The Altered (30 page)

“Well, well,
what do we have here?” Chambers smiled, and Daniel flinched at the
coldness of it. “Mates?” He moved back in front of Daniel, then
grabbed his chin and forced his head up. “Or just friends?” He
glanced over at Jordan and then backhanded Daniel hard across the
jaw.

Daniel’s head
snapped to the side, a sharp pain erupting over the side of his
face. But the sound coming from Jordan’s cage shocked him more.
Daniel had never heard anything so feral and angry. The roar Jordan
let out filled the whole room, loud and vicious, and out of the
corner of his eye, Daniel saw the guards take a step back.

Good.

He hoped they
were fucking terrified. Daniel licked at the blood trickling from
his lip, and that set Jordan off again, a low drawn-out snarl this
time, but just as threatening.

“Mates, then.”
Chambers grinned delightedly, beckoning one of the guards over. “An
altered, especially a fully changed one, would only react like that
for his mate.”

He seemed so
sure of himself. Daniel shuddered to think how many altereds had
been in this position. How many had been tortured to gain the
answers to Chambers’ questions? He didn’t give a shit what Chambers
had to say—mates or not, he and Jordan were together, and that was
all Daniel cared about. But the fact Chambers had said it with such
glee didn’t bode well at all.

The guard
unlocked Jordan’s cage, and he and Chambers stepped inside. Neither
Jordan nor Charlie—who was slowly starting to wake up—were in any
position to attack, and Chambers eyed them both with a smirk on his
lips.

“I don’t think
we’ll need to provide Mr Fellows”—Chambers pointed at Daniel over
his shoulder—“with much incentive to cooperate, all things
considered.” He grabbed the long knife attached to the guard’s belt
and held it up to Jordan’s throat.

Daniel dug his
nails into his palms. Jordan healed fast, but would it be fast
enough if Chambers cut his throat?

Chambers
dragged the blade across the vulnerable expanse of Jordan’s neck
while Jordan glared—fangs bared and menacing-looking despite being
useless, restrained as he was.

Daniel’s heart
pounded as he watched the line of blood appear where Chambers cut
into Jordan’s skin. It wasn’t deep, but it didn’t need to be—the
threat was clear.

Chambers
stepped back and handed the knife back to the guard. “We’ve done
extensive testing to see just how far you can push an altered
before they’re unable to heal themselves.” He smiled, and Daniel
felt sick. “We’ve never had the opportunity to push a full altered
to their limits before.” He motioned at someone behind Daniel and
then leaned down, getting right in Daniel’s face. “You either
cooperate or we get to play with Mr Cole. Either way it’s a win for
us.”

Daniel barely
stopped himself from answering back. They’d torture Jordan and the
others regardless of whether Daniel cooperated or not.
Did they
think he was fucking stupid?
The sound of something being
wheeled close caught his attention, and he craned his neck to get a
look at it.

The two lab
technicians began attaching wires to him, and Daniel wanted to
laugh out loud.
A polygraph?
They clearly hadn’t done their
homework on seers…
thank God
. He’d been training his body to
fool the enhanced senses of shifters for years, so he could sure as
fuck fool a bloody lie detector.

Whatever
Chambers planned to ask him, Daniel could answer how he liked—he
just wished he knew what way that should be.

Chambers
leaned his back against the bars of Jordan’s cage as they finished
wiring Daniel up to the machine. “We’ve been working on this serum
for a long time, spent years trying to replicate the pathogen, but
the blood we had was never quite pure enough before.” He gestured
over his shoulder to Jordan, who still emitted a low rumbling
growl. It was almost comforting, the sound of it settling just
under Daniel’s ribcage and centring him.

“But now we
have Mr Cole’s blood, I believe we’ve found the missing link.” He
looked so pleased with himself, Daniel half expected him to laugh
and rub his hands together like an old-school villain. “It takes
time for the change to become complete, though, and I hate
waiting.”

Daniel had an
inkling of where Chambers was going with this. But he had no idea
if he could see an altered before the pathogen, or
serum
,
had fully worked its way through their system. How would he?

