Caged Read online

  “Honestly?” I shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

  • • •

  With spoon poised, I stared down at the food in my bowl. “You weren’t kidding, Lauren.”

  “Eat around the lumps,” she said.

  I glanced across to Kyle who stared at his own meal with the same kind of enthusiasm.

  “It’s not so bad if you avoid those,” Lauren continued. “I choked on one last week.”

  Delivered by Andrew, the brown slosh seemed to be a cross between porridge, stew, and quite possibly vomit. As a beggar, though, I didn’t get to choose, and knowing I’d need all my strength to get us out of there, I stuck in my spoon, and scooped some up.

  Sniffing at it, I detected warmth that bordered on mugginess, pulses, and maybe something that could have been beef. My tongue tip took the first sample. Salt disguised the bland quality of the meal, as the soggy mush rolled around inside my mouth with the consistency of wallpaper paste.

  Another peer at Kyle almost had me choking on the gunk. His screwed up expression was pretty much how I expected my own must have looked. His Adams apple made some serious dance moves as he forced a swallow.

  “Mm-mm.” Kyle smiled as he lifted his gaze to mine. “This is almost as good as your cooking, buddy.”

  I managed my own swallow before my chuckle burst out. “Be sure to eat it all up now. Or you might not get dessert.”

  A groan rolled from the panther’s cage, and my attention shifted that way, to the flash of pale amongst the shadows. I cocked my head to the side, like it would give me a better view around the bars.

  My eyes narrowed as I stared harder and captured the altered form toward the back of the cell. What had been black fur and camouflage had become flesh and visible. The very-human-looking female pushed to her feet from the floor in one fluid movement, like watching a spilling drink on rewind.

  My curiosity over the race piqued my interest enough for my meal to be discarded as I clambered up with far less dignity than she had and continued to stare.

  The pale outline of her back curved into a stretch, her hands reaching to the ceiling, and her face angled upward. With the grace of a ballet dancer, her arms flowed down and the slow, deliberate steps she took toward me lent her an air of exotica. She seemed unperturbed by her nudity as she stopped at the bars. Through loose tendrils of hair that matched the deep brown of my family and tumbled like waterfalls across her shoulders to conceal her breasts, amber eyes met mine.

  To describe her as beautiful seemed a huge understatement, and as much as I wanted to show her my friendly people skills, any words of greeting clogged in my throat as I achieved nothing but gawping admiration—until my inhale caught the undesirable whiff of cat. I snapped from my trance, rolling shoulders that had finally begun to loosen.

  The shifter’s lips curled into a smile, and she gave a slight jerk of her chin. “Food’s getting cold, dog.” Her words didn’t hold the hostility I’d expected, but only a warm tone that smoothed like honey over toast.

  I went to bend for my bowl, but paused at the shimmer that embraced her body as she turned away.

  She took one step, two, and by the time she’d taken the third, only a black panther stalked through the cage.

  Eyebrows arched, I glanced across to Kyle who’d moved to the dividing bars. “You see that?”

  “Yep.” He shovelled in a spoonful of mush.

  “You see how fast she—”

  “Yep,” he said around his full mouth. He swallowed, shifting his eyes toward me. “Cool, no?”

  I wanted to shrug my indifference, but my head defied me and nodded in agreement. “Very.”

  As I retrieved my meal from the floor, the metal doors opened. I scooped up a spoonful, aimed it into my mouth, and watched Joseph and Andrew’s approach.

  Andrew’s lips seemed to remain in a permanent grimace, whilst Joseph once again managed to look somewhat amused by me. They reached the panther’s cage, turned the corner. One smile, and one scowl were tossed my way as they passed, like a poor rendition of a good-cop-bad-cop routine. The duo didn’t stop walking until they reached Kyle, where they turned their backs on me.

  Kyle’s spoon-hand stalled mid-lift as he turned toward each of them.

