Gifted with Hydrangea (11 page)

Neto
leaned back
i
n his chair. “We’ve been trying to find other branches
of their company so we can raid them. We have reason to believe they have more
being held elsewhere,” he added.

“
Fuck! What kind of alpha would do that?” The sheriff
stopped, and held up his hand. “Wait, don’t answer that. I knew this alpha was
an asshole, but I didn’t know he was this big of a piece of shit. But what
bothers me is he’s still in my jail cell. Which means I can’t prove he had any
part in this most recent event. Either he didn’t have a part in it this time,
or he’s not working alone.”

****

Rudo
felt like he was looking
through a thick fog. His thoughts were muddled, and his body hurt. A strong,
fetid smell burned his nose. It smelt like excrement and curdled blood.
Memories of being in a cage with his own filth flooded back, along with
thoughts of the brutal experiments and other tortures that he faced daily. At
first, he thought he was still there, and that the last week was only a dream,
but then, in the back of his aching head, he heard and felt his mate’s call for
him.

“
Come on,
Rudo
. I love you.
Please come back to me.”

“
Ryker?”
he mumbled in his mind.

“
Rudo
! Please, my love, tell me where you are. I’ve
been worried sick about you.”

Rudo
tried to open his eyes,
but they were still a little bit too heavy.
“Can’t,”
he said. “Too groggy.”

“
You need to try, my sexy lover. You’ve been gone for
over twelve hours.”

Even though Ryker’s voice was in his head, it was
clearly full of pain and worry. That made his rhino growl.
That is unacceptable. We need to take better care of our mate.

Rudo
fought harder to open his
eyes. He was distressed when he saw he was in a cell that looked almost
identical to the one he used to be in, only this one had bars for a door. He
saw he was in his animal form, and he tried to shift, but failed.
Damn it! Not again.

“
I’m stuck in my rhino form again. I’m in a cell, but I
don’t know where,”
he told his mate.

“
That’s okay, you know my brother can reverse it, so
don’t worry about the shift. Let’s focus on finding your location. Look around
and see if you can see anything that indicates where you are, or how long
you’ve been there, at least. Anything is helpful.”

Rudo
tried to stand, but he was
wobbly. It took some effort and time, but he finally succeeded. He walked
around the tiny space. It was just enough room to turn around in, but there was
no toilet, just a drain in the floor, which meant he would be forced to sleep
in his own waste.
Gross.

“
Psst
,
Rudo
,
you awake, buddy?” a whispered voice caught his attention. It sounded like
Gavin.
Rudo
wasn’t able to speak, so he just grunted.

“
Good. Listen, they’re monitoring us, so I’m going to
ask you some questions.” Gavin said the last part as if it were a conspiracy.
“Grunt once for yes, and twice for no. You ready?”

Rudo
grunted once.

“
Good. How’s your head? Is it fully there?”

Rudo
thought about that for a
second, and realized Gavin was talking in code for Ryker. He grunted once.

“
Well, be at ease, I’m here.”

Again,
Rudo
had to think
about what the meaning meant. Maybe he wanted him to tell Ryker that he’s here.

“
Ryker, Gavin is here, too. He’s talking to me from
another cell. He says we’re being monitored. He’s talking in code.”

“
Okay, stud, I’ll let
Alphy
know. What else is he saying?”
Ryker asked.

“
You at ease now, buddy?” Gavin asked.

Rudo
grunted once.

“
Good. These cells make me feel like ESP. The thought
keeps ringing in my head, like a bell. It’s liberating.”

What the—

“Ok, he’s not making any
sense. He said, ‘these cells make me feel like ESP. The thought keeps ringing
in my head, like a bell. It’s liberating’. I don’t know what that means.”

“
Hold on,”
Ryker said. A few moments
went by before Ryker’s voice filled his head.

“
We think he’s trying to give us a location.
‘Liberating’, and ‘bell’ could mean the liberty bell, in Philadelphia, and his
reference to cells could mean the ESP stands for ‘East State Penitentiary’.
We’re getting ready to head out now. Stay with me, stud, while I help make the
arrangements.”

Rudo
felt the rush of
excitement fill him. He didn’t know if it was from him, or his mate, but he
guessed it could be both. Gavin’s voice broke through his thoughts.

“
Hey, buddy, do you think dawn is coming?” Gavin asked.

Rudo
took that as code for “is
rescue coming”. He grunted once.

He heard the shifter sigh. “Good. There’re some others
in here who need the dawn. I’m worried it might be their last, though.”

“
Rye, Gavin says there are others in here, and if I’m
interpreting him correctly, they don’t have another day in them.”

“
We’re hurrying, my love.
Alphy
says no matter what time of day it is, we’re taking the building once we find
it. Now that I know what city to look in, I’m confident I can find which one
the company owns. It’s all a matter of getting past all the dummy corporations,
but if there’s any more information Gavin can feed us, it will help speed up
that arduous process.”

Rudo
leaned against the cold
cement wall and slid down onto his butt. He couldn’t think of any way he could
ask Gavin any questions, so he stayed silent, but awake, in case either person
had more information.

Ryker kept him apprised of what was going on. They
organized a rescue, and had flown everyone in the jet to Philly.

