As they approached the back door of a huge house, it opened. Evan “Doc” Dennis stood there waiting, his gray hair highlighted by the glow of the kitchen light behind him.
“Bring her inside and down to the lab. Room D.” Hearing the word “lab” brought back the anxiety of her recent discovery. What if Doc was no better than Pearl? What if he learned the truth about what had been done to her and decided to exploit her the way Pearl had his test subjects? After all, she wasn’t one of Doc’s precious Circs. He could learn a lot from her to help his men.
She automatically struggled the closer they drew to the doorway. Packard’s arms tightened, but they no longer provided comfort. Now she thought of them as restraints.
“Calm down,” he muttered and shifted his hold, exposing various parts of her to the elements.
Hale whistled, and she had the insane urge to rip his tongue out. Sabrina felt her fingers tingle, then lengthen, and she froze. Terrified she might change in front of the others, she did everything in her power to shut down. As a lab technician for Pearson Labs, she could offer them information. As a Circ, she could offer them too much more. Better to be a snitch than a lab rat.
“Relax, Sabrina,” Doc said as he held the door open. “We’re not going to harm you. We want some answers that I expect you’re more than willing to share. That data disc you gave Kelly answered a lot of my questions, but I have many more.” Sabrina took a deep breath and let it out. Withdrawing every damned part of the beast inside her, she forced it into the back of her mind, where she’d kept it successfully hidden from even herself. Except for that one instance a few hours ago…
“Derrick, please bring her inside.”
Packard stepped forward and pushed past the others waiting in the house.
She recognized Roane Weston, their leader: tall, dark, and brooding. Next to him stood Caitlyn Chase, his mate. A blonde, green-eyed beauty who’d been Elliot’s first real success --
his very first Circ. Zack English and Ace Two Bears, the newly mated pair who had also joined with Kelly Malloy, looked imposing, while Kelly remained conspicuously absent. Hale joined the group as they surrounded her.
It was apparent none of them wanted her here except for Doc. “Why am I here? I gave you Pearl’s data.”
“That’s the question. Why did you give us that data?” Doc asked in a gentle voice. He looked no different than he had the last time she’d seen him. The older man was still reed thin. Genius intelligence sparkled behind horn-rimmed glasses. They made him look distinguished rather than nerdy, though the pocket protector sitting in his chest pocket didn’t do him any favors.
Before Sabrina could answer, they moved to a nearby family room off the kitchen. Doc nodded to a seat on the plush couch. To her surprise, Packard set her down gently and tucked the blanket around her, hiding her lack of clothes. Then he stepped back and assumed an expression like the rest of them, set and untrusting.
“Why did you help Kelly escape from the labs? Why steal Elliot Pearl’s information and give it to me?” Doc repeated.
“I want to know what the fuck Pearl did to my mate,” Ace demanded in a menacing voice. His dark eyes glittered with hate, which did nothing to diminish his good looks.
Sabrina thought it strange that all the Circs in the room were better than average in the looks department. Especially Packard, with those broad shoulders and --
What the hell is wrong with you? He wants nothing to do with you. None of them do. For all you know, he’ll kill you before the night is through.
“Ace,” Roane warned. The leader of the group had a commanding presence. He looked mean, until his gaze met Caitlyn’s. Sabrina was startled at the obvious tenderness there for his mate. The few Circs she’d come into contact with had been brutal and mostly self-serving. It was interesting to see another side to them.
“I want to know too,” Zack said in a quiet voice, his posture a subtle stance in aggression. His gaze narrowed on her, but he said no more. He looked as if he’d wait forever, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
A glance at Caitlyn showed the woman stood as firm as the men. No help from the female corner of the room.
Sabrina sighed. “Look. I’m a lab tech. I don’t do, I didn’t do, more than help Dr. Pearl run tests on fluid samples. Blood, urine, plasma… I never interacted with any Circs, or those hapless victims Pearl liked to pretend volunteered for his bullshit.” She took a deep breath, conscious she couldn’t tell these people everything yet. They didn’t trust her, nor should they. If they knew exactly what she’d done, they’d probably string her up by her thumbs.
“I joined Project Dawn a few years into its success. I was a Navy corpsman. I worked hard and followed orders.” Until she’d learned what was really happening -- that Circs were going crazy, no longer helping their country but mutilating and killing innocent people instead. And the government knew it.
