Chapter 21 #3
“You can’t do this,” Cecilia cried. “You can’t—” Her words abruptly stopped when she heard a heavy thunk. She didn’t at first know what the sound was, but Hank did. He spun around and tried to open the near door, but it didn’t budge.
He spun immediately to search for the other doors, but Dr. Oltheten held up both his hands. “Don’t bother. We’re locked in.” He exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry it had to come to this, Dr. Lu. The alpha means it quite literally that you’ll work for him.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped. “He can’t make me do anything.”
“No, he can’t. But Travis over there can make life very unpleasant for your friend.”
Travis grinned at her. Which is when she noticed he was armed with a pistol and a Taser.
“He can try,” Hank growled in response.
“Yes, but I have chemicals everywhere. Including the serum in its original form. It’s quite potent.
” He pointed to a refrigerator filled with vials and bottles where it stood between Travis and Hank.
“Nobody would like what happens to them if the shifters get exposed.” He looked expectantly up at Hank.
“You are a full shifter, right? They get very aggressive. I’m a hybrid now, but I lose control sometimes.
It’s very scary. In fact,” he said with a sigh, “as the only normal human here, Dr. Lu, you’ll be in significant danger.
And then all the good things we can do together will be lost. You don’t want that, do you?
I’ve gone to a significant amount of trouble to wake people up to shifters.
I’ve sacrificed my entire career, you see.
My wife, too. She never accepted. Refused to believe and it destroyed our marriage.
I had no hope until my sister developed this serum and the alpha funded my research.
It’s important. You see that right? People need to know about shifters. ”
Once again, it was hard following all his rapid-fire words, and then when she did, she felt her hands tighten at her sides. “You’re saying you’re the one who created the Detroit Flu? You’re the one—”
“Oh no!” he said, though his expression was more like a man pretending to be humble. “Like I said, my sister and her friend developed it. But she sent me the data and I refined it.” His expression tightened. “Or I thought I did. Apparently not everyone handles becoming a hybrid as well as I do.”
She gasped as she jerked forward. “Doesn’t handle it as well? People are dying! We’ve had one case—one!—in all of Detroit that wasn’t lethal. Most of them lose their higher cortex. They’re aggressive, dangerous, and dying!”
His eyes widened. “Oh no. I’m sure that’s not true. I mean, the alpha told me there were a few who didn’t manage well. That’s what he wants us to work on. A way to stabilize the degradation in the frontal cortex, but it’s only in a few cases. Look, I changed just fine.”
Then he did it with a snap of his fingers. Snap, and he suddenly sprouted fur on his face and body. Tufted ears, cat features, and fur on every exposed piece of skin.
“I even have a tail!” he said as he twisted to show the bulge in his abruptly less-loose pants.
His words were slightly garbled thanks to his feline mouth, but she could still understand him.
“And smell that?” He inhaled sharply. “I can control the scent now, too! That took some practice, I can tell you, but the alpha helped me learn how. It was easy, don’t you see? ”
Another snap of his fingers and abruptly he was back to normal.
Cecilia couldn’t resist a surge of scientific interest. The idea that she could study him closely, his DNA and his shifting abilities.
And yes, even the degradation of his frontal cortex, because she sure didn’t believe he had his full functioning brain.
At least the moral centers had to be deficient.
Good God, to infect an entire city was monstrous even if he didn’t understand the extent of the damage.
Meanwhile, Hank was less distracted. Though his eyes were on the other shifter, he spoke directly to Dr. Oltheten. “So you did this. You brought the Flu to Detroit.” Though he spoke calmly, she could feel the fury radiating out from his body.
“It’s not a flu,” he corrected with exaggerated patience. “And I simply refined it as a drink instead of an injection. I also helped stabilize it, you know. Otherwise, how could I change so easily—”
“How did you get it into the water system?” Hank interrupted, his tone harsh and judgmental.
Bad idea. Cecilia had worked with countless scientists, and not a one liked being interrupted or judged by someone they considered less educated.
“I did not,” the man sniffed as he turned to look at Cecilia.
