Nocturnal Part 7

Nick's boss choked on a laugh; so did a couple of other men. Carl Jackson, however, grew furious and thumbed off the safety of his weapon.

Ten seconds later, the handgun lay next to Jamie's on the tabletop and Amara was giving Carl a fanged grin as she held the burly man a foot off the floor by his throat with a single clawed hand.

"There are easily over two thousand people in that compound," she informed on a deceptive little purr. "They might be human, and they might be Morphate. Whoever or whatever they are, none of them asked to be illegally kidnapped and turned into guinea pigs. Your job is to uphold the law and protect the citizens of this country. Nowhere in our const.i.tution does it say 'these rights apply to everyone except Morphates.'"

"That's because there weren't freaks when it was signed!" Carl gurgled.

"Babe, let go," Nick said calmly from behind her, that always gentle touch stroking softly into the small of her back. She frowned, frustrated by the time this was taking, but she let Carl drop like a stone. Amara crossed her arms defensively under her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and faced the stares of the other agents.

"I've grown up in gangland, been sold by my mother for her daily fix, and nearly starved to death waiting for a spot in the workhouse to open up for me. Never, in all of that human human existence, did I ever ask a cop for anything because I always thought cops wouldn't give a s.h.i.+t about the likes of me," Amara said quietly, slowly meeting the eyes of every man in the room, including Carl's hostile glare. "Don't you dare prove me right." existence, did I ever ask a cop for anything because I always thought cops wouldn't give a s.h.i.+t about the likes of me," Amara said quietly, slowly meeting the eyes of every man in the room, including Carl's hostile glare. "Don't you dare prove me right."

Amara urgently needed to leave the room. If she had to listen to them waste time debating whether her fellow captives deserved saving, she would completely lose her cool. Since that wouldn't help any of them, she left them to Nick and hurried into the corridor.

She hadn't even realized they'd drawn a crowd of others, the gunshot and shouting having attracted everyone in hearing range. At some point the conference room doors had been opened and any possibility of secreting this situation with a sweep under the rug had been completely dissolved. Good Good, she thought angrily.

Amara didn't even care how everyone jerked back away from her and made a wide path for her to pa.s.s through. She was used to being treated like one of the many untouchables of their society. Still...

As horrible as their captivity had been, it had been incredibly equalizing. She'd never formed friends.h.i.+ps with intelligent, normal women like Mina, Rachael, and Devona before. Not with anyone, really. They'd always been a cut above someone like her, or just incomprehensible. It wasn't until she'd had nothing to do all day but talk with them that she'd slowed down to realize station in life didn't make all that much difference in how d.a.m.n difficult things could be. Without them, she'd never have been able to appreciate the trust, companions.h.i.+p, and loyalty of friends.h.i.+p. If it hadn't been for that pathway being built first, the encounter between her and Nick could have turned into something dreadfully different. Amara repressed a shudder when she realized she actually had to be grateful to Paulson for that. For Nick.

What of Nick? When this was all over and they were free, what would happen to them? Could this damage to their genetics be reversed? Would Nick eagerly seek a cure and a way out of this forced bond between them?

Amara found herself running, rus.h.i.+ng until she was bursting out into the cool, open air outside. She found a cut of the building to hide herself behind and slowly sank down against the rough, sc.r.a.ping brick until her knees were under her chin, her arms squeezing around her s.h.i.+ns as she hugged her thighs against her chest. She closed her eyes tight.

They were freaks and monsters. Everyone would know. Most, she knew, would react just like Carl had. People had no tolerance for differences, especially horrifying ones like blood drinking, fangs, and claws. The immortality part would scare the living p.i.s.s out of some, and attract all the wrong kinds of others. This was a society that, instead of solving the violence of gangs, had simply walled them all up and hoped they'd all kill one another eventually as they fought over what little territory there was. They hadn't cared that not everyone they'd walled up with them had anything to do with gangs. They'd written it off and waited for it to get better.

Just how were they going to respond to thousands of immortal killers, most of whom had been sucked out of the lost populaces of the Dark Cities or the impoverished areas that surrounded it? How should they respond? She'd been in captivity with some of these maniacs for months. The idea of a rapist or serial killer who couldn't be stopped or killed, set free to run loose in the world was sickening. And would the general public be able to see the difference between a Morphate like that and ones like her and Nick?

