Blood Bonds (45 page)

Richards sputtered a gasp. His eyes zipped around the room, but no one was giving him eyes back. They were pretending he didn’t exist, because if he existed so did they. The colonel shoved him into the wall. The impact knocked his glasses off. They clattered to the floor and skidded under a desk.

“Look at me, Richards.” It took him multiple tries to meet the request. “I couldn’t care less if you like it up the ass, but if you’re fucking the monsters we have a problem. They keep Humans as pets. You know this. You know it, damn it.”

“It’s not--it doesn’t.” He yelped when Dobson knocked him into the wall again. “I’m fine. I’m not
marked
. She’s messing with your head. Don’t you see? She’s trying to screw things up. And it’s working. You’re letting her delay this. Just let me finish the results, we’ll get the virus out.”

“Drop your pants”

Richards froze. “Sir, I don’t think--”

“I don’t care what you think. I want to take a look at your equipment. I want confirmation that she’s lying to me. I want to see for myself.”

“Sir ... please ... don’t.”

Dobson pressed the barrel of his Glock to Richards’ crotch.

“Either you drop them or I’m going to make a window.” Dobson stepped back and raised the gun to the man’s head. The biologist looked like a junkie coming down from a binge. It took awhile, but eventually Richards got his belt undone. His pants slid down around his ankles, and he stood there trembling head to toe in his tighty whities. “Richards...” Dobson made a motion with the gun. Richards pulled his underwear down. “Hands.” He was slow to respond, but finally got them up. On the right side of the man’s groin, cozied up nice and close to the base of his shriveled cock, was a nasty looking bite. It had that smooth aged texture, like it was years old and not days, an indicative characteristic of a
mark
. The wyrms could secrete a chemical into their saliva that cauterized the flesh, sealing it. After all, it doesn’t do a hell of a lot of good if the thing you’re feeding on bleeds out.

Dobson looked up at Richards. And damn him, the faggot was actually crying. A line of snot rolled down his upper lip.

“You know what pisses me off the most, Richards?” The biologist gave the barest shake of his head. “I really liked you. I really did.” The crack of gunfire made everyone in the room jump. There was nothing but silence as Richards slid down the wall, leaving a red lumpy trail on the white paint. His limbs gave a few feeble twitches before he melted into a heap on the floor. Dobson holstered his gun and walked back to the window. Haley’s lips were moving again. He clicked on the speaker.

“Blood of my Blood, Flesh of my Flesh.” Her head came up and her eyelids peeled back. They were gold.

Not good. Not good at all.

Whitman made a scared noise, and Mike screamed something about temps. But Dobson knew there was no way the bitch was going to shift. Haley had a pin in her back. The air inside the room wavered, becoming hot enough to make the blood on the floor steam.

“Just so you know, Dobson...” A wicked smile spread across her face. “It wasn’t Nidia that took your people and your equipment. She was actually sending her Link to warn you in person. She found out I had ears in the D.A.’s office, as well as the Center. Your phone conversations had been compromised. But sadly her
chetrah
pet had a tragic accident.”

Haley laughed, but it cut off abruptly and she looked at him with real fear. “You need to run. All of you need to run. Please, she’s going to kill you...”

Dobson caught movement off to the side. Mike actually had the nerve to stand up. And if that didn’t beat all, he was grabbing his stuff. “Sit your ass back in that chair.”

“Sir, she’s going to shift.” He turned the monitor so Dobson could see. The infrared was lit up like a snow cap.

“The fuck she is! Sit!” He pulled out his gun and Mike sat back in his seat.

“What have I done?” Haley muttered. Dobson watched her eyes bleed gold and her fangs lower. “I told you, Dobson, no one takes what is mine, and you are mine.”

Even though he’d seen the process numerous times, it took him a minute to realize what he was witnessing. Haley’s flesh rolled and her limbs began to twist. Inside the observation room, the fire alarm shot off and the sprinkler system let loose. Like rats, everyone inside the lab scattered. Except for Dobson. He just stared, mesmerized by the sheer power rolling out of her Human shell. The first strap snapped like a rubber band. It was followed by the cuffs. Her body warped, limbs elongated, dark blue scales burst from her skin.