“
We have other members of our pack with us to help.
Raymond and
Aaric
sent some of their guys, and also
arranged for help from the local coven in Philly. We are also getting help from
two shifter groups in the city, falcons and hawks. Both were
okayed
by Tyler and his contact in the American council.”
Ryker was confident in their help, which made
Rudo
feel more confident. He wouldn’t normally have trusted
any shifter group in the same city that shifters were being abducted and taken
to, but his mate trusted
Alphy
and Tyler, and
Rudo
trusted his mate.

Ryker nudged at his mind.
“Okay,
Rudo
, we are almost ready to tear into
the place.
Alphy
says the company didn’t expect us
last time, but they will this time, and they are about to clock in for the day,
so this is going to be a big event. However, the local hawk and falcon
shifters, as well as the local coven, have several members in law enforcement
and in the mayor’s office. In fact, the mayor is a hawk, so we have full
authority to go in during the day, and full protection for privacy. The
building you’re in is also in a very isolated district, so it will be minimal
exposure. It’s all been worked out. We’re going to wait ten minutes after the company
opens. They would have waited longer, to get any stragglers, but I told them a
second longer than ten minutes, and I would go in by myself.”

Rudo
groaned. He wanted to
lecture his mate for endangering himself, but he also loved his mate’s
determination, because it was exactly how he, himself, felt for the little
vamp.

Five people in lab coats started coming down the hall.
He could hear them talking as they approached.

“
We acquired two new specimens last night,” a male’s
voice was saying. “One is a rhino. I’ve given it a
lycan
injection that forced its body into its animal form, and an inhibitor to lock
it in that form.”

The five people kept themselves far enough away from
his cell, as they stood and looked at him, to prevent him from harming them.
They each had clipboards, and several were writing down notes. He growled at
them as the speaker continued.

“
Today, I want it sedated and the horn removed. Careful
not to cut too low or it won’t grow back. Rhino horns are worth a lot of money,
so we want it to continually grow back. With their regenerative abilities, I’m
hoping it will be a faster growing rate. Have tests run from some of the
shavings. Also, while it’s out, I want you to do a full work-up. We’ll decide
what to do to the creature after that. Next,” the group moved a little down the
hall, and looked in Gavin’s cell, “we have a badger. Nasty creatures.”

Rudo
heard Gavin snort. “Says
the monster who buys innocent people, locks them up, and tortures them until
they die.”

The doctor gave him a dirty look, but continued
talking to the group. “I decided not to give it an inhibitor, yet, because I
have some specific tests planned for it, but as you well know, badgers are some
of the worst tempered. If this one gives us too much trouble, we will have to lock
in it in its human form, as it will be far easier to handle.”

Rudo
listened to Gavin gripe at
them. “There isn’t one person on this planet who would be okay with being
abducted, experimented on, starved, tortured, and killed, yourselves included.
And then you get all irritated when we aren’t sweet and cuddly with you.
Seriously, how did you guys get your PhDs? Or am I assuming too much, and you
really don’t have an
y
degrees?”

Rudo
would have snickered if he
was in his human form.

“
What is amusing?”
Ryker asked.

Rudo
didn’t hide his mirth from
his mate.
“Gavin is living up to his
species. He’s badgering the scientists.”
He was positive he felt Ryker’s
eyes roll.

Rudo
listened to the scientists
continue to discuss what experiments they were going to run today, as they move
further down the hall. Hearing what they had planned, he was grateful he knew
their plans would be thwarted.

“
We’re in position, stud. Get ready.”

Rudo
snorted as he stood up and
raked his nicely sharpened horn against the bars. He was very glad that his
shifter side grew his horns out so quickly because he was sure he was going to
use them.

“
Hey,
Rudo
, what’s got you
worked up? Is dawn approaching?” Gavin asked, quietly.

Rudo
grunted once.

“
All right then, I’m ready for it.”

Rudo
heard ligaments popping
and bones realigning, and guessed that Gavin just turned into his badger.

Ryker whispered into this mind.
“We’re breaching in three … two … one.”

Rudo
didn’t hear anything at
first, but he felt his mate’s heart-rate speed up, and the strength of Ryker’s
fear, and anger, bled through their bond.

Rudo
bellowed and continued to
rake his horns along the bars. He tossed his head up in the air anxiously and
bellowed again. He soon heard gunfire in the distance, and footsteps fast
approaching. Three men in black SWAT gear came into view.
Rudo
scented that the three men were vampires. Two aimed their guns in opposite
directions as the third one dug around in his pants.

“
You
Rudo
?” he asked, as he
pulled out a set of keys.

Rudo
nodded his large head and
grunted once.

The man began using a pair of keys to try to open his
door. He fumbled through the keys, unfamiliar with which one to use, but
finally found it, and the door swung open.
Rudo
stepped out into the hall just in time to see two armed men in security
uniforms come around a corner. The vampire facing their direction fired at
them, hitting one in the shoulder, but the other one ducked back around the
corner.
Rudo
charged down the hall, and just as the
man peeked around, he saw his eyes go wide moments before he tossed his head
up, impaling his long, sharpened horn into his sternum. The man gurgled, and
his body went limp.
Rudo
tilted his head letting the
lifeles
s
corpse slip off his bloodstained horn.