Page 14 of The Union
She blanched as she leaned away.
I flashed my fangs at her, my eyes changing from green to silver, my vision preternaturally clear. “It’s only a matter of time before you become my next meal.”
She stuck out her chin, the color draining from her rosy cheeks. “You’re not the first vampire to bite me.”
Brave woman, even though her terror was drenching me, giving me the edge to keep my focus despite any drugs she’d pumped into me. “Maybe not, but I will be the first one to drain you.” I loved a challenge. I loved when people were so sure of themselves that they were caught off guard by their overconfident attitudes.
She tore her gaze away from me.
I tracked her line of sight to a windowed room above us and scorching anger had me jerking on the chains like a crazy fuck when I recognized the woman staring down at us.
“I’m going to have so much fucking fun ripping your head off, Rianne Aberdeen.” I didn’t know if she could hear me. My bet was she could because her smug grin grew wider as though she was untouchable.
Rianne stood stoic, chin out, shoulders rolled back, and her brown hair was tightly wound on top of her head. Layla’s sister wagged her finger at me with a look that said she’d won. In whose fucking universe did she win? This was only the beginning. She leaned to her left and said something to Lester Worthington. Another brazen-faced fuckwad decked out in black, whose brown hair was slicked back. The two chatted as if they were discussing the plot of a movie they’d recently seen while the dude beside Lester watched me with a keen eye. He was about a head taller than his counterparts, with a broad chest that filled out his expensive black tailored suit. I was quickly reminded of Roman Brown, who’d come to a fight dressed in a suit. But this dude had brown hair, not blond, and brown eyes, not blue. And if I had to guess, he was the head honcho, the one who spit out orders and was fucking with the wrong vampire.
Rianne threw her head back and laughed.
I thrashed around, tugging hard on the chains, and the hook bent even more.
Then Rianne’s voice blared through the speakers from somewhere in the room. “Carly, give him another dose. Now!”
I whipped my head at Carly. “So, you’re Carly Aberdeen. I was told you were in charge of the tech department, not the lab.”
She kept the needle pointed my way but didn’t move a muscle. “I wear many hats for Intech.”
“What are you waiting for?” Rianne asked.
I snarled at the bitch. “Why don’t you come down here and do it yourself?” My mouth watered to slice and dice her. I turned to Carly. “Who’s in the driver’s seat? You? Rianne? Lester? Or that sharp-looking man in the suit?”
She lowered the needle. “I don’t want to use it, Mr. Mason. The tests I’m about to run require you to be awake and lucid. So cooperate with me, and I’ll make it worth your while.”
I gave her a condescending grin. Still, my empath side told me she wasn’t exactly pulling my leg. “You have nothing to give me in return unless you’ll let me leave here.”
She sighed. “I’ll give you an update on Layla.”
I glared daggers at Carly. “Where is she? Is Layla here?” I restrained myself from spewing idle threats. I would rather show her how much damage I could do. If anyone laid a finger on Layla, they wouldn’t have a heart left.
“Carly,” Rianne warned.
Images of me dragging Rianne through an inferno danced before me as heat hurtled along my arms. My fire element was ready to set alight anyone and anything in my wake.
Carly set the syringe on the table as though she knew she was a gnat’s ass away from smelling her own skin charring. “Rianne, I’m running this show, not you.” Her demeanor changed from half-scared to full-on bold as fuck. “Or did I miss a memo, Mr. Emery?”
Even though Carly wanted to use me as a lab specimen, I was digging her fearlessness with Rianne. “Fred Emery?” I mumbled. He was the dude who had given Jordyn Aberdeen the creeps when she’d met him. He was also the head of security for Intech. Plus, he could be the same Fred guy who had been talking to Roman Brown on the phone when my best bud, Ben, had been in Roman’s clutches.
Carly shook her head. “Adam Emery,” she said to me while keeping her attention glued to the threesome, waiting for an answer.
Must be a family business.
Emery nodded as his deep baritone voice filled the hospital room or lab or whatever the fuck they called this place. “Do what you need to but make it quick. We have a lot of work to get him ready.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Ready for what?” My gut told me Carly wasn’t in the market to extract my DNA, but something far worse.
Rianne, Lester, and Emery left as two guards dressed in full SWAT gear entered the room above and positioned themselves at the corners. They each opened a small window and aimed their sniper rifles at me.
“What are you about to do to me?” I again asked Carly, knowing she wouldn’t tell me. Considering Intech and Camden Industries built computer programs and weapons for the Department of Defense, that bad feeling only multiplied.
She scurried over to what looked to be an MRI machine near a glass room that resembled the one my uncle Patrick held me in when he’d been poking and prodding me.
