“There is only one side, and it’s not a dilemma,” Plum snapped. “You’re experimenting on and murdering innocent people. You’re creating new people and controlling them. How the fuck do you explain how this is morally okay?”
It was like talking to a wall. He stared at Plum with a frown. “We’re creating life to take the place of those species who have outgrown the world we live in.”
“No. You’re murdering species minding their business and creating mindless drones,” Lazer said.
“That’s… not exactly it, but I suppose I can see where you’re coming from,” he answered.
Bastian patted Ryker on the forearm. “I think we’re going to take this one alive. Care to scare him for a while?”
Ryker nodded.
For the first time, there was true fear in his eyes. He spun around to run but came face-to-face with Julian. And then the many arms of Ryker’s death touch surrounded him, swallowing him whole.
“What do we do about this place?” Saar asked. “Leaving it as is, isn’t an option.”
“These can’t be freed,” Taranis said, still watching the wired hybrids.
“Andtheseneed to be… disposed of,” Plum said, glaring at the things suspended in fluid.
“If this is what we find in this facility, I’m sure the others look similar,” I said. “What do we do then?”
No one answered as we considered this.
“We’re setting up a door in a nearby coffee shop that’s in-house owned,” a voice said from the radio. “Start getting the victims out. If you can’t save them, a quick death is better than anything they’ve been through already.”
Tyrus nodded.
“I found the vitals,” a voice said. Koa, maybe? He was working on the computers. “There are far more here than I care to tell you about. A quick read through tells me they’ve been implanted with some kind of radio frequency. And they’re remotely controlled.”
“Fuck,” Taranis said, taking a step back. One of the hybrids had opened his eyes and was staring at Tara.
“That was me. Sorry,” Koa said. “Just wanted to see the controls. As much as this isn’t going to sit well with anyone—"
“They need to die,” Gale interrupted, his voice flat. “Don’t they?”
“Unless you want to take the time to try and remove the implants one by one before someone realizes that we’ve compromised their facility and that you’re still inside,” Koa said. “There are a few models here, but it looks like the implants are… deep within the brain. It’s not a quick process, in or out.”
“Fine,” Bastian said. “What can you tell us about what’s in the rooms next door? How many of them stand a chance of getting out alive and recovering?”
There was silence for several minutes before Koa answered. “Take them all, but I suggest Ryker do a transport if he’s up to it. Maybe Ty or Yarak can handle a couple of them, but it’s better safe than sorry. Ryker can eliminate them without blinking an eye.”
“Heartless killer,” Tyrus said, nudging his elbow into Ryker’s side, winking at him.
Ryker’s eyes were depthless as he turned them on Tyrus. The smile that lifted his lips was chilling.
“They’re good friends,” Akello said close to my ear, chuckling. “There aren’t many that will tease Ryker, but Tyrus lives in the dark, too.”
I shivered, wrapping my arms around my middle to try to keep my heat in. To stop the trembling of fear when I knew the demon wasn’t going to hurt me.
“Let’s head downstairs,” Saar said as he moved swiftly to the door where Julian was still sitting in the dark on the other side. I wasn’t even going to ask how he got in there.
The lowest floor wasn’t anything spectacular or surprising at all. Cells upon cells, and as we suspected, most of which were occupied by humans, though there were a fair bit of monsters there, too. It wasn’t hard to determine that we were looking at shifters.
“In there,” one of the humans said, pointing to a door that I probably would have missed.
What was inside would give me nightmares for the rest of my life. It was a breeding room. There were glass cells with human women in various stages of gestation being kept like cattle. Their eyes were wide, terrified. Tear stains ran down their cheeks. They were bruised and cut up and I didn’t even have to ask where those wounds came from.
I swallowed, turning away.
