Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

Ben cracked his eyes open just in time to see Percival laugh as he moved around the room, pointing at things. The woman he assumed was his mate, and who the councilman had been talking to earlier, trailed behind him, stuffing each thing he pointed out into a bag. “It looks to me like you aren’t in the position to be making demands. We have your enforcer as a hostage, so it seems we have the upper hand.”

Ben watched as Percival strolled around the room like he didn’t have a care in the world while his mate trailed behind the man, grabbing everything he pointed to. He couldn’t see the woman’s face due to the fact that she kept her head down and her stringy hair fell in the way, but he could smell her terror from across the room. It made him want to shred every man in that room to pieces and then take her someplace safe.

“I would say this visit has been nice, but that wouldn’t be the case for you. Either way, I must go.” Percival walked over to a bookshelf and pulled it away from the wall, revealing a set of stone steps leading down.

Mitch’s watch alarm chose that moment to beep, signaling the explosives Ben had set were about to detonate. The noise seemed to set everyone off, and everything went crazy. Ben snapped his eyes open and stared directly at Mitch to let him know that his unconsciousness had all been an act. He didn’t want Mitch distracted from killing Percival by trying to save him. Ben let himself partially shift and brought his clawed hand up and raked it across Jerry’s wrist, shredding it to the bone. The gun he had been holding clattered to the ground.

With the threat against Ben’s life taken care of, he watched Mitch lunge for Percival, intent on finishing the man. Before he could get there, the little weasel grabbed Jacqueline and yanked her in front of him.

“Stay where you are, or I will rip her throat out.” Percival’s hand sported three-inch claws to back up his threat.

Ben stared into the tear-filled eyes of the woman staring up at him just as a deafening boom sounded and the floors began to shake, nearly bringing them all to their knees. Ben knew their time had run out, and he needed to save his mate. He let out a howl and dove at Percival and the woman. All three lost their balance and tumbled through the darkened stairwell that Percival had revealed.

“Ben!” He heard Mitch shout from the doorway just as another explosion sounded. Debris began to rain down from the ceiling.

“I’m okay!” Ben yelled, not wanting his friend to risk his life to save them. “Go, get out. I’ll find another way.”

“No, I’m not leaving you here. Can you get back up the stairs?”

“No. It’s blocked down here.” Ben tried to look around, but there was hardly any light. Even with his enhanced vision, he could barely see. He knew there was no way Mitch would make it in time to save him.

“Stay there, I’ll figure somethi—” Another explosion cut Mitch off.

Ben fell, cradling his mate in his arms, and huddled down to keep the falling chunks of ceiling from hitting them in the head. “Mitch! You have to get out now. That was the third bomb going off. The last one will bring the entire house down. Get out now! I’ll find another way.”

Ben knew Mitch was hesitating, not wanting to leave him behind, but Ben needed him to get out. He knew exactly what the next explosives were going to do, and he couldn’t have his friend dying on his conscience. “Think of Tessa and Nico. They need you. Run, Mitch!” That seemed to get him moving, and Ben sighed in relief as he heard Mitch’s footsteps leading away from the doorway.

“Don’t you dare die on me, Ben!” Mitch shouted.

Ben lifted Jacqueline and move into a little alcove he’d caught a glimpse of. He had just enough time to tuck his mate under him and curl over her before the last bomb went off. Ben felt searing heat on his back and a large chunk of the ceiling struck him in the head. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was the strong smell of cinnamon and fear coming from his mate.

* * * *

Ben tried to roll over, but fire shot through his limbs, stopping him from moving. He moaned and opened his eyes, blinking through the haze that covered them. Each time he opened his eyes, he prayed that he would wake up from his nightmare. Each time, he felt disappointment when he opened them and saw the same stone ceiling he had been staring at since being strapped to the bed.

He had no idea how long ago that had been. Time didn’t seem to mean anything to him anymore. Ben’s only measure of time was the scent that had kept him going. His mate. Her scent was tinged with fear and regret each time she stepped into the room, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking forward to it. Since first catching her scent, things had gone to shit pretty fast, leading up to where he was now, strapped to a bed and being continuously pumped full of god-knows-what drugs.

All Ben knew was that he had to fight whatever drugs they were giving him. He had been cut off from his wolf since the first injection, and he had never felt so alone. He felt his wolf trying to claw its way out of his body, but he wouldn’t respond whenever Ben tried to speak to him. It took all his strength to hold his wolf back and not let him take over. It became harder and harder to fight each time his mate stepped into the room with a syringe in her hand. He tried to tell himself that his mate was human and had no idea what they meant to each other, but the betrayal cut deep each time she injected him without a word or a glance and then left the room.

Ben smelled her coming and stilled himself to fight whatever she was about to give him. His mate entered the room and closed the door behind her. He heard her heart rapidly beating and watched as her shoulders tensed before she turned from the door and headed his way.

Not once had he seen his mate’s face, and it was killing him. He was a man used to getting what he wanted, and a mate was something he’d never wanted. Now, he was willing to give his last breath if she would just look up from behind her hair once and show him her eyes.

“I’m so sorry.”

Ben froze and stiffened at his mate’s touch on his arm. Her voice had been so low he was sure that if he hadn’t been a shifter he wouldn’t have heard her. It was the first time she had ever spoken to him.

“Just fight it a little while longer. I’m trying to find a way to get you out of here,” she whispered as she injected him.

Relief flooded his body. His mate was trying to help him. She wasn’t betraying him. The last thing he saw before everything went black was a pair of large violet eyes swimming with tears staring back at him.