  I wanted to ask what they were doing, went as far as opening my mouth, but closed it at the entrance of a second pair of goons. The mousey hair and wielded dart gun identified the one who held part responsibility for my and Kyle’s entrapment. Lack of fresh scents and telltale eyes branded the other as vampire.

  With a low rumble claiming my chest, I watched them halt outside a cage on the right of the steel doors. I didn’t know where I needed—wanted—to look more, and my hand came to rest around a bar as I tried to keep my focus on both parties at the same time.

  The jangle of keys decided for me, and my head whipped to the right in time to see Andrew step toward the door of Kyle’s cage.

  Kyle lowered his bowl even farther as I dropped mine to the floor with a clatter. “Overstayed my welcome already, have I?”

  The cage door swung inward with a boot from the werewolf. He nodded his head to Kyle. “You’re up.”

  I sensed, rather than saw, Lauren climb to her feet and turn to the happenings outside her bars, but my attention remained on Andrew and Kyle. “Where are you taking him?”

  “Upstairs,” Joseph said over his shoulder.

  My pulse lurched as my panic almost clouded my vision. “What for?”

  Andrew brought a gun that matched the vampires around in front of him—from where, I didn’t know. Although he kept it pointed down, he aimed the barrel Kyle’s way. “Walk.” The deepness of his voice made the command sound more like a growl than a word. “Now.”

  Kyle hesitated less than a beat before complying. His gaze locked onto mine as he stepped out into the aisle, a million questions screaming at me from his too-calm stare.

  “What are you taking him upstairs for?” I asked again. “He’s barely woken.” I pressed into the corner of my cage, like being closer would enhance my chance of answers. “Take me—”

  Kyle’s quiet snarl cut off my words—a warning that I’d been about to cross an unacceptable boundary. He probably still thought he’d gotten us into the mess, and he’d see my offer to take his place as nothing more than an insult. His gaze stayed on mine as he walked past with the two males at his back.

  I clenched my fists, and my jaw tightened. I followed him alongside the bars, willing him with my stare to reconsider. Whatever they wanted him for, it couldn’t be good. Stalled by the left corner of my restriction, I let out a low growl as Kyle turned away and headed off toward the doors.

  Although my gaze didn’t waver from my packmate, the spectators that gathered at the forefront of each enclosure didn’t go unnoticed—not by me, and not by Kyle, if his head turns gave any indication.

  The nearer he got to the exit, the more my frustration mounted, and the harder my soaring heartbeat forced the blood past my ears. My mind filled with static energy. I pushed my fisted hands against my temples like I could somehow stem the noise.

  Within seconds, Kyle had stepped through the doors, and they swung shut behind his departure. Just as quick, the two vampires left behind pulled out keys. They unlocked the cage they’d stopped outside, and the occupant joined them without complaint. Beneath his chestnut hair, his black eyes swirled as he sought me out, and the chuckle he shared held only menace before his fangs shot down and he turned with his guards.

  I dropped to my haunches, arms bunched tight around my pounding head as Lauren’s earlier words filled my every cell with dread.

  Two go up. Only one ever comes back down.

  15

  The surge of my pulse slowed enough for me to function, but didn’t stay that way with the leap to my feet. I pa
ced to the back corner of my cage, pressed my forehead to the wall. The rough stone scratched at my healing head wound until the scent of my blood announced its reopening. I closed my eyes, pushed harder against the surface, like something else to focus on would help me deal with the pounding inside my chest.

  “He might be okay,” Lauren said behind me.

  I whirled to face her with fists clenched, swallowed the snarl attempting to break free. “No offense, but you wouldn’t understand.”

  I strode back to the front of the cage, skidding when my left sole hit gunk that had spilled from my bowl. I kicked out at the steel as I righted myself with a growl, and the clash of metals, when the booted bowl hit the bars, rang like an alarm through the space.

  The witch in the next cell jumped, jerking aside as the remaining dish sloshed through to attack her, before scuttling back to cower in the rear corner of her cube.

