Page 14 of Atone in Darkness
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Every inch of Chase’s skin burned as feeling returned to his nerves. The sludge in his veins flowed slowly as it drove back the chill of death, a familiar sensation. He’d been through the process before, lately more often than he liked.
What was different this time was tracking his keeper’s every move through an angry orange haze. Why the hell had he warned her to get away? He didn’t wantto hurt her. He wanted to fuck her. Hard and fast. Then again, slow and sweet. His instincts demanded he coax her back into the cell, so he could get his hands that lush body. Yeah, he would drag her over to that narrow cot, where they could get to know each other in a whole new way. He wanted—no, needed—to tangle his fingers in that sleek fall of blond hair and watch those dark eyes stare up athim in a fog of passion as he showed her everything he knew about pleasuring a woman. Damn, he was so hard it hurt.
“Come here, Marisol. You know you want to.” He smiled to encourage her. Or maybe not, judging from the way she immediately retreated another few steps. “I’ll make it good for you. I promise.”
She started to step back again but then reversed directions and came closer to the crackedglass door. “Chase, I don’t know what’s going on right now, but this isn’t like you. Did the guards drug you again?”
He laughed low and ugly. “Why would they? They were having too much fun killing me—again.”
Now she looked more worried than scared. “You’re not making sense, Chase. If they’d killed you, you wouldn’t be standing here talking to me right now.”
He knew the truth was a secret, buthow could she not see it standing right there in front of her? She’d read his DNA. Watched him heal. Knew he wasn’t like other men. How long would it take her to piece it all together? Unable to stand still, he paced back and forth in front of the glass, kicking the remnants of the chair out of his way.
As he prowled, the orange haze faded, slowly releasing its hold on him. It was a relief tofeel the fury die, leaving a growing sense of calm in its wake. Everybody knew each Paladin came hardwired with the ability to survive death. That was the good news. The bad was that the gift varied from man to man, leaving Chase with no idea how many times he would be able to find his way back out of the darkness intact. Hell, even when things proceeded normally, the reawakening came with all ofthe primitive urges running at full throttle—the need to breathe, to eat, to mate. He paused as his gaze flicked back to his keeper.
Yeah, that last urge had yet to fade much at all.
He resumed pacing. It wasn’t talked about much, but he’d heard horror stories about what happened when a Paladinran out of luck. He’d never seen it happen firsthand, but he knew people who had. By all reports,the poor bastard woke up crazy and out to kill everyone in sight. That’s why their Handlers kept syringes handy that were loaded with a lethal combination of chemicals to shove into the Paladin’s vein to end the pain and insanity. It was a terrible burden for them to carry, but it was the last gift they could give to the men who had fought the good fight for too long.
There was no way to knowif this brush with insanity was a harbinger of things to come or if it had just been a side effect of dying twice in such a short time. He clenched his fists and fought the urge to punch the wall. It was one thing to die in the service of a higher purpose fighting alongside his brothers-in-arms.
But dying here, trapped like a rat in this cage, was such a fucking waste.
Well, if he was goingto end his existence in this world, he was going to do it on his own terms. He made one last lap of the cell before coming to a stop in front of the door.
“Let me out, Doc.”
Marisol stared back at him, a scalpel clutched tightly in her hand. Was she planning on skewering him or was she standing guard in case Dan and his buddies came back?
When she didn’t immediately move toward the door, hetried again. “I’m back in control and won’t hurt you. The guards will. If not tonight, soon.”
Although he’d still give anything to bed her right here, right now. Deciding he’d best keep that distracting tidbit to himself, he maintained a calm facade and waited for her to make up her mind exactly who it was she trusted right now—him or her coworkers.
It would cost him a lot of time and energyto finish breaking out of the cell, but he would do it if necessary. Still, it was a relief when she finally nodded and opened the door. To reassure her that he presented no threat, he retreated to the back wall of the cell.
She didn’t come in, but that was all right. They both knew that was smart on her part. He let her study him for a few seconds before breaking the silence. “I’m sorry I scaredyou.”
“Apology accepted.” Her eyebrows dipped down low over her eyes. “And I’m sorry I left you for dead in here. I don’t understand how that happened. I was so sure.”
“We’ve got bigger problems on our hands. The gloves are off when it comes to the guards. If they don’t come after us tonight, they will soon. They left you alone this time, but that’s not going to always be the case.”
She stilllooked doubtful. She could live in her little fantasy world, but he would fight his way out of this place or die trying. And if he came back batshit crazy, at least any men he killed would have deserved to die. The only problem was that if he left Marisol behind, then he would be no better than her mysterious employers, the ones who’d stranded her here with that bunch of animals. Right now, theguards were still on their leashes, but he wasn’t lying to her about the prospects of that continuing for much longer.
“Come on, Doc. You’re smart. You have to know time is running out for both of us. Either we work together to get out, or we both die here.”
Die again, that is. And his gut said the next time he quit breathing, the man who woke up wouldn’t be the same ChaseMosely who’d takenpride in being a Paladin. The warrior who stood the line and fought to keep the world safe from harm.
“You can trust me or you can trust them. Your choice.”
Before he could come up with another, more convincing argument, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She waved her hand in the direction of the hall outside of the lab. “What do you suggest? They patrol the halls here inside the building andperimeter of the compound outside. The whole place is also surrounded by a tall fence topped with barbed wire.”
Then she pointed at a bunch of junk sitting on the counter. “They also have batons, Tasers, and rifles. We have a few scalpels, some reagents, and half a dozen syringes filled with a tranquilizer. Not exactly an even match.”
She wasn’t wrong, but he was impressed with her ingenuity.“Now you’re thinking, Doc. Can we rig a bomb or even a flash fire with the chemicals? If so, they’ll have to evacuate when it goes off. Maybe we can slip out in the chaos.”
The way she bit her lower lip as she gave the matter some thought was sexy as hell. Rather than risk her noticing the effect she was having on him, he turned away. “If I’m going to blend in, I can’t be covered in blood. Whydon’t you see what you can come up with while I take a quick shower.”
