Obsidian

Chapter Two

The terror was hard to suppress but New Species had excellent senses of smell. They could sometimes pick up emotions and she’d been assured fear was one they could detect. Allison couldn’t afford to screw anything up. It was all about timing and not rousing suspicion.

Her hands trembled as she hid the folded note inside her upper desk drawer and pocketed the key.

Locking it away would give her more time to implement her plan before they found it. She lifted her gaze to the clock on the wall and her heart raced. A hundred things could go wrong and she’d be in a world of trouble if even one part of her plan failed. Minutes ticked by at a snail’s pace until it was finally four o’clock. The officer downstairs assigned to guard the patient would leave to eat dinner. She had exactly twenty-five minutes before he’d return.

Her legs felt weak when she stood, inched around her desk and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her frayed nerves. During the previous twenty-four hours she’d laid the groundwork to make her plan go off without a hitch.

Destiny wasn’t at his desk and that was one hurdle down. She rushed to the elevator, pressed the button, and prayed whoever guarded 880 wasn’t behind schedule. Her fingers brushed the coat pocket containing the keys to assure herself she could do it as the doors opened.

The hallway chair sat empty as the doors to the elevator opened on the basement level and she fisted the air in joy. Her flat shoes didn’t make much sound as she jogged in the direction of the patient’s room and dug out the key to his door. She’d lifted the spare from Destiny’s desk an hour before when they’d had a Species come in with a cut arm from a sparring match. The key twisted and the door opened.

880 lay still and she rushed into the room after she blocked open the door. It only took her a minute to turn off the machines, unhook his IVs, and remove the feeding tube. She watched his chest and face for signs of pain or shock from the sudden loss of support. He kept steadily breathing.

She didn’t touch his restraints, swearing to deal with those later, and used her foot to kick off the lock on the wheels of his hospital bed. She maneuvered it into the hallway. It was a struggle to turn the bed and force it down the hallway to the elevator but she managed.

Fear gripped her hard as the doors slid open but no one was inside. She groaned, gave a mighty shove, and got his bed into the tight space. She pushed the button while leaning back against his bed and had no idea what lie to tell that would be plausible if she were caught taking him to the ground level of the medical building.

The doors slid open and she peered around the edge at the large room. Everyone was still at dinner. She hit the button that would keep the elevator open, turned, and gripped the railing of the bed. She had to throw her weight against it but managed to free him from the elevator.

She stepped back inside, hit the door release, and jumped out before they closed.

The back doors to the medical center were usually locked but she had keys. She sweated a lot and it tricked down her spine and between her breasts as she got that door open. No officers were assigned outside where her rental truck waited. She rushed toward it, lifted open the rear rolling door, and quickly dragged out the ramp.

“Fuck,” she hissed, gripping the head of the bed. She took a running start, knew it was insane to attempt it, but figured if she didn’t get enough speed the damn thing would run her over when it began to slide back.

Desperation gave her that added amount of strength and the wheels of the bed hit the ramp.

It was jarring but momentum kept it going all the way into the back of the small-size rental truck. She wished she could collapse on her ass from exhaustion but she didn’t have time to waste as she glanced at her wristwatch. She had nine minutes to get out of there before someone checked on 880. She could only pray they didn’t eat too fast and return early.

She had prepared the back of the truck already and used handcuffs she’d purchased from a sex shop to lock the rails of the bed to the inside bumper of the moving truck. She shoved a packing blanket between the side of the bed and the wall, praying it would cushion any bumps. Doubt struck.

What if I end up killing him? Oh shit. I’ve lost it. It’s too late though. No way can I get him back to his room before they find out I took him.

Shit! She peered down at his scarred features and clenched her teeth. She wasn’t going to allow him to die and that would be a certainty if she didn’t follow through with her plan.

It wasn’t easy to get the ramp to slide back inside the grove it had come from. The thing seemed heavier to put back than to pull out, but she managed. Fear of getting caught kidnapping a New Species and what they’d do to her was motivation enough. She pulled down the back door, locked it, and rushed to the cab.

She climbed into the driver’s seat, glanced over at her purse, hidden mostly from sight on the floor, and fumbled for the keys. The truck started as she belted in with her free hand, threw it in drive and slowly pressed down on the gas. They were in motion. She drove carefully, hoping her guest wasn’t being jarred too much.