She knew with rock-solid dread of surety that they would not. She realized that, perhaps, they should not. Morphates, by the looks of things, were the only ones who would ever be able to police their own.

By the time Nick came to find her over an hour later, she only needed to look into his face to see that she wasn't the only one beginning to come to these conclusions.

"Oh, Nick," she whispered as dread sank into her every cell, "we have to do something."

Chapter 14.

Nick nodded in a short, jerky movement.

He'd been so sure. So f.u.c.king c.o.c.ksure. He'd actually thought he could stroll into the agency that he'd dedicated his entire postmilitary life to, put out a call for help, and they'd all come running to help him just as he'd always run to help them.

He was a naive idiot.

Maybe if Kin had been there it would have been different. Kin would have backed him no matter what he'd become, and would have forced their companions to see it the same way, at least for the short term. Just long enough to free about five hundred kids and who knew how many hundreds of adults. But Kin was missing in the action of searching for him him. The idea of what could have happened to his brother had kept his stomach churning endlessly since Jamie had first dropped the bomb on him.

If Paulson had gotten ahold of Kin Gregory, wouldn't he have been eager to gloat and taunt Nick with the knowledge?

No. He would save it and savor it. He had been waiting for a chance to play Kin in a hand that would trump him. But, if that were the case, why hadn't he used that card instead of putting a bullet into him?

After all, he'd become more trouble than he was worth much more quickly than Paulson had antic.i.p.ated. And how could he continue to apply logic to a man who clearly had gone way off the logic tracks?

Besides, there were much more dreadful things to worry about. Realizing abruptly that he knew the government he worked for just a little too well, he knew they had just bet everything on a losing hand and they were in incredibly deep s.h.i.+t.

They had a debt to pay and the proverbial leg-breakers were breathing down their necks.

"Come on," Nick demanded of Amara, holding a hand down to her. She had understood long before he had, so he knew there was no need to explain much. "They're calling higher-ups for direction. When this agency has to look higher for permission to do something, it's never a good thing."

She took his hand and they hurried across to the car they'd taken.

"What are we going to do, Nick?"

"The only advantage we have, babe, is that it always takes a bureaucracy f.u.c.king forever to get their s.h.i.+t together. Jamie will stall for me as long as he can, but we need to get back there first and solve this before the government can swoop in and step in exactly where Paulson is. They'll probably even keep the sick p.r.i.c.k on as a consulting source of information. None of those people will ever see a moment of freedom again in their lives. They'll become permanent lab rats or military weapons...trained killer K9s." Nick slammed the car door shut, taking a moment to breathe in so he could see past the fury he hadn't felt so overrun with since he had been a kid. "You were right. We should have stayed. The government will get hold of us and the first thing they will want to know is how to kill us. If they can't kill us, then they'll vaporize the whole thing."

"Maybe they should. I mean, we're all animals and monsters, right?" she said softly.

Nick jerked around to look at her, for the first time seeing that meek, defeated girl he'd been shoved into only a few days earlier. He wanted to explode in rage at her, but he realized that it would be hypocritical if he did. He had just had to try defending human deaths and explain the uncontrolled nature of things civilized humans could not or would not be able to accept. Some, he knew, they shouldn't accept. And when Jamie had asked him if there was a way to control the Morphates, he'd rushed to say yes...he could control them. But it wasn't true. He could control only that one building. That single pack. He didn't know for sure if there were others, but he suspected there were. Each pack would have its own leader and, he knew, would feel threatened by any other it came across. There was no such thing as two Alpha males. Even a grunt like him knew that. They would figure out how to kill or dominate each other, or they would choose territory just like the gangs, and humans would get caught in the crossfire. could control them. But it wasn't true. He could control only that one building. That single pack. He didn't know for sure if there were others, but he suspected there were. Each pack would have its own leader and, he knew, would feel threatened by any other it came across. There was no such thing as two Alpha males. Even a grunt like him knew that. They would figure out how to kill or dominate each other, or they would choose territory just like the gangs, and humans would get caught in the crossfire.

"Amara," he said quietly, "my brother came looking for me. He's twice the cop I ever was. He found me. I know it. He's either dead or..."

