“No diseases, no drugs, no sickness. She is the purest specimen we have to test on.”
Purest specimen. They did not see the scared little girl. The one who had a family and a whole life to live. All they cared about was themselves. Their power. Their rights. Their own egos.
My narrowed eyes shot to Markos. “You may be a human, but you have no humanity. Rotten from the inside out.”
“Shut up,” Istvan snarled.
“You claim fae are soulless murderers? Look at yourself, Istvan. How can you do this to a child? How about your own child out there?” I flicked my head toward the main room. “What about the woman you spent the last twenty-three years with? Where is Rebeka?” Istvan’s blue eyes shot to me, his jaw working. “Did you kill her?”
Istvan’s cheek twitched.
“Where is she?”
He ignored me, nose flaring, his eyes blazing. “Do it now,” he ordered Dr. Karl.
Dr. Karl jumped, turning on the pump.
A guttural shriek jolted up my esophagus. Without sedation, I could feel every molecule of my blood being seized from my veins. Taking Warwick away from me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my plasma fill the bag and start down the tube to her arm. With every centimeter it moved, panic trounced my limbs.
I was going to kill this little girl.
“No!” I screamed out. “Warwick!”
I could hear a roar echo from the room over, the walls vibrating, jolting all the heads toward it.
His other self was over me again, his lip curled, his breathing heavy.
Fury and violence.
“Use me, Kovacs.”
The little girl started to scream in agony, her tiny body shuddering.
And I shut my eyes, giving over to whatever power we had together, allowing his energy to slip into me, filling my muscles with strength.
Adrenaline flooded into my body, and I yanked on the restraints, hearing them tear apart.
“Sedate her!” I heard Istvan bellow.
“You told me not to!” Dr. Karl exclaimed.
“Do it now!”
I couldn’t let them drug me. Digging deeper, taking more from Warwick, I felt the high of his magic, the greed of wanting it all. A bellow heaved from my mouth, the clasps breaking away with a snap. I scrambled off the gurney.
“Guards!”
Screams bounced around me, officers moving for me, but my only focus turned on the girl. Blood was already dripping from the corner of her mouth, sheer panic in her eyes.
I ripped the IV from her arm, and she let out a shriek, her body going limp, silencing her cries. I could see her chest still moving up and down. Her body was probably traumatized, needing to shut down.
But she was alive.
A prick of pain went into my bicep, warmth and dizziness instantly dipping my knees. My gaze shot over to see Dr. Karl, once again retracting a needle from my arm, dousing me with a sedative.
Istvan came for me, his fury wrinkling his face. “You little bi—”
Commotion came from next door, stopping his descent on me.
“General!” I heard a man yell. “Help!”
Istvan didn’t even hesitate. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck, dragging me with him, my legs struggling to keep up.
We entered the room as Warwick slid off the table, his broken cuffs dangling from his wrists, guns pointing at him from every direction.
“Is this what you are looking for, Farkas?” Istvan gripped me harder, pushing me slightly in front of him.
Warwick stopped short, his lids narrowing on me, then going to Istvan.
“You be a good boy, and I won’t snap her neck right here.”
A snarl rose from the Wolf’s chest, but he didn’t move.
The drugs in my system softened my muscles, my attention, and the link between us, making me effectively useless.
“Since Brexley has been nothing but a disappointment, how about we try you instead?”
Warwick lurched just a hair, and Istvan whipped out his gun, pressing it into my head. I could feel Markos’s nervous energy.
He feared Warwick.
“You move an inch, and she’s dead.” Istvan’s hand tightened on my neck. “She is utterly useless to me now since transferring her blood is only killing people. I have enough of her blood to study and duplicate. But you, Farkas, you will be an excellent substitute until I can locate the nectar.”
My head lifted at the last words, my loopy gaze landing on Warwick. He kept his feral gaze on Istvan, but I could feel he was aware of me. A tick in his eyes seemed to be telling me, don’t you dare utter a word, princess.
“Karl, hook him straight up to Caden.”
“What?” Dr. Karl’s mouth fell, his skin the color of his coat. “Sir, we’ve never done it this way before.”
“Do it!” Istvan demanded, his hold on my neck pinching a nerve. He was starting to lose control.
All the important leaders were coming this evening to watch this big production so Istvan could solidify his place as their leader. He had everything to lose if this didn’t work out. They wouldn’t take him seriously anymore. To Istvan, that was his goal. Nothing else mattered. Logic and safety disappeared when you had everything riding on one thing.
“Go!” Istvan ordered Warwick, pressing the gun into my head harder. “Don’t think for a moment I won’t do it.” Everything in Istvan screamed he would indeed kill me if it came down to it.
Warwick’s shoulders rose and fell, his expression a deadly mask portraying the underlying threat—someday he would gut him like a pig if he had the chance. But he took in another breath and turned for the table Dr. Karl had moved to Caden’s tank.
The doctor was locked in on doing his duties as sweat dripped off him, his nerves bouncing off the walls, probably feeling it was his life on the line too.
Warwick’s eyes met mine while getting up on the table. I wanted to scream, to cry, to destroy this whole room, to stop this from happening, but my mouth wouldn’t even open. He was only here because of me. Volunteering himself to Istvan to be by my side. Subjecting himself to torture and going to the hole… for me.
He laid down, his muscles flexing, his jaw rolling when the guards cuffed him down again. This went against his nature. His very being. He didn’t submit. He didn’t lie down. The Wolf wanted to fight. To kill. To rip everyone apart. His darkness wanted to take… to feel blood under his nails.
But I was the one who kept him from falling in.
Staying in the gray.
“Sir, once again, let me say we have never tried it this way. Taking fae essence straight from the donor into the patient directly. I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if the essence came straight from the source instead of a machine?” Istvan moved us closer.
“Possibly…”
“So, shut up and do it.”
Dr. Karl nodded, licking his lip, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He stuck monitors to Warrick’s temples and inserted strange-looking IV pumps into his body and up his nose. I recalled seeing them on all those fae victims they were sucking life from. That little girl forced to shift over and over.
This was how they took a fae’s essence. Anger flicked in my stomach, my chest clenching, my hand slowly rolling into a ball.
Dr. Karl rechecked everything, then turned to Istvan with a nod.