he turned and ran in the opposite direction. Trusting Boone’s word, I raced down the hall. The loud shouts and boots pounding on the marble floors told me I was cutting it close. Way too close.
Flattening my palms on the door, I half expected it to be locked, but the door swung open and I tumbled inside. The room looked just like Boone had described it, and I darted for the back wall, spurred on by the voices that were growing louder by the second.
Squeezing behind the boxes, I slid my hand along the door, searching for a handle.
“There!” I breathed, my fingers wrapping around the cool steel handle and twisting.
It was locked.
Well, duh, Charlee. Of course they keep it locked.
Sweat beaded across my forehead and slid down my spine. I was sure part of that was from the fear and adrenaline pumping through my veins, but I suspected it was also the first sign of my body responding to the toxin.
Feeling around, I fumbled with the lock, finally managing to twist the rusted metal. The door creaked open a crack before hitting the boxes and refusing to open any wider. But I was tiny, and the gap was plenty big enough for me.
I squeezed through and collapsed onto a gravel pathway.
Breathing in the honeysuckle-scented night air, I fought a wave of dizziness as sweat dripped from my chin and nose to splash on the ground.
I wanted to curl into a ball and sleep for a thousand years, but I forced myself to stand.
This wasn’t where my story was going to end.
Searching the landscape to orient myself, I bolted toward the lake in the distance. I had to get there and get across before my body was too weak to swim. It was my only shot at escaping this place.
As I ran, the lake came into view. I kept my gaze fixed on the glinting surface, trying to ignore the erratic beating of my heart and the strange tingling in my fingers and toes.
Why hadn’t I thought to ask Boone about the side effects? It didn’t matter. Since he’d never directly injected anyone, it was likely he wouldn’t have known what to expect, anyway.
Just as my feet touched the pebbled shore, a man’s shout came from behind me, causing my heart to nearly leap from my chest.
“Freeze! Stop right there before I shoot!”