Riley Jensen 03 - Tempting Evil Part 32

I stopped cold, wondering what the h.e.l.l I'd done. Other than whip their a.s.ses earlier, that is.

But before I could ask, pain hit. Deep, deep pain that struck like a hammer, smas.h.i.+ng through my body, driving me to my knees and s.n.a.t.c.hing the air from my lungs.

It wasn't my pain.

It was Rhoan's.

Chapter Fourteen

I'd never felt anything like it before. The pain was real, and yet it wasn't. It washed fire across every nerve ending but the agony of it didn't linger for more than a heartbeat or two. Even so, my limbs trembled with sudden weakness. It was almost as if my strength was being sucked away by the pain.

Or maybe it wasn't the pain. Maybe it was Rhoan, calling on my strength because his own was failing. It wasn't something we'd ever figured possible, because we couldn't share thoughts and, up until now, had never shared the pain of hurts. Though we certainly knew when the other was either emotionally or physically wounded, and we'd always been able to find each other-an ability that had saved us both over the last few months.

If I was feeling this from Rhoan now, he was in trouble. Life or death type trouble.

Panic hit like a club, sucking away my breath.

I didn't know what was happening to him, but I sure as h.e.l.l intended to find out. I took a deep breath, and staggered to my feet.

Only to have my neck caught in a vise-like grip and my back shoved violently against the wall.

"You betrayed us, didn't you?" Berna's face was inches from mine, her expression contorted with the rage that trembled through her entire body. "We trusted you not to say anything but you did."

If she wanted a reply, she wasn't going to get it. Not when her grip was so d.a.m.n tight breathing had become a sudden luxury. I reached up, grabbed her hand, and pried her fingers away from my neck before thrusting her back and away.

Surprise flickered through her eyes. Despite the fact I'd beaten them both, Berna still had no idea as to my true strength.

"What the f.u.c.k are you talking about?" I rubbed my neck and fought the urge to run, to find and rescue my brother. Something else had obviously gone wrong-something I needed to know.

"Nerida tried to kill Merle. Only he was ready for it. Waiting for it. That could only have happened if he'd been warned."

And the fact that the kitchen had been bombed then the entire power grid had gone down had absolutely nothing to do with his readiness. These two might have been good rangers but they couldn't have been leaders. They weren't forward thinkers.

I shook my head in disgust. "Let me guess. You were treating Merle as an ordinary target, weren't you?"

"That's because he is a normal target, even if he is a half-breed." She took a step forward, her huge paws clenched and ready for action.

I held up a finger in warning. "Don't even think about it, Berna, because I'll break your f.u.c.king neck. Then who will be left to rescue that stupid fox b.i.t.c.h?"

"In an even fight I can take you, wolf."

I snorted softly. "You have no chance, Berna, just as Nerida had no chance."

"A fox-s.h.i.+fter will always beat a half-breed who has not been warned. It is the way of the world. Full bloods are stronger, faster-especially when the half-breed is part human."

"That might be true if we were actually dealing with a normal half-breed. But in the case of Moss and Merle, we're not. They're genetically engineered humans who have been implanted with the DNA of several races. They aren't normal in any sense of the word."

She blinked. "What?"

"I warned you there was more to this. Starr is not only the leader of one of the nastiest cartels in Melbourne, he's also the head of a lab that has been playing in the DNA gene pool for several generations." Her eyes widened as the implications of my words. .h.i.t her. "Did you honestly think those winged things were a product of nature? Did you really think the zoo was nothing more than a collection of misfits?"

"Well, I've seen stranger things-" She stopped. "Why should I trust anything you say?" "Because as a former ranger, you were trained by the military to see beyond the surface. You must know things are not what they seem in this place." I s.h.i.+fted my stance from one foot to the other. I needed to get out there, to hunt down my brother and beat the c.r.a.p out of whoever it was causing him pain. "I don't really care if you believe me or not. But I promise you, if people I care about die because of your interference, you will pay."

"You can't know of our military service. Our files are sealed against public perusal."

"Who said I was public?"

She blew out a breath. "We've walked into the middle of a major operation, haven't we?"

"Yeah, and might well have blown it."

"f.u.c.k." She thrust a hand through her short hair. "What can I do?"

I held up my hand rather than answering. From down the hall came the rough voices-the guards were doing a bed check. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around myself to hide my b.l.o.o.d.y state. We waited in silence until our turn came, answering accordingly when our names were called out. They didn't ask about Nerida, so they obviously knew her rate.

