Obsidian

Chapter Four

Allison forced her excitement down. 880’s foot had twitched again when she’d given him another sponge bath. He had ticklish feet. His penis had also jerked when she’d had to shift it to clean him.

Of course that could have happened when he was at Medical at NSO Homeland. Destiny might not have reported it, thinking it was meaningless or embarrassing. No-movement reports should mean that he was completely unresponsive.

She dried 880’s body, covered him and finished the morning routine she’d kept for the past few days. His color seemed better. It might just be wishful thinking, but she’d take it. In a few days she’d have to use that disposable cell phone to call the NSO to pick him up.

They’ll pick me up too. Fear gripped her hard.

She had risked her career, her medical license, and far worse. They could send her to prison for a few years at the very least for kidnapping or a judge could put her away for life since any transgression against a New Species might be deemed a hate crime.

New Species were protected. They’d been given special status after hate groups had attacked them and a worldwide outcry had been made.

The public had watched as Fury—one of the New Species—had taken bullets meant to kill his fully human wife. Things like that tended to piss off people. Fury and Ellie living together had been huge news and their romance was often commented on since they continued to thrive.

She personally knew the couple and could state with ease that they were deeply in love and happy. Envy welled over how close they seemed and how well matched they were despite their different backgrounds. Love had conquered all in their situation and it was romantic. They’d had a baby boy she personally adored when he was brought to her for his checkups. Salvation was the spitting image of his father and living proof that some things had a happy outcome.

“I’m going to take these towels and washcloths outside to let them dry in the sun and dump the trash.” She tucked the blanket more firmly around his waist, left his chest bare, and hoped he was comfortable. “It’s getting warm, isn’t it? That storm blew away and left us some nice sunshine.”

He didn’t answer and it was depressing. Her hope faded daily that he’d ever open his eyes.

She’d tried to save him by following her hunch that scent could reach him but he would have shown some improvement if it were that easy. A loud sigh passed her lips. She grabbed the trash bag next to his bed and the pail of water with the discarded washcloths.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.” The statement made her bite back a snort.

It was a beautiful day as she walked out the back door to reach the side of the house and the special trash can she’d brought for medical disposal. She dumped the bag inside it and paused in the yard. She carefully hung the towels and washcloths on the clothesline to dry. The place didn’t have a washer or dryer but it did have a huge tub in the mudroom for hand-washing items and a long rope strung out between trees for drying.

A soft hum left her parted lips as she finished her chore. She missed music. Birds flew overhead, startled from a nearby tree, and she smiled as she headed back toward the house. She was almost to the back door when movement caught her attention. She turned her head and gasped.

Four large men wearing black outfits rushed at her from behind the shed. Their faces were covered with black ski masks and they clutched big, scary guns. More sound came from behind her but she didn’t have time to glance back. Terror struck and a scream burst out before one of them reached her.

A big body hit her in the chest, pain exploded through her from the brutal tackle and she slammed hard into the ground with a lot of weight crushing her. The air was knocked from her lungs, cutting off her scream and making breathing impossible. Her attacker rolled over before she recovered.

Her face was pushed into the grass as a gloved hand fisted her hair. A knee painfully dug into her ass too. Her mind reeled between pain and shock from the attack.

“I got her!” His voice was loud as he announced that to the group.

More rough hands touched her, groped her body, her sides, and she managed to suck in a gasping breath. Her wrists were shoved in a painful position and held at her mid-back. It really hurt—the hold was too tight and the angle of her arms was uncomfortable.

“She’s clean. No weapons.”

“That was fucking easy.”

“Good thing. The only heat signatures we’re picking up are hers and the stationary one. He’s here and she is alone.”

“Find the New Species and get him.”

Terror filled her. She was sure the men weren’t New Species and it meant they could hurt 880.

She struggled hard. The hands gripping her wrists jerked them high enough to cause agony and she screamed again.

Wood hit something, banged loudly, and a vicious snarl ripped through the yard. The scary noise sent her into panic mode. They had an attack dog. 880 was helpless on the bed and it could maul him. He couldn’t fight it off.

Allison struggled as though she were a wild thing, every protective instinct inside her going crazy to reach 880’s side. She threw her head back. Pain exploded through her skull when it slammed it into someone’s chin. The guy hissed a curse and shoved her head down again with a rough hand that fisted her hair. Another scream tore from her throat.

“No!” A man yelled that. The attack dog snarled again and something hit the house nearby.

“Shit!” A man screamed one word before the knee lifted off her butt where it had her pinned down.

“Don—” The other guy holding her wrists roughly jerked on her but let go.

Allison saw a black blur of movement from the corner of her eye, turned her cheek on the grass, and was shocked when one of the uniformed men landed hard on his back about five feet away. A loud snarl emanated from the vicious attack dog and he seemed to be right over her head. An image of it attacking her with sharp teeth sent panic coursing through her and her head snapped up to get a look at the thing about to end her life.

