Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Raura

I keep fighting as Parker hands me over to a pair of hulking guards. It’s no use though, they may be human, but they’re huge, powerful, and in my weakened state, my resistance is barely noticed. Their faces remain impassive behind mirrored sunglasses. I’m turned and pushed ahead of them, the cold metal of their weapons pressing against my back as they march me forward.

“Those weapons fire silver rounds,” Parker says over his shoulder as he leads the way, as casually as if he’s discussing the weather. “So don’t get any bright ideas about shifting.”

I grit my teeth to bite back a retort. It’ll only earn me another backhand – or worse. Once we pass through the fortified entrance, any hope of escape withers. The interior is all gleaming marble and polished wood – opulent but cold and impersonal. Like a museum more than a home. Not that there’s any pretense at that in this place. This structure may house people within its walls, but it is a home to nobody.

We move through a maze of corridors lined with ornate vases and sculptures, but the lavish decor can’t mask the chill that seeps into my bones. Grim-faced guards stand at every intersection, fingers poised too close to the triggers of their rifles for me to feel like there’s ever going to be a chance to make a run for it.

Then, our surroundings change. The hallways grow narrower, no more artwork now, and the marble floors shift to sterile white tile. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead, adding to the sense of being trapped in a hospital psych ward.

At last, we reach an imposing steel door, its surface crisscrossed with heavy reinforcing bars. A red light blinks ominously above the entrance. I eye it warily – whatever’s on the other side, it’s clearly something immensely strong and dangerous. Something they don’t want escaping.

Something like me.

One of the guards swipes a keycard, and the door groans open with a shriek of metal on metal. A wave of stale, musty air washes over me as I’m shoved into a dimly lit cell block.

Row after row of barred cells stretches out before me, most occupied by hunched, miserable figures. Some look human, others…decidedly not. I don’t get much chance to examine the occupants of the cells, however. My shoes scuff the bare concrete as I’m frogmarched by the guards to a cell near the end of the row.

Parker stops beside the door of the cell and jerks his head at it. One guard unlocks it and swings it open while the other shoves me inside. The heavy door clangs shut behind me with a boom of finality. I whirl around to find Parker’s flat gaze boring into me.

“You…you can’t do this!” I choke out. It seems inconceivable that anyone could do such a thing to another living creature. Then again, looking around me, the man in front of me does this all the time.

“I just did. Get used to it,” he says coldly. “This is your home now.” He glances down at a heavy silver wristwatch. “But there’s no time for more chit-chat now. I have things to do.” Without another word, he turns on his heel and strides away, leaving me standing with my mouth hanging open. You’d hardly think that he’d just turned my entire world upside down for all the importance he seems to give this incident.

The guards stand impassively for a moment or two before following in Parker’s footsteps.

Still standing, the silence bears down on me oppressively, broken only by the occasional snuffle or groan from the occupants of the neighboring cells. In some instances, they’re more like cages…holding creatures in captivity.

I stare in a daze at the heavy steel door to the cell block as it clangs shut behind Parker and the guards. The finality of it rings in my ears as I turn slowly to survey my new home.

It’s barely more than a concrete box – featureless gray walls, a bare floor, and a bunk with a thin mattress in one corner that I can only assume is meant to be my bed. A rusted metal toilet squats in the opposite corner, no privacy partition or anything.

This is freaking unbelievable!

I suppress a shiver as I look around at the other cells lining the hall. Some are occupied by strange, twisted shapes – beings that could have crawled straight out of a horror movie. Others hold magnificent, exotic creatures – a regal white tiger paces behind one set of bars, oblivious to my arrival. A flash of black and white catches my eye from further down the hall, and I stare at the bear that’s slumped on its haunches.

Is that…?

I shake my head in astonishment.

It can’t be!

“A freaking panda?!” My voice is hoarse. I can’t comprehend the kind of influence that could net these people such rare and endangered species. But for me, the most chilling of all are the cages that hold creatures that were once human. Werewolves and other shifters, seemingly locked in their animal forms.

“Like Cedara’s family…” I whisper to myself. I think back to how the she-wolf had been trapped in her beast form until everyone thought she’d never be human again. Now, I stare at a huge gray wolf that lifts its muzzle and regards me with dull eyes as I stare into its cell.

That could be me one day…

I shudder and look away, my stomach churning. This can’t be real. It has to be some sort of twisted nightmare. But the cold reality of the bars surrounding me tells me otherwise.

I’m trapped. Caged. Just another rare, exotic creature to be gawked at by whatever sadistic people are behind this hellhole.

God! How can this be happening?

Just this morning I was going about my regular routine in Steel Lakes, looking forward to the outdoor market this weekend. Now…now I’m locked away like a common criminal. Or worse – an animal on display.

