Doctor Ted Treadmont entered the room and Justice paused outside the doorway behind him. Justice sniffed, tensed, and his gaze fixed on Ellie with a frown.
“He didn’t hurt me. I jumped the back wall and got a little dinged up if you smell blood.”
“I know that. We’ve been listening at the door and heard everything you’ve said. I am trying to smell him.” Justice stayed at the doorway as he carefully studied Fury. “This isn’t right, Ted. He smells wrong, not the way he did before with the drugs he’s been on for days.”
The doctor nodded. “I know. These symptoms aren’t from what we’ve been giving him.”
“What’s going on?” Ellie glanced between both men.
“The drug we gave him shouldn’t have done this.” Ted knelt by Fury and Ellie. He opened his bag and glanced over at her. “I need to draw blood. We think that nurse might have given him something else to make him this way. We have to take some blood to test.”
Fury tensed and growled but Ellie held him tighter. “Fury? Listen to me. I’ve got you and you’ve got me. They are going to help you, okay? Just relax for me.”
He nodded against her stomach.
Justice turned and spoke softly to someone out of sight in the hallway. “Go check the nurse’s things and the house. Bring whatever drugs you find to us.” Justice faced Ellie. “How is he doing?”
“He’s doing good. How is Breeze?”
“She’s worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
Ellie watched Ted and Trisha as they examined Fury. She rubbed him, made soft, soothing sounds often, and talked him in to staying very still as Trisha took blood from his arm. He tensed and growled a few times but he kept holding Ellie, listening to her words. His face stayed pressed against her stomach the entire time.
“Fury?” Ted spoke softly. “How do you feel, son?”
“Rage,” Fury whispered. “Horny. Hard to think. My skin burns. Confused. So much pain. I want to fuck Ellie, and if I don’t, I think I might die.”
Ellie blushed but she wasn’t shocked. She knew he was sexually excited. His jeans were torn open with his lap against her hip. He wore boxer briefs and she couldn’t miss the feel of the bulge against her.
“Are you experiencing any bloodlust?” Ted reached into his bag and withdrew a vial of clear liquid. He pulled out a syringe next, removing it from the sterile container.
Fury nodded. “I desperately want to tear something apart.”
“Son, I won’t do it if you don’t want me to but can I give you a shot? It will put you to sleep. You will be down for a few hours and hopefully whatever was put into your system will work out by the time you come back around. If something goes wrong both Trisha and I are here to attend you immediately.”
Fear gripped Ellie. “No! Tiger said something about how giving him more drugs could kill him.”
The doctor met her gaze grimly. “That was concern over another drug but that isn’t what we thought he’d been drugged with. I’m fairly certain he can take a sedative. We’re right here on hand if we’re wrong.” He held up a second shot. “That’s what this is for if his heart stops. We’re prepared but he is suffering. He needs to be sedated.”
Fury tensed hard but then he relaxed. “Do it,” he growled. “Don’t leave me, Ellie.” He clutched her tighter.
“I won’t let you go,” Ellie swore softly.
Ted gave Fury the shot and then nodded at Ellie. “It will only take a few minutes. He’ll relax and go to sleep.”
“I’m right here, Fury,” Ellie whispered to him. “I won’t leave your side. When you wake up things will be better, all right? I’ll be the first thing you see.”
He nodded into her stomach. Minutes passed and she realized Fury’s body on hers seemed heavier, nearly crushing her legs. She had to hold him against her chest to keep his head from rolling back at an odd angle. His arms slackened around her waist until they rested against the floor behind her ass. She nodded at Trisha and Ted.
“He’s out.”
“Let’s move him off you.” Justice entered the bedroom.
“Let’s not,” Ellie countered. “I’m kind of naked.”
“We’ll do it in a way that won’t flash you to the guys.” Trisha rose to her feet. “Ted, you and Justice take his arms. Close your eyes when you lift him. I’ll hand Ellie a towel to wrap around her. After we get her out from under him, she can go inside the bathroom and get dressed while you lift him onto the bed. It’s the only place in here not destroyed.”
