His finger stroked her lips and dark terror gripped her insides.No!This can’t be happening.
“Remember, Caroline, I tried to do this the easy way by marrying you. You chose the hard way.” Rainier straightened and turned to the doctor. “She can handle more. Get a new batch running, now. I want your report on my desk by morning.”
Rainier strode away, reaching out to crank up the radio volume just before he left the room. The lyrics pulsed through Caroline’s veins, wrapping around her mind and sucking her under. She could barely keep her eyes open.
“I’m sorry, Caroline. I didn’t want to do this again so soon.” The doctor held up a long needle and stuck it into the large IV embedded in Caroline’s arm.
“No. . . .”
“It will be okay.” The doctor’s hand smoothed down Caroline’s face, closing her eyes. “Just relax, you won’t feel a thing.”
Forty-eight hours later…
Reaper stalked through the rainforest, dried palm leaves scraping across his face and shoulders. The low hum of insects droned in the background, punctuated by an occasional howl from the monkeys infesting the Sudan. He’d already combed his old lab, where Mankel had moved his team after the huge fall out with General Rainier. It had taken him precious weeks to locate the new lab, weeks he and his team didn’t have.
Reaper checked his watch, his mouth firming with dread. Less than seventy-two hours before his men surpassed the hard deadline for their next serum dose.
When he reached the edge of the cliff, Reaper paused and closed his eyes, allowing his heightened senses to reach out beyond the immediate area, feeling for the hidden presence of sentries. He was less than a hundred meters from his destination, a place that would never be left unguarded.
Almost instantly, he felt the vibrations in the air to his left. A man standing still, his only movement a slight twist of the shoulders and neck as he scanned the area. Reaper didn’t worry about being found—there was no way the guard could see him where he stood. Not without a pair of binoculars.
He sensed two more guards easing through the jungle within this vicinity, all of them carrying automatic rifles. Which were great for long-distance combat, but they wouldn’t stand a chance in close quarters, which was exactly how Reaper planned to take them out.
He was no longer under anyone’s control, but he still had his abilities, and he had every intention of using them to achieve his objective. Still, he needed to keep operational silence and hold his cards close to his chest. He could penetrate the bunker—Reaper knew that from personal experience.
But what was inside was more precious than any treasure. If he had to, he’d give up his life to save what was in there, although he had absolutely no intention of dying today.
The setting sun cast thick shadows smudging across the undergrowth, leaving only scattered patches of light. It would be completely dark soon and that was when he would make his move.
Reaper crouched near the cliff’s edge and pulled out a single scope. It was easy for him to spot his target down below, but it would have been nearly impossible for anyone whose abilities and senses hadn’t been enhanced by Mayhem. Vines and vegetation crisscrossed together, so thick they were like long fingers, making it appear as though there was only jungle and more jungle beyond. But Reaper’s vision picked out the small bits of gray through the canopy, the incognito keypad embedded in the rock wall on the left.
It wouldn’t be easy to take.
There was no towering structure to give away the underground bunker’s location, making it impossible to detect by satellite or infrared imagery. You either had to know the location or get lucky enough to stumble onto the spot. Reaper had known about the location for months; he’d been an unwilling resident in this place for longer than he cared to remember. And when he finally left, he’d been forced to leave his very soul behind those locked doors.
He lifted his foot to take his next step when bright lights pierced the darkness below and loud engines blasted through the air. Reaper flattened on the ground, sucking in slow deep breaths to slow his heart rate. A convoy of Humvee Raptors painted black didn’t bother trying to cover up their arrival
What the hell was happening?
He lifted the scope to his eyes again, studying each of the five vehicles that pulled to a stop directly in front of the entrance, the lead of the caravan beaming his headlights on high, spotlighting the door.
The front passenger door on the third vehicle opened and a man emerged.
General Rainier.
Reaper’s vision tunneled and the hairs on his arms stood to attention.
Rainier strode with confidence to the door. It slid open before he got within ten feet. Apparently this wasn’t the general’s first visit.
Reaper strained to hear the general’s voice across the distance. It was faint but audible. “Have Dr. Winters meet me in the lab. I want an update on our subject.”
Without another word Ranier moved through the doors like he owned the place and the grunt at the door snapped to attention with a salute.
Reaper reined in his effort. He didn’t need to hear anything else.Dr. Winters. Subject.Had they already found another team to torture?
The insidious memories crowded at the locked part in the back of Reaper’s mind, fighting with almost inhuman strength to pull him back into the darkness. The blood. The death. The agony.
The present. He needed to concentrate on the present. Reaper slammed down a mental block, shoving those memories back where they belonged. Until this moment, he’d had no idea the general had located Mankel’s private laboratory, much less that he had started experimenting on another group of soldiers. This made his mission even more critical. He couldn’t allow any other human being on this planet to go through what his team had endured.
