Megan took a step back. “Is he going to hurt me?”
Julian put a fatherly hand around the girl. “No. But I suspect I can’t say the same thing about Palgrave.”
Meg smiled brightly. “Oh, good. He’s a horrible person. I’m a pacifist by nature, but I will totally help get him in the building if he’s going to kill that man. You’ll let me keep the bunnies, right?”
Dante turned without speaking. Roan fell in beside him.
“I’m going to call some of my contacts in the police force. We’ll keep it quiet. I wouldn’t want Palgrave to destroy evidence, if you know what I mean,” Julian called out.
There was the click-clack of stilettos as Meg raced to catch up with them. She had Julian’s dark shirt wrapped around her body like a robe.
“This should be fun. I know the best way into that building.” She walked on like they were going on a fun shopping trip rather than into battle. “And now that I have a minute with you, Mr. Dellacourt, I can talk to you about organic meal pills. There’s this rancher who has come up with a way to organically produce meal pills that doesn’t even kill the cow.”
He growled her way as his car was brought from the garage.
He wanted the real Meg back.
* * * *
Kaja came to in fits and starts. The world was a weird mix of past and present. She dreamed of her home, but this time she ran with Dante at her side. She on four legs and he on his two powerful ones. He ran as naked in his skin as she was in her fur, his fangs and claws on full display. It was full summer, and the plains were alive with prey. Deer and stag and moose all fled in terror at their approach, but it wouldn’t matter. They would select the fattest and feast. They were unstoppable. Stronger because they were together.
Kaja reached out to him.
I’m coming, love. I’m coming.
He wasn’t coming. He was here beside her. As it should be.
Then it was white, so white. When had the snows begun? The world was coated in white and silver and cold. So cold. She shivered despite her fur.
Where was Dante? She wanted Dante. She didn’t want to be alone again. Dante?
Hush, love. I’m coming.
But he wasn’t here, and she was sick. She felt it in her brain. She was ill and in pain. Dante!
Kaj! Calm down now.
The voice in her head had taken on a distinctly domineering tone, and Kaja responded to it. She forced herself to stop. Her head was muddy, but she could move. The ground beneath her was cold, but it wasn’t soft and wet like snow. It was hard and unnatural. Metal. She opened her eyes and closed them quickly. Too bright. Far, far too bright.
“I think it’s awake.”
The voice that spoke was cold as well. Through slitted eyes, Kaja looked up. She was in a cage, though not one as nice as the gnome’s cages. This was utilitarian. Metal bars and cold metal floor beneath her. There were two men standing beside a long metal table looking down at her. One was in a white coat that reached his knees. He wore a dress shirt and slacks underneath, and had strange gloves covering his hands. The other wore a suit much like her Dante’s.
“Funny how she changed when she lost consciousness.”
“I didn’t think so. It was disgusting. She’s a fucking dog. How does Dellacourt make himself touch that?”
Kaja knew the second voice. It was the man who had been in the car. Why had he taken her?
She was in her wolf form. She knew why she had changed. Her body wanted to heal. It was stronger in this form. Already she felt better, though still so weak.
She would not drink again. Her mind sought the connection to her husband.
“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Palgrave. I don’t understand the lure. I would much rather discover how she ticks. I’d like to start with some stimuli to see if I can get her to change back to her human form.”
Dante. I am afraid.
I know, baby. But I’m coming. I won’t leave you there. How many vampires are around you?
Kaja pulled her head up. Weary. She was so weary, but she looked around. She opened her senses and let the sights and smells of the place wash over her.
Two men. One woman. Ashley. She thought the name with a sneer.
Dante seemed to get the message. His next thoughts were hesitant. Um, I can explain about her, love. You see…
Kaja growled.
I love you, Kaj.
She would see about that. For now, she had a job to do. I’m in a small cage. I can smell three others, but they are outside the door.
