Page 129 of Shadowblood Souls: The Complete Series

I peer at the stone wall in the general direction the voice seems to be coming from. “Move what along? What are we supposed to be doing?”

There’s a slight hesitation. I can imagine Clancy clearing his throat as if preparing for a not-entirely-comfortable announcement.

“You’ve already formed this marked bond of yours with Jacob, Dominic, and Andreas. If we’re going to study the mechanics of the process, that leaves Zian.”

My gut plummets. Zian goes rigid, every muscle tensing as a shudder ripples through his body.

I glare at the wall, but my voice wavers. “You’re ordering us to have sex ? While you watch? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

The last two words crackle with a mix of anger and desperation. He wouldn’t really go that far…

No, I can’t say that for sure. I have no idea how twisted our new captor’s mind might actually be.

Some small part of me is still hoping he’ll chuckle and say I’ve got it all wrong. No dice.

“We won’t be watching. There are no cameras in the room. The changes in your bodies and your shadowblood energies will be monitored through the bands you’re wearing—that’s the data we’re interested in.”

A process I’ll need to study more closely. He practically told me he was going to do this when he dismissed me and Jake yesterday.

The fact that he isn’t going to be sitting there directing us in his own personal porno doesn’t really make the situation any better. Even if I believe him that we’re not being secretly recorded.

Zian retreats from me until his back hits the far wall. He slides along the wall to the corner and wedges himself there, his massive frame outright quaking now.

Watching his obvious agitation, my heart wrenches even more than it had already.

“We won’t do anything you don’t want to do,” I tell him in as soothing a voice as I can manage. “We don’t have to listen to them.”

I can’t tell if Zee even hears me. His gaze has gone vague with horror, panicked pheromones flooding the air from his corner.

Clancy pipes up again as if I give a shit what else he has to say on the subject. “Allowing us to study the process will mean we can help you understand what the connection means too. What benefits there might be to it that you haven’t discovered on your own, or any potential pitfalls.”

My hands ball at my sides. “Don’t tell us you’re trying to force us into hooking up for our own good. Forget it. This whole thing is sick.”

“I’m not going to force anything. The two of you care about each other—you’re attracted to each other. Griffin has sensed as much in just the last few days. I’d imagine this would have happened before too long regardless. We’re simply?—”

“Fuck you!” I snap, and whirl around as if I can figure out where he and whoever’s with him might be relative to this room. “Are you in on this right now, Griffin? You really think what this asshole’s doing is okay?”

I don’t get any answer. Zian rocks in little jolts between the two walls, a faint growl seeping from his throat.

“Take as long as you need,” Clancy says, so fucking calm I want to tear his face off his skull.

“You’ll remain confined to this room until you decide to take that step.

But be aware that your three friends will also remain in solitary confinement for the same length of time.

It’s up to you how long the process takes. ”

There’s a crackle, and I have the sense he’s shut off the mic.

I fling myself at the door, but even my superhuman strength can’t yank it open. As much as I strain at it, I can’t break the lock.

“No, no, no,” Zian is muttering in his corner. He rakes his hands through his short hair, and I wince at the sight of the little red scratches he’s drawn in their wake—from the claws that’ve poked from his fingertips.

My stomach is churning so wildly it’s a wonder I haven’t already spewed my breakfast on this nice rug. “We can wait him out, Zee. He can’t make us do this.”

I take a couple of steps toward him, groping for some way to reassure him more, and his head jerks up with a snarl. Fur has sprung up along the sides of his neck; the beginning of his wolf-man snout contorts his face.

“Get away from me!” he yells in a guttural voice that barely sounds like the Zian I know.

I freeze and then back up. If he needs space, I’ll give it to him, even if it kills me to see his distress.

The last thing I want to do is add to it.

With a click, Clancy’s voice drifts into the room again. “There’s no need to get so worked up about the situation. You’ll both enjoy yourselves. If you?—”

I don’t find out what fantastic tips he has for us now, because Zian’s roar cuts off our captor’s voice. He barrels out of his corner with a ferocity that makes me flinch.

His full wolf-man face has taken over, fangs protruding from a wrinkled muzzle. His body looks at least half a foot taller and broader than his usual size.

He hurls himself at the bed and gouges his claws right through the duvet into the mattress. Chunks of fabric and foam careen through the air.

I scramble backward and leap onto the loveseat, my pulse racing. I’ve never seen Zian quite this wild before—and I’m the only person in the room.

I don’t want to think he’d hurt me, but if he’s so upset that he isn’t even aware of what he’s doing…

His arms swing, smashing the bed’s plain wooden frame. Splinters fly across the floor.

When he spins around toward me with a feral howl, my heart nearly stops. His eyes blaze with fury and anguish.

He lunges forward—and the door bursts open. Several guardians hurtle into the room, two zapping him with batons, another stabbing him with a syringe as his body spasms.

“Don’t hurt him!” I shout through my constricted throat. Tears burn behind my eyes.

It isn’t his fault. They pushed him until he snapped.

As Zian slumps on the floor, Clancy himself appears in the doorway. He meets my gaze with just a little regret in his expression.

“I’m sorry this attempt went so badly,” he says. “Let’s get you out of here. We can try again with a new approach another day.”

“Are you insane ?” I sputter.

Before I can say anything else, the prick of a needle radiates from my shoulder. I hadn’t heard the guardian turning toward me.

I teeter over, the rest of my caustic words dying in my mouth.