Chapter 13
13
AUSTYN
I still don’t trust Walter completely. But I’m more worried about Tate. He flexes his right hand and hisses in pain. His knuckles are freshly scraped and bruised—so not from the earlier sparring match. “Tate, what happened? Are you okay?” I grab his hand to examine it more closely. Did he punch something? Or someone?
“I’m good, Aus.” His smile is fond, as if worrying about him is above and beyond. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Now that I know you’re okay.”
“I’m super in case anyone fucking cares,” Walter grumbles. Now that I’m looking, I notice his face has a few more cuts, and he’s holding his shoulder funny. Did they rough him up when they caught him? “What’s the plan?”
Is he kidding? “I thought you had one.”
“Maybe. But let’s hear yours first.”
I dart a glance at Jacobs and Petroni. They haven’t moved from their spot beyond the circle of men surrounding us as they confer about something. Probably the best torture tactics. They’re standing between us and the door. “Shift?” I ask in a low voice.
“There can’t be any hesitation.” He nods at Tate. “Can he do it?”
“Tate?”
Tate opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.
“Too late,” Walter says, with a matter-of-fact tone. “We’re all dead.”
I glare at him. “Stop being a jackass.”
Walter lifts a shoulder as if to shrug and winces. “Sorry, sweetheart, pain makes me cranky.”
“Enough.” Jacobs and Petroni stroll over, and the men part to give them a clear path. The men guarding us don’t move. Guess they learned their lesson from earlier.
Jacobs holds a gun to my head. “I’m disappointed, Austyn. The threat against the dinosaur world is real. We could have joined forces and saved everyone. Instead, you’ve taken the moral high ground.” He gestures to the men in the room. Men I know. I’ve clothed all of them. And helped many of them with the transition to their true selves. Even after everything, Jacobs is a hero to them. My stomach twists. Do they see me as the enemy? A traitor?
I face forward so I don’t have to see the accusations in their eyes. It’s obvious Jatel believes Jacobs’s lies. Why wouldn’t the others?
They’re blinded by their loyalty. The things Killian and Beau told me—drugs being developed to control dinosaurs. Abducting people. Profiting off our fellow dino shifters. Shooting them. All of Jacobs’s talk about building an army for an upcoming war. Yet they see him as a savior instead of a monster.
“Nothing to say?” He sighs and gestures to the men. “At least I tried. You’re either with us or against us?—”
“So, you kill anyone who disagrees with you?” I have to try, but one glance around shows me angry faces. Or blank ones. Wait…are some of them being controlled right now?
“Freedom comes at a cost. Those against us will be treated accordingly.”
“What about him?” Petroni pokes Walter with his gun.
“Him, you can kill—” Jacobs says dismissively.
Petroni grins. “With pleasure.”
“No!” Jatel shouts and freezes as everyone stares.
“Problem, Jatel?” Petroni asks, his eyes narrowing.
“No,” he says again, swallowing hard. “Just…after everything he’s done, maybe he should watch. Live with the knowledge that this is his doing.”
“Excellent idea.” Jacobs nods and smirks at Walter. “Not that he’ll live with that knowledge for long.”
“After that I can kill him?” Petroni asks, practically salivating. The man is disgusting.
“I love how eager you are, my friend.” Jacobs smiles, but his eyes are hard as they move to Walter. “As a reward, you can give him a taste of what’s to come. Then, after we take care of these two, you can kill him. But make it painful. His screams will be a warning to anyone having second thoughts about our purpose.”
Petroni eyes Walter like he’s a tasty morsel and cracks his knuckles. “Grab him.”
“That didn’t work out well for the last guy. Hope you’ve got plenty of ice.”
Two men, one on each side, grab Walter and hold him as Petroni advances. Walter grins, egging him on.
Jesus, Walter. Don’t make it worse. Just stay still so you don’t get really hurt .
But how can I say that? I’m not sure I should. Petroni punches him in the stomach, and Walter bends over, grunting in pain. He takes several breaths and stands straight, his eyes wild. “Is that all ye got? Austyn hits harder than that.”
His nostrils flare and his lips pull back, baring his teeth as he surges forward. “You fucking?—”
“Enough, Frank.”
Petroni stops, but the cords in his neck stand out as he clenches and unclenches his fists, his face mottled red.
“Your turn.” Jacobs faces me as if we’re having a normal conversation. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tate tense. “I am truly sorry it’s come to this, Austyn. You were useful.”
I’m no better at hiding my emotions than Walter as I glare at Jacobs, letting him see the rage of my Troodon. Then I spit in his face.
His eyes darken dangerously, but his expression never changes as he wipes the spit away. “I might just kill you myself.” The waiting seems endless as he studies me, and I pray Tate doesn’t take the bait. “I’m sure Captain Jack over there told you our plan.” He scowls at Walter and shakes his head. “The man used to be a bloodthirsty pirate, but look at him now. The thought of killing one Troodon makes him squeamish. Disgraceful.”
“Fucker,” Walter says, earning him another punch in the gut from Petroni. He coughs and stays down longer this time.
