Eyes watering, Reaper straightened his spine. “Take me there. Now.” His already rough voice was like sandpaper, his throat constricted and raw. Reaper yanked the tech from the wall and held him, dangling, in front of him. With his free hand, he pressed his pistol against the tech’s back. “You know what this is?”
“I got an idea.” There wasn’t a question in the tech’s answer. Good, he knew that Reaper meant business.
“It’s your life. Understand?”
The technician nodded rapidly. “Yes. There will be guards at the entrance to the lab. And then more inside.”
More guards, more prison wards for this supposedly voluntary torture. More men who deserved to die. “Good, now move.”
They entered the hallway, the alarm blaring, a laser boring into Reaper’s skull. His shields were being battered from all sides. The alarm, the blue-tinged lights, the memories. Each step was accomplished by sheer force of will. The technician in front of Reaper wavered in his vision. Blurry one second, determined the next.
“Are you all right?”
Reaper blinked, realizing the tech was staring over his shoulder, clearly in fear.
“Move.” He shoved the gun into the man’s back, forcing him down the hall.
The lab was at the very center of the bunker, making it impossible to penetrate without going through multiple rings and levels of security. But whereas Reaper remembered these halls being lined with multiple guards and technicians, they were now nearly empty. They reached the stopping point, a T in the hallway where they’d either have to go left or right. Reaper yanked the tech back before he could step beyond the corner and turn. The lab would be on his right. He could hear the guard’s hearts beating in their chests. “If you make a move to alert them, I will rip you limb from limb. Do you understand?” Reaper whispered into the tech’s ear.
The man trembled, his shirt collar soaked in his own sweat. “Yes, yes.”
“Good. Just act normal. I’ll take care of the rest.” Reaper released his grip, waiting for the tech to turn the corner.
The tech hesitated for a second, but Reaper lifted his gun and placed it at the base of his skull. That small nudge was the only prodding the man needed. He stumbled on his first step and then straightened, stepping toward the lab. He lifted a hand in greeting to the guards, who were still beyond Reaper’s field of vision.
“Hey, guys.” The tech’s hand shook and he cast an anxious glance in Reaper’s direction. There was no answer from the guards, but Reaper felt a shift in the atmosphere. They sensed the lab technician’s fear, registered his odd behavior.
Perfect, this was exactly what he had planned. And from the way the technician had started shaking, the man had just realized the truth: he wasn’t a distraction; he was bait.
The guards started to edge toward him, their footprints almost silent—but not to Reaper. He cast out his senses, feeling the way the waves bounced off the guards’ bodies and weapons. They each had a pistol raised, he sensed—chest level.
Reaper dropped to a knee, and dove. Gun raised, he slid across the floor right next to the tech’s feet and fired off two rounds through his silencer. The guards dropped dead before their fingers could even flinch on their triggers.
Horror swept across the tech’s face as Reaper got to his feet. “You—you killed them.”
“They needed to die. Unlock the door.”
The technician wavered, seeming to be at war with himself. He probably had friends in there, friends who could easily be sacrificed by Reaper. Cowardice won out.
Reaper swooped down and picked up one of the guard’s discarded hats and put it on. He got right behind the technician and ducked his head. The smaller man quickly punched in the access code and the door opened.
The lab was exactly like Reaper remembered it. The innocuous stretches of beaker tubes and equipment belied the deadly intent. Intent that Reaper had been too blind to see until it was much too late.
“Hey!” That was the last word the nearest tech uttered before Reaper put a bullet in his head.
There was a shifting sound, and Reaper swung around without hesitation and pulled the trigger. Another tech fell to the floor, and the tech who’d been Reaper’s reluctant helper began mumbling incoherently, focused on the two lifeless bodies on the floor. Reaper did not spare them another glance. He watched the hidden secondary entrance in the back left corner. Satisfaction slipped through him when, just as he’d predicted, the panel-covered wall slid open and guards poured out.
They rapidly fired at Reaper in short, loud bursts from their snub-nosed semi-automatic rifles. The tech standing next to Reaper took bullet after bullet into his fat, fleshy body.
With his head down, Reaper held the man’s lifeless body and fired around it. Whiz. Fuck. Whiz. Fuck. Whiz. Fuck.
The barrage of bullets ceased. Reaper peered over his shield’s shoulder and then, seeing there were no more men coming, dropped the technician.
Pistol raised in front of him, Reaper moved through the now corpse-littered floor and made his way to the opposite side of the room. The one he hadn’t been able to look at yet.
The eight test rooms, a.k.a. cells, were stacked side by side along the wall. The outward facing part was solid one-foot-thick glass capable of muffling sound and holding in any force or threat. As team leader, he’d gotten the first one, a room that had no other special qualities above the others beyond being positioned as test room number one.
But that did not mean he got the privilege of receiving the first dose every time. As a matter of fact, it was like they’d saved him for last, studying the effects on the rest of his team before injecting him.
Forcing Reaper to hear his men’s screams and live in terror and hate as he waited helplessly for his turn.
With his mind on the past, his feet took him to his former cell. Reaper attempted to step through the open doorway and sweat broke out across his forehead and armpits. He’d been caged in there like an animal for nearly a year.
“Subject T. K. Reaper.” The soft, feminine voice from his right sent shivers across his shoulders.
Reaper spun, raising his pistol at the same time, and stared into the fearless face of Dr. Winters.
