The man at the door turned, rushed out, and Wrath threw back his head. A howl tore from his throat. Lauren was gone. His gaze returned to the dead human on the floor. She’d killed him and that meant whoever had taken her would seek revenge for the death. They’d kill her as punishment.
“Keep calm,” Shadow demanded. “You can’t help her if you fall apart.”
“They will kill her.”
“We don’t know that.”
Brass cleared his throat. “There’s blood and a note on the couch.”
Wrath shoved him out of the way, leaned down and sniffed. Lauren’s scent was the only one he could pick up on the couch and he knew the smell of her blood. There was only a little of it but it didn’t ease his terror that she might be dead.
“They want the humans we captured yesterday returned to them and they want to trade Lauren for them,” Brass said after reading the note.
Wrath turned slowly and glared at Brass. “We’ll trade them.”
Brass nodded. “We will. We’ll get your female back.”
“Our male chased her outside, captured her, and carried her. We found the tracks.” Shadow said. “I don’t understand. He could have allowed her to escape yet he didn’t.”
“I will kill him,” Wrath swore.
Shadow gripped his arm and held tightly but Wrath refused to calm. He couldn’t. Mercile employees had Lauren. He knew his ragged breathing was out of control but he couldn’t get a handle on all the emotions warring inside him. She was in danger, hurt, and every instinct inside him screamed for him to do something. Anything.
“Sir?” It was their driver, the human task force male.
Brass faced him. “Yeah, Ted?”
“One guy who lives in an apartment upstairs said he saw four men and one woman show up about two hours ago. He thinks one guy is still here since he never saw him leave.” Tim’s head turned and he stared at the dead body. “I’m guessing that’s the one.”
Wrath tried to jerk away from Shadow. He had questions for the human who’d seen something but his friend pulled hard enough to make him stumble.
“No,” Shadow growled. “Calm down. You do her no good when you are in this condition. Take deep breaths.”
He fought down his rage.
“They left a number.” Brass studied Wrath. “Don’t make a sound.” He opened his cell phone, glanced around him and read the note again. “Not a sound.” He dialed and put it on speakerphone.
“I see you got my note.” The voice was female. “I don’t know this number so I assume you’re Lauren’s mate?”
Brass arched his eyebrows at Wrath but spoke before he could. “Yes. When and where do you want to make the exchange? Don’t harm Lauren or you will never see your people alive again.”
“Is my sister still alive?” The woman’s anger and distrust were easy to hear. “I want to talk to Mel right now.”
“I am not at her location as you must know but it can be arranged for you to speak to her. I would like to hear my female to make sure she is alive.”
“You’re not talking to her until I get to talk to my sister. Call me back when you’re with her. How long?”
“Give me an hour. I need to travel to where your sister is being held. She is well and so are the males who were captured with her. Her living arrangements are much more comfortable than the ones we were accustomed to while we were imprisoned.”
She snorted. “At least we let you get laid occasionally. I’m mentioning that because Lauren is going to learn all about breeding tests and being passed from cell to cell if I don’t talk to my sister in less than sixty minutes. I doubt your mate would survive since they haven’t had access to a woman in months.” She hung up.
Brass growled. “Did you catch that? She is either bluffing or she’s got more than one of our males.”
“She thinks Lauren is my mate.” Wrath wished that were true. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” Brass shook his head.
“We need to go now to reach Homeland and place that call,” Wrath said and tried to lunge for the door but Shadow jerked him back, still holding his arm. He twisted his head and flashed fangs. “Let go.”
“No.” Brass stepped closer. “We aren’t going anywhere. Tim and the secondary team are on their way to us right now. They will find out everything they can about the dead human male. We can conference call with Homeland. We don’t have to actually go there to allow this female to speak to her sister.” He paused. “They can trace the call too. We have no assurances that they’ll make the exchange in good faith. They could kill Lauren out of spite.”
“They want their people back,” Shadow reminded everyone. “They’ll keep her alive since they know that’s the deal.”
Tim Oberto strode into the apartment, a few of his team members behind him, and quickly assessed the situation. “I was informed that Lauren Henderson has been kidnapped.” He glanced at Brass. “We’ll try to get her back.”
Brass handed over the note. “We need to set up a conference call between Homeland and the kidnappers. They wish to speak to the female prisoner you captured yesterday. They want to exchange Wrath’s female for the captured humans. We will do this to get his female back.”
“But—”
“We will do this,” Brass stated firmly, cutting Tim off. “We will capture those monsters again. The sister of the female has Wrath’s future mate. Saving Species is our priority. Lauren is one of us because she belongs to him. I don’t know if your men heard us but a Species male was also here and he helped kidnap her.”
Tim gasped. “Why in the hell would one of yours betray the NSO?”
Shadow sighed. “He’s still in captivity. We smell it on him. They might have found a way to control him or perhaps he doesn’t know Mercile is his enemy. He is—”
“Dead,” Wrath snarled.
“Confused,” Shadow corrected, frowning at Wrath. “He knows no better.”
