Violet (The Silver Series Book 4) (21 page)

The creature across from it bore a muzzle
that was split in half so that the nose sat in a distorted center
of human teeth and a canine tongue. The creature's eyes were
missing, and several overlapping layers of skin took their place. A
wheezing, growling sound emanated from its throat.

Giant gaps showed through the skin of the
creature at the next bed. It looked mostly human, but the gaps
across its face revealed teeth and claws and the gaps bled freely
as if the workers had given up on bandages. The bed across from it
showed a wolf-like creature with blond hair and purple eyes, but
its skin hung loosely from its body as though not attached to the
bones which showed sharply through the skin.

Rows upon rows of distorted figures writhed
in agony, held down to the beds by ropes, handcuffs, and leather
straps that caused deep wounds in arms and legs from where they had
rubbed raw and never been treated. The I.V.s and machines that kept
the creatures alive hung like grim sentries above each bed and
beeped in a cacophony that would have driven any sane person
crazy.

The creature closest to Kaynan, the one with
the teeth protruding from its cheek and the eyes at the bottom of
its face, met my brother's eyes and held them. Kaynan's own crimson
eyes stared back at him with such pain and sorrow that there was no
doubt what the creature wanted.

A sob escaped Kaynan's chest. He pushed up
to his feet and tore the shoes from around his neck. He slid the
soles to the side, pushed the immediate activation buttons, then
tossed both shoes into the room. The creature closed his eyes as
though in a silent prayer of thanks. Kaynan slammed the door and
staggered halfway back down the hall, then tore off his clothes
like he couldn't stand being human anymore. He phased and collapsed
on the floor. The bombs detonated the same time that his body hit
the ground.

***

I had almost reached the elevator when
another series of explosions sounded from down the hall, blasting
us both into the open door. I pressed the button for the first
floor and prayed that the elevator still worked. I refused to
question the sanity of riding in an elevator up an exploding
underground building and held Kaynan close.

The elevator door took its time closing.
Heat beat down on us from the fire that roared at the other end of
the hallway. A door on my right blasted open and fire shot out with
angry red, orange, and yellow fingers that reached in our
direction. I worried for a second that the elevator was dead,
sealing us in, then the doors slid slowly shut and we began to
rise.

A group of blasts shook us, but the elevator
continued up. We finally reached the first floor. The doors opened
slowly, then stopped halfway. I shoved through and carried Kaynan
across the empty room, through the door to the smaller room we had
entered only a short while earlier but which felt like an eternity
ago, and exited the last door to fall to my knees in the desert
sand.

Several more blasts sounded. I knew I
couldn't rest so close to the building and with the children left
out in the desert. I mustered what was left of my strength and
picked Kaynan up again. His wolf head lolled against my shoulder.
Tears streamed down my face at what he had seen. I beat myself up
for letting him go down there alone, but neither of us could have
left the compound without making sure all of the children were
safe, and with my phasing it had been the only way.

I marched slowly up the dune that shielded
the children from the exploding building. I could barely
concentrate on placing one foot in front of the other. I knew I was
in shock from what I had seen, but the survival instinct of the
wolf wouldn't let me give up.

I reached the top of the dune with a slight
feeling of accomplishment, then staggered with the rush of rage
that ran through me at the sight ahead.

The children had been clustered into a
group, older ones comforting crying little ones while a circle of
armed guards kept them under control. Two men in suits similar to
the one Dr. Verus had worn stood with their arms crossed loosely as
though I had kept them waiting.

“
Let them go,” I growled,
too exhausted to care about the guns that pointed in my direction
at my tone.

One of the men cracked a shallow smile.
“You're outnumbered.”

I glared at him. “I'm not afraid of you, and
by the number of guns you brought you can't say the same about me,
so I figure we're even.”

His eyes narrowed. “Our orders were to bring
you back alive, but I'd feel no remorse at saying you attacked me
and had to be killed.”

