Page 63 of Revenant

I glance at the hand that touched me, pleased to note the skin is lobster red and slightly blistered.

Just from a touch.

I run my hand along the ribs they viciously jabbed and startle when rough skin meets my fingertips. Before I can probe deeper, whatever I feel melts away to smooth skin. I’m unsure if I should be pleased at the new changes, or disturbed.

As the guards retreat, it’s a struggle not to follow and eliminate the threat now before it becomes a problem. My hand automatically drops to my thigh, where my blades should rest, and I curse when I come up empty.

Until I notice the sharp black claws at the edges of my nails that easily slice through my pants. Even as I watch, they shrinkback into normal-looking hands. Huh…convenient. I decide that I can work with the changes if it means that I can protect Rue and the boys better.

Once the stooges are gone, I reluctantly take my seat and roll up my sleeve. The doctor eyes me like I’m his favorite new specimen, and I barely cover my grimace. The last thing I want is him curious.

When he shoves a needle into my arm, the tip snaps off before it can pierce my flesh. The doctor’s eyebrows shoot up, and he murmurs almost to himself, “How curious.”

“You’d think with as much money as this place costs, you could do better than faulty equipment,” I quip, keeping my expression bland, daring him to call me a liar.

“Of course.” The smug bastard doesn’t hesitate to grab another needle, a hint of excitement shining in his eyes. “Let’s try it again, shall we?”

Acting on a hunch, I grab the needle off the counter and stab it into my arm. It passes through the skin without a problem, and I barely resist grimacing at the sharp pinch as I watch my blood fill the small vial.

The doctor watches the blood with an avarice that has my insides curdling like sour milk. I yank out the needle when the vial is filled, tempted to smash it when the doctor speaks in a mild tone. “You and your boys will want to continue volunteering for my study, or I worry Miss Rue’s testing will become…difficult.”

“What do you want?” I ask harshly, grimacing when unexpected fangs nick the inside of my lip and blood fills my mouth as I struggle to hold back my rage.

“Something about your group is unique.” The doctor snatches the vial from me before I can give in to the urge to crush it. “I’ve never had such wild success with a serum. I need to domore tests, study the results, and see if it’s possible to duplicate the achievement.”

“Or?” I slowly stand to my full height until I’m towering over him, but the doctor doesn’t even flinch.

“If I can’t duplicate the results, Miss Rue will find her stay decidedly unpleasant.” The doctor tucks the vial into his pocket, never once looking away from me as he utters his threat. “If the answers are in her blood, the best way to get what I want is to breed her.”

I freeze, sure that I must have misunderstood. Before I can gather my wits, the doctor scurries away. It’s only when a sharp crack fills the room that I shake away my paralysis. When I look down, it’s to see the granite countertop had cracked, snapping off in my grip.

My eyes immediately sweep toward Rue, needing to confirm for myself that she is safe. The doctor has moved on to the other guys, taking their blood, and it’s all I can do not to shred him into itty-bitty pieces right now.

I suspect that’s something I can do now with the new changes.

Ellis and Jace are tense, sensing something wrong. Gunner is like a shadow to Rue, hovering at her back, never allowing her to stray too far out of reach. James is watching the guards, cracking his neck side to side, like he’s deciding which one he wants to take apart first.

The guys would follow my lead without hesitation…including getting themselves killed in the process. No, we need to be careful and plan our escape. Tonight. I won’t risk anything else happening to Rue. The lab doesn’t have any cryogenics equipment, which means if they want her pregnant, they will have to do it the old-fashioned way.

The thought of anyone touching Rue has steam rising from my skin. The image of her pregnant with our child, only to have the doctor take that child for some experiment…

Over my fucking dead body.

Chapter Twenty-three

RUE

After the doctor takes samples of our blood, one vial from each of the guys and a whole bag from me, he scurries from the room like a rat clutching his prize to his chest. I think he would’ve taken more, willingly drained me, if he could do it without killing me. When the doctor reached for a second bag, Gunner began growling and stalked closer. I’m not even sure if it was a conscious thought on his part or instinct, like a predator coming in for the kill.

Gunner tenses, ready to leap after the fleeing doctor and take down his prey…when I step into his path. He halts, the rumble in his chest cutting off abruptly, and blinks in surprise, as if bewildered at how I managed to materialize out of thin air. He wraps his arms around me, and I snuggle against his chest.

I would protest…but why? I’m exactly where I want to be. I run my hands over him, the impulse to inspect every inch of him and make sure he’s okay impossible to resist. The rest of the guys crowd close, each placing a hand on me…except for Hicks, who stands guard.

I reluctantly pull away, my worry spiking as I track his line of sight.

The soldiers linger in the room long after the doctor, and I don’t like the way a few of them cast looks of retribution in Hicks’ direction. Everyone knows you don’t fuck with the guards, especially when they have access to you twenty-four-seven. After they finally turn and stride from the room, something about the way Hicks watches the door has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.

Though I know Hicks won’t hurt me, I still approach him cautiously. With the new changes due to the serum, I don’t want to startle him. I place my hand on his arm, then nearly jerk back when the heat radiating from his body is almost too hot to touch.

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