Brass nodded. “Confused.” His gaze fixed on Wrath. “He will be deemed unfit if he has harmed her with malice.”
Tim eyed Brass. “Unfit?”
“Leave it at that. He will never be a threat again if he is deemed unfit.”
Tim nodded at Brass. “We have that too for unfit humans. It’s called the death penalty and I’m all for that in some cases.”
“We need to return to your headquarters and set up this call. The faster we make the exchange, the better.” Brass stared at Wrath. “I know this must be difficult but know that everything will be done.”
“I want to be there,” Wrath demanded.
“Only if you calm.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” he swore, holding Brass’ gaze, and meant it.
Tim spoke to one of his men. “Run that dead bastard. I want to know everything on him, including where he bought his last condoms and who he used them on. Call me as soon as you have info and have someone clean this mess up. We don’t want it on the news.”
“Yes sir.” The guy saluted and stepped around them to reach the body.
* * * * *
Shadow sat in the SUV next to him and bumped his shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
“I’m afraid.”
“I know.”
“She could be suffering, hurt, or even dead. They could be lying.”
“We have her sister. Humans care about family. They won’t risk killing her if she’s useful to them. We know how Mercile works.”
Rage flooded through Wrath. “Yes. They lie and aren’t to be trusted.”
“We have what they want. Lauren is useful.”
That had to calm him because nothing else did. Another fear gripped him. “She will want nothing to do with me if she survives this. Her association with me has put her in danger.”
“Let’s deal with one problem at a time.” Shadow paused. “She would have gotten away if they hadn’t had one of our males with them. She’s smart and she killed someone trying to save her own life. She’s strong, Wrath. She’s a survivo
r. We have to keep hopeful that this will work out.”
* * * * *
Lauren was scared, tired, and hungry. Someone had turned off the lights in both hallways, the sun had gone down and it was pitch dark in the room. Strange little noises kept making her jump as she huddled in the center of the cage, too afraid to go near the sides in case that creep Marvin tried to touch her. The room was growing colder by the minute.
No way was she using the blanket in the corner. It smelled like sweat, dirt, and ten-day-old, reeking laundry. She also needed to use a bathroom desperately. Another little noise sounded but it wasn’t from the direction of the three men sharing the room with her. She hugged her chest tighter.
“Why are you afraid?” It was the unfriendly canine Species.
“I can’t see anything. What is making those sounds?”
“There are rats. They are not near you and they leave us alone.”
Shit. I don’t want to know that. “Great. I’d like to eat something instead of being on the menu for rodents. Please tell me they aren’t really big.” She imagined cat-sized ones and shivered. “How do you guys go to the bathroom?”
He paused. “We call out and they bring us a bucket.”
Ewww. She winced but she was desperate enough to do it.
The canine growled though. “We’re males and it is easy for us. I wouldn’t call out if I were you. The human will probably make you open your shirt to allow you to leave your cage. Use the blanket in your cage since you’ve refused to touch it. Toss it outside the cage.”
A rat squeaked loudly as lights were flipped on in the hallway that led to the bathrooms. Mary appeared and held out a cell phone. Confusion filled Lauren when the bitch stopped outside her cell. “Here she is. Talk to them and watch what you say.”
“Hello?”
“Lauren?” It was Wrath’s wonderful voice. “Are you well?”
“Yes. I’m okay, Wrath.”
“Has anyone harmed you?”
“No. I’m locked in a cage.”
A snarl came over the phone from him. “I’m going to get you back no matter what it takes. Trust in me.”
“I do.” Hot tears poured down her cheeks and she opened her mouth, wanted to tell him she loved him in case she never got the chance, but Mary hit a button on the phone face, lifted it to her ear, and walked a few feet away.
“Very touching,” Mary sneered. “Now you’ve heard for yourself that she’s alive and well. You have your proof of life. You’d better do exactly what I say if you want her to stay that way. The meeting will take place at five in the morning and the location will be texted to you right before then. I’m not giving you time to set up a trap and if we see anyone, your girlfriend will die. You better make sure my sister and her friends are all there or your girlfriend gets a hole in her head.”
Whatever he said made Mary pale. “I said we’d meet at five. Don’t threaten me, animal. You’ll get her back as long as you don’t screw with me.” She hung up and turned to glare at Lauren.
“Your animal needs to be put back on a leash. This is what happens when you give them a false sense of being people.”
“They are people.” Lauren gripped the bars as she rose to her feet, her legs a bit sore from sitting on the hard, cold surface. “May I use the bathroom?”
“Mark?”
A new man came down the hallway, this one smaller than the thugs who had shown up in Lauren’s apartment, and he looked worn out with his tired expression and sagging shoulders. “You bellowed?”
“Unlock her door and take her to the bathroom.”
He came forward, produced keys, and warily studied Lauren. “Don’t give me any trouble.”
“I just want to use the bathroom.”
He opened the door and Lauren moved slowly, didn’t want to give them a reason to hurt her, and noticed Mary placed another call on the cell phone. Mark pointed. “This way. It’s close and you need to leave the door open. I won’t watch you.”
