Know Thine Enemy (15 page)

"
To ease your concerns," the doctor continued after a long beat, "let me say this: if we exhaust the interpersonal studies between you and Ms. Bennett, we will let her go.

"
Just like that?"

"
Of course."

"
To tell whoever will listen what happened?"

"
We're not too concerned of the ramblings of a self-proclaimed demon hunter."

Ryker nodded. He didn
't bother asking what would become of him once their experiments came to an end. Aside from his intent to be long gone before it came to that, he doubted he would much like the answer.

"
Now," Dr. Briggs said, "my assistants, Judy and Peter, will join us in a moment. I assume you're anxious to see Ms. Bennett."

He held his tongue.

"From this point on, you will be referred to as Test Subject Zero Six One. Ms. Bennett is Test Subject Beta. We will no longer refer to you by name."

A muscle in Ryker
's jaw ticked.

Dr. Briggs chuckled.
"I do believe I am going to enjoy working with you."

* * * * *

It wasn't like he would run now. Not when Izzie waited for him down the hall.

Ryker drew in a steady breath. Behind him was the small, mousy assistant Dr. Briggs had introduced as Judy, her hand steadying a stake at his back, prepared to paralyze should he attempt to
flee. The other assistant stayed to the right, a gun in hand—one that allegedly injected another prototype of vamp poison from which they hadn't yet worked all the kinks. Ryker tried not to focus on the distractions, rather keeping his eyes on the back of Dr. Briggs's head while entertaining fantasies involving the sound of snapping bone.

He
'd feel better once he saw Izzie. Once he figured out how the hell to right the wrong that was getting her mixed up in his fucking family drama. Getting a feel for their new digs was essential to placing his future getaway plan in motion; once he knew her exact location, he could begin formulating an appropriate escape route.

The stretch of hallway betrayed little he hadn
't already guessed. Clinical white walls, slab gray floor, and sterilized to the point it nearly looked like it belonged in a university wing, only without any personality. Every now and then, a human in a lab-coat would stroll by, seemingly unbothered by the sight of someone being led by threat of death. There were a few medical stands, offices, and signs directing personnel to certain wings. His particular entourage took three turns before coming to a halt. The door on the left read
Subject Beta
on the sliding name placement. Another door sat directly ahead, and the hall continued to the right. Dr. Briggs unlocked the door to Beta by means of a clearance key, and ushered Ryker inside alone.

The vampire stopped short of the doorway, his heart leaping into his throat.

"Oh my God," he murmured.

She lay nude, splayed across a metal table, her legs bound and spread, her arms stretched above her head, and a gag around her mouth. A gnarly scar patched the skin around her belly, though it looked aged enough to
confirm it was an old battle-wound rather than a crime at the hands of their human captors. Tied as she was, the cold tremors seizing her body could not be contained. Her head lifted when the door opened, and when their gazes clashed, the fear he saw nearly tore him to shreds.

Ryker could do little but stare. His head pounded and his chest ached.

Holy fuck.

"
All right," Dr. Briggs said, his voice now distorted by an intercom. "Shall we begin?"

Chapter Eight

In his time, Ryker had seen and experienced more than his fair share of horror. A survivor of scarlet fever, field hospitals, a nasty war, and generations of new technology, he found no surprise in the monstrous ways humans treated each other. The naked girl strapped to the table was hardly the worst thing he'd ever seen, though it empowered him with enough rage to tear this damned building to the ground before his body acknowledged a shred of pain.

Wartime gave people reasons to destroy each other. Even cold-blooded killers had cause or motivation, unless the sight of pain got their dicks hard. Izzie had committed no crime aside from being a girl
at the wrong place at the wrong time, and they had her stripped and spread open as though she were an offering in a sex ritual.

Ryker had no idea how long he stared at her. He felt disconnected, short-circuited, and
, for the first time in the span of memory, out of his element. Immortality provided room for growth and discovery, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

"
Holy fuck," Ryker murmured. He was moving again before he knew it, tearing off his T-shirt. "What have they done to you?"

"
Subject 061, we are ready to commence."

He ignored the voice, his eyes refusing to leave the girl
's. "You're okay?" he murmured, casting his shirt over her body. He hadn't realized how tiny she was until noting the fabric nearly brushed her knees. "They haven't hurt you?"

Izzie shook her head, her mouth straining around the gag. How a girl could look relieved and terrified was beyond him, but he felt it. He felt everything.

"Subject 061—"

Ryker growled and turned. Unlike his room, Izzie
's was large enough to accommodate a small observation panel where, a comfortable distance from the human lab rat and the vampire they'd shoved in her cage, Dr. Briggs sat alongside his two assistants behind a heavy pane of glass.

"
Hello," Dr. Briggs continued, smiling. He perched attentively over a microphone, a laptop to his right and a thick notepad to his left. "As I said, we're ready to commence the first experiment."

"
What the fucking hell have you done to her?"

"
Done?" The doctor blinked and offered a lazy shrug. "We haven't done anything to her. As I explained earlier, these tests are designed to determine a variety of factors. We're studying vampiric mating habits—"

"
You want me to fuck her?" The words tasted sour. Ryker shot Izzie another concerned look, and something in his chest wrenched at the calm resignation etched across her face. He'd done terrible things in his time—truly terrible—but rape was not among them. Whatever attraction he'd felt toward the girl was irrelevant. Touching her was out of the question.