Dobson knew damn well he should run, but dear God, to have such strength, such power, immortality, indestructibility...

The smell of burning magic flared. Haley twisted and turned, and a scream erupted out of her half human, half dragon mouth. She bowed forward and Dobson could see the pin between her shoulders glow white hot and lengthen until it was pushed from the
ulysiss
. He shouldn’t have been able to hear it clatter to the floor. Even if the sirens hadn’t already made him deaf, there were eighteen inches of sound proof polymer separating the rooms.

The only explanation was that he’d imagined it. Maybe he was imagining everything. Maybe this was all nothing but a nightmare.

The blue dragon standing in front of him shuddered like it was going to explode. Then, just like the change from Human form to dragon, it rolled again. The scales went bronze, the limbs became longer, wider, the muscles thicker until there wasn’t any more space inside the room.

Fear, real fear, sent Dobson stumbling back. “Dear God!”

One blood red eye rose to look at him through the glass.

Medan laughed, “And that is just one of many names you will call me before I am done with you.”

Haley struggled against the tide of
RHage
she had invited into herself.

Fire erupted from jaws that were no longer hers, and claws decimated concrete. All around her people screamed. She crushed them with her strength, fed on their flesh and wallowed in their misery until she stank of it.

I am lost.

She didn’t want to watch, but she had no choice. Medan controlled her, commanded her, and she was trapped, forced to bear witness to the rain of death the Queen unleashed.

Oh, Farley, what have I done...

Desperate for escape, even if it was only in her mind, Haley thought of home, and warmth formed in the darkness. She ran to it. Memories, good, bad, they flooded her with Human emotions, Human values, her Human
Impressions.

Haley clung to the feelings, buried herself in them and drank of the scents and tactile sensations of her life. The brightest of those memories were of one Male. Haley immersed herself with thoughts of Farley.

And that’s when she felt it. Something very Human. Something that shouldn’t be possible.

Kin don’t love.

But then, she didn’t follow a lot of the rules, did she?

So she let herself feel it, believe it, and found it not so difficult. Farley’s dark eyes, soft mouth, how he laughed, how he moved like liquid. The memory was so real that she could feel him, smell him, taste him.

Inside this cocoon of warmth, the
RHage
couldn’t touch her. And when the Queen descended to claim the last bit of what was left of her mind, the power of that emotion erupted. Like the sun to the night, Medan was cast out. Screaming,
RHaging
, and still powerless to stop it.

Farley was almost back to Ken’s when the Versa flipped off the road and was tossed right through a store window.

Holy Fuck, the goddamned planet just exploded!

He was wrong. It was just the gas line under the street.

The Nissan rolled twice and landed on its roof, spinning like a turtle on its back. When it stopped, Farley climbed out.

His shoulder popped back into place and the cut on his chest sealed. Whatever was in Justice’s blood was like rocket fuel, and he was still running on the high.

Outside the busted window, cars had come to a standstill and a MARTA bus dangled front wheels over the mother of all potholes. There was another sound, and fire erupted from the wall of the Center for Draconian Research. Only this time it was dragon fire.

Farley felt it then, the sense of
Belonging
.

Haley. Haley was in there.

While everyone else was running away from the crumbling structure, Farley fought his way to it.

Another gas main exploded and launched a VW Bug skyward. Farley ducked his head as shrapnel and glass showered the street. With a deep groan, the CDR building shifted on its foundation and the brick began to fold.

The deep roar of a dragon thundered and a wing tip wavered in the billowing dust clouds. Above, the sky opened up and sprung one hell of a serious leak.

Fire rolled upward and the rest of the walls to the CDR slid down. Rock, brick, and steel beams parted as the beast climbed skyward. A massive bronze body flashed and gleamed within the smoke. The spiral horns and sheer size were unmistakable.

Medan.

The Queen turned her blazing red eyes on him. She keened and windows on nearby buildings blew out, showering the streets with glass. Then she sank back into the rising black smoke and rolling yellow dust.

Medan, it was Medan.

And yet all Farley could feel was Haley.

“Haley?”