“Great job. I’m sure Uncle Sam would be real proud of your efforts,” Ace said with a sneer.
“Once I learned what was happening, I tried to stop it,” Sabrina continued, ignoring Ace. “But it was no use. The government pretended to close up shop, but they opened it right back up again on the outside in the private sector.” Doc frowned. “You’re telling me Elliot’s in cahoots with the government?”
“He has been all along.”
“I don’t believe it. I was there when Project Dawn disbanded. General Kohl severed any and all ties with the project.”
She didn’t know the name Kohl. The only person who knew the name of the higher-up in charge of the project was Pearl, and he’d never shared it with her. She didn’t even think he took his bodyguard when he met his boss, and he took McKinley everywhere with him.
“Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t,” she said quietly. “But Pearl’s working harder than ever on some secret experiments for the new Project Dawn. I copied as much as I could from his files without getting found out and gave it to you.”
“Yes, you did. But I can’t access one important folder. I need a password to get in.” Doc looked at her expectantly.
“Shit.” So he hadn’t been able to hack the folder. Great. She knew she should have swiped that decryption file, the one Elliot had been forbidden to keep on hand but had because he could never remember his passwords. But she’d run out of time trying to save Kelly.
“Convenient.” Packard crossed his arms over his broad chest. “You help Kelly ‘escape’
then the PPA just happens to be all over your ass. No one can find you for an entire month, until we pick you up surrounded by dead agents. What was it? A double cross? A setup to make us think you’re one of us, so we’d take you in? Princess, we’re not that naive.” An image of a gun pointed at her belly, of a burning sensation ripping across her abdomen before she ripped through flesh and bone, filled her mind’s eye. She tasted blood, smelled death on the wind, as more of the enemy came at her. They wanted to harm her, but she couldn’t let them. If she just tamped it down, pretended it didn’t exist -- that she didn’t exist -- they’d go away.
“Grab her.” Doc’s voice sounded as if it came from a distance.
Arms caught her as she tumbled forward. She was pushed back across the couch.
Something pinched her arm, and she frowned. A needle making me sleepy. Another laboratory, experiments, pain. She wanted to struggle but couldn’t find the energy.
“It’s okay, you’re fine. Just something to help you sleep, dear,” Doc promised, before he and everyone else faded to black.
“Derrick, Hale, excellent work.” Evan beamed. He’d been dying to talk to the woman who’d given Kelly so much information, to finally see her again. He remembered seeing her in the military facility years ago, but he hadn’t realized she’d stayed with Elliot once Project Dawn had disbanded. Insight into Elliot’s resources and laboratories, and knowledge of the man’s current mind-set, would be priceless. From what his source was telling him, Sabrina Torrence was not a plant but someone of great interest to Elliot. Someone he wanted back very much.
Odd that that same source had never mentioned Elliot’s ties to the government.
“Watch her, Doc. I don’t trust her.” Derrick glared down at the woman.
“Big news. You don’t trust anyone,” Hale muttered.
“What the hell did you find out there?” Roane asked. “You reported a lot of dead PPA agents, but how? What was your take on what happened?”
“And what happened to her clothes?” Caitlyn pointed to the slipping blanket, exposing the slope of the woman’s breast.
Ace and Zack exchanged a glance. Curiously, Derrick moved quickly to straighten her blanket. His fingers lingered on the woman’s shoulder a moment long enough to be interesting.
Derrick exhaled loudly and rose. He towered over Evan and was second only to Roane in height. The brawniest of the Circs, he possessed an intelligence and discerning eye for detail that could be very helpful, when he wasn’t dissecting everything to the nth degree.
Derrick had trust issues.
“Hale stayed by the woman’s car while I scoured the surrounding woods. I found her a few miles away. She was surrounded by a half dozen dead PPA agents. Mostly maulings, a few gunshots, but every one of those assholes bled to death. She was naked and bruised, curled up into a ball when I found her.” Derrick paused. “And she was crying.” Caitlyn frowned. “Naked and crying?” She paled. “Do you think they, ah, took advantage of her?”
Roane sighed and pulled her close. “Did you see evidence of rape?” Evan watched Derrick’s hands clench. If he wasn’t mistaken, Derrick’s left fist began to grow, talons beginning to overtake his fingers before he stopped the change.
