Chapter 5 #2
Patrick stalked toward her, his gaze narrowed and gleaming.
“I’m not in the mood to debate shifter politics.
I’m going to take a long, hot shower and then avail myself of the willing body of my pleasure slave.
” He caught a strand of her hair as he added, “You will be naked and on your knees when I return. Is that understood?”
Fighting back her instinctual need to argue, she nodded.
“I require verbal responses. You know this.”
“Yes,” she hesitated a beat before adding, “Master.”
He dragged his fingers downward, pulling on the lock of her hair before releasing his hold. Without saying anything more, he turned and walked into the bathroom.
The door closed behind Patrick and Heather shifted her gaze to Gabriel. “I have friends in Eagle Village. I just need to know that they’ll be protected. Will the wolves attack again or not?”
“I’m doing everything I can to avoid more bloodshed, but wolves are unpredictable.
” Gabriel slowly approached as he elaborated.
“Eagle Village has been politically neutral since its foundation. Then Zion made a deal with the only females on the entire planet. Wanting access to those females, my brother made a deal with the cats. I understand his motivation, but he negotiated the alliance without asking me.”
“You’re against the alliance?”
His handsome features tensed, and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he said, “Siding with the cats put us at odds with the wolves. I was trying to avoid the conflict entirely.”
“You said the hunters collapsed the tunnels. Are my friends safe now or will the wolves keep trying?” He’d eluded the question before, so she tried again.
“I met with Alex, the new village alpha. He told me that he has no further plans to attack Eagle Village. I also increased the perimeter guards so your friends are as safe as I can make them.”
She accepted his answer with a nod, then concluded, “We’ll continue to be at risk as long as the ratio of women to men is so out of whack.”
“That’s the primary reason I’ve remained focused on off-world communication,” Gabriel stressed. He turned and moved closer to the fireplace. “If we stay on Rydaria, these raids will continue to happen.”
Feeling awkward standing in the middle of the room by herself, she returned to the chair she’d occupied earlier. “I thought all the off-world communications equipment had been destroyed. Have you made any progress repairing or replacing it?”
“I recently managed to establish a repeating signal. The problem is, we’re not sure where we are and the signal’s range is limited. I’m still trying to create something interactive. But as you indicated, we’re starting from the component level with most of these devices.”
“Is this what you did back on Earth? Were you some sort of engineer?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she lowered her gaze and said, “If you don’t want to talk about the past, I understand.
I just thought it would be nice to know a little more about you.
” If Patrick had his way, she’d be their captive for months or years, yet all she knew about them was that they’d been experimented on by Nuevo Biotech and they were founding members of Eagle Village.
Gabriel’s fingers curved beneath her chin, and he guided her gaze back to his face. “My brother and I owned a pharmaceutical company called Echo, Inc.”
Her eyes widened and then narrowed as she looked at him more closely. “You’re one of the Torloni twins?”
He chuckled, then averted his gaze. “In another life. So much has happened in the past ten years that Echo, Inc. doesn’t seem real anymore.”
Ten years? The hybrids had only been on Rydaria for the past four.
How long had he been a prisoner of Nuevo Biotech?
Knowing he wouldn’t want to revisit his captivity, she remained focused on the earlier era.
Echo Inc. created low-cost versions of many popular medications.
They had started out as an outreach for needy veterans, but demand for their ‘imposter’ drugs was so great that they quickly expanded their line.
“I was lucky enough not to need any of your products, but I know so many people who were helped by what you guys did. No one else had the balls to take on the pharmaceutical giants. You guys were modern-day Robin Hoods.”
The bathroom door opened and Patrick stepped out. His hair was damp and he wore only a faded pair of jeans.
“My turn,” Gabriel muttered and made a beeline for the bathroom.
Patrick gave Gabriel a questioning look as they passed, but neither said anything out loud.
Had her questions upset Gabriel? He hadn’t seemed eager to leave until she asked about the past.
Patrick ambled toward her, his gaze sweeping over her form with lazy insolence. “Were my instructions unclear?”
“No, Master. I was distracted by my conversation with Gabriel.” She pushed to her feet and raised her hands to the buttons on the front of her shirt.
