She blinked and felt her fingers tingle. A dart of pain, and then relief as her claws extended for the first time.
“She’s doing it, Dr. Lang.” Yates smiled.
He smelled…off. Yet healthy, unlike Myers, who looked at her with an unwholesome lust. He’d been twisted inside since becoming Circ, and he stank of wrongness—an evil, cancerous creature she’d seen a time or two when working in Portland. The giant of a man with red eyes and serrated teeth, a man who wasn’t a man at all, but something terrifying.
Kennedy blinked and looked around, sensing everything with a clarity that astounded her. She could sense down to the smallest detail, from their fluttering pulses to their racing hearts, the mist of arousal and the miasma of fear that never quite left Myers.
Beyond the window she identified Smith and Lang byfeel, a kind of psychic knowing. But she couldn’t hear them, not like she could hear the many people walking past the lab in the hallway.Must have sound-proofed walls in there.Her beast agreed.
So she listened with her mind instead, hearing their words as thoughts while they spoke.
“Dr. Lang, I think we need to terminate Caldane. And maybe even Sheer. I heard them talking the other night. They seem to be planning something.”
“I know.” Lang sounded amused. “I told Sheer to make friends again. The matter of which one leads their pack has been solved. Caldane is clearly stronger, but he’s insane, and he knows it. I believe conceding the leadership to Sheer has let them ease back into acceptable modified roles. It’s time to bring them back into the group and tie them to Yates and Myers once more.”
“Myers will regress.” Smith didn’t sound upset at the idea.
“Yes. I look forward to seeing what the more dominant members will do to his mental faculties.”
“So which of the females will you pair with them? With Bailey Duncan gone, we need someone else. Knight looks promising.”
God no.Kennedy flinched and reminded herself to pretend she heard nothing. They didn’t know how far her telepathy reached. And she had no intention of telling them she could listen to those close by. She didn’t need to be right next to a person to hear his or her thoughts, as Dr. Lang assumed.
“I agree. Perhaps mating with the team will shut her up. I swear, she’s always on her high horse about one thing or another. We both know scientific progress demands sacrifice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perhaps you should talk to her, Duane. Get her to see how much she’s helping us in the name of research.”
“I’d love to, Dr. Lang.”
Lang laughed. “Excellent. If anyone can get our Ms. Knight to show some respect for the work we do, it’s you.”Over the intercom, he said, “Myers, show our guest how quickly she’ll heal from a few superficial wounds.”
Myers smiled. Kennedy balked. She tried to mentally communicate with his beast, but it made no difference. Myers came at her, and knowing she wasn’t yet ready to escape, she let him. She wanted them to think her weaker than she was. Her beast, to her surprise, agreed.
The cuts to her arms and chest hurt but started healing right away. But when Myers tried to gouge out an eye, she retaliated with a claw to his groin.
He howled in pain.
Behind him, Yates laughed. “Fuckhead. Don’t go for the eyes.” He gave Kennedy an assessing look. Then he launched himself at her with incredible speed and shoved her up against the wall, his elbow at her throat, blocking her air.
She gasped, struggling to get free. But the asshole was sostrong.
“Good girl. Play for our audience,” Yates whispered. He leaned in and kissed her. The jerk used a lot of tongue before piercing her lips with his fangs. Nothing too rough, considering what she’d expected, though it hurt. But feeling his erection against her belly, smelling the virulent musk of his beast… She wanted to vomit.
He pulled back, breathing hard. One hand went to her breast and squeezed.
When she tried to shove her claws into his dick, he stopped her by crushing her wrist, snapping bones.
The pain made her cry out, but she only managed a whimper, his forearm effectively muting her.
This one we kill slowly.Her beast committed his smell to memory.
Kennedy let herself fall limp. The act he was waiting for, apparently, for as soon as she relaxed, Yates took his arm away and caught her before she could fall. Then the sick bastard cradled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
“She’s good, Dr. Lang. I take it we’re keeping this one?”
“I think so. She’ll make a fine addition to your team.”
