Chapter 19
nineteeN
I COULD TELL QUIN was against that plan. His ears flattened against his head and a low rumble started in his chest.
I put my hand on his forearm. “Novagen has to be connected to BioSynth somehow. They’ve been giving annual flu shots to staff for as long as I’ve worked with them. Even though nobody got sick. Insisted on them, really.”
I shook my head, frustration tightening my chest. “I know it sounds paranoid.”
Quin huffed a laugh, ears flicking. “You know,” he said, studying me like I was something he couldn’t quite decide whether to admire or brace for, “for someone so small, you cause an impressive amount of trouble.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “Havoc.”
I shook my head at him and took a deep breath. “I have to know what they did to me. How to fix this.”
Nuke pulled a sleeve of crackers from one of the many pockets on her cargo pants. "I don't think it's something that can be fixed."
My mouth dropped open in horror.
She backtracked. "I mean, I don't think it needs to be fixed.
Like I said, mate bonds are in a class of their own.
It's not like a love potion that someone can engineer for two people who don't like each other, or an artifact that binds people together.
It's a bond created by the Fates. The bones of it had to exist. They just capitalized on it. "
I shook my head. "How could they have known I was fated to a wyrfang? That doesn't make sense."
Kragen tilted his head. "You said you'd just been transferred to Damruck, correct?"
"Yes."
"How many others were transferred before you?"
My stomach dropped. "Five."
"And of those five, how many worked at the same facility as you?"
"All five of them."
He nodded. "So maybe it was a numbers game. BioSynth knows we are still in Damruck; they've just been unsuccessful in pinpointing our location—and in all their attempts at recapture to date. They alter as many employees as they can, then rotate them through Damruck to see if any attract a 'fang."
"That seems inefficient." Nuke scowled from her perch on the counter. "There would be no way to ensure the test subject and a 'fang were ever in the same vicinity, much less cross paths close enough to trigger the bond mechanics."
My head was spinning. I looked up at Quin. "I don't care how they engineered the experiment. I have to know what's going on. I'm going to work."
He nodded. "Okay. I don't like you walking into the lion's den without a whip, but okay."
Bacon got everyone's attention when she hopped off the counter, disturbing Meanosaurus, who let out a loud squawk. She rooted in her own backpack for a moment before holding a small velvet box out to me.
Inside was a gorgeous crystal pendant necklace.
Quin growled. "Are you proposing to my mate?"
She smacked his horn. "No, you big dummy. It's a tracking necklace. Enough tech in there to launch a satellite. I'll monitor her vitals and exact location." She wiggled her fingers in my direction. "From right here."
She flexed said fingers in his face, then jerked back before he could swipe at her.
I put the necklace on, and it quickly warmed against my skin. I pressed it with the palm of my hand. "Thank you," I whispered. "Knowing you'll see if I'm in trouble helps."
"If you tap it five times quickly," Bacon said, "it'll send an SOS. I'll alert the cavalry."
"Thank you," I repeated, meaning it twice as hard now.
She waved me off. "It's self-serving, really. I don't want to deal with Quin being completely in the dark. It's going to be bad enough that you aren't glued to his side."
Quin grunted, clearly in agreement.
Nanna's surprisingly firm voice rang out from the kitchen. "Boys!"
Immediately, all the males in the room turned and filed obediently to her side. Even Zeus. They filed back out one by one, each holding a platter, and soon they had the impressively long dining room table filled with food.
The older woman shuffled over and handed me a paper towel. I took it in the automatic way you do when someone hands you something. It was warm, and when I unfolded it, I discovered a cookie.
"You were in the hospital during pre-lunch cookies, but I managed to sneak one away for you."
The backs of my eyes stung and my throat closed as I cradled the cookie to my chest. She seemed to understand that words were beyond me. She patted my shoulder and shuffled into the dining room, where all but Quin were already seated and shoveling food into their mouths.
Quin crouched in front of me, bringing our eyes level. His thumb brushed my cheek, chasing away the wetness before it could fall. He didn't tease. Didn't smirk. Didn't deflect. His eyes never left me and I felt his gaze like a warm blanket.
"Are you hungry?"
His low rumble made my eyes droop. "No." I took a deep breath. "I need to go home, get work clothes..." I trailed off as he shook his head.
"You're staying here."
His tone was final. Normally I would've bristled. Instead, my lungs unclenched for the first time in hours.
"One of the others will gather your things and bring them here."
My nose burned as I nodded. Then he cradled me against his chest and we were moving away from the dining room.
I freed one of my hands from the cookie and grabbed his neck.
I let my body feel things my brain couldn't process yet.
Somewhere in the haze, a bed appeared and he rearranged me on his lap.
He smelled so good, was so warm, his hand moving up and down my back in a slow rhythm.
He tried to set me down. A sound ripped out of me—small, pathetic, absolutely not the noise of a grown adult woman. But Quin froze, concern tightening every line of him.
"No," I whispered. "Don't—just don't go." I turned, straddled his hips and clung to him like a spider monkey.
His expression wavered between fear and want. "You should rest."
I shook my head and pulled tighter. "I need.
.." The words tangled. My face flamed. But the truth pushed out anyway.
"I need you. Please stay." Felt his chest push against mine in a deep inhale.
I felt the back of his jaw press into my shoulder blade as he curled around me and my muscles responded like I'd been darted with a tranquilizer.
This was my choice. Mine. Not bond-instinct. Not fear. Just wanting him. Wanting the only person in my orbit who made the world make any sense.
I was a limp noodle, but managed a whimper as he turned and set me on the bed like I was made of spun glass.
"Shhh. I'm not going anywhere."
My eyelids sank like sandbags, but I tracked his movements around the room. The shush of curtains being closed, a tug at my feet then the gentle slide of my shoes. I curled my toes as my socks came off.
He tugged at the cookie next, and irrationally, I held on tighter.
He chuckled. "It'll be on the nightstand, right next to you."
I relinquished the treat that symbolized so much more than a sugar rush.
I held my arms up and waited. And waited.
I slid my eyes open to find him staring down at me, his eyes glowing softly in the dim light.
He looked at me with hunger. An apex predator ready to fell its prey.
I heard his teeth clack together. Saw his hands shake as he reached for the hem of my shirt.
Shivered in delight as the backs of his claws ran up my sides. He paused.
"Haven."
My name, rough and reverent. I'd been telling myself I was drawn to Quin because he made me feel safe. That wasn't the whole truth. Safety didn't explain the way my attention snagged on him—on his mouth, his hands, the way he watched me. I wanted him.
"Yes." Not confused. Not coerced. Just tired and overwhelmed and needing.
He peeled my shirt up, claws safely blunted, touch warm and trembling.
As soon as they were free, my arms fell to my sides. Quin tried to pull the blankets over me but I shook my head. Pointed weakly at the bra still caging my chest. "Off."
I almost laughed as he studied the garment, went over it from one side to the other and then looked at me with a helpless expression. "Off," I repeated. I wasn't sure when I became a one-word conversationalist, but it seemed wrong to break the hush of our bubble with any more than that.
His head canted before he slipped one claw free of its sparkly rainbow cover and made quick work of slicing through both straps and the center.
I sighed like he'd just solved world peace and did a terrible job of wiggling to help him get the now ruined fabric from under me.
It joined the rest of my clothes on the floor.
For the longest time, we just stared at each other.
When he spoke, his voice was deeper, more growl than vocal. "Sleep?"
I considered the question. Considered him. Then I told my brain to shut the fuck up and went with instinct. "No." I grabbed his hand and planted it on my breast. "Touch."