Circe's Recruits 2: Zack and Ace (15 page)

“I’m taking the patient to the subbasement levels after more testing. Dr. Pearl wants me to harvest her embryo first.” Which wouldn’t explain why she’d be near the service elevators instead of the level two shafts she’d already passed.

McKinley studied her. Then he stared at the woman on the hospital bed. He leaned down to sniff her, and his gaze darkened. He straightened and stepped closer to Sabrina.

She couldn’t help backing away, but his low growl stopped her in her tracks. He sniffed her, nuzzling her neck. Shocking the hell out of her, he proceeded to lick her there, the rasp of his tongue like lightning against her skin. She felt the heat spiral to her sex in an instant.

McKinley rose, staring into her dark eyes. Nose to nose, they considered one another.

Will he kill me now or toy with me first? Oh, God, please don’t let him rape me, too.

“You took this route because the elevators are busted, right?” It took a minute for her to understand. The level two elevators weren’t working? The perfect excuse. “Yes. Right. Not working. Exactly why I was…going to go this way.” The woman beside them moaned, the sedatives beginning to wear off.

McKinley shook his head and stepped back, his hands fisted into claws. “Get your ass moving. Dr. Pearl wants results fast on this one.” Yet his words didn’t seem right. McKinley should have asked more questions. Even if the level two elevators were inoperable, it made no sense to use this elevator leading to the outside.

“Well then, let me get on it.” Sabrina tore past him, relieved beyond measure when the doors opened right away and she hustled her patient inside. She watched McKinley as the doors closed. Bemused, she thought she saw him murmur “good luck” before she lost sight of him.

Once on the ground level, she hurried down the nearly deserted hallway toward the back lot. With the keys to a white, nondescript medical van the PPA used when working Circ cases, Sabrina loaded Kelly into the vehicle with the slowest pneumatic lift known to man. Once Kelly was inside and the gurney locked down, Sabrina flew into the van and drove away.

It took every ounce of discipline she had to make small talk with the gate guard and to drive the fifteen-mile-an-hour speed limit off the property. She nodded at Mary, one of the homeless who lived outside the grounds. A nice woman, one who used the information Sabrina gave her all too willingly.

Sabrina knew where that information went. She could only hope it did more good than it seemed to lately. Because she wouldn’t be able to pass any more. Not now when she’d stolen Elliot Pearl’s greatest treasure.

A dark black sedan came out of nowhere behind her. She swore when she saw Simon Dunn in the driver’s seat, sitting next to another PPA agent. “Son of a bitch.” She veered sharply into him when he tried to pass. Unfortunately, they both sped along an unused street between deserted warehouses. The industrial section in this part of town hadn’t been used in a decade, which made it the perfect place to create monsters.

Gritting her teeth, Sabrina knew she wouldn’t be able to outrun them. She needed to drive carefully, concerned about the pregnant Circ in the back. Rummaging through her pockets, she found the syringe she’d love to stick in Dunn’s neck. I’d watch while you seize to death and enjoy every minute of it, you creep.

A high-pitched scraping sound scared her spitless as another vehicle rammed her from the other side. A red truck sandwiched her against Dunn. It was driven by a man who looked more savage than McKinley. Dark brown skin surrounded eyes that glowed like gold.

Surprisingly, Sabrina could see an arresting face despite the grimace he wore. She wondered where her head was that she noticed something like that, or that she could concentrate enough to see him through a blurred window and at such distance.

Shots fired, scoring her temple and lodging in her shoulder. She slammed on the brakes.

The truck and sedan continued past her. Her head throbbed, but thankfully, the bullet hadn’t done more than graze her there. Her shoulder felt on fire. Not sure who to trust with Malloy, Sabrina turned the vehicle around and raced in the opposite direction. In the rearview mirror, she saw three men exit the red truck to confront Dunn, Folsom, and Colins from the sedan.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky, and they’ll kill each other.”

Not going to happen.

Her cell phone rang, scaring the shit out of her. Answering cautiously, she waited.

“You got her?” Harry asked.

“Yes.” Relief made her light-headed. No, that was the bullet currently stuck in her arm, in addition to the blood loss from her forehead.

“Bring her to the warehouse with the broken fish outside.” She knew just the one. An old cannery at the entrance to the industrial park. She disconnected and drove back a quarter mile, zigzagging through the complex. Aware she was still too close to the PPA for safety, she nevertheless had to rely on Harry. His Circ friends would help. From what Sabrina gathered, they were the good guys in this fight -- or at least, a helluva lot less bad than Pearson Labs.