  I should have apologised, wanted to, but rationality seemed a little out of grasp right then. My right shoulder slammed into the front of my barrier as I lifted my arms again to envelope my head—another attempt to block all the shit, as well as every face that had been turned my way since Kyle walked out.

  “It’s my job to look out for them all.” My murmur tumbled from my lips.

  “Why?” Lauren asked.

  I dropped my arms, frowning down at her. “Who else have they got to watch their backs?”

  “It’s not your—”

  I whipped away, and another disjointed walk returned me to the wall.

  Culpability pumped through me at the speed of a tornado, and the temptation to pummel the solid structure overwhelmed me, but I’d be no good to anyone without my fists.

  I’d knowingly let Kyle go into that hotel room with a stranger.

  “I should have paid closer attention, dammit!”

  Instead, I’d been too busy feeding my own needs.

  Hands bunched so tight the tendons of my forearm threatened to snap, I stalked to the front of my enclosure again, and stared out at those still watching.

  The werewolf occupying the cage beside Kyle’s showed himself for the first time. Beneath almost black hair, his eyes aimed my way, whilst his toe kicked against the base of his bars. Sympathy gleamed from him—whether for Kyle’s possible demise, or for me as Kyle’s pack brother, I couldn’t be sure.

  I turned away from him, skimmed over the glowing eyes peering out from the realms of the panther’s enclosure and onto the far row of attention I’d attracted.

  In the cage beside the feline who’d been discarded by Andrew, a werewolf—judging by his scent—stared back through curtains of dirty blond. The high glisten of his eyes, whilst offering understanding, revealed relief that someone other than him had been chosen to venture upstairs.

  Orbs the shade of freshly cut grass shone from the next one along as another male appraised me from beneath pale ginger curls. Canine undertones emanated from his body, yet lacked the familiar essence of werewolf, rendering his race unrecognisable.

  The neighbouring cage stood empty, a reminder of the vampire who’d evacuated his quarters to accompany Kyle.

  Ignoring the raging storm in my mind, my gaze flitted past and fell upon a slight female. Witch? She stood far enough away to provide distance for herself from the vampire who leaned close to their division.

  With exception for the latter, every pair of eyes held the same concern, a unified show of empathy.

  For me?

  Why?

  What the hell did they do with them upstairs?

  I pointed a finger at the werewolf across from me. “Tell me what we’re doing here.” My hands slid round to grip the bars when he didn’t respond. “What have they taken him up there for?”

  His hands slid into his pockets as he averted his eyes. A step back merged him with shadow.

  I turned to the other watchers. “What are they doing up there?”

  Headshakes preceded the shunning bodies as they one by one skulked to the recesses of their pens.

  What the hell’s wrong with them? Are they not in the same situation as Kyle and I?

  My hands and jaw tightened as I verged on loss of control. “Anybody?”

  Evidently, their compassion only extended so far. With a growl I made no effort to rein in, I whipped my hands free of the metal rods and took two paces to Lauren’s cage.

  “Lauren, if you know why they’ve taken him upstairs, now would be a really grand time to tell me.”

  “Taking it out on the girl will help no one,” a voice said to my left.

  I spun to snarl at the female, who’d once again shifted from her panther form.

  My warning seemed to have little effect on her as she continued to study me through her tumbling hair. “And losing control will not help your friend either.” Even her tone held the same smoothness it had earlier.

  “He might be all right,” Lauren said.

  My glare kicked back in at her repeated words.

  Her fingers twisted in the buttonholes of her shirt. “Your other friend was.”

  “My other …” I marched across to tower over her. “Gabe? I thought you didn’t—”

  “He went up four times.” She held up her left hand to show the number with her tiny fingers. “Came back down four times.”

  “In bad condition, you said.”

  She nodded. “But, I think that was only because of the bites. Once they give him the stuff, he seems to wake up again after a while.”

