That assumption was confirmed when the spawn shoved her through an arched opening at the end of the corridor, revealing a huge open space containing the largest swimming pool Hadley had ever seen outside of the Olympics. The pool was empty and as filthy as the rest of the place, but from the marble flooring and the matching fluted columns holding up the ceiling, it was clear the place had once been stunning. Throw in the antique leaded glass floor-to-ceiling windows along the far wall and it felt like she was standing in some kind of period piece movie set.
Hadley would have gawked longer, but the slack-jawed spawn almost jerked her off her feet as he continued to drag her to the far side of the pool. The marble floor was covered in dirt and debris, forcing her to pay extra attention to where she walked so she didn’t fall on her face.
She was so busy trying to stay upright that it took several seconds to realize she wasn’t the only one being pushed toward the shallow end of the empty pool. Two men and a woman were being nudged over the edge and down to the sloping bottom. All three looked terrified as the spawn herded them toward the deeper end of the pool where a dozen other people were already waiting in the soupy, stagnant water gathered there.
The group in the pool was an eclectic bunch, men and women ranging in age from mid-teens to late sixties. Many of them were bleeding—some severely—and Hadley wondered if they’d fought back at some point during their capture. If so, it hadn’t gotten them anywhere.
Hadley expected the man to shove her into the pool with the rest of the captives, so she was surprised when the spawn continued to pull her beyond it, stopping when they reached one of the large fluted columns.
“What are you doing?” she half-shouted in alarm when he shoved her back against the column.
The question was stupid, of course, and he didn’t bother to answer as he tied her to the column with a piece of velvet that looked like the sash from a curtain. Hadley yanked on the cords, hoping they were old enough for her to break them, but no such luck. The voice in the back of her mind kept assuring her that Carter would show up, but she knew she had to be ready to help herself if the opportunity ever came.
Looking around, Hadley realized there were more spawn than she’d expected. Besides the one who’d dragged her into the room, there were eight other men, all wearing the same slightly dazed expression. She recognized two of them from their photos at the briefing at the SWAT compound, but the other six were strangers to her. And all of them were ready to feed. The horrifying thought had her fighting her bonds even harder.
“There’s no need to struggle yet,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
She twisted her head around as far as possible to see Strickland approaching from behind her. The skinwalker stopped beside her, casually leaning his shoulder against the column inches from her head. Being so close to him when he was gazing at her like a piece of meat he was looking forward to eating made her skin crawl.
“The feeding frenzy will take at least an hour, perhaps as much as three or four. They might even be at it until sunrise. But you, my sweet Dr. Delacroix, will be safe here with me the entire time my children eat. I would never let any of them hurt what’s mine.”
If her skin had been crawling before, it was damn well running away now. She felt dirty just listening to him speak. She couldn’t believe how disturbed this man was, and how close she was to being sick.
“You’re disgusting,” Hadley hissed, turning so she was looking toward the poor people trapped in the deep end of the pool instead of Strickland. “Those are human beings in there, not food. The way you portray their horrible deaths—and mine—as nothing of merit reveals how low and inhuman you really are.”
Strickland laughed, moving around to stand in front of her, giving her no choice but to look at him. The smirk on his face was both condescending and vile at the same time.
“I’m disgusting and inhuman for eating them?” He regarded her with a superior look. “Do you get this worked up over a dead cow or a chicken, too?”
Hadley stared, her mind momentarily blank at such a ludicrous question. “That’s different. We don’t traumatize them and then eat them alive.”
He shrugged. “There’s no difference as far as I’m concerned. Humans eat cows and wear their skins. I eat humans and wear their skins.”
She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling cold all over.
Strickland leaned in close, his face only inches from hers, the dead look in his eyes making her insides quiver. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re nothing but a two-legged cow ready for the slaughter.”
The cold, dispassionate way Strickland spoke those words convinced Hadley that anything she said would be a waste of breath. The creature in front of her might appear human, but it was clear there was no humanity left inside it.
Before she could even think about what might happen next, Strickland turned and looked at the spawn gathered around the edge of the pool. With a single gesture from him, all nine of the drugged-up creatures—Hadley refused to think of them as humans any longer—jumped down into the pool and advanced toward the terrified people huddled together in the deep end.
“You might want to watch this closely,” Strickland said, glancing over his shoulder at her with an expression Hadley could describe as proud. “To complete the transition to skinwalker, my spawn will need to eat from several of the captives. They’ll be slightly cautious at first because they’re still mostly human at this point and won’t want to eat something that looks like themselves but the need to feed will take over at some point. When that happens, they’ll become a true skinwalker. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”
Hadley yanked at the sash wrapped around her wrists, but with her arms twisted around the column like they were, she could barely generate any force against the material. These people were going to be savaged and eaten, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Even if she got free, what could she truly do?
The people in the pool began screaming and shouting, some seeking to hide behind the others and others attempting to climb the mold-streaked walls of the pool while a few bravely stepped forward as if they hoped to protect those behind them. They’d only get savaged that much sooner, but she admired them all the same.
As the screams increased in pitch, Hadley closed her eyes, unable to watch. Which is why she had no idea what the thundering noise filling the air was until she opened them and saw the leaded glass from several of the windows shattering to a million pieces against the marble floor, followed by four men swinging into the room. Glass was still falling as the spawn leaped out of the pool to confront them.
Hadley strained to see Carter in the whirlwind of moving bodies, barely catching sight of him before Strickland was at her side, tearing through the sash attaching her to the column and dragging her toward the archway.
“Carter!” Hadley screamed as Strickland ripped her off her feet and carried her out of the pool area so fast it stole her breath.
The last thing she saw before he turned down the hallway that led to the storage room was Carter fighting two spawn, his eyes desperately seeking hers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
