Darkness Taunts (28 page)

I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions just yet, though. There could be an explanation this man wasn’t telling me. I knew from years of being an interrogator that one of the best ways to turn someone to your side was to cast doubt on their own. Find a weakness and exploit it. It was the old trick of divide and conquer.

The sensors wanted me to turn against the sups, and this was a good way to do it, but Lucas deserved a chance to at least defend himself before I condemned him. We’d had enough misunderstandings between us that I wasn’t going to add to them before I investigated things further.

“Do you know what the curse is exactly?” I asked. Might as well see if I couldn’t poke holes in his story.

He grunted. “If you’d been raised with us like you were supposed to be, you’d know all this.”

I froze. “What do you mean like I was supposed to be?”

“Hey, Ian,” he called over his shoulder. “Get me that birth certificate I had faxed over.”

The medic from last night came in with a paper in his hand. I shot him a dirty look, but he ignored it as he walked up to Jerome. I would never be able to look at him without knowing he’d touched me in my most intimate place while I was unconscious. Someday, he’d pay for that—they all would.

Jerome held the paper up to my face. “Does anything on this look familiar?”

I squinted at it. The birth certificate was for a Melanie Douglas, which didn’t mean anything, but as I continued down the page a few things stood out. The baby’s details were exactly like mine except the names and addresses—birth date, time, weight, everything. The father listed there was Jerome Douglas. My eyes widened in horror. No, it couldn’t be.

He withdrew the paper. “That female child has been missing since one month after she was born. Her mother took off and hid her from me. What do you think the odds are that two female sensor babies—which are extremely rare to begin with—would be born on the exact same day?”

“Not high,” I whispered. “But it could be coincidence. There’s no telling where the adoption agency that handled my paperwork got their information. Maybe my birth date isn’t even right.”

“I thought you might say that, but it wasn’t your birth date that first tipped me off about you.” He pulled a picture out of his wallet. “Does this woman look familiar?”

I peered at the grainy photo. It was worn from years of being handled over and over. The woman on it had brown hair that fell straight the same way mine did and her fine-boned features were a close copy to what I saw every time I looked in the mirror. She was probably close to my age in her mid-twenties at the time the picture was taken.

A much younger version of Jerome with auburn hair the same shade as mine was also in the photo. He had a stern look on his face. The woman he had his arm around looked uncomfortable—like she would have preferred to be somewhere else. I’d long since given up on figuring out who my parents were, but the evidence before me said I’d just found them.

“Where is she?” I asked.

He looked down at the picture. “She was a stubborn woman. Never did like having to stay at the compound or fulfilling her duty to help produce more children for our race. After you were born she made a run for it and I had to chase her down. By the time I found her, she’d gotten rid of you. She fought me and, well, it didn’t go the way I expected.”

My throat swelled. “You’re saying she’s dead. That you killed her.”

Jerome gripped me by the jaw. “Don’t be looking at me like that. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but she could fight like a hellcat. Guess you got that from her. I’ve missed her every day since so don’t think it don’t bother me.”

Oh, I had a pretty good idea how my mother would have felt about being under Jerome’s thumb. No wonder she ran. I couldn’t believe I was looking at my father for the first time only to find out he was my mother’s killer. If I hadn’t hated him before, I did now.

I looked him dead in the eye. “She didn’t love you, did she?”

He slapped me hard enough to make me bite my tongue. The taste of blood coated my mouth. Yeah, I’d struck a nerve.

“Don’t ever talk like that. I married her and made her happy. She had no problem giving me two sons…but then you came along and changed everything. She started worrying about raising a girl in the compound. I tried reassuring her, but she wanted to leave. It don’t work like that, though. For us, marriage is until death.”

I wondered what he’d think if he knew Lucas had claimed me. That it could last until death too. Jerome and the others hadn’t said anything about it. It must have been some weird supernatural thing sensors couldn’t pick up on since I couldn’t detect it either. The bite marks had faded to almost nothing, not leaving much evidence to see. Did that sensor woman from long ago get marks like mine? I wasn’t about to ask.

