“I fought back. Fuckers gave me something that blocks my healing.”
Magic inhibitor. Madison pulled out the other green syringe. “This might help. It’s a stimulant. I already feel my magic coming back.”
Sam nodded, and Madison injected her with the stuff, then tossed the needle.
We slipped out of the room and wound our way through the halls until we reached a large door with an electronic lock. “I think this is the lab,” I whispered, then tapped the quack’s keycard. The door slid open, but the room beyond looked nothing like a laboratory. There were a few derelict computers on the benches, but they hadn’t seen use in ages. The walls were the same pocked concrete, and a layer of dirt coated the floor—everywhere except in the center, which was covered with arcane symbols. Bloodstains were everywhere.
Different kind of laboratory.
Two confused faces turned to us—a couple of shifters, judging by their amber-tinged eyes. One was the bastard who’d tasted my blood earlier, while the other had long hair and looked rough.
Before I could react, Sam lunged for the long-haired guy, claws extended from her fingers. She slashed his face, and streaks of blood rose across his ashen cheek. He hurled her aside, but Madison charged into the room, picked up a monitor, and threw it into his chest. “Experiment on this!” she cried, and he cras
hed backward into the table.
The blood-licker growled and stepped toward me. The creepy look on his face had my skin crawling, but I loosened my body and raised my fists, remembering what Jaxson had taught me. When he charged, I ducked to the side, but he managed to get a grip on my bicep. I brought my other fist down onto his wrist with more force than I’d ever had, breaking his hold. He turned and faced me, his hand twitching. “Why don’t you give me a taste, little pup?”
Anger flooded my senses, and oddly, the beds of my nails itched. I sprang forward, tackling his torso. A surprised look crossed his face as we hurtled into a table with several keyboards and monitors, sending them to the floor with a crash.
He clawed at me, and pain shot through my arm.
A frenzy took over me. It was like an out-of-body experience—I could watch what was happening, but I wasn’t in the driver’s seat. I punched him square in the face, feeling a crunch, either from his nose or my knuckles, but I just kept punching until he slumped back and slid off the desk. I’d never felt like I had this much strength.
I staggered back from the unconscious man, wincing at the deep throbbing in my hand. There was way more blood than there should have been. His shirt and skin were shredded. I glanced down at my blood-covered hands, stunned.
Holy shit. What had they injected me with?
I turned in a daze. On the other side of the lab bench, Sam climbed off the shifter she’d attacked. His neck was twisted at an odd angle, his eyes staring blankly.
Madison was already at the service door, fumbling with a set of keys she must have found in the room or on the dead shifter. She turned to us with a wide grin on her face. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
40
Savannah
Madison pushed open the back door to the lab. Late afternoon light illuminated a yard fronting woods. Freedom.
“Come on!” I cried, and we slipped outside and sprinted toward the trees. We made it about ten paces before alarms blared inside the building. Shouts erupted from the lab, and all three of us turned and tore into the woods.
We sprinted for safety, leaping over bushes and underbrush. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was moving faster and more nimbly than seemed possible, and I wasn’t wearing my speed boots. That was a future me problem, and right now, we were racing for our lives.
I heard trickling water nearby. A stream.
Howls cut through the forest behind and beside us, and two blurs flashed through the trees. Panic and fear colored my thoughts. How could we outrun them?
You can’t.
I looked at Sam and the witch girl. It was my fault they were in this mess, Sam because she’d been assigned to protect my ass, and Madison simply because she looked like me. I had to make this right. If I could lead the wolves away, these two might survive this. I could tell from Sam’s strained movements that the magic inhibitor antidote she’d taken hadn’t yet kicked in. Sam was a fighter, but there was no way she’d have the strength to ward off these jacked-up shifters.
The trickle of water was louder now.
“This way.” I grabbed Madison’s hand, and we turned right, sliding down an embankment. At the bottom was a small creek, fifteen feet across.
“You two go,” I whispered, pushing Madison into the water. “I’m going to lead them away.”
She jerked to a stop. “No!”
“Go! They’re after my blood. This is your one shot at getting out of here alive.” I met Sam’s eyes. “Do this for me, please. You’re strong enough to get her out. Tell Jaxson what you know. Stop Billy.”