Page 152 of Body and Soul

There was a heavy clunk as the lock disengaged, and then Maxime was hauling me through the doorway. I stumbled over the threshold, my heart lodging in my throat as I took in the tiny, bare cell.

Gray concrete walls, a thin mattress on a metal shelf, a toilet and a sink in the corner. No windows. The air was stale and cold, reeking of bleach and hopelessness. As soon as I turned around, the door slammed shut, and the lock engaged with a series of mechanical thunks that echoed with grim finality.

I exhaled slowly and sat down on the thin mattress, ignoring the bite of springs against my spine. Algerone thought he could break me down, isolate me, twist me against the people I cared about. But he didn’t understand what it meant to stand by someone—not out of duty or convenience, but out of loyalty.

He could keep me locked up there for the rest of my life, and I’d still never turn on Shepherd.

And this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. Eventually, one of us was going to get free, and when we did, there’d be hell to pay.

The chains bit intomy wrists, cold iron chafing against skin rubbed raw from days of straining against my bonds. A growl rumbled deep in my chest as I yanked at the metal links, ignoring the fresh trickle of blood that dripped down my arms. Pain was meaningless. A fleeting distraction from the all-consuming hunger that clawed at my insides, the insatiable need to hunt, to rend, to devour.

How long had they kept me locked in this fetid hole? A week? A month? Time blurred, marked only by the infrequent arrival of some faceless lackey shoving a tray of rancid slop through the slot in the door. As if that vile filth could sate the ravenous beast inside me. I needed meat, fresh and hot and dripping with coppery blood. I needed to feel flesh tear beneath my teeth, bones snap in my jaws.

My tongue slid over my canines, saliva flooding my mouth at the thought. Eli's face flashed through my mind, those striking blue eyes wide and frightened beneath a shock of white-gold hair. My Eli. My perfect, precious little rabbit. Trappedsomewhere in this labyrinthine hellhole, alone and afraid. The need to find him, to rip apart any who dared lay a hand on him, surged through me like molten lava.

A metallic screech pierced the air, the sound of rusted hinges long neglected. I froze, every muscle coiled tight as a bowstring. Footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing louder with each passing second until they halted just outside my cell. The jangle of keys, the scrape of the lock. I shifted my weight forward onto the balls of my feet, readying myself.

The door swung open, and a guard stepped inside, his hand resting on the baton at his hip. He was a big man, thick through the chest and shoulders, but soft. Complacent. I could smell the stale coffee and day-old donuts on his breath, could hear the sluggish thud of his heartbeat. He thought he was safe behind his badge and his billy club. He thought the chains made me weak.

He was wrong.

I let my body go slack, slumping against the wall as if in defeat. The toe of a boot nudged my leg, and I lunged, a vicious blur of speed and ferocity. The chains snapped taut, jerking me to a brutal stop mere inches from the man's startled face. He reeled back with a shout, fumbling for the gun at his hip. Too slow.

My fingers closed around his wrist, yanking him forward with a vicious twist. Bones crunched beneath my grip as the guard's wrist shattered. His scream pierced the air, high and shrill with agony, but it was music to my ears. I bared my teeth in a feral grin, reveling in the hot splash of blood against my skin as I wrenched him closer, sinking my fangs into the meat of his throat.

He thrashed and bucked, his free hand scrabbling uselessly at my face, my hair, but I held fast. My jaws clamped tight, tearing at his flesh like a rabid dog. The metallic tang of blood floodedmy mouth, hot and intoxicating, igniting a firestorm of hunger in my belly. I needed more. Craved it with every fiber of my being.

I wrenched my head to the side, ripping out the guard's throat in a gout of crimson. He made a wet, gurgling sound, his eyes bulging in their sockets as he clawed at the gaping ruin of his throat. But it was too late. I watched with vicious satisfaction as the life drained from his eyes, his body sagging to the filthy concrete in a boneless heap.

I spat out a mouthful of gore, my chest heaving with the force of my bloodlust. The keys. I had to find the keys. With a growl, I patted down the body until I found the ring of keys hanging at his side.

The keys felt cold and heavy in my blood-slicked hand, the jagged metal teeth biting into my palm as I gripped them tight. I jammed the key into the lock on my shackles, twisting until the rusted metal gave way. The chains slithered to the floor in a clatter, freeing my aching wrists at last. I flexed my fingers, relishing the new range of motion, the renewed strength surging through my muscles.

I stepped over the guard's cooling corpse, the sticky crimson puddle spreading across the concrete. The scent of fresh blood hung thick in the air, metallic and intoxicating. I wanted to stay there, to tear him apart, to feed and revel in the victory of another successful hunt, but I had work to do.

I had to find Eli, had to free him and then the rest of my family. Together, we would paint these halls with the blood of our enemies, leave a trail of ruination in our wake until we were free.

I prowled into the corridor on silent feet, every sense honed razor-sharp. The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting twitching shadows across the white walls. The stench of fear hung thick in the air, a heady perfume that made my mouth water and my pulse quicken. I could practically taste their terroron my tongue, sharp and bitter like unripened fruit. They knew I was coming, could sense the approach of death like a gathering storm.

I stalked down the corridor, my footsteps near silent on the cold concrete. The blood of my first kill was already drying on my hands, flaking off in rusty red chips, but the thrill of it still sang through my veins. I was a predator among sheep, a wolf set loose in the fold.

A door opened to my left and a man in a white coat stepped out. When he saw me, he stopped dead in his tracks and stared, wide eyed. I moved without thought, instinct taking over as I lunged for him. He tried to flee, but I was faster, my hand clamping down on his shoulder. Bones crunched beneath my fingers as I wrenched him around, slamming him face-first into the wall.

He cried out in pain, but his cries fell on deaf ears. I seized a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back to expose the vulnerable column of his throat. My eyes caught on the ID badge clipped to his lapel. Dr. Han. Not a name I knew and therefore no one of importance.

“Where is the boy?” I growled.

“What boy?”

“Myboy. Eli Baker. Where is he?”

The doctor whimpered, his pulse fluttering wildly beneath my fingers like a caged bird. “I don't know! Please, I'm just a lab technician, I don't know anything about—”

I slammed his head against the concrete, a wet crunch echoing through the hallway. Blood splattered the wall, glistening in the harsh fluorescent light. “Wrong answer.”

I spun him around, clamping my hand over his mouth before he could scream. His eyes bulged as he stared up at me, tears and snot mingling with the blood streaming from his shatterednose. The sharp, coppery scent set my nerves alight, stoking the hunger that gnawed at my bones.

“Let's try this again,” I said, my voice a low, deadly purr.

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