“What do you want from me?” I asked instead. This man clearly didn’t understand how love or family really worked. I felt for the woman who must have been my mom, but I didn’t want to talk about her with her killer anymore. Better to just find out his plans for me.

Jerome smiled. “For you to do your duty to your race. We’ve only got a handful of women back at the compound who are like us and a few more who carry the gene. There’s five men for every one of them. It ain’t enough, but with you there it will help.”

I shook my head. “I have no desire to have children, especially not with guys who kidnap and drug me. You can forget it.”

“You ain’t getting a choice in the matter,” he gave me a stern look. “I doubt any of the men will want to marry you after they find out you were spreading your legs for a nephilim, but they’ll still be glad to get a child out of you. You’ve proven you’re a little whore so it shouldn’t be hard to rotate men after each birth.”

“I’m not a whore,” I said through gritted teeth. “And I’m not going to be part of some baby factory. You won’t get me out of this city without the sups finding me.”

I’d never tell him Lucas could pinpoint my location once he regained his strength. Even if they circled the house with their blood to thwart his magic, he’d find me as soon as I stepped outside—so long as they didn’t know they needed to prevent it. My greatest advantage laid in the fact they didn’t know Lucas could use some of his powers on me. I had to hope he’d still want to find me after what happened. That the reminder of what sensors could be like didn’t turn him off.

Jerome laughed. “Little girl, they’re out there searching for you right now, but they ain’t gonna find you. As soon as we’ve got it set up, we’re gonna get you to Idaho where you belong. Right now you’re just distracting us from getting our job done with the demons and that’s gotta stop.”

“How can you possibly call yourself my father? It’s been almost twenty-seven years and the first thing you think of when you find me is to breed me to your men?” This guy was a monster.

I was too outraged to feel the hurt from his behavior. The rare times I’d allowed myself to imagine a reunion with my real parents I’d never envisioned this. When you’re adopted, you always hope you have parents out there who are sorry they gave you up and love you at first sight. Apparently, I wasn’t getting that, though I wished I could have met my mom. Instead she’d made the ultimate sacrifice to keep me safe.

Jerome looked my prone form up and down. A disgusted look came over his face. “It’s not hard to hand you over to the men when I consider where you’ve been. You might be my daughter by blood, but no real daughter of mine would’ve given herself to a nephilim.”

He wouldn’t get away with this. I had to believe eventually this would be over.

“Ian,” he called out to the man waiting in the hall. “Give her something to eat and then knock her out again. I think I like her better when she ain’t awake.”

I woke up bleary eyed to Ian changing out my IV bag. He had his back to me. A familiar sliver of light coming from the edge of the curtain told me it was daytime. How long had I been here now? It had to have been at least a couple of days.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“A little,” I said. “The drugs are messing with my appetite.”

I felt like hammered crap and wished he’d lower the dosage. It might keep my mangled wrist from hurting more, but it wasn’t helping me recover—or make escape plans. He’d practically had to carry me to the bathroom the last time I’d woken up. A mouse could kick my ass right now.

“It’s to be expected,” he said. “I’ll get you some soup. That should go down easier.”

He came back a few minutes later with a tray. It had a steaming bowl on it and a glass of orange juice. He set the food on the folding chair and came over to untie my right arm. My legs were left bound because, of course, I could really put up a fight right now. I had to accept his help to even sit up.

He put the tray on my lap and settled into the folding chair. We’d started a routine since he took over my care. I looked down and frowned at the chicken noodle soup he’d brought me. It was the same thing he’d given me last time. My hand shook as I lifted the spoon to my mouth. The evidence of how weak I’d become made me want to toss the tray across the room and give up. I prided myself on being strong and the other sensors had taken that away. The only thing keeping me going was the chance I’d eventually escape.

“I talked to Jerome about you,” Ian said.

I slurped another bite before responding. “About what?”

