Chapter 15

15

R ush watched the news report on the TV and bit his lip. The general and senator involved, and their top people, had all disappeared. He had a sneaky suspicion Balor was involved. There was no way those people managed to escape without help, and all the CCTV feeds mysteriously malfunctioned at the same time.

Raydon.

Yes, my mate. Every time Raydon said my mate, Rush couldn't help but smile.

Have you seen the news?

You know I have no interest in human affairs unless it concerns you and our daughters . Rush's smile widened at ‘our daughters'.

What do you know about this disappearance on the news?

I can't comment.

You can't comment? Oh, that spoke volumes.

I've been asked not to speak about it.

Hmm. Really? But you know something?

My mate. Please don't ask questions that I can't answer. I will tell you it's being dealt with.

Being dealt with as in they're begging for mercy? He hoped they were. After everything they'd done to shifters, Rush wanted them to suffer. No prison sentence would cover the heinous crimes they'd committed. They deserved to suffer unimaginable pain for a very long time.

Begging? Sorry. I can't understand over the screams. I'll be home soon. I love you, my mate.

Love you too. Rush grinned, and he knew how it looked. Happy and evil at the same time. He really hoped they went through what the shifters had. Yeah, it wasn't a nice thought, but he didn't care. An eye for an eye as far as he was concerned.

A loud banging on his door had Rush jumping up and racing toward it. He flung it open and stared open mouthed at his brother, Sax, who barged past him and into the living room. Shutting the door, Rush followed and asked, "What's going on?"

Sax spun around and pointed at him. "What do you know?"

"About?"

"Don't play smart with me. We both know I'm better at it. I've had longer to practice. Come on. Spill. What's Raydon told you?"

"He couldn't quite communicate with me. Something to do with screams making it difficult." Rush shrugged. "I'm not sure what he was referring to. He knows nothing." Rush gave Sax a pointed look.

"Oh, that's a shame. I wanted some inside information. Screams, you said? Must be back home, wherever that is." Sax sat on the couch, then grinned. "Hope they're screams of pain. Wish I was there to hear them myself."

"I could ask Raydon to record them?"

"Don't put ideas in my head," Sax muttered. "After what I saw, after what Jim went through, I don't want them dead. I want them to live a long, miserable, painful life."

"I think some shifters would disagree with you and would be more than happy to tear them limb from limb, but I agree. The longer they suffer…" Rush shrugged. "Coffee?"

"Yeah. Where are the girls?"

"Sleeping, so keep it down. I won't have long before they don't need their afternoon nap, so I'm enjoying it while I can."

"Raydon helps?"

"I always worried that I'd find someone I liked, and they wouldn't be interested because I'm a dad, but that's not Raydon, at all. He sees them as his girls, and he loves sitting with them and playing with them." Rush smiled. "I like watching them together. He's so soft and gentle with them."

"So, a perfect mate." Sax licked his lips. "Jim may have mentioned kids. I don't think I'm ready."

"No one is ever truly ready. I was terrified when the girls were born, but you adapt, and you would make a great dad."

Snorting, Sax pulled a face. "I'd have no one to hand a kid back to when their diaper needed changing. And babies throw up. And they shit. And they pee. And cry. Did I mention they make obnoxious smells?"

"So, when are you going to look into it?"

Sighing, Sax leaned back on the couch. "We're going to put our names down with Deac. They have far too many shifters without parents, and they want to try and keep them out of the human system, if possible. Jim met two boys, brothers, when he hit one of those labs."

"Have you met them?" This was new and unexpected, but Rush knew Sax would make a great dad because he was a great uncle.

"I may have spent the afternoon with them." Sax rolled his eyes when he noticed Rush's smile. "Just stop. I am not growing up."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did you like them?" Some days, getting anything from Sax was like getting blood from a stone.

"They were all right, I suppose." Which, in Sax speak, meant he liked them.

I thought I should let you know the screaming has ceased.

That's good to know.

"The screaming has stopped, according to Raydon."

"Shit. Ask him to go back and make sure they're alive, then kick the shit out of them some more. He's a demon. Can't he glow or grow horns or some shit? Scare them to death?"

"Don't we want them to live long and painful lives?"

Sax grunted and furrowed his brow. "Don't go talking sense to me. I don't like it when you do that. I'm older than you, and these brain cells have to cope with Preston and Manu on a regular basis."

Rush had heard about them having a screaming match in the security building, then Jim walking in on them as they fucked on the floor. "Has Jim recovered? Oh!" Rush just realized something. "Does this mean you will spend less time in security? You could get another job."

"I think we're always going to need some form of security. Not all humans are accepting, and some will continue to hunt shifters for sport."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd like to see one of them take a shot at Indy. I heard what Balor did to that creature that went after him."

Sax paled and mimed vomiting. "I wouldn't. That demon can be vicious where his mate's concerned, but it might make some humans think twice."

"Let me make the coffee, then you can tell me what Jim told you about Manu and Preston."

Sax leered. "It was good."

Standing by the closed door, Raydon watched Indy. Balor stood next to him, hands clasped behind his back, his eyes firmly fixed on his mate, who sat in front of their prisoner, asking questions. Senator Johnson smiled but remained quiet, refusing to answer any questions verbally, not realizing Balor and Raydon could pick the answer right out his mind if the correct questions were asked. And Indy was asking all the ones they needed.

Raydon stared, uninterested in the human other than what he could provide. He didn't care if he suffered, if he was uncomfortable, or didn't have food or water. He was a prisoner and deserved no comforts at all, except the ones that kept him alive. Bread and water. That's all he needed. Maybe some meat so he didn't die.

The door opened behind him, and Raydon nodded to Eli as he entered the room. Indy stood and moved to one side, giving the chair to Eli, who sat and stretched his long legs out in front of him.