A quick glance at her watch made her hurry to the employee gate. She had a tight schedule to keep. She turned the air-conditioning on high, hoping it would blow away any stench of lingering fear. She opened the window to help as the gates and the officers who guarded it came into view.

“Dear god,” she softly prayed, “please let this work. Pretty please?”

The officer who stopped her wore a mask that shielded his face. The tinted, protective dark glass hid his identity and she didn’t recognize his voice.

“Hello, Dr. Allison.” His head turned to stare at the back of the truck. “Where are you going?”

“I bought furniture for my home yesterday. I have to return the truck today.” She lifted her arm to show him her watch. “It’s got to be back by five. Can you check me over quickly and let me go? The rental place will charge extra if I’m late.”

“Of course.” He stepped up on the side of the truck and peered inside the front to make sure no one forced her to leave by hiding on the passenger floor. “Is the back unlocked?”

Where the hell is that guy? Come on, damn you. She managed to keep her voice calm. “Yeah.

There’s nothing in it but the moving blankets that protected the new dining room table from being scratched. Go ahead and look.”

He climbed down and she wanted to scream when he walked toward the back of the truck. Her gaze lifted to the thick gate in front of her and the other Species male who manned it. More of them were above on the wall with sniper rifles.

She could ram the gate in an attempt to flee but they might open fire, accidentally shooting 880.

That wasn’t a risk she would take.

“Alert!” It was a snarl from above. “We have an incoming van.”

Boots pounded pavement and the officer rushed past her driver’s door to reach the gate. A beat-up van slowed on the other side of it and a burly man stepped out.

“You are not permitted to come to this gate,” one of the Species officers stated. “Return to your vehicle and turn around. This entrance is off-limits.”

“Calm down. I just need directions.” The guy glanced at the truck but was careful to look away.

“Don’t shoot. Hell! Are those real guns? I’m just lost. I think I took a wrong turn.”

More officers arrived on the scene. They carefully gripped him, spun him around, and patted him down.

“Hello?” She shoved her head out the window to get the officer’s attention. “I have to go. Can you check the back and let me pass?”

The officer was distracted with his focus on the threat of the unknown man and what the beatup van could contain. She’d counted on that. He waved at her to go and the gate opened.

Guilt ate at her as she drove slowly past the guy she’d paid to distract the officers. They had him handcuffed on the ground and were preparing to search his van. He shot her a dirty look before she accelerated. He wouldn’t be arrested if he stuck to his lost story and they wouldn’t find anything to be alarmed about inside his van. They wouldn’t keep him long.

Allison didn’t relax until she merged into traffic on the highway. She was careful of how fast she drove to avoid drawing attention. The last thing she needed was to get pulled over for a speeding ticket. She wondered how long it would be before the NSO ordered a helicopter into the air to search for the rental truck. Her best guess was not long.

The exit came up and she breathed out a sigh of relief. There were no gas stations or stores within sight. The road narrowed to little more than a two-lane country road, one not used often, and she finally spotted the aging, sagging gate.

The truck swayed when she pulled off the pavement. Her gaze lifted to the sky and her ears strained for the sound of a helicopter. Just the engine of the running truck could be heard.

The gate to the property squeaked loudly as she opened it wide, returned to the truck and drove down the road enough to allow the gate to clear the back of the truck and returned to close it. A mile down the dirt path stood an abandoned barn and farmhouse. She had opened the barn doors the night before so just drove the truck inside.

She didn’t calm down until she’d closed the doors and opened the truck’s back rolling door.

She had to use a small penlight she kept in the inside of her coat to see in the dark interior as she climbed into the cargo area. The bed was upright, the handcuffs had held it against the wall, and she silently thanked the guy from the sex shop who had sworn they were police quality. He probably had thought she really did have a bodybuilder boyfriend, her excuse for wanting to buy the strongest sets they had. She paused by the side of the hospital bed. 880 rested peacefully as his chest rose and fell. Grateful tears filled her eyes.

He’d survived.

“I got you here. We made it. Now we just have to wait until it’s a little darker and I’ll move you inside the house.”

She bent over him and lightly brushed a few strands of silky black hair away from his cheek.

His skin was hot but that was normal for Species.

She’d still take his temperature when she set him up in the living room—she’d equipped it with supplies to care for him—and make sure it wasn’t an infection from hastily removing the feeding tube.

“It’s just you and me now, 880. Don’t be scared if you’re aware of what happened. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve done this to save you.”

Tiger threw back his head and roared in rage.