And then Kaja forgot to breathe, the pain was so great. It came up from her paws and radiated through her body, sending fire through her veins. Her lungs felt tight and breath was impossible. She howled with the ache that went on and on and on.
“It doesn’t seem to be doing anything,” the man in the white coat said. Kaja watched as he took his hand off some form of button.
Her body sagged as the pain stopped. Her legs shook. She had no control.
There was a kick to her cage that sent the whole thing rattling. The man in the suit stared down at her, disgust apparent on his face. “Hey, dummy, change. We want to see your human form. Do you think it has a brain in this form?”
White Coat frowned. “I believe so. That was only a medium setting though. Perhaps we should try one higher. I don’t want to push it, Mr. Palgrave. The higher settings tend to kill off the subject or at least fry its brains.”
Kaja, what the fuck was that? What are they doing to you?
Dante’s panicked voice was screaming in her head. It was too much. They wanted her to change, but she couldn’t risk it. She could handle more in this form. If she changed and they turned on the machine, there was a huge chance that she could die. She needed time. Dante would come. He would come, and she needed to be alive when he got here.
She would take the pain.
Kaja! You talk to me right now. I felt that. What are they doing?
He’d caught her pain? That wouldn’t do. She would have to shut down their connection. She was loathe to do it. Feeling Dante was the only thing that was keeping her going.
That was why she’d been afraid. She’d been afraid of loving him. She’d been unwilling to fight for him because when she couldn’t directly feel him, she didn’t trust him. It was time to move past that. It was time to believe.
They are killing me. Come quickly. I love you, my Dante.
She closed the connection between them as the pain began again. This time she was alone, with no physical sense of Dante. As the shaking began, she realized he was with her. No matter what. She didn’t need to feel him to know he was coming.
He would always come.
Kaja howled and held on to the pain. As long as she hurt, she was still alive.
Chapter Nineteen
The hovercar stopped in midair.
Dante’s brain felt numb. Oh, his every nerve felt alive. His heart was beating so fast, he was surprised the fucker didn’t set off some alarm. His senses seemed far sharper than ever before. He could see farther, smell more. Even his hearing seemed to be on some type of steroids. He’d noticed it as they had left The Club. He’d been able to hear whispered conversations from yards away. His every sense had come to full life, but there was a hole at his center. A dead space.
She’d cut their connection. He couldn’t feel her anymore. He was numb so the pain and panic didn’t take over.
Dante tried to see out the window. A thick fog made seeing difficult, even with his enhanced vision. He strained and managed to see the name on the building. Palgrave. Palgrave Industries would own all the upper space. Dante checked the side of the building. Twenty-three. Damn. They were into the lower quarter. No wonder he couldn’t see much. Visibility was extremely poor below the fiftieth floor. And under twenty was nothing but tenements. It was where his people stuffed the poor so they wouldn’t have to look at them.
His people had more in common with Kaja’s than he liked to think about.
“This is it
.” Meg pointed to a small ventilation shaft. She seemed very excited to see the grubby thing. “It has sensors, but they don’t work. The pollution level here is off the charts. The building next door manufactures something that screws with the sensors. Heavy metals, I think. I’ve been able to get into the building, no trouble.”
“And where is the lab?” Roan asked.
“Thirty floors up,” Meg said without a pause. “We have to get to the fifty-fourth floor and go across. The first air duct you come to drops directly into the medical lab. If your consort and her captors are in there, you’ll be able to hear them.”
He would be able to find Kaja no matter where she was, but that wasn’t the point. Dante stared at the vampire. “You want me to climb thirty stories up a ventilation shaft? Tell me something, Meg. Does it have ladders?”
She bit into her bottom lip, looking so much like her human counterpart when she had to tell her warrior husband something bad. “Not exactly. Um, I’ve always used a hover lift. I probably should have mentioned that. I have one at home. We could go get it.”
Kaja was dying now. He didn’t have time to find a hover lift. And a hover lift would only take one of them up at a time.