They carefully maneuvered Fury with their eyes closed and Ellie covered her naked body with the towel Trisha fetched. She was pulled to her feet with Trisha’s help and then fled into the bathroom. She closed the door and hurried to put on her dirty clothes, still scattered across the floor where she’d left them. By the time she stepped back into the bedroom, the room had filled with a few more people. Fury lay sprawled on his back, unconscious. Ellie moved to his side and sat on the edge of the mattress. She clutched his limp hand.
“He’ll be fine,” Ted assured her.
“Look at this,” Trisha ground out. She held up a dark brown bottle from Belinda’s medical bag that had been delivered to the bedroom. “It’s Freltridontomez.”
Ted cursed. “Damn. Good thing we didn’t tranquilize him when he was on his feet. He could have stroked out from the rage at being shot before it took effect.”
“What is that?” Ellie glanced at both doctors, wanting an answer.
“It is a chemical that attacks the mind. It sends false signals to the brain that it’s in blinding pain without the actual physical discomfort. It usually drives the patient into rage, confusion, and destroys rational thinking. It would explain all Fury’s symptoms. He would have progressively grown worse within the hour.”
“Why would she do it?” Trisha continued to search through the supposed nurse’s bag. “She knew it would be dangerous as hell. From what I’ve read in the reports they used that drug occasionally on a few Species to force physical fights between their test subjects.”
“They did,” Tiger growled from the door. “I’ve been given that shit before. I couldn’t even remember my name. I just wanted to kill something and anything that moved would have provoked me. When I’d come out of it I could barely remember what happened and sometimes I couldn’t remember anything at all.”
Ellie stared at Tiger as he walked into the bedroom and wondered if he was angry that she’d ditched him at Trisha’s house.
He shot her a glare. “You are in deep shit with me. Don’t ever give me the slip again or steal my car.”
“Don’t be stupid enough to leave the keys inside the ignition. I told you he wouldn’t hurt me,” Ellie shot back, angry that he’d get attitude with her.
“I made that decision,” Justice sighed. “I feared your life was in danger, Ellie.”
“Well, I told you he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“You got lucky,” Trisha intervened. “I’ve read the reports on a handful of subjects Mercile tested this drug on.” Trisha shook her head. “Brutal, insane, killing rage is usually the result. Then again I doubt they ever tried to turn a man on the woman he is in love with.”
Breeze took hesitant steps into the bedroom. She’d cleaned her face and had on a new shirt. Ellie studied her with concern. “Are you all right?”
Breeze approached and sat at the end of the bed. She frowned at Ellie. “I’m good. You on the other hand are either very foolish or very in love.”
“I’m kind of both,” Ellie admitted.
A smile flashed on Breeze’s face before she flinched, gently touching her mouth. It looked swollen and a bruise had started to form. Ellie studied the injured area.
“I’m sorry he hit you. I know he normally wouldn’t have.”
“He wanted you and grew very angry that he had me here instead. I figured that out pretty quick. He could have hurt me a lot worse but he didn’t.” Breeze darted a glance at Fury. “You chose well, Ellie. He
’s an amazing male with extremely good control.”
“How can you say that after he hit you? You should be pretty upset at him.” Ellie didn’t understand Breeze’s reaction.
“I’ve seen our males go crazy and they can inflict a lot of pain but he fought it all the way. He only hit me when I touched him or when I tried to stop him from going to you. He didn’t try to wound me but instead batted me away with slaps.” She hesitated. “He didn’t hurt you. You don’t know how much he must love you to fight through all that was going on inside him to calm down.” Breeze nodded. “He’s a good male, a very strong one, and very protective of you. You chose well, Ellie Brower.”
Ellie nodded. “Thank you for risking yourself for me.”
“This is a love fest.” Tiger groaned. “Please stop.”
Slade laughed. “I wasn’t going to say it but group hug?”