Jacqueline Percival hung her head to hide the tears streaming down her face as she slowly closed the door to the room. She had no idea who the man being held captive inside was, but her heart literally hurt every time she had to walk away from him. The guilt of what she was doing to him weighed heavily on her chest and threatened to steal her breath. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to obey her father even if she didn’t agree with the man. He was beyond cruel, and to disobey him meant pain and suffering even for his own daughter.

Wiping the tears away, Jacqueline took a deep breath to gather her composure before heading back to the lab. She didn’t want any of her father’s mindless minions to see her upset. They wouldn’t hesitate to run and tattle to her father, and then she would have to explain herself. That was a conversation she wanted to avoid at all cost. There was no lying to her father, and there was no way she would be able to tell him she was crying because she felt some strange emotional pull to one of his prisoners. That would be an immediate death sentence for the man, and she couldn’t live with that.

“Did you give it to him?”

Jacqueline jumped when she heard her father’s voice as she entered the lab. He had caught her off guard, and that was a bad thing. She swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking. “Yes, Father. I did as you asked. He passed out as soon as I injected him.”

“Hmm,” her father said as he slowly strolled around the room.

Oh God. Does suspect something?
She shoved her hand into her lab coat and gripped the syringe she’d just used on the prisoner. The slim plastic tube slid against her wet palm, reminding her of what she had just done. Had she just signed her own death warrant?

“And how did the prisoner react to this latest round of treatments?” her father asked as he fondled a few sheets of paper on her desk before perching himself on it.

Jacqueline took a moment to gather her thoughts before answering. “He’s strong. He is fighting the drugs, but this latest round knocked him out almost immediately. I think he is wearing down.” It was mostly the truth. Her father didn’t need to know that the reason the prisoner had passed out so quickly was because she’d given him a sedative instead of the drug.

Her father’s face lit up at her news. “Great.” He stood rubbing his palms together. “I want you working around the clock to turn him. Nothing else matters but making him mine. Those council bastards won’t know what hit them when they find out I have one of their precious enforcers in my back pocket.”

She let out a breath when he passed, only to have it turn into a muffled scream when he gripped her arm, squeezing hard as he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“If you mess this up, Jacqueline, I swear I will kill you with my bare hands. That will be after I let my guards have you for a few days. By the time they’re through with you, you will be begging for my hands to wrap around your throat.”

With that last menacing statement, her father casually strolled out of the room with his hands in his pockets as though he hadn’t just threatened his own daughter with rape and murder just to keep her in line. Jacqueline walked over and slumped into her chair and laid her head on her desk. She balled her fists in her lap to keep them from shaking. Her father was a cruel, brutal man, and she knew she had to get away from him or she would eventually die. She had no doubts the man would follow through on his threats if he felt she was no longer useful to him. She was his daughter, but that meant nothing to Edmund Percival. To him, she was just another tool he had at his disposal in his never-ending quest for power.

There would be hell to pay when he found out what she had done, but Jacqueline was tired of mindlessly following her father’s orders. She wanted out, and she hoped her way was lying down the hallway in a healing sleep. Along with the sedative she had given him, Jacqueline had added in a few things she had created herself. If all went well, the new drugs she had introduced into his system would attack the rogue drug and force it out of him for the most part. When the man woke, hopefully, he would be back to normal. She had no idea if it would work, but he was her only hope. He was the first shifter that she had ever seen fight the rogue drug. In her book, that meant he was beyond strong. She had created the drug herself and knew it shouldn’t have been possible for him to withstand it. The fact he did it not once, but multiple times, told her everything she needed to know. If there was anyone strong enough to stand up against her father, it would be him.

Jacqueline just hoped the man didn’t kill her before she could explain herself and ask for his help. Either way she had already started the ball rolling, and there was no turning back. One way or another she was going to be free of her father. She just hoped she was still breathing in the end.

After setting her timer, Jacqueline started up her computer. She had at least three hours before her possible savior woke up. In the meantime, she grabbed a couple flash drives and set about saving all of her work to them. She also saved the files she had stolen from her father’s computer. She was close to creating an antidote for the rogue drug she had created. It was her way of absolving herself of some of her guilt for having made it in the first place, and she didn’t want to lose any ground by having to start over from scratch. Once all of her files were saved, she set about packing the samples she had already created and whatever else she needed.

As far as personal belongings, she had nothing but a few changes of clothes, which she quickly packed. Jacqueline’s father had never allowed her to have any material things, telling her they were pointless and trivial. For as long as she could remember, they had lived life on the run, moving from place to place at a moment’s notice. She had to be ready to go when he commanded or suffer his wrath. Needless to say, she became very efficient at deciding what was important and what could be left behind.

Once she had everything she needed, Jacqueline hid it all behind her filing cabinet, making sure it was out of sight. She doubted her father would pay her another visit, but just in case, she didn’t want to give him any reason to suspect something was going on, and packed bags sitting by the door would be a definite clue.

Nerves began to creep in once she had everything ready. Jacqueline sat at her desk and took a deep breath. It did nothing to calm her nerves so she took several more until she began to feel the tension leave her shoulders. There was nothing more she could do. It was all a waiting game now, and her future depended on a stranger that she hoped and prayed would help her, instead of killing her, when he woke up.

* * * *

“Please…come…please…wake…”

Ben groaned as he slowly became conscious. His head pounded as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Every muscle in his body screamed in pain when he tried to sit up so he gave up and lay back down, hoping to go back into the blissful state of unconsciousness again.