Suddenly, he just knew. He had the strength to do this. Kaja had given it to him. He had the strength to save her.
“Fuck that.” He opened the door to the hovercar. Even with the inertial dampeners, the car swayed slightly. He pulled open the access door. It was big enough for him to crouch in. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. Strange. He could see in the dark. More than that, he could smell. Kaja. She was here in this building. She was holding on. “Roan, if you can’t follow me, then get to the cops. I need a couple of minutes to get up there and protect her, but then send them all in.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t make it up there without a lift. Look, I’ve got some mag gloves that will let me climb this, but that’s a long way up.” Roan was directly behind him. “Dellacourt, you aren’t trained for anything like this. Let me go.”
Roan might be trained, but he didn’t love Kaja. And he didn’t have Kaja’s blood flowing through his system.
“Like I said, Roan, try to keep up.” Dante jumped from the car to the access hole. The edge of the opening was small, but he felt an odd grace come to his limbs. He stopped fighting his instincts. He allowed Kaja’s blood to take over.
His claws popped through his skin, but he welcomed the pain. Longer. He needed them longer, and they pushed through another inch. His claws were long and thick, wickedly sharp on the end. They were made to rip and tear, but now they would carry him.
Dante leapt across the few feet that led to the opposite side of the shaft. His claws slid into the metal as though they belonged there. He dangled for a moment, all of his weight being held by his hands.
And he knew. He could do it. He would do it. And he would win.
“Dellacourt? Are you insane?”
Dante pulled his left hand out and pulled up with his right arm. He got up another couple of feet and dug in again. Easy as pie. He wasn’t even winded. “Nope. I’m on werewolf blood. She likes to be called a werewolf. I’ve never been this strong. If you’re coming with me, you better get going.”
Dante swung up again, finding a rhythm.
Nothing was going to keep him from his consort. Though he knew she was shielding from him, he sent out the message anyway.
I’m coming, Kaj.
* * * *
Kaja tried to bring her head up, but she was so weary. The pain was past recognition. She felt it always now. She couldn’t remember a time when it wasn’t a part of her bones. It seemed like hours or days had passed since she’d felt something other than pain.
No. She’d known pleasure and passion. She’d known her lover’s cock diving deep and the feel of his fangs penetrating. She’d known what it felt to feed him, to love him, and to be loved in return.
Kaja felt a bit of strength return. Stay alive. That was all she had to do. Dante would take care of the rest.
Except that she wanted to help. She wanted to be there when these people went down. They would go down, because Dante would not allow them to live.
“How much more can she take?” The one named Palgrave had taken off his suit coat. He held a stick in his hand. It was an odd stick. It was dark colored, and fire shot from it. He’d touched it to her flesh, and she had burned.
“Why can’t you leave her alone? She’s not going to change.” Ashley had stood back the whole time. Kaja had sensed her reluctance. Ashley had even shed a tear or two, but Kaja didn’t care. The blonde still stood there. Her tears hadn’t saved Kaja a moment’s pain. They hadn’t given her strength. Ashley’s compassion was a useless, weak thing. Ashley obviously hadn’t figured out what Kaja had. Compassion meant it was time to act.
Compassion meant it was time to risk.
Palgrave sighed. “If she isn’t willing to do what we want, then maybe we should change the game a bit. Do you have any thoughts, Doctor? I admit, I’m getting a little bored watching her shake.”
The man in the white coat regarded her. She growled at him, satisfied when he moved back a bit. “She’s very feisty for what we’ve put her through. Her vitals are still incredibly strong. Watch them.” He gestured to a small panel at the back of her cage. Numbers played there in red colors.
“She gets stronger every moment we don’t inflict pain. She heals at an incredible rate.” Palgrave stared at the monitor. “What do you think causes that? If we could isolate the gene that gives her that healing ability, we could make a fortune. Do you have any idea what peasants and royals without a consort would pay for that?”