“Stop it,” Justice ordered softly. He looked mildly irritated as his gaze darted between his men. “It’s sabotage. Slade, go speak to that nurse.” Anger tensed his features. “I don’t care what it takes but find out why she did this and who helped her.”
Tiger’s smile faded. “May I go with him?”
Justice studied him with suspicion. “You spent time with that woman. Do you have feelings for her?”
“No. I’m angry. She did this right under my nose. If Slade has a problem terrifying some answers out of her, I don’t. I won’t kill her but she might wish I would.”
“Fine.” Justice paused. “Be aware of the security cameras and know the humans will watch. They may not approve of your methods.”
“Not a problem.” Slade smiled coldly before he turned and strode away.
Ellie watched Tiger follow him until they were out of sight. Her attention shifted to Justice. “Why would someone do this to Fury?”
“You,” Ted answered instead. “Well, the relationship you have with Fury has been high on the radar of the media and the hate groups that don’t want a fairytale romance.”
“I think it’s more than that,” Trisha declared. “Mercile Industries would love nothing better than if Fury had gone insane and killed Ellie. Let’s face it. They look like shit for having kept people locked up inside their research facilities and running illegal experiments on them. They keep stating that New Species are more animal than human, trying to desensitize the media and general public who support them. If a New Species male turned murderous and killed his live-in human girlfriend it would look really bad. Ellie and Fury are the perfect targets since the world is watching them so closely.”
“Beatrice Thorton worked for Mercile Industries,” Breeze growled.
“Who’s Beatrice Thorton?” Ellie frowned.
“She’s an ex-employee of Mercile Industries. You knew her by the name she’s going by now, Belinda Thomas,” Justice said as he walked to the upended dresser and sat on the edge of it.
“That bitch worked for Mercile Industries?” Shocked, Ellie gawked at Breeze for confirmation.
“I recognized her stench when I walked inside the house.” Anger deepened Breeze’s voice into a near snarl. “I would never forget an enemy. She was the worst. She tortured our people and always pushed needles into us with a big grin. She enjoyed our pain.” Breeze turned to Justice. “You sure you never met her?”
“No. She must have only worked on the female side of the testing facility.”
“You would think she would have been afraid that one of you might recognize her,” Ted speculated.
“Maybe she thought she would be safe since she only worked with women New Species.” Ellie glanced around the room. “I mean, the only woman in Fury’s life is me. They know I’m not going to recognize her. I worked in the testing facility where Fury was held captive and she didn’t work that one. It’s public knowledge that all the New Species women live inside a dorm and there aren’t supposed to be many of them here. I watch the news and they make it sound as though there’s only a handful.”
“You worked for Mercile Industries?” Ted glared at Ellie.
“It’s not what you’re thinking.” Justice shot the doctor a frown. “She worked for Victor Helio. You’ve met him. He approached Ellie when she had a job at Mercile Industries in their corporate offices, not knowing what they really did. He approached her, told her what they suspected, and asked for her help to discover the truth. She smuggled out evidence, risked her life to do it, and gave them enough to get search warrants. Some of the medical and testing reports you’ve read are ones she stole.”
“Oh.” Ted relaxed. “You were brave. What made you do it? Did you always want to be a secret spy or work for a police agency?”
Ellie held back a snort. “No. I’m not that adventurous. It just really got to me when Victor Helio came to me and told me what the rumors were. I had to do anything I could to find out if they were really experimenting on people. I was horrified at the concept.”
“You’re a good person.” Ted spoke to Trisha next. “If they are using drugs to attack New Species we need to be aware of it. We need a lockdown on all incoming products that could be affected.”
“Starting with the food,” Trisha agreed.
“You think it’s possible?” Justice looked wary.
“I’m thinking about what I could do if I wanted to sabotage your people, Justice. Contaminating the food would drive everyone crazy,” Ted stated grimly.
“Wouldn’t it affect humans too?” Justice didn’t look convinced.