He screamed her name over and over as he made his way to the pile of rubble and people fled in terror all around him. Closer, he saw that most of the building had sunk below the street. Farley climbed upward, picking his way across the rubble. He slid, fell, slid again, only to jerk himself up and start scrambling over broken desks, walls, and the remnants of bodies.

“Haley!” Still no answer.

As he climbed higher, the rain fell harder, turning gaps and cracks in the debris into rivers. Only in Georgia could it rain like this in the middle of a five year drought. Farley slipped again and a bolt of white hot pain shot across his ankle. He squeezed out a juicy curse and was forced to wait for the bones to knit. It only took seconds, but it felt like years.

Suck it up and move!
Which is exactly what he did.

A downdraft parted the clouds, just enough for him to catch a flash of alabaster skin among all the blackened gray.

Tossed over a crumpled beam, Haley lay abandoned. Farley struggled to weave through the mess of tangled steel beams and rebar. When he got to her, the rain was coming down so hard it was blinding.

“Haley, God of Man, Haley...”

He rolled her over and pulled her against his chest. Her head rolled to the side. Old blood caked her chest, and bruises covered her neck and arms.

“Haley?” Farley touched her neck, felt for a pulse. It was there, but barely. “Haley, wake up, it’s me.” He rolled her head forward against his neck and pressed his cheek to hers. “C’mon, wake up. Please, wake up.”

Behind him fire trucks pulled up, red lights flashing, sirens full blast. Farley looked around. There had to be EMS somewhere, anywhere.

“I need help!” he screamed. “Please, someone ... anyone...” Haley was so pale. If only she’d wake up, he could
feed
her, but she wasn’t moving and her skin was becoming like ice. Farley clutched Haley to his chest, feeling her heart beats shudder. The bruises on her body grew darker by the second. “Goddamn it, somebody help me ... somebody help me, please!”

Figures dressed in yellow clamored up the rocky slope.

Farley carried Haley in their direction. It was hard to move because the ground kept wanting to shift. “Please, I need help!”

The first of the firefighters and EMS yelled at him, then his gaze fell to Farley’s arms and he froze. Farley realized the man was staring at his
nevus
.

“Please, you have to...” He took a few more steps and hoped they wouldn’t run.

The EMS man tossed his chin. “Put her down. We’ll take care of it.”

Farley laid Haley on the ground and stepped back. They worked fast, loading her onto the backboard. A third one arrived with a medical bag.

“Wait,” Farley said. “She’s Kin. No IVs, her temperature is down.” They looked at each other, then back at him like they didn’t believe him. Farley pointed to the back of his neck. “On her neck, look.” One of the men confirmed the
nevus
. Now they all stood there, staring, like they didn’t know what to do. “Help her!” Farley screamed. He clenched his fists and willed his temper down. The last thing they needed to see was teeth and scales. “Please...”

The black man was first to move. He called for a Hypothermia Kit and pulled a line out of a bag. The other two men seemed to catch on and followed suit. One tapped a vein while the other connected the tubing. “Can you give her blood?” The black man looked at Farley with weary eyes.

“She can’t feed.”

The EMS guy held up a needle. “Blood’s blood, my man. We just need to get it in her.”

“Yes, hell yes!” Farley scrambled over the blocks. He fell to his knees next to Haley and held out his arm. When the man hesitated he said, “I won’t hurt you, just do it. Do it, please.”

The EMS guy knew what he was doing and hit the vein on the first try, then he connected the line to the port the other two had set up.

“I’m going to push on her chest, pump her hearts faster. It will draw the blood,” said one of the others. Farley gave a nod. Two white hands, surprisingly dark against her skin, folded across her sternum and began to apply pressure. There was no counting. This was just about pulling the blood supply into her veins.

“Marty, heads up.” The black man caught the toss and a woman joined the group. She ripped open packets and pulled out small brown squares. “Here.” She held one out to Farley. “Put it under your tongue. It’s high calorie protein. This will take a lot out of you. It’s not like
feeding
, it’s a direct line.” Her tone was so clinical that Farley wasn’t sure what to say. She dipped her head into the radio on her shoulder. “I need a double board up here.”

Farley sucked on the bland salty block. It tasted like shit, but he’d eaten worse. When he tried to ease in closer to Haley, he drifted to the side.