She was determined to keep her temper in check and her responses respectful.
The result of her defiance in the past had been harsher punishment.
She wasn’t sure her new strategy would be effective, but there was only one way to find out. “May I ask a question before we begin?”
“What is the question regarding?” Patrick asked.
“Gabriel said it has been ten years since he founded Echo, Inc. How long were you guys prisoners?” She doubted that Patrick would answer, but saw no reason not to ask.
“Six years, four months, and twenty-one days,” he listed. “We’d already been at Nuevo for two years when you arrived.”
“I didn’t realize,” she said softly.
“You didn’t care,” he countered.
“That’s not true.” She looked into his hostile eyes and sighed. She could restate her defense, but he’d never believe her.
“Then how do you explain Krew?” he challenged.
Heather tensed and lowered her arms to her sides.
Of all the horrible things that had taken place at Nuevo Biotech, the continual abuse of Krew Fuller topped the list. Need for the experiments had been blamed on scientific curiosity.
What Krew suffered had nothing to do with science and everything to do with the evil inherent in some humans.
At barely twenty years old, Krew was the youngest member of the tribe to which Heather had been assigned.
The older hybrids tried to protect him, but a couple of the guards enjoyed abusing him.
“I told my supervisor as soon as I realized what was happening.”
His gaze narrowed and his lips pressed into a grim line. “And how soon was that?”
“I’m not sure.” Krew’s handsome face and soulful eyes flashed through her memory. He’d been soft-spoken and kind, the sort of person who was never a threat to anyone. “He admitted that it had happened before, but I don’t know how often.”
“Your supervisor did nothing,” he stressed. “Those bastards beat Krew and raped him over and over, yet the staff—you included—did nothing.”
She shook her head. Should she even bother defending herself?
None of her other explanations had moved him in the least. “When my shift supervisor did nothing, I notified Dr. Jarrel. When she shrugged it off as well, I arranged to have Krew transferred to another tribe. I contacted Jarrel’s boss and then her boss’s boss until I found someone willing to do something.
The transfer was approved, but…” Emotion closed her throat and she couldn’t complete the sentence.
“He died before they could move him?” Patrick guessed. A bit of the hostility eased from his expression.
Had that been new information? She sighed.
What difference did it make? Krew still lost his life.
“Krew’s suicide was the reason I started feeding information to the media.
I’d notified the authorities about the widespread abuse and medical malpractice at Nuevo.
Nothing was done, so I started sending videos to reporters. ”
He clasped his hands behind his back, his expression hard. “What made you leave?”
“I’d done everything I could from the remote outpost, so I returned to Earth. I know months went by and it seemed like I’d forgotten, but I was working to bring down Nuevo Biotech the entire time.”
His chin lifted and his emerald gaze locked with hers. “If you’re such a fucking hero, how did you end up on Rydaria?”
It was a valid point. Whistleblowers were often celebrated. Such was not the case with her or the others who had offered testimony. The public was so enraged by Nuevo’s complete disregard for the law and basic human decency that they turned on anyone at all associated with Nuevo Biotech.
“The authorities promised me all sorts of things to keep the information flowing, but when the trials started, I was arrested just like everyone else. I think they meant for me to receive a lighter sentence, but the judge made it impossible. Everyone employed by the Griffin Project was exiled to Rydaria. There were no exceptions.”
He lapsed into silence, his expression turning thoughtful. His gaze swept down the length of her body as he unclasped his hands. “Undress.”
Her momentary reprieve was clearly over. She continued unbuttoning the borrowed shirt.
“What else did Gabriel tell you?” He made no move to assist her, but he watched her closely.
“Not much,” she grumbled. “You took a really quick shower.”
As she freed the last button, he opened the front of the shirt exposing her naked body. He arched his brows as his gaze moved over her nudity. “What did you hope to learn?”
“Anything he was willing to tell me.” She wasn’t sure why he was bothering with conversation, but encouraging his talkative mood was in her best interest. “I know what was done to you, but I know very little about you as a person. Did you work for Echo, Inc.?”
“We all did.”
Not sure if he meant it literally, she looked into his eyes. “Everyone in Eagle Village used to work for Echo, Inc.?”