880 crouched inches away, naked and bleeding from his arm where he’d ripped out the IV drip.

His nose also bled. She guessed that was from him forcibly removing his feeding tube. The catheter and bag were gone too. She got a good view of its loss since her face was inches from his lap. Her gaze met brown eyes, confusion clouding them as he stared back. His mouth opened to reveal his sharp canines. He snarled at her.

It took Alli’s staggered mind seconds to figure out that 880 was awake, outside, and had come to her rescue. The men who’d held her down had been thrown away from her because 880 had attacked them.

“880,” she managed to whisper.

His eyes widened as he swayed before landing hard on his bare ass. Allison moved, frantic to help him, and realized the sheer amount of adrenaline he must have exhausted to reach her after being down for so long. A human couldn’t have done what he had. An ordinary man would have been too weak to sit up, but he’d managed that miracle with his New Species strength.

“880,” she whispered again, lifted to her knees and crawled the few feet to where he’d landed.

“You’re awake.”

She tried to touch him but his hand shot out and hit her in the chest. The rough shove threw her back. She landed on her ass and her left breast ached from the impact with his palm. He growled at her.

“Technician.” His voice came out hoarse, his unused vocal cords straining to work.

His eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to sprawl motionless on his back. Worry filled her and she fought to reach him again. He breathed but had passed out as she checked his unsteady pulse. Her other hand gripped his arm where he bled from the torn-out IV and she pressed her thumb over the wound to staunch the bleeding.

Her fearful gaze darted around at the men who had climbed to their feet. A few of them inched closer as they surrounded her. Terror hit.

“Stay away from him.” She didn’t have a weapon but she wouldn’t allow them to harm 880. “You’ll have to kill me before you hurt him.”

One of the men who marched from the barn reached up and tore at the mask that covered his face. Trey Roberts worked for the task force that NSO controlled. She’d met him a few times when he’d brought in injured Species and her mouth dropped open when she identified him. These men weren’t strangers intent on killing 880.

They’d come to arrest her and take him back home.

“Dr. Baker.” Trey halted four feet away, his hands gripping his black cargo pants at his hips while he frowned. “You’re in deep shit.” His gaze lowered to 880. “Fuck. I need to call this in now.

You managed to bring him out of his coma.”

“I need my medical bag.” She licked her lips, nervous but excited at the same time. “He’s overdone it by getting out of bed. I—”

“You’re done.” Trey advanced, bent, and gently grabbed her upper arms. He was a big guy and he lifted her onto her unsteady legs before shouting, “Medic!”

“Let me go! I need to help him. I need to—”

“Not fight,” he finished. “You don’t seem to understand the severity of what you’ve done. You kidnapped a Species, Dr. Baker.” He led her away from 880 and the house. His firm grip forced her to walk in front of him. “The only place you’re going is to lockup until I get my orders from the NSO on what to do with you.”

She tried to twist in his hold to reach 880 but he just tightened his fingers around her upper arms. She couldn’t even see around his wide chest when she tried to get a glimpse of 880 to make sure a medic really did tend to him.

“He needs fluids. He is probably in shock and I’m a doctor, damn it! Let me treat him.”

Trey halted and leaned in to study her face.

“They don’t trust you anymore to treat their people. Who could blame them? You took him away from the only place he was safe and you could have gotten him killed. Be happy I told the men not to shoot you. Tim said we could but I told the team to ignore that order. I don’t kill women unless I absolutely have to and I liked you before I realized you were capable of kidnapping a Species.” He gently nudged her forward again toward a parked SUV hidden behind the barn. “Do yourself a favor. Be quiet. I’m sure you’ll have plenty to say when Justice gets you inside an interrogation room. I almost feel sorry for you. That’s one guy you don’t want to fuck with, yet you did.” A hint of pity softened his features. “Let’s go, Dr. Baker. I’m just grateful we found you instead of someone who hates you and them.”

Alli’s a human, a technician, and not my kind.

880 lay still, refused to even twitch, hiding the fact that he’d regained consciousness. The sound of male voices reached him. The weight had returned to his wrists and ankles, leaving him no doubt they’d restrained him. His only advantage would be to pretend to be unaware of his surroundings until he could work out a plan of escape.

Betrayal caused physical pain inside his chest.

She was human, not a female given to him to replace 46, and she’d been trying to fool him into trusting her. He should have figured that out with her strange words but the drugs had affected his thinking. The clues were there if he’d just focused more on them. What are their intentions?

What do they want from me now? What kind of cruel punishment have they plotted? He had no answers.