“With your
talent, Mr Fellows, we won’t have to wait to find out if this batch
is successful. We haven’t been able to pinpoint what it is that
makes some people susceptible and others not—that information may
be lost forever—but this new version should have a more generic
appeal.” Chambers looked smug, and it made Daniel want to punch
him. “And now at least we can tell sooner whether the change will
happen. My patience, and that of my benefactors, is running out.”
Chambers’ mouth thinned into a harsh line, and Daniel smiled as he
imagined Chambers getting pressure from his superiors.

“Oh, you find
that amusing?” He backhanded Daniel again, and this time Daniel
cursed as he bit the inside of his cheek.

Blood filled
his mouth, and he turned, spitting it onto the floor and
coughing.

“’M goin
t’tear you ‘part, limb by limb,” Jordan hissed, around his
fangs.

Daniel’s
breath caught when he looked up at him. Jordan’s eyes were his
wolf’s, bright with barely contained fury, and Daniel had never
seen him look more animalistic—not even when he’d shifted.

Jordan tilted
his head to the side and licked his lips, eyeing Chambers as though
he was a slab of fillet steak.

“I was right
all along,” Chambers sneered, but Daniel noticed the way he tried
to casually step farther away from Jordan. “Altereds are nothing
but animals—good for one thing and one thing only.”

Daniel saw an
opportunity to buy them a bit of time. “And what’s that, then?” he
asked, grimacing as he licked over the cut. He hoped Keira and the
others could come up with a plan to get them out of this. And
soon.

“Oh come now,
Mr Fellows, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. Strong,
violent, fast healers—they’ll make the perfect soldiers.”

Daniel was
about to tell Chambers exactly what he thought of that idea, but
Charlie beat him to it.

“So all the
rumours were true.”

“Of course.”
Chambers glanced over at him. “Why else would we create such
monsters?” Charlie swallowed and shook his head. “Even if you
manage to produce a working serum, no one you change would ever
want to work for you. Altereds aren’t assets you can sell to the
highest bidder.”

Daniel watched
Chambers’ face and noted the total lack of reaction to Charlie’s
comment. He was insane if he thought the altereds he created would
fall into line and become soldiers for whomever was funding this
operation.

“That’s
exactly what they are. Those we change will already be
soldiers—used to taking orders. If they resist, we have ways to
make them cooperate, but that’s none of your concern.”

Shit
,
Daniel thought as Chambers turned back to face him and grinned. He
is
crazy.

“Bring me Dr
Adams, and let’s get started.” Chambers crouched down in front of
Daniel and tapped his finger on Daniel’s knee. “Let’s make sure you
know how to tell the truth, shall we?” He stood back up and reached
over Daniel’s shoulder, presumably to turn on the machine. “If you
refuse to answer? I’ll just take it out on your mate.”

Daniel had
never wanted to hit someone so badly in his life.

“Is your full
name Daniel Michael Fellows?”

“Yes,” Daniel
replied warily.

“Do you live
alone?”

“No.”

“And finally,
a nice easy one. Is Jordan Cole your mate?”

“I….” Daniel
faltered. Of the many questions Chambers could have asked, he
hadn’t been expecting that one. It caught him off guard, and he
cursed at the sudden look of interest on Chambers’ face.

“Do you
believe in mates?”

Daniel
hesitated again. There’d never been any denying the pull he felt
whenever Jordan was near, but mates? He glanced up and met Jordan’s
eyes—still the vibrant green of his wolf—and Daniel felt it, deep
inside his chest. A warmth so sure and
right,
it took his
breath away. “Yes,” he whispered, and Jordan smiled—wild and feral
and glorious.

“And is Mr
Cole your mate?”

“Yes,” Daniel
said, his voice clear and steady this time.

Chambers
clucked his tongue. “Such a shame we have to kill him. You’ll be
pining for years. Oh well.” He walked away, leaving Daniel reeling
from the matter-of-fact way he’d said that.

The guards had
grabbed the man Daniel assumed to be Dr Adams from his cage and
were now holding him fast between them. He looked terrified, and
Daniel didn’t blame him. Ash and Sam had woken up while Chambers
had been talking, and Daniel sighed in relief as Ash appeared to be
fine—pissed off and scared, but at least he didn’t look hurt.

Sam on the
other hand, still lay on the floor with his head nestled on his
paws. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but Daniel didn’t think
him anywhere near healed.

“Please… don’t
do this.” Dr Adams looked from Chambers to the guards holding
him.

