Chapter 10 Jo
ten
Jo
Gunpowder and fresh rain tickle my nose…
Kole?
While I’m not feeling quite as shitty as I did the last time I woke up, I still don’t feel great. I immediately notice that my face is free of the muzzle, but my arms and legs are strapped down to a table.
“I do not know what you are talking about. The omega is not my scent match.” My Russian giant’s voice is the most welcome sound I’ve heard in days, even if his words have my omega howling in disagreement.
“We’re not stupid, Vasiliev,” Whitmore’s voice breaks the silence, “we’ve seen you all over her, and the pregnant beta confirmed it.”
My stomach drops. Adela? Did she…did she betray me? But…how did she even know about Kole?
“Adela knows not of which she speaks.” Kole’s tone is dismissive, his accent thick. “You told her the omega was in danger, she scraped the bottom of the barrel for possibilities. This does not make it fact. I have no bond mark, you may check yourself.”
Oh. She…she wanted to help me. They probably made it sound like that was the only thing they wanted to do. We didn’t keep Adela in the loop, so she wouldn’t know why we were keeping it a secret.
“Let’s test that theory out, shall we?” Whitmore snaps. My eyes pop open to see that we’re in a much nicer room than I was in before, all shining surfaces and hi-tech devices. There’s no way we’re still in the Cathedral. Is it possible…did they bring me to the lab under the abandoned wing?
Turning my head, I see Whitmore glaring at Kole, who is strapped to a chair in the corner.
Sensing my gaze, Kole’s eyes dart to me, and something breaks in his expression. Just for a moment, and then his mask of cool indifference is back.
There’s a…a security guard standing in the corner of the room, his arms crossed and a gun holstered on his hip. I’ve never seen anyone in Thornfield dressed how he is, especially not fitted with a gun like this one. His uniform is gray, and so is his bullet proof vest.
He looks like he’s a trained member of some sort of militia…could it be that the underground lab is even bigger than I had thought?
“Not to be a party pooper,” I manage to get out with my still-scratchy throat, “but I’d rather we not do any theory-testin’ till I’ve had a proper drink of water.”
To my complete and utter surprise, Nurse Helaena makes herself known in another corner of the room, silent as she lifts a straw to my lips and helps me drink.
I try to hide the shock on my face. What is she doing here? She doesn’t meet my eyes as she holds the straw, or when she puts the water back on the bedside table and stands back in the corner of the room.
She must be here to help…right? There’s no way she’s really been on Whitmore’s side this whole time.
“Can I proceed now, Josephine?” Whitmore’s voice drips with sarcasm.
“I suppose that’s fine.” I do my best to shrug, and don’t miss the split second when Kole’s lip tilts up. Whitmore huffs, then starts bustling around the room. “Where’s Brooks, by the way?” I ask nonchalantly, like I’m not strapped to a hospital bed in an underground, illegal testing facility.
Looks like Kole brought me back some of my mojo.
As he gathers his supplies, I shoot a questioning look at my alpha, slightly tilting my head in Helaena’s direction.
Kole gives just the slightest shake of his head before Whitmore turns back towards us.
“That is none of your business,” he sneers, his black hair shining under the bright lights.
He picks up a syringe and taps it a few times.
“Let’s see what this does…” he trails off, but before he can slip the needle into my vein, the door opens.
“Oh! There he is.” I grin, loving the way Whitmore’s face turns a little red. “Why’d you get all snippy if he was just gonna come in anyway?” I frown at Whitmore, who looks like he’s about to blow a gasket. “What a strange power-play, Doc.”
Brooks stops, looking between us before shaking his head. “You can’t let her get to you, Henry.”
Whitmore huffs again, before sticking me with the needle rather indelicately, making Kole growl.
“Ow.” I wince, but it’s nothing new. Helaena was the first one to stick me that didn’t really hurt. “What does that do, Doc?”
Brooks answers. “Just a little something to…motivate the Russian to tell the truth.”
Kole stiffens, and then I feel it. The low burning, starting in my chest but scraping outward with all the finesse of nails on a chalkboard.
I can’t stop the gasp of pain that leaves me, and Kole’s eyes turn near black as he struggles against his restraints. “Lisichka!”
“I’m okay.” The pain ramps up steadily, and then it’s like I’m slowly being burned from the inside out. “It’s alright, Sugar Bear.” I grimace. “I’ve had worse beatin’s from Daddy—ah!”
Fire. Pure, undiluted fire licking up my veins like I’m going to incinerate right here and now.
“Brooks!” Kole barks. “Give her the antidote, or whatever it is you need to make it stop.”
“Are you her true scent match?” Whitmore asks, holding up a second vial. The antidote?
“No—” My words are cut off with a scream as the pain shoots up to a level I’ve never experienced in my life. My vision goes white and spotty, and my ears start ringing.
“Make it stop, now!” Kole roars, the chair rattling as he attempts to break free.
“...not until you tell us the truth…” Brooks sounds like he’s underwater again.
For the fifth time in who knows how many days, everything fades away as the world turns black.
I really wish it would stop doing that.
“Tell me, Doc, is that another syringe in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” My voice is groggy when I wake, and unfortunately, I can’t find the will to laugh at the look the new security guard in the corner gives me. The classic, “what the actual fuck is wrong with you?” look.
“Lisichka,” Kole’s hand grasps mine, and when I look over, I see that we’ve been moved to another room, this one with two beds next to each other, with a plethora of IV stands and fancy equipment that looks so alien, I couldn’t even begin to say what it does.