“No. No rape. But she’d been scratched up some.” Hale nodded. “I saw some bruising and blood on her torso, but I didn’t smell semen at all.”
“Good.” Caitlyn blew out a breath.
“Yeah, well. PPA or not, she saved Kelly’s life.” Zack shook his head. “Don’t start, Ace.
You know what Kelly said. Torrence took a few bullets while freeing Kelly from Pearson Labs.”
“I didn’t see a bullet wound.” Hale frowned.
“I didn’t either,” Derrick added.
Evan had a feeling he knew why there was no wound after reading Elliot’s notes. But now wasn’t the time to go down that particular road, not with Derrick inching closer and closer to the female. Trying to tell Derrick what to do was as effective as herding cats. Evan would let nature take its course.
“We can talk about this later. Right now, we have an injured woman to look after.
Ace,” he said to forestall Ace’s objections when Derrick bent to take her in his arms. “I don’t want to hear it. We aren’t Pearson Labs. We take care of injured people. We don’t jail and interrogate them.”
“I wasn’t going to object. I was just going to ask D why he’s so touchy-feely with Torrence all of a sudden. Sure, she’s got a nice pair of tits, but come on, man, she’s PPA.” Zack groaned and covered his eyes with his hand.
Caitlyn scowled. “Really, Ace. What would Kelly say about your mouth?”
“That it’s always running away with him?” Roane suggested, wearing a wide grin.
“But he’s got a point,” Hale added. The spark in his eyes told Evan to step out of the way. “What’s with you and Miss PPA here, D? You got a thing for the bad girl? Hey guys, I think hard-ass has a crush.”
Derrick stopped, letting Sabrina sink back onto the couch. He turned and took a determined stride in Hale’s direction. “’Scuse me, Doc. I need a word with playboy.”
“Bring it on, Romeo.” Hale snorted and stood there when Derrick moved right into his face.
“Look, dumbass. It’s not my fault you haven’t been laid by a woman lately. Maybe if you’d shut your mouth and smile, you’d get lucky.”
“You know, you’re right.” Hale smiled wide. “Worked with you, didn’t it?”
“Motherfucker,” Derrick snarled and leaned closer.
Hale shoved him back. “Is she waking up?” he asked, looking at Torrence.
Derrick immediately looked over his shoulder at the woman, which threw Hale into a gale of laughter. Not surprisingly, Derrick threw the first punch. A picture frame broke, endangering a lamp and a vase of flowers.
“My money’s on Hale. Derrick’s not thinking straight,” Roane said.
“You’re on. Winner gets to pick the next movie,” Caitlyn added.
“Roane, stop them before they destroy anything else.” Evan had been through too many of the men’s “play” sessions to worry. Like the beasts inside of them, the men needed to release some aggression every now and then. “Zack, you can bring Diego and Kelly downstairs now. I don’t think we have anything to fear from Ms. Torrence, particularly for the next twelve hours.” Well, at least as long as that heavy tranquilizer should last.
Zack nodded and left the room to fetch Diego, their cook and Doc’s lover, as well as a pregnant Kelly from the upstairs.
“Ace?”
Ace sighed. “You want me to drag Torrence down to Lab D.” Evan nodded. “I need to run some tests and make sure she’s not tagged with any recording devices or tricky toxins in her bloodstream. But no more crude comments from you, Ace Two Bears. The woman happens to be very vulnerable right now.” Ace flushed, but Evan noticed he took care to keep the woman covered and in his arms. “Vulnerable, my ass. Anyone who works for Elliot Pearl is a snake waiting to strike.” He cleared his throat. “Not you, Doc. I mean, anyone who works for him now, knowing what a dickhead he really is.”
He followed Evan down the hallway to the steel-plated elevator that would take them downstairs into the underground lab. While they waited, Evan dwelled on Ace’s words and wondered what Ace and the others really thought about him.
He’d worked with Elliot for five years, as one of the original members of Project Dawn’s scientific team. As soon as he’d found out that the dormant virus carrying the Circe serum had not only become active but had mutated, he’d done everything in his power to fix the problem. Unfortunately, the only way to “fix” a psychotic Circ was to kill him. Of the seventy-eight super soldiers they’d created, fifty of them had turned murderously crazy, fulfilling base instincts with no thought to right or wrong. Roane and his squad were all that remained of the twenty-eight sane Circs. The rest had died taking down their psychotic brethren.