Parking in the darkened building with the engine running, Sabrina quickly moved into the back to check on Kelly. To her surprise, the woman had revived.

“Where am I? What did you do to me?” Kelly cried out.

“Nothing.” Sabrina held up her hands. “Shh.” Crouched as she was, her balance was off, and she wobbled. Her wounds were weakening her. She needed to leave, but she had to make sure Kelly Malloy was protected first.

“You’re that woman from Pearson Labs. Pearl’s assistant,” Kelly hissed.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m bleeding here,” Sabrina said dryly. “I’m going to unstrap you. I think your buddies are on the way. Three big Circs just stepped out of a red truck, and they didn’t look happy. They’re duking it out with some PPA guys right now.” Sabrina caught her head and tried to overcome the dizziness.

“You’re bleeding,” Kelly said.

“A master of the obvious.” You don’ have time for wit, Sab t

rina. “Don’t attack me when

I get closer,” she warned. Strapped or not, this woman was a Circ. She’d only been given mild tranquilizers to knock her out, and she wasn’t injured and normal, like Sabrina. “Some key points. One, you matured faster than normal. Pearl arranged for a mutated Circ to infect one of your lovers with an aggressive virus.”

“What? When?”

“That mission in Glen Falls. A rogue Circ bit one of your team, who in turn infected you. The virus was designed to jump-start a female Circ’s biological clock. Once activated, the virus soon died. Don’t worry, only you were impacted by it. Which leads us to key point number two. You’re pregnant and extremely valuable to Dr. Pearl right now.” Sabrina moved her left arm and grimaced at the pain.

“Pregnant?” Kelly sounded shell-shocked as Sabrina released her.

“You have to leave. Go back to your Circs and make sure to stay away. Tell them.” She paused. She’d once dreamed of a better life, of being someone important. Now her “career” was nothing more than a dirty, shaming mess. Then again, all that had really ended three years ago with the crumbling destruction of Project Dawn. “Tell them Pearl isn’t running the show. He hasn’t been for a long time. He’s making a new batch of Circs.” Time was running out. She was fading fast. “He has female Circs who aren’t crazy. He’s started a breeding program. Not with you, but he’ll use you to make sure they conceive.” Kelly reached out to help steady her, and Sabrina jerked back. A knock on the back of the van door scared her, not helping matters.

“Hurry up in there, dammit.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, recognizing Harry’s voice. “Go. Harry’s a friend. He knows your buddy, Derrick, I think.”

“Derrick. Right.” Kelly inched toward the doors, then looked back at her. “Come with me.”

“No. I’m as good as dead. You don’t need that right now. Not with a baby on the way.

Now tell them what I told you. And give them this.” She handed Kelly a small disc. “It’s password protected. But the password is --”

The van shook, and bullets whined through the front windshield.

“Dammit. Get out of here!” Once the shooting stalled, Sabrina crawled back into the front seat. The minute the back doors opened and she caught sight of Harry and Kelly racing for safety, she floored the accelerator. Sabrina tore out of the warehouse and went straight, then left, away from the red truck and Simon Dunn. In minutes she had four of the PPA’s company cars on her ass. With a determined grimace, she stepped harder on the accelerator, aiming for a way out of this maze.

“Doc” and his pals could find a hacker to get into her encrypted files. Maybe he could do more with them than she’d ever been able to do. Then again, she was just a woman, just a stupid phlebotomist, as she’d often heard Pearl refer to her.

“Yeah, well, fuck you, Elliot Pearl.” She wiped a hand over her face, clearing the blood from her eyes. “Now the enemy has your secrets. And I’m not done with you yet.” Not by a long shot.

Kelly raced with a foul-smelling man for the dark shadows in the dim warehouse. The sun outside said it was daytime, but she couldn’t remember much past Simon Dunn and Stephen Folsom…drugging her? She glanced down and saw she wore a long hospital gown.

Perfect. Calling on the beast within, Kelly tried to transform…to no avail. Harry swore at her to hurry up and run, pointing outside and away from the van. Surprisingly fast for a man his age, he disappeared around the corner of the building.