“He says he’ll let me have you first. We should be done dealing with the demons by the time we confirm you’re not pregnant and get back to the compound. No one will touch you before then.”

I put the spoon down and set the tray to the side. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

In fact, I thought I might throw up.

His lips twitched. “You should be glad I asked for you first. There are some men in our compound you really wouldn’t want touching you. Maybe if you please me enough I’ll decide to keep you and you won’t have to worry about getting rotated around.”

I shot him a dirty look. “Go to hell.”

“Think about it,” he said, getting up. At least he still limped when he walked. I wished I could kick him again.

He grasped my shoulder and pushed my body down on the bed. I tried to hold my good arm close, but he yanked it over my head like I hadn’t resisted at all. In the next moment it was bound tight again. He grazed his fingers across my cheek and I turned my face away. I was really going to be sick if he didn’t stop.

He leaned down close to my head and I closed my eyes. “Knowing a sup has had you disgusts me, but I can’t be picky with so few women to choose from. If I can get over my revulsion for you, you can do the same for me. It’s all in the name of propagating the race. Don’t take it personally.”

My body stayed rigid until he moved away. The sound of him digging around in his medical bag reached my ears. I risked a glance when he moved toward me again. He had the familiar needle in his hand.

“Please don’t.” It galled me to beg, but I was sick of being drugged.

He shook his head. “No choice. We did a little digging and figured out you’re ex-military. I suspect if we let you get any of your strength back you’ll cause all kinds of trouble. It’s much easier to keep you sedated until you’re safely in Idaho.”

“What about my wrist? It’s going to heal wrong if it isn’t set soon.” He was supposed to put his patient’s needs first. Didn’t they still teach that in the medical classes?

“You won’t be here much longer,” he replied, injecting the drug. “They’ll take care of it once you get to the compound. That’s the best I can do with so many sups out looking for you. Getting you away from them is our priority…except for dealing with the demons.”

Ian moved back over to the bag and tossed the needle in a plastic container. How could he keep looking at my wrist and not want to fix it? Or at least get me to someone who could set the bones? I’d stopped looking at it because it was so bent out of shape and swollen it made bile rise in my throat to see it.

My eyelids grew heavy when he walked over and patted me on my leg. The drugs were kicking in. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”

I was already losing consciousness by the time the door clicked shut.

~~~

Sometime later, I surfaced from a deep sleep. The heaviness gripping my body was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes, but something had put my senses on alert. Male and female voices reached me from near the bedroom doorway. I felt certain Jerome was one of them, but didn’t recognize the other.

“Lucas hates your kind. Are you sure he favors this one?”

“My human spy caught them practically fucking in a parking lot. I’m sure.”

“Oh, that is delicious. Lucas wouldn’t touch a sensor if he didn’t feel something for her. We may be able to use this against him. Every time I’ve tricked him into provoking the angels they’ve failed to kill him, but this woman might be the solution I’ve been looking for.”

“I’ll need help getting her back to the compound. That damned cambion has almost every supernatural in the city out looking for her—not counting Lucas and his people. It’s going to make transporting her out of here more difficult.”

“Let me worry about that. I can convince the right minds to look the other way while you move her.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Just so long as you understand I have my own plans for her.”

Wicked female laughter echoed against the walls.
“I’m sure you do.”

The voices began to fade. Soon I couldn’t detect the woman’s presence nearby anymore. I didn’t know if I could trust what I felt with my mind so groggy, but I’d been sure she was a nephilim—one far older than Lucas. Had I begun to hallucinate? Surely the sensors wouldn’t let a sup into their home?

Sleep pulled at me. I tried to fight it, needing to think, but before long the blackness took me back under.

~~~

Morning light spilled from the edges of the window. Someone must have shifted the curtains since they allowed more illumination into the room now. Ian came in with a pair of blue sweats in his hands. Guess someone had gotten tired of seeing me in the same dress.

“You want to go to the bathroom before we put these on you?” he asked.