He was close enough now to touch her arm as he pleaded with her.
“You understand, don’t you? How important it is for shifters to be known.
Think of the diseases they can cure. Think of what we can learn from just this—” He snapped his fingers again, and bam, back to a fur face.
She recoiled in a slight cry, in part from the sudden wash of cold that came with the shift. She’d never noticed it before, but then again, she’d never been this close to someone as they changed. And so interesting to see it in action.
Her thoughts stuttered to a halt when she saw a dark blur of movement out of the corner of her eye.
She’d been focused on Dr. Oltheten, so she missed Hank leaping to attack Travis.
Just like her, the man had been watching Dr. Oltheten and hadn’t even realized what was happening until he was flying into the back wall.
The crash was loud as they banged into a worktable.
Test tubes jiggled, a couple beakers crashed, but all was a flurry of motion and muscle power.
Travis shifted into a wolf the same way as all the others.
One second human, the next beast, and a large one at that.
He snapped at Hank’s neck and scrabbled with paws and claws.
Dr. Oltheten spun around, his voice loud though garbled in his distorted mouth. “Stop this! Do you hear me? You’ll get us all killed!”
But all Cecilia could think was, not again. Not this again.
She grabbed Dr. Oltheten’s arm because he was gesturing and nearly clocked her with an elbow. It was pure adrenaline reaction that made her duck, then grab. But once she had a hold of him, she gripped the man hard. She didn’t want him interfering with Hank.
It happened so fast. She heard the awful sounds of a struggle.
Bangs and growls. She’d just grabbed on to Dr. Oltheten when Hank threw the wolf to the side.
The wolf was caught in his clothes, she saw, and fumbled to fight and get out of his shirt at the same time.
Plus, it was hard to grapple hand to hand when all you had were paws.
But the beast wouldn’t stay down long. He was shedding clothes, and his mouth was open, baring long deadly teeth. A man couldn’t fight that and win. Not without getting hurt, not without getting—
Hank dove forward into the pile of clothing. Cecilia screamed. She didn’t want him going closer to the animal. Not now that the wolf had sprung up onto all four paws. Hank hit the floor, sliding slightly as he dug into the clothes. And then he twisted.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Sharp reports that had Cecilia dropping to her knees, bringing Dr. Oltheten with her. Gunshots, deafening in her ears. The smell of sulfur and bile, then the copper of blood. She had to see. She had to know if Hank was okay. Was he okay?
She pushed upright on shaky legs to see Hank coming to a stand as well. He had a pistol in his hand as he stared at the floor. “Rookie mistake,” he said to no one in particular. “They always shift first. Never think about the weapons at hand.”
Then he pushed the pistol into the back of his jeans.
“Why did you do that?” Dr. Oltheten screeched. “Why? We’re stuck in here! He’s the only one who gets us food. He tells them to open the door to our bedrooms.”
“Calm down, Doctor,” Hank said, his gaze going to her. “Cecilia? You okay?”
No. No, she wasn’t okay. Her heart was hammering in her throat and the smell was bad. Growing worse and worse, in fact. She started gagging. It was Dr. Oltheten.
Hell. He was upset and letting off the hybrid stench. She couldn’t breathe.
Hank’s eyes snapped into focus. “Calm down!” he bellowed at the doctor as he leapt around a lab table to get to her side. She had a hand pressed to her mouth and was reeling on her feet, but she was able to turn to the doctor.
“Get. Control,” she gasped.
His gaze swung to hers, and for the first time she saw how frightened he was. His eyes bulged white and his hand went to hers. No claws for him. Just a furry hand where he gripped her wrist. The other went to his chest, digging there in panic.
In panic, she realized. The scent came from panic.
“Breathe!” she ordered, but it was too late.
He collapsed down onto one knee, then two. Then his body went rigid and he dropped.
Heart attack. She was sure of it.
She tried to catch him, but he was too heavy. Hank was there, too, flipping the man creature over so that he lay slightly twisted on his back. Cecilia felt for his pulse.
None.
She pushed forward to start chest compressions.