She obviously had screamed as a test to see if he was really as drugged as he’d acted. They must have been watching with cameras and seen him moving in the dark when her breathing assured him Alli slept. He’d fallen for the trap when her screams had reached his ears and he’d tried to protect her. He hadn’t cared at the time that it gave away the fact that his strength was returning if it prevented her death.

Human! He just couldn’t get past that and rage filled him. He’d allowed a technician to sleep at his side, touch him, and he’d had the opportunity to gain revenge by harming her. 46 was gone, they had nothing left to use to punish him if he didn’t do as they ordered. He could have snapped her neck. For revenge. For 46. Retribution. He knew that word and what it meant.

The male voices grew louder as they approached.

“I can’t believe it worked. I feel bad, Justice.

I thought she was just desperate but damned if he didn’t wake up after being around a female scent for four days. The team said he stayed upright long enough to throw them away from her.

My man in there was fierce, according to Trey.

He even spoke. That’s got to be a good sign that he’s not feral if he could form words.”

“We won’t be certain until he wakes again, Tiger.” The other male sighed deeply. “What the hell do we do with Dr. Allison? She’s begging the officers to allow her to check on him. What if he bonded to her scent? Is he unconscious because he can’t smell her? Trisha is on her way and will be landing in twenty minutes. I pulled her from Reservation to deal with this. Ted is great but he’s at a loss with how Dr. Allison managed to get 880 on his feet. He’s been following his progress every step of the way.”

“Gregory was the closest. He said 880 seemed surprised that Dr. Allison was human and even accused her of being a technician. Trey Roberts believes 880 woke to come to her aid. He must have heard her screams when the team grabbed her and it snapped him out of the coma. Maybe he thought it was his mate in trouble.”

“Did she say why he wasn’t restrained? I haven’t had time to read all the statements from the team but understand he wasn’t.”

“Dr. Allison released him after the first day.

She said she felt stupid having an unconscious male restrained and she believes he’s not dangerous.” The one called Tiger paused. “She’s been around us for too long and has never seen an angry new male who came directly from Mercile.”

“We’ll have Trisha make the hard decisions.

Right now he’s stable and Dr. Allison isn’t leaving the cell she’s contained in. Destiny is raising a fit to see her but I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s admitted to being attracted to her and I’m afraid he’ll attempt to pull mate status to save her if we decide to prosecute her for kidnapping 880.”

“Shit,” Tiger muttered. “It’s going to be ugly if we have to lock her up for years. She’s made a lot of friends here but we can’t just forgive what she did. I’m fond of her myself but it doesn’t change the fact that she put a Species at risk. We can’t condone that.”

The one called Justice hesitated. “She woke him. That’s got to count for something. It’s a hell of a mess.”

“I know.” 880 sensed that Tiger stepped closer.

“I’m afraid he’ll care what happens to her. What if locking her away from him keeps him from waking again? She might have been onto something with the female scent. He woke to protect her.”

“Hell.” The voice of the other male came closer too. “We’ll see what Trisha has to say. I know Dr. Allison has been clear that she’s willing to put her life at risk but what if he were to kill her if we allowed her near him? I’d feel guilty.

We just don’t know enough about him.”

“He’s clueless that his life has changed and probably thinks he’s still at the mercy of Mercile.

I wish some of our men had been with the team who located them. Maybe seeing one of us would have shocked him more but it might have made him realize who has him now.”

A firm hand gripped 880’s shoulder and he was able keep his body lax to hide the fact that he was conscious. He expected pain but none came.

“880, if you can hear me, I am Justice. I am like you.” He paused. “Tiger is like you too. We were once held prisoner by Mercile Industries but we were freed. You are safe here with your own kind. We have you restrained because we don’t know if you are dangerous to us or not. Your mental state is unknown.” His hand moved away.

“The female who stole you is human but she isn’t a technician working for Mercile. She’s a good one who just wanted to save your life. She meant you no harm.”

It could be a trap but 880 made the decision to open his eyes. The light was blinding but something suddenly leaned over him to block out most of it. He stared into a face inches above his own. The male had features that weren’t human and strongly familiar since he’d seen his own reflection at times. His heart raced.

The male smiled, his expression alight with kindness, and he opened his mouth enough to show his sharp teeth. “I am Justice. Can you speak, 880? You are safe. See? We are the same and I was created by Mercile as well.”

Movement to his left drew his attention and he turned his head to stare at yet another male with altered features. That male smiled.

“I’m Tiger. You’re safe. Mercile no longer has you. We’ve been freed.”

Shock gripped him as the words sank into his confused mind. It couldn’t be true but he stared at two males, proof that it might be. He didn’t even know other males existed besides the ones he’d smelled recently when his mate was murdered.

He opened his mouth, his throat dry, but managed to speak.

“Are we the only three left?”

