Page 58 of Sergi
I cringed at the thought but couldn’t muster up remorse for the dead guard. Not after all the shifters who’d been tortured and killed. “What happened to the shifter?”
“They terminated him.”
That bothered me. Yes, he had been genetically changed, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be reversed. I wasn’t a scientist and didn’t know that for sure, but had anybody even tried?
“How do you know this?”
“They asked me to clean the lab where they performed the autopsy.”
He didn’t have to say anymore. The staff ignored us. We were such good little doggies.
I lifted the bucket into a sink and filled it with water. How much longer could we allow this to go on?
We had cleaned the floors and were working on the cabinets when S-272 asked, “What of the vampire prisoner?”
I told him of his torture and the Magic Poppy. “From what Sergi, that’s the vampire’s name, has told me, the drug is highly addictive and meant to force his beast out.”
S-272 paled. “Is that what the blood was for?”
I glanced at the lab assistants, who were too busy with their noses in their computers to care about us. “What do you mean?”
He quietly snorted. “You think I didn’t see you steal blood vials from the lab?”
Well, damn. I thought he might have seen me, but he’d never said anything. “I thought it might help him fight the drug.”
“Did it?”
I shrugged and sprayed a countertop then wiped it down. “Sergi seemed to think so, especially with the vial of Blood Poppy you gave me.
“This Blood Poppy will cure him?”
“Enough to calm the beast.” I didn’t want to mention the beast appeared to settle when he’d caught my scent, which was before Sergi drank the Blood Poppy. I wasn’t sure what to make of that myself.
“Did you tell him about the door?”
“Yes.” When I hesitated as if I had something more to say, he grabbed my wrist.
“This isn’t a game.”
Whatever I was going to say next flew out the proverbial window. My eyes widened at his touch.
He’d never touched me before, other than our arms or legs occasionally connecting as we watched the experiments. He might have grabbed my sleeve, but never a skin-on-skin touch. Now I knew why. I’d misunderstood the energy I’d felt, believing it to stem from his anger or horror.
Did the guards know? That didn’t seem possible with the responsibilities S-272 had been given, or did they believe they’d broken him?
Yet, I hadn’t sensed it until now. His simple touch sent unmistakable tingles through me that called to my wolf, and there was no other explanation.
S-272 was an Alpha.
Alex.Was that short for something? Alexandra, perhaps? Protector of men, as some remembered the meaning behind the name. It was fitting.
After she left, Sergi closed his eyes and relished the aftertaste of the Blood Poppy. Now he understood the internal battle Devon faced when dosed with the Magic Poppy, and Cressa’s recovery time when she’d drunk Colantha’s juice. And neither had proven to have much Blood Poppy in it.
He didn’t know if the volume in the two vials Alex had given him was more than what was typically used when blended in other concoctions. All he was aware of was the extra vigor that coursed through him as the Blood Poppy interacted with his blood. The BP-X she’d given him had tasted more alluring than the first vial. More potent. He wanted more of it, and he hoped the addictive properties would wear off long before his energy did.
First things first.
He flexed the muscles in his arms and fisted and unfisted his hands several times. Rather than trying to free one arm at a time, he tightened his muscles and, straining against the metal band across his chest, pulled his arms away from the wall. After a few seconds, he stopped. The bolts had loosened. One more time, maybe two, and his arms would be free.
