Damon gritted his teeth, claws scraping against the concrete floor. Every nerve in his body was fired up and ready to respond to whatever came his way.
The facility had suddenly gone dark, leaving him alone in a shroud of shadows moving in the cells and hallway around him. The glass panel to his cell had shrunk into the floor; a warm breeze stirred his fur, further putting him on edge. The breeze carried the scent of blood and sweat. Fear.
All Hell was breaking loose above him. Screams, human and animal alike, pierced his ears. And he was chained to a fucking wall.
Kinsey was up there somewhere, in danger, and he was stuck. The frustration tore through him and burned at his soul.
He yanked on the chains until the fur around his neck was gone and his skin rubbed raw.
A voice he feared he wouldn't hear again broke out amongst his growling and the screaming around him. "Damon!"
He froze and looked at Kinsey through the darkness. She stood panting by the door; her hair had entirely fallen out of her tie, and her clothes were rumpled and smeared with blood.
He scanned the area with his senses quickly, searching for any nearby danger. She was alone. The creatures that had been locked up with him were long gone.
Deeming they were safe for at least a few minutes, he shifted and pulled her in so she wasn't standing exposed in the middle of the hallway. "What's going on?"
What kind of threat were they facing? The Corporation had intense security, for it to all come crumbling down in a matter of minutes. . . He was just glad Kinsey was alive.
She caught her breath and wiped sweat from her forehead, smearing it with more blood. She didn't seem to care. "I'm getting you out of here."
He should hope so. He wasn't about to leave her defenseless against an unknown threat.
"Can you climb?" she asked, a steady calm washing over her. He'd never seen her so cool and methodical; it was like when his shifter instincts turned on in fight or flight situations. Kinsey had chosen to fight.
"We have to move quickly. Victor and his men have blocked the stairwell and they shut down the elevator; we'll have to climb the shaft. It's not exactly according to plan, but it'll have to do. Once we're on the upper floors, we'll be fine."
"Wait." He had to stop her. "Plan? You planned this?"
"Yes," was all she had to say then she pulled a canister out and attached a long thin nozzle to it. "Keep your distance from the spray."
His head was still reeling from the fact his sweet, gentle Kinsey had planned this. When he got himself in order, he had a few questions: "How did you know where I was? Where are my brothers? How many of my people are fighting above us right now?"
She gave him an impatient look then began spraying the chain, keeping a healthy distance away from him. Was that liquid nitrogen?
"I didn't know you were here," Kinsey answered eventually. "And your brothers aren't here. None of your people are. . . It's just me."
Just her. . .
He lost it.
"Are you fucking insane? Do you have a death wish? What were you thinking?? Do you have any idea what kind of danger you've put yourself in, Kinsey?" If he could grab her and shake some sense into her, he would, but she had taken one step back, all she needed to avoid his wrath.
She threw him a sharp glare. "Of course I know, but I wasn't about to let you rot in here. Any of you. This is why you wanted to date me, isn't it? You wanted me to be so madly in love with you I'd do anything for you, even tear this company apart from the inside. The best part? You don't lose a single shifter. You're welcome."
He flinched from her tone. She was still bitter. She wasn't doing this because she loved him, she was doing it because what Carissa and Victor had done was wrong and she was trying to make things right.
God, he loved her.
She was still working on freezing the chain, but he didn't want to wait a second more and pulled her to him. Or at least tried to. She was still a hair's width out of reach. She scowled at him. "What are you doing? The chain's not cold enough yet."
"I want to kiss you. Badly."
Even in the dark, the flush creeping up her face was visible. And adorable. Would she ever stop blushing when he declared his desire for her? He hoped not.
"Don't move," was her response. "You're making it difficult to free you." She went back to spraying the chain.
His heart twisted, but he wouldn't give up. She would be his again. It didn't matter what he had to do and how many times he had to do it. He would prove his love to her or die trying.
A door at the end of the hallway slammed open and gunfire quickly ensued. Kinsey stepped away from him before he could tuck her behind him.
"Kinsey!"
Victor. His voice haunted the nightmares of many and had Damon's hackles rising.
A growl ripped out of his throat. "Get me out of here, Kinsey. I'm gonna rip that bastard apart for everything he has done."
She ignored him, growling, a deep guttural sound that only a shifter could make. Claws had grown out of her hands as she stood in front of him to protect him.
Victor came into view, hands up.
Damon yanked on the chain, desperate to reach Kinsey before Victor could touch her.
