Chapter 46 #2
“Are you in love with that monster? You must be!” He roars with laughter.
“Why did I not guess! Fucking him for hours then you coming here and sacrificing yourself. And I nearly forgot to tell you we have his DNA makeup. I won’t tell you all of it, but one of the men was…
No, not was. Is he still one? He has killed two men here, hasn’t he? ”
“What are you babbling about?” At least he’s stopped chasing me.
“One of the men whose flesh is inside him, and doesn’t that sound fucking dirty? One of them loved torturing, raping, then killing women. Nine victims. Do you think it was an important part? His cock? His brain? Should I throw you in with him after I’m done with you? Still want to save him?”
What the hell?
But… I don’t care. What matters is how he treats me. Kinky-as-hell sex? I own that sucker.
Wait… This is the why. This is what made Kail run, and I don’t have time to process this. Not now. So, I simply shout what my heart tells me to.
“Yes, I love him! And I will love Kail forever, because he is nothing like you!”
Behind me, someone steps through the door, and I swing, hoping it’s Kail, though I know he will be restrained in some way.
It’s not him, or Cannon. It’s a man in a sheriff’s uniform and hat. I almost don’t recognize him. The hard alien stare the sheriff pins us with adds another slithering layer of creep to this scene. He’s wearing his hat inside?
“Sheriff Baxter,” Clay sings out. “What a surprise. You’re in time to watch the entertainment.”
The sheriff raises one hand but turns back toward the still-open door as Cannon comes through. Following him are two of the guards I encountered, then Kail with his hands at his back, then three more men.
But…
“Kail!” I call out, despite being sure he won’t be allowed to respond.
His upper torso is bare, with the old scars and some recent wounds on display.
They’ve done bad things to him. Stabbed him, maybe.
His tracksuit pants are spotted with dark stains.
He doesn’t look at me. His gait wavers, his feet trip over each other, and he stumbles to his knees.
Only the guards’ quick reaction stops him from faceplanting onto the floor.
Now I can see his back and the metal cuffs binding him are inches thick. No one made of flesh, frankenstruct or not, could break those.
I edge away until I’m level with the desk and throw a backward glance at the wall of glass. There are no signs of anyone driving in below. Have they failed? Are we to face this alone, after all?
“Slap him a few times and drag him over so he can watch,” Clay says. Three blows rock Kail’s head. “See how docile your lover is? The sedation does wonders. Cannon, bend her over the desk for me. Hold her there while I teach her how stupid and worthless she is.”
He unzips his pants as they pull Kail across the floor on his knees.
Cannon glowers at me then Clay, then me. “No, sir. This is not listed in my duties. I am not holding her while you rape her. I have limits.”
Clay’s eyebrows rise and his mouth drops open. “You, what the ever-loving fuck? What did you say to me? Do you want to get demoted, mister? Bring her!”
Shit. If I run… That door is too far. I won’t make it. Besides, I’m staying. If life is worth living, if loyalty and love mean anything, I am staying. I go to Kail and place my hand on his arm, stand at his side then face Clay.
I may be afraid, but I can face this with dignity. Or as much dignity as I’m allowed.
Which could be almost none.
“Cannon. Bring her.”
Kail clambers upright and looks down at me. His eyes seem less blank and are filling with life and focusing. He seems to have figured out some of what is happening and shakes his head vigorously then growls. That growl.
I find myself grinning and hug his arm, whispering, “Attaboy.”
“No, sir.” Cannon goes to the left wall and stations himself there. His glower is gone but has been replaced with pure determination, judging by the rigid set of his mouth.
“Jesus.” Clay heads for me, and I cringe.
“No!” Kail shakes off my hand and drives himself in Clay’s direction.
The guards sprint, catch up, and haul him to a halt. Where the steel binds his wrists his skin is reddened as if he’s recently tried to break the cuffs. The sheriff remains where he entered, his arms slack but his fists curled. He adjusts his hat.
Another enemy.
Even if Kail could recover his full strength and clear his mind, we are outnumbered. I count the men around us. This is a disaster of my own creation, but at least I am here. I tried. With Father I was simply absent when he needed me. A useless daughter. Useless and wracked by regrets.
“What do we do?” one of the guards says.
“Stay there. We just take fucking orders, Andy. Hold him and wait.”
Ron and Molly were right. The chance of Clay giving in and giving up was always tiny.
With a wild roar, Kail explodes again and kicks at the guards. His biceps bulge as he twists. Another kick lands, and a guard jolts backward and rolls across the floor, retching.
