Kissing Sin (11 page)

I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms, using the pain to battle desire. “I won’t make love to you just because you’ve decided you can bear to fuck a werewolf on a regular basis.”

Again, something glimmered in his eyes. “Why not? You once told me great sex was a good place to start a relationship.”

And it was. Normally. “Things have changed since then. I’ve had a chance to think.”

“The ‘then’ was only a few months ago.”

I stepped back and crossed my arms. I’d obviously pissed off fate right-royally, and this was her way of getting back at me.

“Not here, not now, Quinn,” I said, and forced my feet past him. “Let’s get to the compound.”

I switched to infrared, scanning the clearing and the buildings immediately behind the fence line. Still no sign of life. No whisper of movement.

We reached the fence. Quinn held out a hand, running his fingers a hairbreadth away from the wire. “Can’t feel electricity running through it.” He touched it lightly. “Nothing. It’s safe to cut.”

I stepped back and drew one of the lasers. “If the power is turned off, then this place is definitely abandoned.”

“We still can’t afford to relax our guard in there.”

“I know.” As if I could, anyway.

I cut a hole big enough for the two of us to slip through. Quinn went through first, his gaze scanning the area before coming back to me. “Nothing. Come on.”

I followed, even though my heart seemed lodged somewhere in my throat and breathing had suddenly become difficult. We padded along in the shadows of the buildings, listening to the silence as we constantly scanned the area.

Nothing.

Not even insects.

As we moved in deeper, my gaze drifted up the tree-lined hill. Up there waited the place I’d barely escaped.

Quinn touched my arm lightly, making me jump. “Sorry,” I whispered.

“You don’t have to go up there if you don’t want to. We can wait at the fence for the others.”

I licked my lips, and shook my head. “I have to do this.”

He nodded, and his touch slipped to my back, guiding me forward. Warmth flared where his fingers rested, rolling through the rest of me in waves. Though it was comforting, it did little to erase the knot of fear forming in the pit of my stomach.

We stealthily made our way deeper into the complex, slowly working our way up the hill. The closer we got to the lane, the slower my steps became, until I ground to a halt at the lane’s entrance. My gaze came to the place where a dead man had once rested. A dark stain remained as a reminder of what I’d done.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked.

“This is where I woke.” My gaze went to the end of the lane. “And down there is where the two orsini came from.”

“Orsini? What are they?”

“Warped bearlike things.” Goose bumps fled across my skin. I rubbed my arms, and swept my gaze along the concrete wall. “I don’t like the feel of this lane.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything out of place.” He wasn’t looking at me as he said it, but rather, studying the lane.

“Something’s down there.” Something designed to kill.

“I can’t feel anything human or nonhuman,” he said eventually. “Nor can I hear any sort of mind traffic.”

That didn’t mean something couldn’t be there. Especially given what this place was probably breeding. “There must be some other way into the building. Let’s just—”

The rest of the words never got past my throat. Up ahead, the wall moved. Large sections of concrete seemed to peel away, and form colorless human shapes. They were huge and gangly, with long arms and legs. Even as we watched, their skin changed from the gray of the concrete wall to the black of the night. I knew they were still there, but I couldn’t see them. Couldn’t even feel them.

“Fuck.” Quinn’s voice was flat, fierce. “Chameleons.”

I shot him a glance. “They don’t look like lizards to me.”

No amusement lit the depths of his dark eyes as his gaze met mine. “They’re a rare breed of nonhuman who can take on any background, and literally
become
part of that background. They’re also flesh-eaters.”

Oh, fantastic. “They’re obviously not as rare as you thought, because there’s ten of them here.”

“Blind I’m not.” He grabbed my hand. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“What about the lasers?”

“There’s too many of them. Even if we take out a couple, the rest of them will be on us. Come on.”

He didn’t give me the choice, pulling me along with him. The chameleons followed, their large, flat feet slapping noisily against the cobblestones, drawing too close, too fast.

“Scream,” Quinn said, and pushed me roughly to one side.

I hit the window of one of the false shops with enough force to shatter the glass, and tumbled on through the frame. Glass flew, slicing past my face. I hit the ground with a grunt, the laser flying from my hand. I cursed and then scrambled back to my feet.

The creatures were shadows deeper than the night. I blinked, and switched to the infrared of my vampire vision. Quinn became a flame surrounded by ten muted, dark red gleams. And while I could feel the buzz of Quinn’s thoughts, the creatures were a dead zone. Not dead as in mind-blind, but dead as in nothing there, just empty space.

I screamed for help as loud as I could, then drew my remaining laser, leapt over the windowsill, and ran toward the nearest creature.

Though I made little sound, the chameleon swung, swatting at me with a huge, night-dark paw. I ducked the blow, and fired the laser. The bright beam cut across flesh, and four fingers plopped to the ground, where they wriggled and squirmed like fat worms at the end of a hook. The creature screamed—a sound so high, so inhuman, that chills ran across my flesh. Those chills only increased when I realized new fingers were already beginning to grow out of the burned stumps.

Air stirred. I dropped and swung around. Two of them had crept up behind me. I dodged the blow from one, then fired at the hand trying to grab me. More fingers plopped to the pavement, twitching like live things.

More fingers regrew.

God, how were you supposed to kill things that could regenerate so quickly?

The first creature I’d de-fingered screamed in fury. The other lunged. I kicked it away, but teeth tore into my shoulder, biting deep. I hissed, and punched backward, hitting flesh as slimy and cold as a toad’s. My blow skidded along and fell away, and the creature’s teeth bit deeper, cracking bone. Pain became a red tide, and sweat broke out across my brow. Bile rose, and I swallowed heavily as the other two creatures came at me. Ignoring the thing trying to eat my shoulder, I kicked out at the first creature, sending him stumbling back into the other.