“I need to take some samples. I’m sure I can isolate it with a bit of work.” White Coat turned around and began gathering materials. Kaja tried to shrink back.
“You’re going to keep her alive, right?” Ashley’s voice seemed strained. She clung to the wall as though she didn’t want to get any closer to the crime she’d taken part in.
Palgrave’s chest huffed out, and a vicious little laugh came out of his mouth. “For a while, though I suspect she’s going to wish she’s dead.”
“The Dellacourts aren’t just going to let you take Dante’s consort.” Ashley’s arms came over her chest.
“I’m sure they’ll thank me. Did you see the press coverage today? She’s a freak. Everyone is talking about what an embarrassment the bitch is. Alexander Dellacourt will more than likely shake my hand.”
“I don’t think you understand them.”
Palgrave’s eyes narrowed. “And you do, peasant?”
Ashley’s back stiffened. “Well, I know Dante well enough to know that he won’t let it go. I know he started out with a stupid plan, but he always does. And in the end, he almost always does the right thing. He broke up with me. I certainly didn’t expect that. Why would he break it off with me if he intended to put her aside?”
Palgrave’s lips turned distinctly cruel. “I think you overestimate your charms, dear.” He stalked toward her.
Kaja began to growl. She could sense Palgrave’s intent, but Ashley didn’t seem to have the same instincts. She stood there as the huge man walked up to her.
“He liked me,” Ashley protested.
Kaja watched as Palgrave took the woman’s head in both his hands. He cupped her cheeks in a mockery of affection. “Of course he liked you, dear. Every man likes a woman who opens her legs for him. Every man likes a whore, until she’s served her purpose.”
Palgrave’s hands snapped around, and a loud crack reverberated through the room. The blonde slumped down, her eyes dead before she hit the floor.
“Doctor, do you have a morgue somewhere in here?” Palgrave asked the question with a lackadaisical tone, as though he was mentioning the weather.
Rage filled Kaja’s gut. Ashley hadn’t been a good person, but Palgrave was worse. This was what he would do to her. He would use her and dispose of her.
The doctor looked up from his w
ork. He glanced down at the dead body. “I’ll have someone take it to the harvesting room. I can always use organs. Although, you could have just told me you were going to dispose of her. Now I can only use the eyes, skin, and hair. You just destroyed many organs that would have made this company money.”
Palgrave waved it off. “I just wanted her to stop yapping. And she might be right about Dellacourt. He might come after her just to save face. Luckily, he has no idea I’m the one behind everything. I’m sure he thinks King Torin is doing this to fuck with him. He has an overinflated sense of his own worth. Now, let’s get back to this little bitch. Unlike the dead one, she can still make me some money.”
And then Kaja smelled him. She opened her senses and caught the smell of sandalwood and hair gel. It smelled like home. Dante was here. He had come for her.
Years of loneliness washed away in an instant, and she realized all her pain had led her to this place. Had the pack treated her with the smallest bit of kindness, she would never have left. She would have stayed and lived only half a life, never realizing what it meant to love. She would have told herself that this was the way the world worked and accepted what she was given.
Dante had shown her differently. Her world, her love, her soul were all worth fighting for. She could see herself through Dante’s eyes, and she was lovely.
She couldn’t contain it one second longer. It had been there in her gut, churning and begging to be released ever since the moment she’d met him. The mating howl. The call of a wolf to her true mate.
Kaja threw her head back and howled.
“What the fuck is that?” Palgrave yelled.
Kaja opened herself and was flooded with him.
A couple minutes more, Kaj. I love you, baby.
She felt his intent. He’d heard her call and opened himself, too. He might not understand the formality of the call, but he’d recognized the meaning behind it.
Fight, Kaj. Fight.
Kaja pulled her strength around her and charged the cage. The bars shook, but held. Kaja snarled and barked at her captors. She might not be able to get out of her cage, but she could buy Dante time and give him the edge of surprise.