“Fuck! Hold him still, dammit!” Clay rushes in, pointing at Kail before he lunges for me.
I trip over a guard as I try to avoid him and fall, thumping onto my ass, my hip, and my hands. Clay’s nose is red with sprayed blood. Cruelty and teeth show in the delighted spread of his mouth when he catches my ankle and drags me toward the desk.
I kick and yell and throw my body about, landing a blow on his hand before he grabs my other leg. Facedown, with my clothes scraping and squeaking over the timber floor, I’m brought to the desk.
Looking up, I see his open hand coming for my head as if to grab my hair. As I duck aside, a ruckus tramples nearer, where arms and legs and people are tumbling. Then Kail rams into Clay and sends him sprawling, along with the two guards he’s towed with him.
Kail… I reach for him.
In a flash-pausing of time, our fingertips touch then we’re pulled apart by momentum. The touch is a zap of electricity, before the unravelling of a storm sweeps in. I’m left breathless.
The moment defines us. We are/were/always and forever meant for each other.
Then a guard rolls into me, and his holstered gun is suddenly inches from my hand. I dive for it at the same time he does. Our eyes meet. He wrenches the weapon from my grasp and scrambles to his feet, aiming the gun barrel randomly at the floor between us as he gains his balance.
“Get away! Don’t move!”
Hands raised, I lean back against the desk, panting, despairing. What can we do? And Kail? Where is he? Thuds and swearing come from my left.
The other guards are still being wrestled with Kail. The sheriff hasn’t moved, but Clay is coming back to me, dusting off his hands, and smoothing down his hair. His forehead, nose, and mouth are bleeding.
“Come here, slut.” When he speaks, fury launches bloody spittle from his mouth. “I am so done with this crap. You’re all getting cited for disobeying instructions if you do not hold that monster in place!”
“There are eight witnesses!” Eight? Seven? I’ve lost count. “You cannot do this! You can’t cover this crime up, not forever.”
Arms akimbo he stands over me. “Watch me. You’re going to take my cock in every hole and then, bitch, I will be done with your living body.
Your corpse, though, wait and see. You can be my test subject to see if frankenstructs can breed.
Come to think of it… All these men are going to fuck you after I do. Hear that!” He glares around the room.
This man is evil incarnate.
Horrified, though I know it’s pointless, I struggle to rise. He sinks his fingers into my hair, grasps one of my arms, and pulls me to the floor, pins me down with his knees on my back.
“Give me a knife, you!” he yells at someone. “No, not to use on her. To cut off her fucking clothes.”
A guard mutters curses as he slides a knife across the floor. From the corner of my eye, I see Clay retrieve it.
“Move and I cut your throat.”
I gulp and shut my eyes as he starts to cut the waistband of my pants. A nearby footfall makes me open them. The sheriff has installed himself only a few feet away, and he is watching. The bastard. I clutch at the floor and try not to panic. I’m going to die soon anyway.
Maybe I should make one last try for that knife. When he begins to drag at my pants, he drops it near my hip.
Dare I? I clamp my legs together to make it harder for him to undress me.
Kail waits, eyes now bright, kneeling and surrounded by guards, but his arm muscles are bulging, flexing, relaxing. He nods at me, and I think he’s saying something, quietly.
It’s… I concentrate on his lips.
They’re coming. He jerks his chin toward the glass wall.
Which is when I hear the muted thwop-thwop of chopper blades.
What? That isn’t just one helicopter. I twist my head and through the gap in the desk I see them and am awed.
Someone has brought a whole fleet. The dark silhouettes of five military choppers drift by, nose down and blades feathering, as if to land in front of the institute.
Is this it?
“What the hell? What are those doing here?” Clay ceases to assault me and rises to his feet.
The alarms have all stopped. Somewhere, outside this room, a speaker dings three times then a man speaks, delivering a message.
“Revenant has been declared under quarantine. All access routes are now controlled by military checkpoints. All residents will remain calm and stay under cover in the closest house or business. The Revenant Institute is under strict interdiction.” There is a click then a second message comes on in a new male voice.
“All those in Clay Skinner’s office will immediately remove themselves from the room and wait in the corridor, excluding Clay Skinner, Cannon Edwards, Hailey Tarrant, and the person named Kail Stone.
By order of Major Roderick Grant. Thank you. ”
Yessss. Relief floods me, though fear remains with its skittery claws chipping away at my insides.