She hurried into the shadows, fairly certain she couldn’t be seen as she watched the woman speed away. S. Torrence, the name tag on her white coat had said. Well, S. Torrence had apparently rescued Kelly at great cost to herself. The woman bled profusely from her forehead, and a dark patch had spread over her shoulder, whether from glass or a bullet, Kelly didn’t know. She could only hope S. Torrence would be all right.

Still trying to conquer the shock to her system, Kelly processed what she knew. She was pregnant and in danger of being captured by the PPA.

She was pregnant.

The need to find her mates and protect her baby triggered the change in an instant.

Thank God. Kelly sniffed the air and caught several scents. Decay, refuse, oil. The tang of blood, probably belonging to that Torrence woman. And Zack…

Kelly raced in the direction of her mate’s scent. Once outside the building, she found a narrow street parallel to the one the van had escaped onto. No one was in this alley, so she ran as fast as she could toward Zack. Soon she heard the sound of a fight. To her relief, she scented Ace as well.

She stopped as she turned the corner of another building. Derrick’s red truck sat next to a dark car. Zack and Ace fought two massive Circs while Derrick engaged Simon Dunn.

All five Circs had changed. Simon didn’t stand a chance and in seconds lay in a heap, one arm broken, his face covered in blood.

“Kelly belongs to me,” one of the rogue Circs argued. “I was made specifically for her.

We share the same blood.”

“That I collected, Colins. Pearl promised her to me,” a Circ that looked like Stephen said. He was twice as thick in the chest and two heads taller than the pleasant-faced man she’d dated a few times. “It was my work that found her. Mine that gave her what she needed. She’ll carry my brood. Mine.”

Ace growled and attacked Stephen, while Zack took on the other male. Derrick spotted her and immediately ran over to her.

“You okay?” he rasped.

She nodded. “You?”

“I’ll be fine, as soon as your mates stop dicking around and end this.” He finished in a raised voice.

Everyone froze as they saw Kelly, fully changed, wearing only a hospital gown that hugged her curves.

The fighting engaged in earnest. Watching Ace and Zack battle was like watching a ballet. Choreographed, graceful moves merged with power and skill to decimate their enemies.

Surprised not to see more of the PPA around them, she asked Derrick what to make of their absence.

“Roane and Hale are providing a distraction.” In the distance, Kelly saw smoke in the air. The roar of sirens grew louder.

“We need to go,” she whispered.

Derrick nodded.

At that moment, Zack twisted the head of the Circ he fought, breaking the male’s neck.

Ace knocked Stephen’s head into the ground hard enough to crack his skull. Stephen slumped to the ground, unmoving.

“About time.” Zack shook his head at Ace and dropped his adversary to the ground.

“Show-off.”

“Hurry up,” Derrick called.

They turned and rushed to Kelly’s side.

“Baby, I’m so glad you’re all right.” Zack embraced her, hugging her tightly in his arms.

Baby is right. Kelly squirmed out of his hold. “I missed you, too, but we need to leave, before we have company.”

Ace kissed her hard. He and Zack moved to the backseat of the truck, allowing Kelly to sit next to Derrick. They sped around a corner, just in time to avoid the horde of Pearson Labs vehicles as they reached Simon’s car.

“Not that we’re not happy to see you, but how the hell did you escape from the labs?” Ace asked.

Kelly explained waking up in the van and about S. Torrence. “I hope she’s okay. She saved my life. From what she told me, Pearl is fixated on me.” Because of my baby. She wanted to share her news with her mates, but confusion and uncertainty made her weary.

She still needed time to process the news herself. There’d be time enough to tell them later.

“This S. Torrence,” Derrick said. “You sure she helped you? Maybe it’s all a setup.”

“For what? If Pearson Labs wanted me, why let me go? Besides, the woman took a bullet for me. They shot at her while she was leaving. I don’t think she faked that.”

“I don’t like it.” Derrick sniffed in Kelly’s direction. “Something’s off. That blood on your gown isn’t right.”

“No, it’s not,” Zack said quietly. “But at least it’s not hers.”

“It’s Torrence’s blood. I didn’t sense anything odd about her, if you don’t count her working for Pearl. Then again, I was more concerned with getting the hell away from that mess than I was studying her.”

“Pearl’s people don’t help us. The damned scientists only care about their experiments, about ‘positive results.’” Derrick muttered. “Torrence is bad news. Soon as we get you back, we’ll see just what the hell they did to you in that lab.”