Page 27 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

THERE COULDonly be one explanation for the turmoil Milo had been through the last three days.

He was losing his mind.

Disturbed sleep, heightened senses, lack of appetite…. He couldn’t account for any of it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t nail down the moment it had all started—the day Jana arrived at the camp.

He’d had glimpses of her on and off, but they hadn’t exchanged words. That didn’t seem to matter: Each glimpse set off a reaction inside him, something akin to a nuclear explosion. Okay, it wasn’tthatsevere, but Milo’s world lurched off balance every time she was near. She had a scent like nothing he’d ever smelled before. What made it worse was that he didn’t even have to be near her—it wafted across the compound, into his nostrils, and all the way to his dick. He put that down to going far too long without sex, but he’d never experienced attraction like it.

Jana filled his head, messed up his senses, and drove him to distraction.

I need to talk to the medics.

Except that wasnotgoing to happen. Such behavior would be seen as a sign of weakness, and weakness was not tolerated, especially in someone of his rank.

Then it hit him.

Maybesheholds the key to all this.

It was a long shot, but he’d try anything to get his life back on an even keel.

Milo strode into the administration block. The main office contained six desks, but what dominated the room were thewalls covered with images of the inmates, each one with their name, system number, and date of arrival.

One hundred fifty faces took up a lot of space.

Off-duty soldiers used the office as an unofficial recreation lounge. There was no provision for such a thing, which said a lot about the way the camp functioned. Someone had set up a tablet connected to a pair of speakers, and music filtered through the air, low and unobtrusive, because heaven forbid one of the Geran leaders should decide to put in an appearance and take exception to it.

Milo hadn’t witnessed any such visits for about three months. The last one had coincided with the arrival of the two inmates whose presence had caused no end of speculation, especially about what went on in the experimental block.

Someone high up wasveryinterested in them.

Milo remembered seeing them at the Bozeman camp before he’d taken up his present post. According to their files, they were father and son. Not long after Milo’s arrival, the pair were also transferred. What came to mind was the scrawny individual who’d remained at the camp. Milo had an idea there’d been something going on between the two young men.

The soldiers stiffened as Milo walked over to the wall of images, and he waved his hand.

“Pretend I’m not here. And I’m not about to tell you to kill the music, okay?”

He’d been in their position once upon a time, and he would never forget that.

“Thank you, sir.” The men relaxed, and the chatting recommenced.

He scanned the faces that were listed alphabetically, searching for Jana. When he found her, he stared at the photo. Even though she wore the same deadpan expression as all the other inmates, those eyes seemed to lock onto his.

Milo prayed she had the answer to his questions.

“Is something wrong, sir?” One of the soldiers joined him.

Milo stabbed at Jana’s photo with his finger. “Have her brought to the reeducation center. I want to talk to her.”

The soldier snickered. “I wanna do more than talk to her. Been thinking about it a lot since she arrived. You’ve got great taste, if you don’t mind me saying so. And if you want, I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed—as long as you return the favor.” He leered. “I’m sureshewon’t complain.”

White-hot rage surged through Milo, and it took every ounce of self-control not to shift and rip the bastard’s arms out of their sockets.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that, soldier.” He kept his voice even, unable to explain his visceral reaction to the idea of anyone taking Jana against her will.

But it’s more than that.

Milo didn’t want anyone else touching her, and for the life of him, he had no clue why that should be.

The soldier froze, his face pale. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I’ll fetch her myself.” He scurried out of the room.

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