Ted shrugged. “Sure but I bet they don’t care. They are being prosecuted for what they did to you and their only defense is claiming you aren’t human. What would hurt New Species more than making at least a good portion of you go nuts enough to turn it into a bloodbath, and the press running with that story?”
“We don’t even know if the plot is that big,” Justice growled. “I don’t want to panic anyone.”
“Right,” Ted snapped. “I’m going to start looking for something that will counteract Freltridontomez. That way if they use it again we can use darts to deliver an antidote to anyone affected before someone gets hurt. That is the safest thing to do. As I said before, if we sedated them while they are in a full-blown, drug-induced rage it would most likely kill them. They could have a stroke or a heart attack.”
Trisha stood. “Do you think we can find something for it? We’ll have to work quickly, Ted. We also should order random testing on the water and food shipped in.”
“They had some research notes included with the file we got about Freltridontomez. They may have been close to finding a drug to counteract it.” Ted collected his bag. “Just because we don’t have the end result on paper doesn’t mean it’s not right there.”
“Let’s go.” Trisha grabbed hers. On her way out she stopped to smile at Ellie. “When Fury wakes up he might have a headache and be sore but he should be fine. If not, give us a call. We’ll be at the medical center.”
“Wow,” Ellie muttered as the couple left. She arched her eyebrows at Justice. “I think my head just spun. Are they like that all the time?”
He nodded. “Ted is what you’d call paranoid but he’s the best at what he does. I don’t think it is a big-scale plot against us. Eat your meals without fear, Ellie. If they were going to attack our food or water they wouldn’t have had to send in a woman to poison Fury with her needles. They would have already attacked us that way.”
“Do you think she came from one of the hate groups or Mercile?”
“Mercile makes more sense to me. Two birds with one stone.”
“Two birds?”
His eyebrow arched. “You brought them down, Ellie. What better revenge than to make the man you risked your life to save become the man who caused your death? Fury could have killed you. The bad publicity would have crushed us in the press. Ted’s right. The only defense they have for their crimes is convincing people we aren’t human and therefore it’s impossible to abuse us. They’re facing criminal charges but we’re suing them for money as well.” br />
She let it sink in. “My vote is on Mercile too.” She checked on Fury. He slept peacefully.
“I need to make some phone calls, Ellie. I want to check on what this Beatrice Thorton is saying. I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.”
“You don’t have to stay. Thank you for everything today, by the way. Well, except for having Tiger toss me inside a car trunk and kidnap me.”
He winced. “I’ll be in the other room. We need to stay close to make sure Fury is really fine when he wakes.” Justice jerked his head at his men to follow him out.
Breeze stood. “I’m going home.”
Ellie gave Breeze a sincere look to convey her gratitude. “You’re really a good friend to have come today and I won’t forget it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“I’ll see you when you come back to work. Take a few days. We’re good at the dorm. Don’t worry about us.”
“Thanks.”
Ellie watched everyone leave the bedroom. She was alone with Fury again. She turned on her side and curled against his warm body.
“I love you,” she whispered. She just held him, knowing one of them could have died. It scared the hell out of her.
Chapter Twenty
Ellie wanted to go down to the detention center and punch Beatrice Thorton, otherwise known as Nurse Bitch, Belinda Thomas. Tiger and Slade had interrogated the woman until she’d broken and confessed everything. Someone from Mercile Industries had hired her to sabotage the New Species for the bad publicity it would earn. They thought making Fury resemble an unfit animal would turn public opinion in their favor.
Fury had recovered fully but he’d been really upset that he’d lost control the way he had. The blame fell strictly on Nurse Bitch’s shoulders for having no morals. The NSO turned the woman over to the authorities to be prosecuted for a long list of crimes but it barely consoled Ellie or Fury.
That bitch had nearly destroyed their lives. She’d picked Fury because he’d been easily accessible after the shooting. She’d just had to be hired to do homecare and bribe a few people on the list to refuse to work for New Species.