Justice shook his head. “There are many of us.”

The male turned his head. “Get Destiny in here but keep Ted and Paul out. No humans. Species only.”

Tiger left. 880 stared deeply into the male’s gaze.

“You didn’t know there were more of us?”

Justice asked.

It hurt to speak so 880 held up two fingers.

“You were kept away from our females except for one. Is that accurate?”

He nodded.

An emotion close to pain twisted the male’s features as he spoke. “There are many of us, 880.

We were freed from Mercile cells. We are in control of our lives.”

880 tried to shift his arm but couldn’t since it was restrained. A soft growl burst from his lips. The other male noticed the movement and glanced up before meeting his gaze again.

“We’ll get those off you. We just didn’t know if you were dangerous or not. We didn’t want you to get hurt or to hurt us if you woke not knowing you aren’t amongst enemies.”

“The female?” He wanted to know where Alli was and what she’d done to him. “The two males?”

“I’m sorry.” The male leaned in closer. “Your mate was killed. We rescued the two males who were witness to it and they survived.” Anger deepened his voice. “We weren’t able to recover your mate’s body. I’m so sorry. It was gone by the time we located you and the other males held with you. The Mercile employees who would speak during interrogation said her body was removed and destroyed. They burned it.”

He knew his mate had died. “The technician.”

The other male drew back a little. “Dr. Allison?”

“Alli.” It hurt to get the words out, speaking hurt his throat, but he wanted to know about her.

“She is a human doctor who works for us. You were rescued some months ago and brought to us after you were in coma. After your mate was murdered you attacked the bars of your cell and it caused massive damage to your body. Even though your injuries healed, you wouldn’t wake.”

He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “Dr.

Allison didn’t mean any harm but she stole you from us. She believed you scenting another female would lure you from your deep sleep and perhaps pique your interest. We refused to allow it, concerned that you’d want the female whose scent you grew to know.

“She will be punished for taking you. We can’t condone the risk she took that our enemies would locate you. There are humans who hate us but we are safe from them here. She took you away from us, where we couldn’t protect you.”

880 tried to understand the information he’d been given. A lot of it didn’t make sense to him, the sketchy details overloaded his mind, and he still had a hard time grasping that his people had been liberated and so many had survived. Mercile no longer had them at their mercy. He was tempted to believe it was all a scheme to gain his trust for some new experiment but he refused to consider that males of his own kind would meekly submit to helping the vicious humans fool him.

He stared into the other male’s steady gaze.

“Truth?”

“It’s all true.” Justice leaned in again. “I know what you must be thinking. This isn’t a game and they aren’t forcing me to lie to you. No female will suffer if I don’t say something they made me repeat. We are free and Mercile is no longer in control. Your hellish life as you knew it no longer exists.”

The approaching footsteps drew his attention and 880 turned to watch the male named Tiger enter the room, along with a new male with altered features. Both of them smiled at him as Justice backed away.

“Unlock him, Destiny.”

The new male hesitated, shooting 880 a dubious look.

“It is safe. He isn’t feral. We’ve been talking.”

“I am now called Destiny.” The male approached his bed cautiously and withdrew keys.

“I will unlock your restraints. We mean you no harm.”

“He knows,” Justice stated. “Just set him free.”

The ankle cuffs were removed first and finally his arms were released. 880 attempted to sit but his body responded sluggishly. Justice and Destiny gripped his arms—he allowed it—as they helped him into an upright position. Tiger shoved pillows behind his back before they all withdrew a few feet to watch him.

“You have been sleeping for months.” Destiny spoke. “Your body needs to recover but you should be fine. We’ll get you on solid foods to help you quickly regain your full strength.”

880 lifted the blanket to stare down at his body.

He could see his belly had shrunken, his skin tight over his bones, and he growled when he saw his dick. Something was taped to it and a tube trailed out of sight over one thigh. His head jerked up to shoot them an accusatory glare.

“It’s a catheter,” Destiny informed him. “It’s there to help you go to the bathroom without soiling your bedding. I’ll remove it as soon as you are strong enough to stand.”

“Take it out now.” He wanted free of it and the thin tubes hooked to his arm. “Take it all off.”

Destiny hesitated.

Justice cleared his throat. “Do it. We’ll help him stand until he is able to on his own. Give him his pride back.”

880 lifted his chin as his gaze swept around the room. It wasn’t a cell, just a room. The walls were not concrete or bars. The door was open to allow him to leave if he wished. No armed guards were in sight and he couldn’t detect any human scent as he inhaled but he knew his senses were still dulled. His body relaxed and he began to believe the males. He was free.

Bitterness gripped him next. It wasn’t right that he’d survived long enough to know this day when 46 had not. He’d let his female down. He’d somehow done something to cause her death. Pain filled his heart.