  “Bites?” My brow scrunched until it hooded my eyes. “What bites?” I looked from her to the shifter, panic stoppering my throat. “What … stuff?”

  “Vam …” To my right, Lauren’s voice trailed off when the shifter’s glowing eyes flickered toward her.

  My teeth risked shattering with the pressure I exerted upon them. I blinked away what I thought I’d heard and hoped I’d been wrong. It took only moments to realise I hadn’t.

  I slid my hands to the nape of my neck and linked my fingers as I paced away. My raised elbows hit the wall. I squeezed my eyes closed. “No, no, no, no.” The words spilled out on a jumbled whisper. “It’s not possible.” I dropped my arms, spun back to Lauren. “That’s not possible.”

  My imploration had to be clear in the stare I sent to the shifter. “She must have it wrong. A were can’t survive a vampire bite. Any race knows that.”

  The female held my gaze steady. “They appear to have created an anti-venom.”

  What the hell? “A cure? Against … vampire bites?”

  Her head dipped a touch.

  “Wh …” My arms flipped up with my shrug. “Why the hell—”

  “Maybe the answer lies in your young friend.” As the cat tilted her head a little, her dark hair brushed lower against the right side of her abdomen. “The pup is the only one they’ve used it on.”

  Crashes invaded my mind with the ferocity of a storm as I absorbed her words. “So … Gabe is getting bitten … and then they’re sticking needles of some kind of anti-shit to ….” My hands fisted against the tremble that emanated from my spiralling incomprehension. “What the fuck kind of crap are they sticking him with to achieve that?”

  My slipping control vibrated through me and hit my ears at the volume of a swarm of killer wasps, yet the feline never once looked away. “I don’t have all the answers for you.”

  “It’s probably made with their blood,” Lauren murmured.

  I broke free of the shifter’s focus and turned to her, restraining myself enough to ask, “Why?”

  Her fingers continued to fiddle with her buttonholes, and she still tapped the toe of her left boot against the concrete floor. “That’s how they usually make antiviral stuff, right?” Her eyes darted away before she looked back to me. “Use some of the disease …” She shook her hea
d as though to clear her thoughts. “Use the blood of a carrier who isn’t affected by the disease because it contains the antibodies … right? Isn’t that what they teach us in science?”

  My eyebrows battled my deepening frown as they attempted to lift. I turned back to the shifter. “They’ve created an anti-venom from vampires blood? How the hell—”

  “Look around you, wolf.” The feline’s chin did a delicate inclination to the left and right. “It’s not as though they have no supply. I see two from my position alone—three, if the one they took returns.”

  I let out a low groan. “Fuck.” The overnight bristles peeking out from my chin scratched as I rubbed my palms across my face. “But … why? To what purpose? And why Gabe?”

  “The purpose is obvious. To keep him alive.”

  “But, why the hell would he be getting bitten to begin? How? What reason could they have?” Another groan announced my mounting frustration. My fists tapped together as my thoughts rampaged but conjured no plausible explanation.

  I threw my hands up. “I don’t get it. I don’t fucking get it. Not what we’re doing here. Or why Gabe’s being bitten, only to save him—”

  “He’s no good to them dead,” Lauren said.

  I scowled down at her but tried to curb the expression when she kicked at the floor again.

  Her huge eyes lifted back to me when I didn’t speak. “They used him … remember I told you that? He was only brought here to bait you. A dead lure is no good to anyone, right?”

  Another mystery I couldn’t solve. What the heck did they want with me? All their talk about my reputation, and shit, and I had no idea of their motive, or reasoning, or even what bloody standing they referred to. Despite my silent questions, no answers screamed back at me. Would venturing upstairs provide enlightenment?

  “If they never intended Gabe to go upstairs, why do so? What changed their minds? Why? What the—” I leaned in close to the bars as I pushed aside pride, ready to plead with the cat if I had to. “Tell me, have you been upstairs?”

  She stared back at me for seconds, an unreadable expression within her amber eyes, before she gave a single nod.