“
Funny, I feel the same way
about you.” Kaynan's body was starting to feel a lot heavier as my
werewolf strength receded, but I refused to put him down. I lifted
an eyebrow. “And who are you going to tell?”

His smile widened. “Dr. Verus.”

I was about to tell him that would be a bit
difficult when the thud of a helicopter's rotor blades reached my
ears. I fought back a smile when I recognized the sound coming from
the same craft that had dropped us off.

“
I think you're about to
regret ever listening to that fool.” I tipped my head in the
direction of the helicopter and he glanced sideways. His eyes
widened as the chopper neared.

“
Form two lines and have
the children kneel on the sand in front of you. Keep a gun at each
head and pull the trigger when I tell you to,” he barked. The
soldiers around the children did as they were told, though they
exchanged doubtful glances at the orders.

It was risky, but I took the chance to
bargain. “Let the children go. They're innocent and none of them
are werewolves.” I set Kaynan’s body carefully in the sand.

“
Not yet, but they will be
soon if our experiments are any indication,” the leader said. His
silent companion gave a ghost of a smile, then glanced back warily
toward the helicopter.

I sputtered. “Indication of what? That you
can kill people and make disfigured clones? You're not even capable
of sustaining life at this point.”

He gave me a disgusted glare. “We created
you.”

I rolled my eyes. “And obviously did a great
job. Why else am I here to blow up your facility other than to make
sure you don't do to others what you did to me?”

“
We gave you a new life,”
he shot back.

The helicopter hovered over the next dune
and ropes dropped down. A few of the guards took shots, but the
chopper finished its drop and flew away to safety.

“
You destroyed my life, my
brother's, and the lives of my loved ones just so you can profit
from your experiments,” I said, hoping to draw him out in an
argument and distract him.

“
Form a perimeter,” the
leader commanded. His men rushed to form a circle around me,
Kaynan’s still form, and the children with their guns pointed
outward.

Men appeared over the rise of the dune. It
took a minute for the exhaustion in my mind to clear enough for me
to recognize Rafe, Jaze, and Jet.

“
Rafe!” I
shouted.

He waved, relief visible in his golden eyes.
The head guard muttered something and aimed his gun at Rafe’s head.
I hit the gun aside and punched the man as hard as I could in the
nose. He swore and cupped his face in his hand, then hit me in the
side of the head with the gun. I fell to the ground, but grabbed
his elbow as I fell, throwing him off balance. He stumbled and
blood gushed from his nose to his shirt. I looked up to see him aim
the gun at my head and froze.

“
Uh, Commander?”

Pain-laced glee filled the man’s eyes as his
finger tightened on the trigger. “Commander,” another guard
interrupted, his voice more urgent.

“
What?” the man snapped. He
broke his gaze from mine and looked up, then his face washed pale.
He lowered his gun and I rose to my knees to see four rows of armed
Hunters and werewolves ringing the guards. The helicopter had been
a decoy to distract them from the real threat. The thought filled
me with relief as the guards dropped their weapons with soft thuds
to the sand.

Rafe ran through the guards without pausing.
The hatred and threat in his eyes was so pronounced they glittered
with the promise of violence. When he reached us, the werewolf
moved with such fluidity that no motion was wasted. He spun in the
space of a heart beat, taking the Commander’s gun and sweeping his
legs out from under him. He fired two bullets into the sand next to
the Commander’s head and the man cringed away from the sound.
“Threaten Colleen's life again and I will tear out your heart and
feed it to my pack,” he growled, his eyes flashing with anger.

The man refused to look at Rafe, but a
chuckle came from his throat. Rafe glared down at him.

“
Why are you laughing?” he
demanded, the look in his golden eyes dangerous.

“
Because nothing you do at
this point matters. You can kill me, kill all of us, destroy the
bodies of the children and leave them in the sand to rot, and it
won’t make a difference,” he said, pushing to a sitting position.
He brushed the sand from his suit as though it were a mere
annoyance.