When the guards moved away, I said, "Help me rescue my partner, then together we'll see what we can do about yours. But if we do get her free, I want you both out of here."

"Your partner has been caught?"

Caught, tortured, and on the move. But not under his own steam. "Yes. I need to get him out of here."

"How? They have guards on all exits at the moment. No one is getting in or out."

"Let's concentrate on one problem at a time."

I threw the blanket to one side, then turned on my heel and walked out. Berna followed, her larger feet slapping heavily against the floor, drowning out any noise my footfalls were making. I pushed open the exit door and stepped into the cool night air. The guard looked at us, but didn't say anything. He was human. He wouldn't have seen or smelled the blood and sweat and fear riding my body.

"Where'd they take Nerida?" I asked, as we moved away.

"To the pens, wherever they are. She's slotted in as the after-dinner entertainment."

"Against those winged things?" I followed the path around to the left, following instinct and that tenuous, fragile thread that linked Rhoan and I.

"Yeah. If she happens to survive that, she wins the right to fight Merle." Berna's gaze was grim when it met mine. "We both know that isn't going to happen, but Nerida can't or won't see reason. Revenge has blinded her."

I opened my mouth to say it was stupid, but the truth was, I could understand it. If something happened to Rhoan, h.e.l.l itself wouldn't stand a chance against my desire to get even. To make someone pay.

"Which means she won't want to leave, even if we do rescue her."

"She'll leave. I promise you that."

It was a promise she had better keep, or Jack would have both their heads. He didn't have much patience for those who got in the way of Directorate operations.We padded along the path, heading toward the front of the house. Guards watched our progress, and, after a few seconds, I felt the return of my watcher. This one was a wolf, meaning he would track me better than the first one.

How the h.e.l.l was I going to rescue Rhoan when I had a tail that would report all suspicious actions back to Starr?

Unless, of course, a little distraction was provided.

I stopped near the end of the house. An old green truck with canvas sides was being loaded near one of the machinery sheds.

Though I couldn't see my brother, the link between us said he was there, already inside. As we watched, the last few boxes were loaded, then the back of the truck lifted and locked into place. No one got in the back. Two men got into the cab. Time to get moving.

"We have a tail," I said, as the driver started the truck's engine.

"Where?" Berna's gaze was also on the vehicle, her voice was as soft as mine.

"He's stopped near the last door."

"That's a hundred yards back." Her gaze met mine, speculation rife in her brown eyes. "A wolf shouldn't be able to scent someone that far away when the wind is blowing against them."

I wasn't actually relying on olfactory senses, but she didn't need to know that. "A moot point when this wolf can."

She grunted. "You want me to distract him?"

"Yes, please."

"Consider it done."

She spun and walked back. I waited until the truck lurched into action, then slipped around the corner, wrapped the night around my body, and ran like h.e.l.l for the back of the truck.

It was faster than I thought it would be, forcing me to leap in a desperate effort to get on board before it got away. I hit the backboard hard enough to rattle it, hooked an arm over the edge of the tray, and hung on for grim death as the road swept by inches from my toes. Not a position I was overly enamored of, so once I'd caught my breath, I twisted, hooked a leg over the tray, and dragged myself inside. My hip caught the end of one box as I dropped down, and I bit back a yelp, barely daring to even breathe as I lay there, listening. The rumble of the engine flowed across the air, joined by the hum of the tires on the road surface. The aroma of spice and leather hung in the air, but the relief that s.h.i.+vered through me was tempered by the fact that Rhoan's scent was heavily interlaced with the sweet, metallic odor of blood. They'd really done a number on him.

Anger rose, anger that was all wolf, all territorial need to protect the pack. Rhoan was my pack, all I had, and whoever had done this to him would pay.

Oh yeah, I could more than understand Nerida's reasoning.

Underneath Rhoan's scent came the twin scents of pine and ocean. Though I could smell them, I couldn't "feel" them, meaning they were human rather than nonhuman. With the way the old truck was rattling, they wouldn't hear me creep forward. Human hearing wasn't that astute.

But I kept the shadows wrapped around my body as I edged around the first box. They might not hear me, but it would only take a glance in the rearview mirror to see me. I was naked, after all, and a naked female of any description tended to catch a man's attention.

Rhoan was about halfway down the truck, thrown on the floor like so much rubbish, his face as beaten and raw as his body. In fact, the only thing that wasn't beaten and b.l.o.o.d.y was his genitals. It actually looked as if someone had gone out of their way to avoid that area, which was extremely odd.