He glared at Destiny while the other male paled.

“How could you allow this to happen?”

The male’s mouth parted as his Adam’s apple bobbed. Wide shoulders shrugged. “I had no idea she plotted to kidnap him. I trusted her. Who thought she would be strong enough to take him from here?”

“Enough,” Justice growled. “I trusted her too.”

He shot a worried stare at Brass when he entered the office. “Tell me you have good news.”

“I don’t. We have alerted the police to help us search for the rental truck but they haven’t spotted it. We have two helicopters in the air and the third one is en route from Reservation.”

“The sun will go down soon.” Jessie marched in and walked directly to her mate, addressing him. “We’ll find him.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek. “I am keeping my composure but I’m furious. I handpicked her myself. We did a thorough background check but she still betrayed us.”

“Nothing indicated she had any association with Mercile or the hate groups.” Brass crossed his arms over his chest, rage twisting his features grimly. “She had no debt but she did withdraw twenty thousand dollars yesterday from her savings account. She has a trust fund left to her from her deceased grandparents. It made us feel secure that she couldn’t be bribed when she came to work for us. Money wasn’t a motivation for kidnapping 880. We sent authorities to her family but they are accounted for. No one is using them to force her to do their bidding.”

The phone rang and Justice leaned over his desk to hit the speakerphone “on” button. “Justice here.”

“It’s Trisha,” the woman’s voice announced.

“I heard what happened and I don’t believe it. I know Allison and she wouldn’t hurt a Species.”

“She kidnapped him. We only picked up her scent and sweat from the exertion of pushing his bed out of the building. She drove him right through the employee gate.” Justice paused. “I didn’t want to believe it either. I trusted her but she took him.”

“There has to be a reasonable explanation.”

Trisha sounded angry. “It’s not to hurt or sell him.

She really cares about Species and she hates anyone who poses a danger to them. She’s dedicated and sweet. There’s got to be another reason besides something despicable.”

Flame entered the room, holding a note. “We discovered this locked inside her desk.”

“What is it?” Trisha called out. “Someone tell me or call me on their cell phone so we can video conference.”

“It’s a note,” Flame stated louder. “She took him because she feels it’s possible to save him by getting him to bond to a female with her scent.”

He offered the paper to Justice. “She asked for permission but was denied. She states she feels it may be his only chance at survival.”

Justice accepted the piece of paper and frowned, reading it. “She swears to do everything in her power to bring him out of the coma and return him to us as soon as possible.”

“Damn,” Tiger snarled. “She’s insane. Doesn’t she realize taking him from Homeland is putting him in jeopardy? She could trust the wrong person who may wish to kill him. He’s helpless and she’d be useless defending him.”

“What does she want to do?” Trisha’s frustration sounded in her voice.

Tiger stepped closer to the desk. “880 lost his mate and Dr. Allison requested we send a female to stay with him in hopes her scent would lure him from his coma.”

“Would it work? Justice?” Trisha quieted, waiting for an answer.

“No.” He sighed. “I don’t believe so. He can’t be fooled by another female’s scent replacing the one he lost. She would smell offensive to him.”

His gaze held Tiger’s. “Did you inform her of this?”

“I told her it would be dangerous. I tried to explain why and I thought she understood.”

“She won’t hurt him.” Destiny coldly glanced at everyone in the room. “She sneaked into his room sometimes. I caught her talking to him. Allison has heart. She didn’t take him to be cruel.

She wants to heal him.”

“We need to save her from him if she does manage to get him to wake.” Tiger lifted a hand and ran it through his mane of hair in frustration.

“He’s going to kill her. She’s human and he’s never known kindness from them.”

“We assume that.” Justice frowned. “We know so little about this male or his history except for what happened to him right before he was rescued.”

“Humans murdered his mate in front of him, according to the other Species males who were recovered with him. It drove him insane.” Tiger growled low. “He’s going to kill her if she manages to bring him around. We’ll have a feral Species out there attacking humans. We need to find them both and get him back here.”

“Agreed.” Justice shook his head. “I need to call Tim Oberto and bring the task force in on this. They are going to have to put their current mission on hold to find 880 and Dr. Allison.”

Allison shivered in the chilly room. The heater worked but most of the warmth rose to the two bedrooms upstairs. The house was old, the original downstairs construction was poor, but the newer addition to the second floor wasn’t as drafty.