"Stay away from him," she warned, crouching. A woman protecting her mate. Only, she didn't know how to use those claws. Didn't know how to fight, period.
Victor glanced at Damon; the cold, hard look in his eyes softened. "Good to see you, brother. And you," he turned his attention back to Kinsey, "are a pain in the ass to catch up to."
Dayton. He had used the Mimic potion and had somehow gotten Victor's DNA.
Kinsey, having no idea what his plan had been, growled in response. Her shifter instincts were still new and all the stress she'd undergone tonight was finally getting to her, making it difficult to see reason. She didn't understand that Victor's appearance was a glamour.
Damon wanted more than ever to bring her into his arms and assure her everything would be all right. He would take care of her, help her through this transition and protect her, even if she could never forgive him for lying to her.
"Kins, it's okay. He's Dayton. He doesn't want to harm me."
After a moment, she eased up and set a pair of scrutinizing eyes on him. "How on Earth did you manage that?"
"Sabrina found a hair on the jacket Victor had left behind at her place. The witches used it to make a Mimic potion. Now, let's get moving. I don't know how long security can hold off those monsters."
Now that he mentioned it, the gunfire had thinned out while they were talking. The soldiers were losing to whatever was out there.
Damon's wolf shuddered inside him from the ominous aura they gave off.
"Homunculi," Kinsey corrected. "They were the first four Mutants they experimented on. They didn't turn out so great. At least, I think that's what they are."
Dayton just looked at her. "Glad we cleared that up. Free my brother."
Nodding, Kinsey went back to freezing the chains. When she went to reach for the can, she winced and tried to hide it from him.
"What happened to your arm? Why isn't it healing?" The shifter blood in her should have healed an ordinary wound by now.
She bit her lip, clearly in pain. "I got shot."
Dayton left his post at cell entrance to investigate her wound. He hissed. "Iron bullet. It won't heal until we get it out of you. Must hurt like a bitch."
Damon couldn't help grinning. He knew when his brother was impressed and he was proud Kinsey was the one to do it.
The gunfire ceased, wiping that smile right off his face. The roar that came after the deafening silence made him shift automatically.
A loud crash sounded at the end of the hallway then a mixture of growls and clicks filled his ears.
"Fuck." Dayton brandished a small vial and drank it. His whole body trembled and contorted, skin bubbling. In a matter of seconds, Victor became Dayton. "Kinsey, break that fucking chain."
She tossed the canister aside. "It should break when you yank on it, Damon."
With one last heave, the chains shattered to the floor. He took a defensive position in front of Kinsey. The homunculi, as she called them, were coming and he didn't want them anywhere near her.
"All right, Kinsey," Dayton said, moving behind her, "lead the way out."
"Go left. At the end of the corridor, there is an elevator. They'll have turned it off, but we can climb the shaft to the fifth subfloor then we can escape through the air vents. They'll take us directly to the surface." The wobble in her voice betrayed the stoic exterior she had adopted.
The homunculi were getting closer. Their claws ticked and scraped on the concrete floor.
Damon jumped out first and faced them. There were four, each one as fugly as the last. They were big, bigger than him, humanoid in some form or another.
One stood on four paws with a contorted maw; its flesh and hair was human. The other two were almost enitrely human in appearance. One had scales on his shoulders and down his back--and razor teeth. Behind them, the smallest walked on claws at its posterior like a lizard and on its wings in the front; it had a female's chest and head, which seemed to be permantly contorted in agony. The last reminded him of a gorgon with its rear snake half and human front half.
He heard Dayton swear behind him then Kinsey's gasp. "Keep moving, Kinsey."
"But what about Damon-?"
"He's fine."
Damon dug his claws in, prepared to hold these abominations off as long as it took them to reach the elevator.
Their footsteps receeded--that's when the beastly homunculi leapt after them. Damon collided into it, tearing his teeth into its tender flesh. Its blood tasted like ash in his mouth and burned his tongue, but he kept it pinned until the flying homunculi tried to get passed him. He pushed off the beast, catching the bird-like monstrosity in his jaws and brought it down to the floor. It screeched, throwing him off. He was smacked back into the gorgon. Not the position he wanted to be in.
He whirled around, wacking it back with his tail, and hopped back. It wasn't fast enough. The beast took off running after Kinsey and Dayton--and while he wasn't looking, the lizard man buried his talons into his fur and threw him into the wall. The gorgon sank its fangs into his haunches.
None of the pain wracking through him mattered when he heard a scream.
Kinsey!!
He turned to run to her--but the homunculi dragged him back and tore into him.