I dropped down beside him and gently touched his forehead, brus.h.i.+ng the sweaty, blood plastered strands of hair from his face.

He stirred, and relief filled me. He wasn't as out to it as I feared, even if he didn't immediately open his eyes.

I lightly pressed the com-link in his ear, then leaned close and murmured, "Jack, track this signal. When we are well clear of the gates, stop the truck. Bring medical aid for Rhoan."

I couldn't hear his answer and didn't dare use my own com-link. I'd have to speak a little louder and it just wasn't worth the risk.

After a quick glance at the two humans in the front, I stretched out beside Rhoan and gently cradled him. He stirred again, then opened his eyes.

The brown was unsettling, alien. Not so his smile. "I knew you'd find me."

His voice was the barest of whispers, scratchy with pain, but to my ears it was the sweetest sound ever.

"Isn't that what little sisters are for?" I gently pressed my hand against his bruised cheek as his eyes drifted close again. "Rhoan, who did this to you?"

"Starr. Moss." He shuddered and the pain fury had been keeping at bay rushed through me like a tide. It wasn't just the pain of his injuries. It was the deadly fire of silver.

I licked my lips, trying not to panic. There was no silver knife of any kind stuck in his flesh, nor could I see a bullet wound, but that didn't mean anything. It only took a sliver imbedded under the skin to kill a wolf.

"Rhoan, where is it?"

"b.u.t.t." He made a harsh sound that could have been a laugh. "Idea of a joke."

Then it was one I didn't immediately understand. I s.h.i.+fted, and ran my hand across his b.u.t.tocks. Having been shot by silver myself, my flesh had become extremely sensitive to its presence. If it was under his skin, I'd feel it.

My fingers began to burn in the center of his left cheek. The sliver was about two inches long and needle fine. It was also too deep to drag out with my fingers.

"Take... out," he gasped. "Things going numb."

It was then that I understood the so-called joke. Silver killed werewolves by destroying muscle and nerves and sensation, until the body was locked in pain and the ability to move and breathe was gone, and all that was left was a lingering, horrible death by asphyxiation.

I'd been shot in the arm, and the numbness had quickly traveled down to my fingers and up my neck. The bullet had been removed before any long-term damage had been done, but even so, I'd risked the use of my arm.

Rhoan was shot in the b.u.t.t, so his loss of sensation was centered around that area-the b.u.t.t and genitals. He risked the loss of something far more important to a wolf than a mere arm.

It was sick, and the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were going to die for it.

I touched Rhoan's cheek, drawing his attention again. "I'm going to have to s.h.i.+ft and bite."He nodded weakly. "Do it."

I took another glance at the men up front. They still weren't paying us any attention, so I called to the wolf within. The power swept over me, through me, until I was once again wolf rather than human. I licked my brother's face-a useless gesture that undoubtedly comforted me more than him-then slid my gaze down his body. In wolf form, the heat of the silver was more intense. The glow of it seemed to leak from his skin, a beacon that pointed to the precise spot.

I didn't let myself think about what I was about to do, just bared my teeth and slashed down into his skin. The taste of flesh and blood filled my mouth, followed swiftly by the fire of silver. I closed my teeth around it and ripped. Felt Rhoan jerk, and his body stiffen. He hissed, vocalizing the pain that reverberated through every corner of my mind.

I turned away and spat out his flesh. But his taste filled my mouth and suddenly I was gagging uncontrollably.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" one of the men in the front said.

Somehow, Rhoan found the strength to wrap a hand around my nose and hold my mouth closed. Bile rose up my throat but I managed to swallow it down. My body trembled almost as much as Rhoan's, and I wasn't entirely sure his grip on my muzzle was going to stop the tide for long.

"What was what?" The second voice was gruff, bored.

"That sound. Like someone coughing and throwing up."

"Probably our pa.s.senger. Don't worry, with all the broken bones he's got, he ain't going nowhere."

"Nowhere but the farming labs."

They both laughed. Relief slithered through me. Rhoan released my nose, and as I glanced down, the golden haze of changing began to slide over his broken body, s.n.a.t.c.hing his pain from my mind even as it began healing his wounds. He didn't stay long in his wolf form-it was hard to do so when the pain and the wounds are so great-but at least in s.h.i.+fting back, the healing was helped along that little bit further. I s.h.i.+fted shape myself, then wrapped my fingers around his and waited.