Her gaze lingered on the Species on the hospital bed in the center of the room.

“I wish I could get you upstairs but I’m not strong enough to carry you. I refuse to drag you because you’d get bruised. I doubt I could do it even if I tried.” She stepped closer to tuck the blanket around his neck. She’d hooked up an IV for fluids, emptied his urine bag, and knew in the morning he’d need a sponge bath. It was too cold to do it after the sun had set. “We’re safe though.

The house is locked up tight. I started a fire in the grate and hopefully it will warm up soon.”

She glanced around the living room and hated the musty smell. Beggars can’t be choosers, she remembered. Finding the rental on such short notice in the local paper had been pure luck. The farmhouse was twenty years out of date, the included furniture needed to be hauled to the city dump, but someone had tried to clean it. No cobwebs adorned the corners and dust didn’t cover every surface. The man she’d called from a disposable phone she’d bought had said the electricity and gas were on. He used the place a few times a year to bring his friends out to go deer hunting.

“We’re in a farmhouse. It’s not the nicest place I’ve ever stayed but I paid cash. The owner never saw my face so he can’t identify me and I told him I needed a love nest.” She grinned. “I’ve had to make up some wild stories lately. The guy at the adult store thinks I’m doing some crazy bodybuilder who likes being chained to a bed and the owner of this house thinks I’m having an affair with a married guy while his wife is on a monthlong cruise to Europe. I told him I needed somewhere no one would see us together.”

She turned to face the sleeping man. Her gaze lingered on the scar marring his cheek, then the one along his jawline. They were older ones, the fresher wounds he’d come in with had healed, but those two were the worst.

“I have a disposable cell phone, a different one, charging in the kitchen. If you get into trouble we’re just twenty minutes away from Homeland.

They can reach us quickly if I place a call to them. I brought emergency equipment in case you need it. I just wish I could have stolen a heart monitor. I’d feel better if you were hooked to one.”

He didn’t move, just breathed, and depression settled inside Allison. She had a feeling it was going to be lonely while she waited to see what would happen with her constantly at his side.

“I’m going to sleep on the couch in here. We’re going to be fine.” Another shiver ran down her spine from the cold. “The weather called for rain but the temperatures should warm within a few days.” She stroked his cheek with her fingers. “I hope you’re warm enough. There’s no dryer here so I can’t heat your blankets.”

She turned away and walked to the suitcase she’d stashed inside the house when she’d brought supplies to care for 880. She nearly froze when she stripped out of her clothes to put on a pair of sweats and a loose sleep shirt. She sat on the couch to stare into the fireplace flames and sighed. There wasn’t a television and she doubted it would have gotten reception anyway.

The folded blanket wasn’t as thick as the ones she’d given 880 but she curled up on the couch with it, trying to get warm. It didn’t work. She was still really cold. It just got worse as time passed. Her gaze drifted to the hospital bed, worry ate at her over his comfort and she rose to her feet.

She lifted his blanket a little to feel his bare chest. He was really warm, his skin responded to her cold touch with gooseflesh and she bit her lip.

Her feet were chilled even though she stood on carpet while she debated.

“Oh hell. I want you to get used to my scent.

At least I won’t worry about one of us freezing to death.” She rounded his bed to the side where she hadn’t inserted the IV, gently lowered the railing and climbed onto the bed after lifting the covers.

“These hospital beds aren’t roomy, are they?”

She twisted enough to pull up the rail. With the limited space she had it wasn’t easy to tuck the blanket over both of them. He was really large and warm as she snuggled tightly against his side, careful not to disturb him.

Warmth invaded her where they touched. Her hand lifted to press against the middle of his chest and each breath he took made it rise and fall. He was fine for the time being. Their body heat combined would keep them both warm through the night. Exhaustion settled in.

This is crazy. She admitted that. Regret lingered over her hasty decision but it was done.

Tomorrow she’d worry about what to do next.

She just needed some sleep. Each breath he drew rubbed her hand on his chest and she inhaled his scent. Soap and the hair products they used, plus something faintly masculine that wasn’t cologne, teased her nose.

She was attracted to 880. Guilt ate at her for the way her body hugged his a little tighter than necessary. The idea of him healthy and awake, lying in bed with her, made her stomach flutter.

That reaction shamed her. Noticing that a patient was good-looking was unavoidable since she had good vision but the way she enjoyed being so close to him was flat-out wrong. She knew that yet couldn’t stop feeling that way.