Red beams of light cut through the night, and suddenly neither creature had a head. The smell of burnt flesh rent the air, making me gag. The red light bit through the night again, slicing mere millimeters away from my arm, and the creature trying to devour my shoulder released me with a roar. I shifted to wolf shape and limped away. Once I’d reached the shattered shop window, I shifted back to human form, and sunk to the ground, nursing my injured arm and hand as I watched the proceedings.

The cavalry had come to the rescue. Rhoan, Jack, and Kade had joined the fray and were dealing with the chameleons with brutal efficiency. I’d never seen my brother in action before, and it was truly scary to do so now. He was fast, efficient, and utterly ruthless—everything a guardian should be, and everything I thought my brother wasn’t.

And while Kade mightn’t be as fast or as furious, he was every bit as efficient. Obviously, he wasn’t
just
a builder.

I looked away. The bright flame of Quinn’s presence had disappeared, and for a moment, fear surged. Then the rich scent of sandalwood stung the air, and a second later, he was kneeling beside me. His beautiful face was scratched, his sweater torn, the burgundy color deepened by blood.

“Are you all right?” The lilt in his voice was as fierce as I’d ever heard it, and fear gleamed in his dark eyes. “Did they bite you?”

I showed him the shoulder. He swore softly. “We’ll have to get that tended to. The bastards are well-known carriers of several different viral infections.”

“The Directorate team are about five minutes off arriving,” Rhoan said, appearing out of the remaining mêlée. He scooped me up in his arms. “We’ve a med-team amongst them, just in case something like this happened.”

He ran me through the night, down the hill, and into the section I’d seen but not visited, then left. The med-team was already setting up when we arrived.

The doctor took one look at my shoulder and hand, and hustled me into the nearest room. I was stripped, cleaned, and patched, then had several of the biggest needles I’d ever seen shoved into my butt. They hurt more than the damn bite did.

“Just keep an eye on that shoulder,” the doctor advised as he stripped off his gloves. “You wolves haven’t a history with viral infections as a rule, but even so, if you see any inflammation or start feeling off-color, just come in and see us.”

I nodded.

He glanced at the com-screen on the desk. “There’s a note here on your file to remind you of your appointment Friday.”

I blinked. “What appointment?”

“With Dr. Harvey. At four.”

I stared at him for a moment, my heart racing. Dr. Harvey was the specialist I’d been referred to—the man who would tell me whether I could have kids or not. He wasn’t a Directorate doctor, but he’d been vetted and approved by them. “Does it say anything else?”

The doc glanced at me. “It’s something to do with test results.”

Oh God, oh God
. In two days I would know, one way or another. And now that the crunch was actually near, I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

“Thanks, Doc.”

He nodded and turned away. I carefully pulled my clothes back on, then walked out to the waiting area. Rhoan rose from the chair. “Verdict?”

“I’m fine.” I hesitated, looking around. “Where’s Quinn?”

“Waiting outside. He didn’t like the feel of that place.”

A smile twitched my lips. “Really?”

“He’s an empath, remember. He said the rooms held too many bad memories and pain.”

Quinn had some fairly tough shields to protect him, so if he’d retreated, it had to be bad. Which made me damn glad empathy wasn’t one of my problems.

Rhoan cupped a hand under my good elbow, and escorted me toward the door. “You feel ready to confront what might have happened in this place, or would you rather leave it until tomorrow?”

I’d rather not confront it at all, but that wasn’t an option and we both knew it. I took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Let’s get this over with.”

His gaze searched mine, his expression filled with concern. “You sure?”

“No. But I’d rather not wait.”

He nodded, and we moved out into the night. Quinn was waiting one building away, and fell in step beside Rhoan. He didn’t say anything and, for once, I had no sense of his emotions.

We walked back up that hill and down the alley. We turned right, and there before us stood yet another concrete building. My steps faltered, and my mouth went dry.

I didn’t want to go in that building.

Didn’t want to remember.

“You don’t have to do this,” Rhoan said softly.

I licked my lips. “I do.”

Only my knees were weak, and my feet wouldn’t move, and I couldn’t seem to drag enough air into my lungs.

Rhoan’s grip tightened. “Deep breaths,” he said.

I obeyed. It didn’t seem to help much.

“I’m with you. If it gets too bad, I’ll get you out. I promise.”

I swallowed, pulled my elbow free, and grabbed his hand. Tight. “Let’s go.”

Before whatever courage I had deserted me.

Quinn opened the door. He had his vampire face on, yet concern sparkled in his eyes. Or maybe that was a trick of the light flowing from the brightly lit corridor beyond the door.

Or even wishful thinking.

Our footsteps echoed in the silence, the concrete cold under my toes. Every five steps there was a door—an indication that the rooms beyond were small. We didn’t stop at any of them, walking to the end of the corridor and turning left.

Jack came out of the end room as we reached the halfway point. He was carrying a clipboard and his expression was grim. “This place is nothing more than a breeding pen.”

We stopped, and my gaze went past him. Saw the white walls. The neat tuck of white sheet around the mattress. The sparkle of the chains that rested atop of it.

My stomach churned. “This was my room?”

Jack glanced down at the folder he was holding. “Yeah.” He hesitated. “You were in a coma after the accident. They didn’t expect you to come out of it.”

“I escaped because they didn’t bother to either drug me or chain me, like everyone else.”

Jack nodded. “I’m no doctor, but looking at these records I have to say it’s a wonder you
did
recover.”