It wasn
't as though he hadn't understood the implication in Dr. Briggs's introductory speech. Ryker had known they intended to have him plug the girl, but for whatever reason, the reality of those words hadn't clicked. Standing here now, his gaze roaming her bare skin—the scientists situated a safe distance away, as though the glass separating them made it easier to accept their own inhumanity—whatever happened next was up to him.

If they wanted a peep show, they
'd have to look somewhere else.

"
Of course not," Dr. Briggs responded at last. "Not today, at least. Admittedly, the study of human and vampire intercourse is something we will have to approach in coming sessions, but today, we're going to begin with simple touch and response demonstrations."

"
Touch?" He barely recognized his own voice.

"
Yes, Subject 061. Please step forward and put your hand anywhere on Subject Beta."

Ryker again searched Izzie
's eyes. Again, she gave him nothing.

"
No," he replied simply.

"
No?"

"
Having trouble hearing? No.
Fuck
no, in fact." Ryker shook his head and took a step back, his chest tightening. "She has nothing to do with this."

Dr. Briggs sighed.
"We've been over this . . . ."

"
Sorry, doc. I'm a slow learner."

"
Clearly."

"
You can't keep her here and hope no one comes looking."

"
That may or may not be true, but it doesn't concern me." The doctor waved a hand. "As I explained to you, 061, you have no place to say yes or no. We have plenty of other vampires who would be all too glad to volunteer for these experiments. If you'd rather be placed elsewhere, it can be arranged, but the girl would be left with a stranger." He paused pointedly. "I will not repeat this again. The next objection warrants an official resignation from these tests. You would not see Subject Beta again."

Izzie
's gaze didn't change. She didn't shake her head or moan or do anything to suggest she was anything but an impartial subject, but a blind man could see her panic. She did not want him gone. She did not want to be left with someone else. She wanted him where he was, in the room, at her side. While she might not trust him, he was the devil she knew. Leaving her alone would almost surely sign her death certificate.

That was all he needed. He couldn
't turn away now. "All right," he murmured.

It was indiscernible, and quite possibly all in his imagination, but Ryker could have sworn Izzie
's body relaxed.

"
All right?" Dr. Briggs prodded.

"
Yeah. I'll do it. Whatever it is you sadistic fucks need to hear." Ryker exhaled slowly. "I just touch her, yeah?"

"
Correct."

"
Anywhere."

"
Correct."

Ryker nodded shakily
and stepped forward. His right hand stirred, fingers brushing against the soft skin at Izzie's ankle. She jerked as though shocked, and so did he. Shit, why did everything suddenly seem so fucking complicated?

"
Shh," he cooed.

He supposed he thought it comforting, though it seemed a little useless with the gag wrapped around her mouth. He knew he should apply
his focus elsewhere—on the labyrinth of hallways outside the door, to consider the odds of making it out of here with his life. Maybe gamble on whether or not Connor would consider it odd if he never returned to The Wall, and what good stirring one antisocial pub owner's concern would actually accomplish. Fuck it, he needed to think of anything but the trembling girl under his fingertips and how whatever happened here would change her life forever.

Izzie just stared at him. Every time an emotion approached her eyes, she blinked and it disappeared. Ryker had to hand it to her
; she had the whole business of concealing herself down pat. He should have recognized it sooner—in the alley the other night, a thousand years ago, when he'd first stepped out of the shadows and made his presence known. Izzie hadn't given herself away, though he'd patted himself on the back and made like the night was a success. She was always very closed, very internal, and he didn't want to consider what might be going through her gorgeous head.

Another place, any other place, this might have been nice. Touching her without meaning or motive, feeling her skin beneath him. Her legs were smooth, recently shaved, her body soft and inviting. She seemed so young but at the same time older than even he could claim. At times she sparkled with youth and adventure
—the way her eyes lit up during their verbal trades hadn't been an act. Neither was the lost look he'd so often seen on her face during those nights he'd stalked her. The one that gave her away as a warrior without a cause, or at least no cause she believed in. And now—right now—with his hands on her, his thumb rubbing what he hoped were soothing circles into her skin, Izzie occupied both worlds. Young and frightened, old and jaded. Terrified but accepting. Confused but aware.

Murmuring meaningless words wouldn
't help her. He'd still led her here.

I didn
't want this.

Ryker swallowed hard, his gaze breaking from hers. He wanted to voice the words, but he couldn
't risk their captors knowing more than they knew already. Dr. Briggs had obviously pieced together that Izzie was the ultimate bargaining chip, which likely meant any other attempts at subterfuge were useless, but there seemed little harm in keeping some things to himself.

Aside from the fact that he wanted her to know he hated this as much as she did.

"Good," Dr. Briggs said loudly. "Now, stroke her higher, please."

Ryker
's hand froze on her ankle. "Sorry?"

"
Higher, 061."

He sucked in his cheeks, his fingers slowly sliding up the length of her leg.
Fucking perverts,
he thought, stopping at her knee. For a wild second, he thought she might be ticklish, which would be either awkward or absurdly hilarious, but she didn't crack a grin.

"
Higher, please."

Ryker bit back a growl.
"Why don't you just say it?"

"
Say what, 061?"

"
You want me to palm her cunt."