Kole is strapped to the bed next to me, his head turned to look at my face. “Are you alright?”
“What…what happened?” I ask, looking into my Russian Giant’s piercing blue eyes.
Fucking Brooks answers. “Mr. Vasiliev here finally gave us the truth we’ve been looking for, but unfortunately for you, you had an adverse reaction to the serum we gave you. You’ve been out a full day.”
I blink. A full day? Which means, Kole’s just been captive with me this whole time? Do West, Sam, and Hayden know what’s going on?
“How do you know he wasn’t just lyin’ to save me?” I ask, trying to sound unaffected. “I have that effect on people, you know. Men just want to do whatever they can to get on my good side.”
Brooks huffs. “I suppose we’ll find out shortly.” A small knock on the door followed by Helaena entering the room brings me back to my very first day in the facility. How the hell did she get in here? Is this part of Declan’s plan to get me out?
“Helaena, bond breaker serum, sample ten oh two, please.” Brooks’ voice is hard.
Kole growls at the same time that I cry out. “What?” I try to sit up, but of course, I can't. “You can’t do that—”
“Let’s get one thing straight, Ms. Harding.
” Doctor Brooks lowers himself over me until we’re nose to nose.
His black walnut scent invades my senses until I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“I am the one in charge here. I can do whatever the fuck I want. If I wanted to induce your heat and leave you a slick, writhing mess, never meeting satisfaction, I could. If I wanted to sew your big toe,” he takes a finger and pokes my forehead, making Kole snarl, “to your forehead and declare you a unicorn, the masses would praise and celebrate me for discovering a new species. So get it through your thick.” Poke.
“Fucking.” Poke. “Head.” Poke. “That nobody is coming to save you, and things will go a hell of a lot smoother for you if you fall in line.”
Rage swims through me as I stare into his beady eyes, gritting my teeth. “Understood.”
He observes me for a moment, before nodding to himself and backing away.
He takes a handheld recording device out of his pocket, but stalls when we all hear a loud bang from somewhere above us.
Brooks frowns, waits for a moment, then shrugs, hitting record and lifting it to his mouth.
“April twenty-eighth, six in the evening. Testing sample batch ten oh two. Desired result is a bond severance with no option of re-bonding. Will follow up with a sample of venom from a true scent match to see if it reverses.”
Koles hand squeezes mine. They want to…remove my bond with Hayden and see if they can bond me to Kole instead?
But why?
There’s another loud thump, and Helaena frowns, looking at Brooks. “Should we see what that is?”
“I’ll go,” the security guard growls, but Brooks shakes his head.
“No. I can’t be left alone with that monster,” he nods towards Kole. “I’m sure it’s just another feral alpha throwing a tantrum.” Then he looks at Helaena. “And you, do your job,” Brooks snaps. “You shouldn’t even be down here. You signed the NDA, correct?”
Helaena nods demurely. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to string Fuzzy up by his chest hair for letting Sylvie eat that spoiled chicken salad and landing me with you as my only option,” Brooks mutters, and something in my stomach settles.
Fuzzy. Helaena. This…this is all part of a plan. It has to be.
Helaena meets my eyes for the first time since I first saw her down here. Her soft brown eyes are filled with determination and since her back is to Brooks, she mouths, “It’s okay.”
I frown at her, but she doesn’t try to elaborate. No additional nods or trying to explain why she thinks it’ll be okay when they are testing a bond-breaking drug on me.
But…She’s here for a reason. I have to trust that Declan knows what he’s doing.
While she preps my arm, I take a second to open my bond with Hayden.
I’m instantly hit with a rush of adrenaline, but I push around it to send my Fire Demon a wave of all the love I feel for him.
He’s surprised at first, but then he sends me back a wave just as strong, as well as a surge of determination.
Tearing up, I look up at Helaena and nod.
Her lip wobbles as she slides the needle into my arm.
Just like with the instinct inhibitor, the cold sensation starts to take over, and my senses start to dull.
But…unlike last time…that warm, sunshiney piece of Hayden sitting in my chest just…fades.
It’s gone.
“No!” I choke out, my voice full of despair as I search and search, desperate to feel the warmth of his presence again. Even when he was blocked, he was still there, the safety and comfort I never knew I needed.
And now that it’s gone…was I always so cold and empty?
“It worked?” Brooks’ brows shoot up in surprise. “Is the bond gone?”
I can’t stop the sob that chokes its way out of me, and Kole’s hand tightens in mine. “I am so sorry, Lisichka.” Kole murmurs, running his thumb over my hand.
Another loud bang goes off, and this time the walls shake and the lights flicker. Brooks frowns, looking up, and I swear I hear a squeak. “What in the—”
The unmistakable sound of bullets has us jumping, and I look over with wide eyes at Kole, who has a smile pasted on his face that would be terrifying to anyone else.
The doctor looks panicked now, and barks at the security guard. “Well? What are you waiting around for? Go see what’s happening!”
Before the guard can move, Helaena clears her throat. “The bond breaker didn’t work, Doctor.”
Brooks freezes. “What do you mean it didn’t work—”
“It didn’t work, because I didn’t give it to her. I gave her the instinct inhibitor.”
That brilliant woman.
Brooks’ face turns red with rage, and without ceremony, Helaena pulls a scalpel out from nowhere, and jams it into the security guard’s neck.