“This?”
Chambers walked up to him, brandishing a full syringe in front of
his face. “You should have thought of that before you tried to get
us shut down.” Chambers jabbed the needle into Adams’s arm and
pressed the plunger.

Dr Adams went
rigid, his whole body freezing in place before going limp as he
passed out. The guards continued to hold him up, looking to
Chambers for further instructions.

“An irritating
side effect we’ve yet to iron out.” Chambers stood in front of the
unconscious Dr Adams and grabbed his hair to lift his head up. “It
never lasts more than a few hours or so at most, so there’s that.
Anyway.” He glanced over at Daniel. “Tell me what you see, Mr
Fellows? Did it work? Can you see his altered form?”

Daniel looked
at Dr Adams’s face and saw… nothing. He didn’t know which would be
the better answer, but for now decided to go with the truth. “No. I
can’t see anything.”

Chambers
walked toward Daniel and looked over his shoulder at the polygraph
reading. “Damn it,” he hissed. “Bring Shaw, and let’s try it
again.”

The guards
unceremoniously tossed Adams on the floor near one of the empty
cages, but not inside it, Daniel noted.

“Nothing to
say?” Chambers sneered as he raised a new syringe to Shaw’s neck.
Daniel assumed the army fatigues meant Shaw was ex-military.
Whatever he had been, he clearly wasn’t on Chambers’ team now. Shaw
glared at him, but then shut his eyes, not saying a word. Chambers
shrugged and injected Shaw with the serum.

Daniel saw it
immediately.

Even as Shaw
went rigid and collapsed exactly like Adams had, Shaw’s shifted
form appeared just long enough for Daniel to see his claws and
fangs—partially altered. Daniel’s heart rate didn’t falter, and he
breathed steadily in and out as though nothing had happened.

The lie came
easy, rolling off his tongue as when asked he calmly told Chambers
that no, he didn’t see anything this time either. Daniel refused to
condemn anyone to being one of Chambers’ lab rats.

Chambers
yelled and threw the empty syringe across the floor before rounding
on the two technicians still standing behind Daniel. “You said it
was ready!” He stalked forward, and Daniel heard a choked-off gasp
from behind him. “You said it would work this time, you incompetent
piece of shit.”

“Th-they could
be immune.”

“Immune!”

A loud smack
followed by a pained grunt told Daniel what had happened, and he
clenched his fists, swallowing down the guilt that threatened to
bubble up. The technicians and the guards had all participated in
this atrocity.

“M-maybe he’s
lying… or maybe it’s too soon, and he just can’t see the change
yet…. ”

“M-m-maybe you
two are lying to me?” Chambers mocked.

He rubbed at
his eyes, mumbling to himself, too quiet for Daniel to hear.
Whatever it was had Jordan and Charlie baring their teeth, and Sam
growling.

“Get rid of
him.” Chambers gestured in Shaw’s direction, not bothering to look
where the guards threw him. “And bring me that one.” He pointed at
Ash.

“What? No,
leave him alone!” Daniel yelled, struggling to get his hands free.
The rope burned his wrists, but he ignored the pain.

Sam stood
snarling and baring his teeth. No one had bothered to chain him
down, and he stuck his nose through the bars, snapping at the
guards as they dragged Ash past. Ash held out his hand to him, his
fingertips too far away for Sam to reach, and Sam whimpered.

“Shh, it’s
okay,” Ash whispered, looking back over his shoulder at Sam.

Chambers
rolled his eyes. “How touching.” He watched with a curious
expression as Sam paced back and forth behind the bars. “I’ve never
seen an altered remain in his wolf form for so long.” He stroked
his chin, thoughtful, and Daniel could imagine what was going
through his mind. “Hold him still,” Chambers said, giving Sam one
last look and then approaching Ash.

“Fuck off.”
Ash struggled, leaning back as far as he could, and Chambers just
laughed as the guards tightened their hold.

Shit. Shit,
shit, shit
.

Daniel watched
helplessly as Chambers pushed Ash’s sleeve up. This shouldn’t be
happening. Ash was an innocent. He’d escaped being exposed to the
original pathogen, and he shouldn’t have to be exposed to whatever
cocktail Chambers had created. Fuck, he might end up like those two
poor sods they’d seen on the way in.