“
We destroyed Base Omega,”
I pointed out. “There's no starting over.”

He smiled. “Even now, Dr. Verus and my
comrades are driving north to a new facility that's ready and
waiting.” His eyebrows lifted. “We always have a backup plan; you
should know that by now.”

Jaze moved to stand on my other side while
Jet slowly paced around to flank the guards by the children. They
kept uneasy eyes on the werewolf. Knives flashed in Jet's hand and
I knew it was only a matter of time before the metal tasted
blood.

My stomach tightened. “There's no way.
Kaynan threw the doctor into a room with half our bombs. He
couldn't have survived.”

The man lifted an eyebrow mockingly. “Oh
really? And did your brother watch the room at all times to make
sure the good doctor was never assisted out?”

I thought of my run to the desert with the
children and Kaynan's journey down to level six. I shook my head,
but knew what I had seen. “Dr. Verus was unconscious. How would
anyone know he was there?”

“
Security cameras,” the man
said with an infuriating calm given the fact that Rafe was a step
away with a look on his face as though he wanted to hasten the
man’s departure from the earth. “The good doctor’s long gone by
now, untouchable and in vehicles you couldn’t possibly
trace.”

Jaze tipped his head to the side and
regarded the Commander with steel in his eyes. “You mean the four
black SUVs we blew up on the way here?”

The man's face paled and he stared back and
forth from Jaze to Rafe as though debating whether the Alpha told
the truth. When neither looked anything but completely serious, his
mouth fell open. “It can't be!”

Jaze shrugged. “Given Colleen and Kaynan's
danger, it was the only option we had.” His eyes narrowed slightly.
“I guess that puts a little damper on your backup plan.”

A wail escaped from the man’s throat and he
lunged at Jaze. Jet was there before anyone could blink and had the
man in a headlock on the sand in the space of a heartbeat.

“
Take them away,” Jaze said
in a low growl.

Jaze’s militia bound the guards. A few
minutes later, several vehicles pulled up and more Hunters and
werewolves got out along with government officials in suits; there
was little for them to do but haul the guards into the vehicles and
leave.

“
Where are they taking
them?” I asked; I knew their faces would show up in my nightmares
along with everything Kaynan had shown me.

“
It's up to the
government,” Jaze replied, eying the suited men with distrust. “But
any they don't take will be escorted to the Hunter's prison in the
mountains.”

The thought of chambers the Hunters once
used to lock away werewolves made me shudder. Rafe's arm tightened
around my shoulders and I leaned against him. He rubbed my arms and
heat ran through my body at his touch.

“
We'll take the children to
one of the safe houses and help them get home,” Jaze
continued.

Several Hunters were already helping
children into their SUVs. The kids looked happy and it was obvious
they were being treated with kindness. The twelve year old girl
that had been so much help with the others waved at me before she
climbed into one of the vehicles next to her brother. I smiled and
waved back, relieved that at least something good had come from
Base Omega.

Chapter 17

Rafe helped me into the helicopter, then
took the seat on my right side next to the window. Kaynan was still
unconscious in his wolf form, so Jet set him carefully on the floor
of the chopper. Jaze positioned a headset over his ears the best
that he could to block out the sound. He then sat next to me and
shrugged. “Worth a try, I guess.”

I gave him a grateful smile and accepted the
headset the pilot handed me.

“
Well done,” a familiar
voice said.

I looked up to see Agent Sullivan in the
front seat. He turned and gave me a thumbs-up that I felt too
exhausted to return. He didn't seem concerned by my lack of
response. “I knew you could do it.”

“
But at what cost?” I
asked, looking down at Kaynan's still form meaningfully.

“
A dear one,” Agent
Sullivan replied. He was looking out at the cars loaded with
children and I felt a bit better. “Two of those kids are
mine.”

His voice was thick with emotion and I
stared at him. He turned back and met my eyes. “Thank you.”