Without warning, she shoved the needle through Caroline’s chest and injected the drug. Caroline jerked, her back bowing off the bed. Her eyes and her mouth flew open and she gasped.
Asharp painstabbed her chest, her lungs burning like they were filling with air for the first time in years. Blinding, painful light pierced her eyes, and her blood rang in her ears.
Her heart felt like it contracted and then exploded, leaving her gasping in agony. Only there wasn’t enough air, and she fought to draw more oxygen into her starved body.
Her fingers and her toes twitched uncontrollably; her arms and legs jerked. She had about as much control of her body as a newborn colt in his first moments out of his mother’s womb.
Something suddenly heavy fell across her chest, locking her in place. Flashes of memory ripped into her. She was being held prisoner. She had to escape.
The distant sound of a female voice barely pierced her consciousness, but it was hauntingly familiar and she never wanted never to hear it again.
“Caroline.”
She tried to get her lips to work, call out for help or anything at all. What escaped her throat was a moan, her vocal chords revolting as much as her body.
Caroline gave another heave, but this one exhausted her energy and she fell limp to the table. The weight on her chest lifted and her eyelids slid shut. She had to concentrate on staying awake.
The voices grew louder, but she still couldn’t make them out over the loud roar in her head. Her entire body felt alive, itching and crawling with energy that she couldn’t use. She couldn’t do anything. Dear God—was she dying?
No, she couldn’t. She didn’t want to. She wanted to live; she wanted to experience life and love and laughter.
Her eyelid was ripped open and someone shined a piercing light in one eye and then the other. Her eyes watered instantly, her vision on overload.
“Is her heart supposed to race that fast?” Someone said in a rough and unfamiliar voice.
“Of course it is, I just gave her enough adrenaline to wake up a man twice her size,” said the familiar female voice.
Caroline tried to lick her dry lips, but her tongue had no moisture and it lay thick and unwieldy in her mouth.
“Why the fuck would you do that? Are you trying to kill her?” A man’s gravelly voice spoke with the same harsh reply
“I’ve had her in a medically induced coma for over a month. She’s only been woken up briefly when necessary. So yes, if you want her to walk out of this lab, she needed that much adrenaline.”
Her heart surged even faster in her chest as recognition flooded her entire being. She’d been kidnapped from her wedding after refusing to go through with it. She’d been held hostage in that palace. And then—and then—they had brought her here.
Who was this man? What did he want with her? And why was the lady giving her to him?
The questions whirled around her mind in a terrifying jumble that left her quaking.
Mustering all her strength, Caroline cracked her eyes open and wished she hadn’t. A man with blood splattered over his face and arms towered over her, a huge pistol with a long nozzle on the end gripped in one hand. Muscles capable of crushing steel rippled across his chest. Suited from head to toe in black, he looked like a deadly assassin come from hell to take her out.
She let her gaze wander up to his face, and what she saw there made her gasp. The soulless black eyes that stared back at her held no sympathy. They held no emotion whatsoever.
“She is the key. She holds the answer. If you leave her with me, I swear I can crack the code. I can figure out what’s missing. I can make the change permanent, and you’ll never need the serum again.” It was the female voice again.
The man spoke, “You mean she is your Guinea pig. But not anymore, doctor.”
The female scoffed and Caroline cringed inwardly. Even though her head was pounding with all the precursors of a terrible migraine, she could sense the tension rippling between the two. It was obvious the man hated Dr. Winters.
It suddenly dawned on her: Her father, a United States senator, had the kind of connections to pull this kind of muscle. This man was a soldier to his bones and a killer in his blood. He must have been sent here to rescue her. And that realization put him instantly on Caroline’s side.
Desperate hope had her reaching for him. The cot fell out from beneath her body—her only support, she realized as she plummeted to the ground. But his strong arm was beneath her in an instant, saving her from the pain of hitting the hard floor.
And then her body was suspended over his arm, her naked ass hanging out of a split hospital gown. The realization of her absolute vulnerability sent another surge of adrenaline through her, shocking her system in the movement.
She flailed again, but he effortlessly lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder. The steel band of his arm anchored her legs to his chest, and he must have realized exactly what she had been worried about because he hooked the material of her gown and crossed it over the other side, protecting her bare skin.
Relief swamped her, his simple gesture won her over completely. He had been sent by her father; she was certain of it.