“They made the deal,” Mary informed someone. “They agreed to the money too.”
The hallway was a long one and boasted male and female bathrooms and other doors that Lauren had no clue about. They had locks on them.
The guy turned his back to her and blocked the doorway. She walked to a stall. The doors had long ago been removed. It hadn’t been cleaned either and she quickly used the bathroom. He glanced at her once when she turned on water, splashed some on her face and used her finger to brush her teeth. She returned to him.
He hesitated, opened his mouth, but Mary shouted from down the hallway.
“What’s taking so long? Hurry up!”
“Go,” he ordered her, moving out of her way so she could leave the bathroom.
Mary gripped Lauren’s arm the second they walked into the large room, gave her a hard tug and returned her to her cage. Mark locked the door and Mary glared at him. “Go get 140.”
The guy fled, obviously afraid of his boss. Mary put her hands on her hips and stared at Lauren. “You really believe they are people?”
“Yes.”
“They are nothing but animals who can talk. Do you enjoy fucking one? What’s that like anyway? I’d never trust them enough not to snap my neck.”
Lauren hesitated but couldn’t refrain from answering. “I’d say you have a really good reason for that fear after meeting you.”
Mary’s lips twisted into an ugly sneer. “I would never allow an animal to shove his penis in me. I have standards. I’m not a dumpy blonde with bad hair who is so desperate she’ll let anyone fuck her. I’m assuming with your weight problem that you don’t have the luxury of being picky. You’re just happy when anything is willing to bend you over.”
Anger burned but Lauren clenched her teeth. She might be overweight but at least she wasn’t a crazy, vicious bitch. Staying alive was the priority and it really sucked not being able to respond.
“Even them.” Mary glanced at the three New Species in their cages before giving Lauren an amused look. “They’d probably fuck my grandma if I shoved her into a cage with them. You’re kind of pathetic for hooking up with one. Nobody else wanted him and you were the only taker. Sad.”
It was bad enough the woman insulted her but now she’d dragged Wrath into it. Lauren gripped the bars and stepped closer. “Wrath is as sexy as hell and did you want to know what it’s like being with him? It’s the best sex ever. He blows my mind and makes me scream. He touches me like no other man ever has, worships me, and I bet no man has ever been willing to do anything for you. I might not be gorgeous or have a model body but, lady, you’re a cold-hearted bitch who no man could ever love.”
Fury glittered in the other woman’s eyes but at that moment Mark returned with a very tall, grim-looking 140. Mary spun, backed away and pointed at Lauren. “Put him in her cage. She loves spending time with animals.”
Mark hesitated but walked over to the door, opened it, and stared up at 140. “In you go.”
“No.” He refused.
“Get in there,” Mary snapped. “Marvin is watching your girlfriend. The longer you drag your ass, the longer he’s with her. You know what a pervert he is.”
A snarl tore from 140 and he stomped through the door. Mark locked it and put space between himself and the cage. He stared at Mary. “How did it go?”
“The animal swears he’ll bring them to the exchange. Mel sounds scared but fine and mentioned they were going to prosecute her under New Species law.”
“What’s the difference?” Mark looked nervous.
“Since they are the ones who arrested her, she falls under their jurisdiction. Those fucking animals are allowed to kill her if they want.”
“Fuck,” he hissed. “You mean they can execute us?”
“Yes. I hate those fucking animals.” Mary glared at the four New Species. “All of them. I need a drink. You stay up here and watch them. Got it? I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Okay.” He didn’t look happy.
M
ary stormed through the hallway and disappeared. A door slammed and the silence in the room was absolute as Mark just stood there. He finally turned and his gaze fixed on Lauren. It looked as if he wanted to say something but instead he glanced at 140.
“I’ll go get your food.” He rushed away.
Lauren was locked in a cage with 140. He slowly turned and studied her body, sniffed, and his body language changed from rigid to near relaxed. “Marvin didn’t touch you. Good.” He paused. “I smell your fear but I won’t harm you.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded and turned, glancing at the other New Species. “How are you?”
The blond frowned. “How do you think? How is your mate? Is she better?”
140 shook his head. “No. She is still weak.”
“What’s wrong with her?”
140 snapped his gaze to Lauren. “What do you care?”
She flinched at the look of hatred in his eyes. “I am not the enemy.”
He inhaled and some of his anger faded. “You aren’t. I know this. You are with one of our kind. Tell me about him.”
“He’s a few inches taller than you and he works with a group of humans who are searching for those of your kind who haven’t been freed yet. They track down people like those assholes holding us.”
“You were telling the truth about the NSO, weren’t you?” It was the dark canine.
Lauren met his eyes. “Yes. Everything I’ve told you is true. When places like this are found by the people Wrath works with they come in to rescue us. They take you home to the NSO and you are free.”
“Tell us about them,” 140 urged.
Lauren began to talk, sharing everything she’d ever read or seen in person during her brief visit to Homeland. They listened and shock showed in their eyes often. She finally stopped. She didn’t let them know she was aware of exactly where they were in case Mary or any of her men were listening. She was afraid they’d move the New Species to a different location.