"Paulson has him."

"Yeah."

"You think he's been turned?"

"If Paulson had him, he turned him. You know he did. Just for s.h.i.+ts and giggles. Or just because Kin wouldn't have ever given in." Not like he had. He should have known Kin would come after him. No matter how scarce his reports, Kincaid wouldn't have stopped until he was looking at Nick's body, dead or alive.

"Nick, there's only one thing we can do."

Nick turned to look at her again, staring into coppery eyes and trying to figure out how in h.e.l.l he could keep her safe and help his brother and uncounted others at the same time. "Babe, I am completely open to suggestions," he said roughly. "And it better be a fast one. We're out of time."

"Drive. I will explain on the way."

"Back to the labs?"

"No. Not yet. We need to pick up some things first."

Chapter 15.

Miranda Alvarez had never lost her cool in all of her ten years in the field, and she'd seen some G.o.dawful stuff. Stepping behind the van to vomit up lunch had never, ever happened to her before, but she had to admit she did it with aplomb. She straightened, took the towel Joey handed her and patted away all evidence without messing up her makeup, and then reached for a breath mint in her pocket as she turned back to the million-dollar moment of a lifetime.

"Mira, we're live in three...two..."

"Good evening. This is Miranda Alvarez with the Investigative News Force. What you are seeing is a live broadcast of what we have been told is a secret facility of labs...."

"I always liked her," Nick remarked as he and Amara walked up to the labs amid an army of news companies and, by the sound of the military helicopters on approach, their unwitting backup. It was actually a simple sort of plan. All they had to do was broadcast everything live before the government could shut them down and try to hide it. Nick and Amara had already given Alvarez a detailed private interview, played show-and-tell and everything, only with less shock value than what Amara had done for the Federated cops.

Nick knew he was intimidating as all h.e.l.l, so he had let Amara make her public proposal. It was dangerous and probably insanity, but it was a solution that just might work in this society of short-term thinkers. They liked to close away trouble? Well, this time trouble would volunteer to help build the walls.

With a madman at the helm of the labs, thousands of things could have gone wrong. They could have all been vaporized instantly by some hidden bomb the minute security cameras caught sight of them. However, Nick knew a man who liked to play G.o.d wouldn't blow himself up just when he was on the verge of perfecting how to become one. Nick had seen it in the doctor's face just before he'd shot him. Paulson wanted immortality. Invincibility. When he perfected it, he would make himself in his own image.

Dying would rather be contrary to that.

So would getting caught. So Nick and Amara had gambled that Paulson would run before he'd make a stand. He'd abandon the whole of them in a heartbeat and run away so he could play Frankenstein another day. Without his direction, Nick hoped the rest of the place would simply unravel. Losing Paulson was a heavy price they might pay if he did indeed get away, but there really had been no better choice in so little time.

Nick just prayed there were still people left to save. The press van had hardwired into the security systems and they could see far more than was able to be processed.

Nick knew everyone had finally been separated, and realized this was a good thing. It had prevented others from becoming Alpha and the resultant need for another challenge for Nick and Amara to rea.s.sert themselves. At least in their building. Now he had to pray that Paulson had not repeated his lunacy six times over. None of the other common rooms were in use. There were signs of life here and there and guards clearly ignorant of what was coming. It wasn't the same in every building.

If there were Alphas in every building, it was going to be a h.e.l.l of a mess.

Nick wished he could leave Amara behind, but instinct said differently. It said they needed to make a show together. By the time Jamie and the Federation forces touched down, the news crews had been live for twenty minutes and they had been taping the interior activities for over an hour. It was enough evidence to ensure very little about any of what happened next could ever be covered up.

His boss strolled up to him, armored and armed to the teeth. Nick wondered if it would do them any good if things went to s.h.i.+t.

"You disappeared on us, Agent Gregory," he greeted.

"Who are the geeks, Agent Mulloy?" Nick countered, nodding to the men in suits and lab coats who were coming out of vans of their own.

"Just doctors who want to see everyone come out safe and healthy, just like we do." Jamie flashed his "press smile" and Nick slid a glance to Miranda Alvarez. "Nick, back at the briefing you said you could lead the first group out safely?"