“No matter.” His eyes are on me, but I’m sure his words are aimed at Tate. “The only reason you’re here is to convince our friend to shift. He’s protective of you, so I have no doubt of my success. But getting there? I can be quite creative in the process. Cut off a finger or an ear. Maybe slicing off your balls. First one, then the other?—”
Tate surges forward and my chest tightens with fear. How can I keep him safe? Worrying about Tate slows my reactions as I try to jerk away. The press of cool metal against my temple stops me. And Tate.
Tate clenches his hands as he glares at Jacobs. I can sense the rage roiling from Tate, and in that moment, he reminds me of Bruce Banner right before he shifts. Tate’s barely holding his dinosaur back. I lift my hand slowly in a wait gesture.
Jacobs laughs. “You’re so predictable, Tate. That’s why it was easy to convince you that you killed those people.”
My head swivels to Tate, not caring about the gun. He’d told me he was a monster. I never understood why he thought that. But this is why. They convinced him. All the blood drains from his face. “Tate,” I whisper, wanting to erase the guilt still in his eyes.
“Hell, if I’d known Austyn batting his eyes would do the trick, fewer people would have had to die.” He shrugs. “Lesson learned.”
“I don’t understand.” Tate chokes on the words. “You…did that? All the blood. The reports of a beast killing them. Killing Belinda. All of that was fake?”
He raises an eyebrow, a smug smile on his face. “Not fake. A beast did kill them. Just not you.”
How many people has Victor Jacobs hurt over the years? And how many times have I been complicit? But wallowing in guilt isn’t helpful. Instead, I focus on the fact that their grand plan backfired spectacularly. They convinced Tate he needed help but, in doing so, ensured he’d be too afraid of hurting someone to ever shift.
“Genius plan,” I say to Jacobs with a slow clap. “Did you or Frankie come up with that?”
His face darkens with anger, and he backhands me. Sharp pain slices through my cheek, but it clears my mind, making it easier to think. To focus on stopping this man no matter what the cost.
Except that cost can’t include Tate.
Tate stares at Jacobs, his dino flashing in his eyes.
This close to Jacobs, I can hear the slight catch in his breathing. “We’ve wasted enough time. Shift, Tate.”
“How are you going to control him?” Walter asks, almost to himself.
It hits me then. The serum Beau and Killian talked about. They want to use it on Tate. “The serum is real,” I say, hoping Tate understands.
Mr. Jacobs clenches his jaw but otherwise ignores me as he focuses on Tate. “My patience is at an end. Shift, now!”
Tate stands tall with a new determination in his eyes. After everything he’s been through, including barely any sleep, he has to be a mess. But he’s not backing down.
Jacobs takes several quick breaths. Has anyone ever disobeyed him? Not that I know of. It must suck having it happen in front of all his men and with something this important. Although I relish his frustration, it also makes him more dangerous.
He shakes his head with that slimy smile and holsters his gun. I’m not fooled into thinking he’s giving up. He pulls out a knife. My knife. “What do you think, Tate? Maybe a nice scar down his pretty face so he can remember this day forever?” He barely pokes my skin, but the sting in my cheek tells me he drew blood. My knife is very sharp. I imagine plunging it into his neck.
Tate growls at him, looking ready to take him apart. “Let him go.”
Jacobs laughs. “I’m just kidding. Austyn’s going to die today. But carving up his face first will give me great pleasure. Unless you shift.”
His breath on my neck sends revulsion down my spine. I try to plead with Tate not to shift. I’m still not sure why they—oh God. “Tate needs to be in his dinosaur form for the drug to work. That’s why you need him to shift.”
Indecision crosses Tate’s face. And for once, I’m glad he’s hesitating. I can’t let him get hurt because of me.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jacobs says, no longer cool and in control. The knife slices my cheek, and I cry out in pain. Everything seems to move slower as Tate changes color and Jacobs grins.
The screech of metal against metal stops them both as something crashes through the wall of the building. A large green tractor stops a few feet from where men were standing a minute ago.
“Shoot them,” Petroni yells as three men jump from the vehicle. A man in a trucker hat lands on his feet. The other two shift in midair.
I recognize the Velociraptor. Rad. But I can’t place the Llukalkan aliocranianus until the other man removes his red Chicago Bulls cap, releasing his blond curls. Beau Tremere. That means the other dinosaur is Killian. He’s almost as big as a T. rex, with a thick head and large body covered in scales and blue-green feathers. Beau ducks out of the way as the almost eighteen-foot dino grunts at the men surrounding them.
Aaaah naah . The low rumbling and clicking is more terrifying than a booming roar.
“What the fuck took you so long?” Walter asks but changes into his Pentaceratops before he gets an answer.
“Get them,” Jacobs screams at his men and his dinos. “But don’t injure the doctor.”
I’m too worried about Tate to think about his words. “Are you okay?” Men all around us are shifting. And Jacobs yells at the remaining men to grab the dart guns. I don’t have time to check on Tate, but I can’t stop myself. At his nod, I cup his face. “Sweetness, you don’t have to shift. We’ve got this.”
He swallows and after a brief hesitation, he nods. Thank fuck. Relief rushes through me and I kiss him. Just a quick kiss. And then I shift into my Troodon, eager to join the fight.