Nearby, the wolf whines softly, as if echoing my despair. I sink down onto the hard bunk, chest heaving as I fight back the tears that threaten to spill over. I can’t lose it, not now. I have to stay strong, have to figure a way out of this nightmare…

I turn my gaze to the cell next to mine. It’s empty but incredibly tidy – the thin blankets are folded with military precision at the foot of the cot, and the stainless steel toilet and sink gleam as if they’ve been polished daily. There’s a small table and chair to one side. Whoever lives in this cell clearly has a few more comforts than the rest of us.

It has to be a human or someone…like me.

Who, though?

Who would bother trying to make a home in this godforsaken place?

A flicker of hope swirls. Maybe it’s someone I could talk to, someone who might know more about this place. Would they be worth approaching when they get back? Or maybe they, like the others in this place, have given up hope of ever getting out.

The thought makes me seethe with anger and indignation. How dare they treat us like this?

“Hey!” I shout. “Hey, you can’t keep us locked in here like this, you assholes!” I know it’s fruitless. There’s nobody listening.

My fingers curl into fists at my sides as I glare around the cells. A low growl rumbles from the back of my throat, startling even me with its intensity.

I have to get out of here.

Have to find a way to escape before Parker can start working on me. If I don’t… If I don’t…!

I run a hand over my face and force myself to take several deep, steadying breaths.

Calm down.

I’ll do myself no good by panicking. I have to clear my head. I take another deep breath and walk slowly around my cell, examining every square inch of it.

No windows.

Solid walls.

Solid ceiling.

Heavy metal bars run along the front of the cell. When I touch one, the hot tingle beneath my fingertips has me snatching my hand away.

Silver. The steel is infused with it.

Those fuckers!

What worries me most is the fact that they know we’re vulnerable to it. And that this facility has been designed to keep us in. Which means there are a lot more of us going through here than just me and the few others I’ve seen.

Again, I’m struck by how bad things are. I take another slow circuit of my small cell, although this time, it’s to settle my nerves. I barely notice that I’m pacing until my calves start to ache and my thighs burn.

Time passes without me being aware of it as my mind rushes in a thousand directions, trying to figure out what to do next.

The metallic screech of the door opening at the end of the cell block cuts off my thoughts.

There’s the sound of footsteps approaching, heavy boots scuffing against concrete. I tense, pressing back against the wall of my cell.

Oh, God! Are they coming for me?

As much as I hate being stuck in here without answers, I’m filled with dread at why they might be coming back. Why? To interrogate me or…worse?

The footsteps draw nearer. I peer through the bars, straining to see. Two guards appear, flanking a figure between them. It’s a man, by the looks of his build – tall and powerfully muscled beneath a thin white tank. As they draw closer, propelling him forward, I suck in a sharp breath.

He’s a shifter, like me. I can sense it, that inexplicable pull…the wildness wafting from his toned skin.

The guards shove him abruptly into the pristine cell next to mine that I’d been eyeing earlier. It’s a rough move, but he doesn’t fall or even stumble, standing tall before spinning to face his captors. Huge, muscular shoulders roll and he swivels his head slightly, cracking his neck, daring them closer. There’s something in his stance that screams of danger – pure, vicious animal rage. The guards sense it, too, because they back away quickly before slamming the door shut.

I catch a glimpse of his face then – a chiseled jawline, high cheekbones, and…his eyes. Holy shit, those eyes! Pale and piercing as arctic ice. They flick toward me for the barest instant, and I’m frozen, transfixed by the intensity of that gaze.

Oh. My. God!

My pulse kicks up, and my skin flushes hot as that hypnotic stare locks onto mine. I can’t look away, can barely breathe. It’s as if he’s reaching right into my soul, laying me bare. I feel stripped down, vulnerable…and yet blazingly alive in a way I’ve never experienced.

Every nerve ending in my body is crackling with an electric charge, centering low in my belly. A primal, molten heat that has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the raw, visceral power rolling off him in waves. The scent of the wild – of untamed forests and midnight skies – surrounds me, thick enough to taste.

And then, just as abruptly, he turns away, the spell broken. I sag a little, my chest heaving as he strides to the bunk and lowers himself onto it. His back is to me, broad shoulders blocking me from view as effectively as if I don’t exist at all.

Holy freaking hell!

I open my mouth, then close it, still reeling from the aftershocks of…whatever that was. My legs are shaking, and I take a wobbly step back, and then another, until I feel the bunk bump against the back of my knees. I sit heavily on the thin pallet, hugging my knees to my chest.

What just happened?

One minute, I was plotting escape, and the next…

I sneak a peek through the bars at my new neighbor’s cell. Part of me wants to call out to him, to demand to know what the hell that was all about. But another part is almost afraid to draw his attention again, to have those pale eyes piercing into me once more. I worry my lower lip, indecision churning in my gut.

He hasn’t moved, keeping that impassive pose with his back to me. Like our…encounter, or whatever you want to call it, meant absolutely nothing.

It’s as if I don’t exist.