"Hello, Senator." Johnson said nothing. All he did was smile. "I'm glad you're finding the accommodations acceptable. You'll be here for very long time."

Johnson chuckled but said nothing.

"He thinks they're coming for him." Indy put his hand on the back of the chair and sighed. "He has no idea."

"I don't care. He's here now; that's all that matters. No one is going to come searching for him here." Eli leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. "We removed the tracking devices. You're all alone, Johnson. No one will find you."

Johnson swallowed but still kept silent. Raydon had to give a small grudging respect for how the senator responded. He remained calm on the outside, but they could all pick up on the turbulence he felt internally. Scent didn't lie, and he and Balor could pick up on his thoughts. Johnson had though he would be found.

"We have questions for you. You can answer them, if you wish, or we could introduce you to one of your pet creatures. I voted for the creature, but the others voted for this sanitized version."

"The dead don't talk, Eli." Indy lifted a hand, looking at his nails. "Maybe later you can have your fun."

"You're so kind." Eli leaned closer then, so quickly Raydon barely saw it, snapped one of Johnson's fingers.

Johnson hissed, his lips pulling back, then calmed. He was good. He'd had training, a military background. Indy looked at Eli, and Eli nodded. They'd picked up on that too.

"The general taught you well," Indy murmured. "I wonder how much punishment your body can take before it begins to fail. Isn't that what you authorized for shifters? Test them to destruction. Starve them, experiment on them. Did you allow your people to assault them too? Torture them, rape them. I mean, we are nothing but animals to you, aren't we? You shouldn't be surprised if we behave as such."

Eli snapped another finger, then leaned back and smiled. "Still eight to go, then I can move elsewhere. There are many bones in the human body. Once I've finished with those, I'll move on to the soft tissue."

"Not so fast, though." Indy gave the Johnson a cold smile. "I want him to suffer just as our species have."

Johnson inhaled swiftly, then released it. He lifted his chin and stared at them, showing little emotion.

"You know we have one of those creatures? I believe I mentioned it. I've been learning to communicate with it." Eli crossed his feet at the ankles. "Interesting language. It knows what it is. That it's an abomination, that it was created as a killing machine. It likes killing, likes hunting us down and making us suffer. It would still be doing it now if we hadn't ended your… scheme." Eli stopped talking, but Raydon knew he had more to say. "You know, one of those things came after my mate and my family," he murmured. "I almost lost them. I did lose people I know, people I cared about. Yet, here you sit, alive and well."

"We could have a second vote," Indy suggested.

"Balor."

"Yes, Eli."

"Do you have everything we need, or should I break a few more fingers?"

"He has nothing more to give us. Once the questioning began, Raydon and I had full access to his memories and knowledge. He spearheaded it all. Along with the general. He has nothing more to offer us."

Johnson's eyes shot to Balor, and Raydon smiled slightly. "We can read your mind." Raydon's smile grew. "Your thoughts are interesting. Even as you sit here, you believe shifters are inferior to humans. That they should be under your control." Raydon nodded to Balor. "We disagree, but then again, we're demons, and more powerful than all of you. If we wanted this world, it would already be ours."

"Raydon, please. We don't need to show off. Senator Johnson is aware he is in a precarious position. He's no longer needed. What will we do with him now?"

"I vote death by creature." Eli shrugged a shoulder. "I'll probably be outvoted again."

"Can't vote on something after it's happened." Indy stretched his arms overhead. "Oh no! The senator somehow got free and the creature… What a mess." Indy sighed and shook his head. "Took us so long to clean up all the blood and guts."

"Why, Indigo, have you come over to the dark side?" Eli stood and stared down at the senator.

"No, but I think in his case…" Indy faced Balor. "You sure you guys have everything?"

"Positive." Balor nodded as did Raydon. They had everything they needed.

Eli leapt up and grabbed Johnson, slicing through the ropes they'd used to bind him. It was at that point that Raydon realized they'd planned to kill him all along. Ropes and not chains. Eli punched Johnson in the side of the head, then dragged his limp body out of the room. Raydon followed, noticing Johnson attempting to get his feet under his body but failing.

"Stop! I'll tell you what you want to know!"

"Too late and too many of my kind have suffered because of you." Eli threw Johnson against a wall and watched him fall to the floor. "It was always going to end this way. We never planned to keep you alive." Eli stood by a door and glanced inside. He made a strange chirping sound, and Raydon heard a chuckle in return. He'd heard those sounds before and knew one of those creatures was in the room. "Meet the creature you created, Johnson. Have fun." Eli hauled Johnson up while Indy opened the door, then he tossed him inside seconds before Indy slammed the door shut.

Raydon stood impassive as screams filled the air—along with the sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing. That didn't last long, then they all heard the gurgling sound of someone taking their last breaths.

"I had hoped he'd last longer." Raydon stepped back. "Do you have further need of me?"

"Later. Go home to your family." Eli brushed his hands on his jeans and turned to Indy. "The general?"

"Maybe later. He'll have heard the senator's last moments. Let him think about what awaits him." Smiling at Balor, he said, "Let's take Eli home, then we can go home as well."

Raydon left and appeared outside their apartment, his and Rush's. Entering, he found Rush in the living room with his brother, Sax. "I'm afraid I forgot to record the screams."

"Were they loud?" Sax asked.

"I believe so."

"Good." Standing, Sax gave Rush a hug, waved goodbye to Raydon, and left.

"Where are the girls?"

"Sleeping." Rush tilted his head, a small smile gracing his lips. "Why? Does killing make you horny?"

"My mate makes me horny."

Rush laughed and threw his arms around Raydon's neck. "Let's do something about it then."