"Yeah."

Nick prayed it was just that easy.

Chapter 16.

It actually was. Once the staff and guards had been neutralized in the building, it was as easy as keying one door at a time, greeting the shocked individual or couple inside with a few sniffs and words of rea.s.surance. They brought out their Packmates one and two at a time, gently and calmly, and they all remained docile for the most part as each tried to get over the amazement of seeing their Alphas very much alive.

Amara and Nick had practiced, together, exactly what they would say to each male and female. It was actually quite simplistic.

You are not to harm any human being. You are not to make any public display of your Morphate traits and nature. You will wait patiently during this transition for this Pack to rea.s.semble. Watch the news. Exercise every human right you have within the letter of the law.

But that was only building one.

Nick chose the children's labs next. The building bore six separate floors and this was the first warning they had that they were going to encounter six different protocols in each building. Paulson had batched the children to match their adult guinea pig counterparts. Nick and Amara could display dominance over at least one floor, the one that matched their protocol. Once that floor was evacuated, the officials puzzled over what to do next.

"We would have to recruit the Alphas from each protocol," Devona advised them from Amara's side. "Unfortunately, two Alphas in a room together will be a death match."

"Maybe not all of them," Jamie spoke up as he held out a clipboard one of the doctors had handed him. "Look who is Alpha in building four."

"f.u.c.k me." Nick laughed. "Kincaid Gregory! G.o.d, I bet that p.i.s.sed Paulson off." Despite his relis.h.i.+ng the joke, Nick's reaction was harsh and obvious with relief. Amara felt her throat closing in sympathy when she saw him turn his head to hide the emotion in his eyes from his boss.

"Yeah, well, now he knows how I felt trying to manage the two of you on a daily basis," Mulloy retorted.

"Nick," Devona interrupted with a soft warning, "pack mentality doesn't account for brotherly bonds. Wolves dominate their siblings all the time. Siblings will war for Alpha just as any others might."

"The difference is," Nick retorted sharply, "we're not a bunch of G.o.dd.a.m.n wolves. We're human beings. Or at the very least that's the way we were raised." He frowned and Amara instinctively reached to touch him on his arm. The simple contact seemed to relax him a bit, clearing his thoughts. "I'm just worried about what made the difference in each protocol. What did they do to him that they didn't do to me?"

"They won't figure that out from the medical notes for a very long time," Devona informed. "Only way to find out..."

"I figured as much," he said grimly.

"But if you can do this, get two Alpha males to coordinate, you can tag team the rest and control their evacuations. It might still get hairy, but it's better than the alternatives."

"Well, then, better go get this brotherly reunion started. Amara," Nick said, "you better stay here."

"Excuse me?"

Nick frowned at the att.i.tude in those two words and took in the aggressive hand on her curvy hip. "I don't want you in the middle of this, Mara. He could be seriously altered. If I can't control what he has become, you could get hurt."

"I see. You can control me, right? Keep me in line right here?"

Nick hesitated when she snapped the words off at him very sharply. He glanced at the a.s.sortment of cops and scientists surrounding him. He saw Jamie grinning smugly as he waited to see what he would do next.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said uneasily. "I just don't want you hurt."

"And I'm supposed to sit here and watch you potentially get killed by your own brother? Watch you get hurt? That's different somehow?"

"Lordy, Amara," Devona sighed, "preaching s.e.xism to an Alpha male is like climbing Everest on roller skates. You aren't going to get anywhere you want to go."

"Stop it!" she cried, slamming a fist on the table near her and making the entire room of on-edge people jump in their shoes. She pointed sharply at Nick. "You're a human being, too, d.a.m.n you! You have a responsibility to act like one and to treat me like one!"

"I thought I was!" he shouted back at her. "One that I care about and want to keep safe! I won't get you killed twice in one day. Not when neither of us knows just what might end up being permanent!"

"Get me killed?" she echoed. "You didn't get me killed."

"Yeah, man, she looks pretty much alive to me."

"Shut up, Jamie," Nick snapped. He turned on her again. "Paulson blew your brains out because he was trying to control me. me. Do you have any idea how that felt?" Do you have any idea how that felt?"

She wasn't the only one who looked at him like he'd lost his mind.