Chapter 17

Orion paced his cage, worried, a little scared, but also pissed. In all his decades of working for Hekate, he and Ambrose had been in some tough binds, but never any as bad as this one. He only had to look around the room at the zombies staring blankly off into space to realize this might finally be the adventure that brought them down. And just when he'd finally found his mate!

So unfair. He'd not even gotten to properly fuck or gotten to the part where he finally used the L word in a three-word sentence. Instead of spending time with Adeline, he was stuck in a cage, waiting to see if Ambrose came back catatonic, wondering when it would be his turn, while, at the same time, worrying about poor Adeline. He had no idea what had happened to her. Was she alive? A prisoner? In hiding?

He had no way of knowing. He couldn't even contact his goddess. Something about this prison blocked his prayers. He'd never felt so alone.

The cage didn't provide much room for his pacing agitation, and everywhere he looked only made it worse. How could such a place exist? Did they have a necromancer of some kind creating the zombies? And why their interest in Adeline?

When the elevator whirred, he spun to watch. The doors to it opened, and only a pair of soldiers emerged accompanying Ambrose, only he wasn't Ambrose anymore.

Orion held tight to his horror as his blank-faced friend, with a stiff-legged walk, moved in the direction the soldiers pointed him.

They took his soul.

It almost made him cry. But he'd been through tough times before. He knew better than to give up.

When the soldiers left, Orion called out to Ambrose. "Hey, dude, you in there?"

No reply, not even an acknowledgement. Ambrose stood, staring vacantly ahead of him.

"I'm going to get us out of here," Orion huffed. "Hekate will fix you." And if she couldn't, she would know of someone who could, because the alternative? No, Orion wouldn't even think it. Ambrose would be okay. There was no other acceptable outcome.

Time passed, but Orion couldn't have said how long. The lighting never changed, but some soldiers did come with trolleys of food. Some kind of porridge for those who still had personalities, like Orion and the woman sobbing a few cages down. For Ambrose and the other zombies, nothing. They didn't feed them at all.

Orion tried shouting at them. "What are you doing? This is wrong, and you know it." Appealing to their moral side proved futile. People with a conscience wouldn't condone or abet the actions here.

Not long after they passed the gruel out, the elevator whirred again, sending some into a panic of sobbing and pleading. Orion almost joined them, especially since the soldiers marched to his cage, eight of them in total for him, plus one to remove a docile Ambrose.

A fellow with a high-pitched nasally voice unlocked his cage. "Let's go. You're wanted upstairs."

"By who?" Orion asked.

"No talking. Move your ass or we'll move it for you." The many cattle prods aimed in his direction made it clear they hoped he'd fight.

"I'm coming. Don't get your panties in a twist," he grumbled, stepping out of his prison.

Interesting how they'd not chosen to drag him out on a gurney. Even more interesting, they brought Ambrose as well.

The elevator ride proved entertaining with him and Ambrose in the very middle ringed by the soldiers with their cattle prods aimed and ready to zap. Orion could have probably caused trouble and even won; however, he found himself curious at the odd behavior. Something must have happened. The soldiers were tense. What had them all spinning, and could he use it to his advantage?

The floor they spilled out on had windows, lots of them that showed a purple and pink sky from the setting sun. They marched him to a boardroom with a massive wooden table flanked by a dozen leather office-type chairs, some with people seated in them.

A woman with pinched lips stood at the head of the table, her white lab coat open over a blue blouse and dark slacks. Another woman at the table, this one in military uniform, glanced at him before returning to stare at her laptop. He counted four more military types and three suits. None of them noticeably cryptid. As for their scent? Very much human.

While Orion took in everything, Ambrose suddenly came to life—so to speak. He began striding for the window, muttering, "I need it. Must get it. So empty."

Given the last time Orion heard those words happened to be in that restaurant, aimed at Adeline, his heart began to thump.

"What's he doing?" barked a grizzled fellow with a buzz cut and a few medals pinned to his chest. "I thought you said this place was shielded."

"It is," murmured the woman in the lab coat. "I can only assume the proximity of our target is too much for our precautions."

Orion listened but didn't quite understand.

The woman in charge eyed him. "You're sure these are the two subjects requested?" the woman asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Names are Orion and Ambrose. According to our file on them, they are god-blessed humans," the military lady replied without looking up from her laptop.

"Really?" The woman eyed him intently. "They don't look that special. What magical skills do they have?"

"They can shift into dogs, Dr. Monroe." Once more the lady with the laptop had the answer.

"Dogs? Blech. We've got plenty of shifters already," the crew-cut military dude declared with disdain.

"Indeed, we do, General Benton." Dr. Monroe addressed those assembled. "Any objections to releasing them?"

"I object. The one still has all his cognition and will talk about what he's seen," the general complained.

"It will be a short-lived release. Soon as we have the target in custody, we'll take them back as well," Monroe stated.

What target did they keep yapping about? While they'd not used a name, Orion's stomach tightened because he had a feeling, given Ambrose's actions, who they spoke of.

"Why all this commotion over one person?" countered a man in a suit.

"Have you not been reading the reports?" The white-coated woman swept a hand to the window with Ambrose pressed against it mumbling. "It clearly stated that the escaped subjects sought her out. Preliminary reports indicate she is most likely the second subject that went missing from the early days of the Grim Experiment."

"She is the right age," murmured the military woman. "Although the mother's name doesn't match that of the surrogate."

"Most likely she changed it to throw us off her trail," the doctor surmised.

Surrogate? She? Pieces of the puzzle remained missing, but Orion understood enough to realize who they spoke of.

Orion exploded. "Leave Adeline alone."

"No one is talking to you," Monroe's cold reply.

"Maybe you should be because what you're doing is wrong. Taking people's souls? What kind of depraved shit is that?" he countered.

"It's called science," Monroe stated. "It's called finding ways to fight against the cryptids that are slowly infiltrating every human space in the world."

"They're not causing harm," he countered.

"Tell that to the mother whose baby got swapped by a changeling. Or the swimmer who got drowned by a selkie. The family slaughtered by a werewolf." The woman snapped out reasons, but Orion could play that game.

"What of the pixies kept in cages so folks can sell their dust? The nymphs forced into sexual slavery? The mermaids kept as novelties for the rich?"

Monroe waved a hand. "What of it? They're not human but animals."

"Animals that can talk and have feelings," Orion argued.

"Then they should have been smarter," drawled the military general. "We're in a war, humans against everything else. And we finally have a weapon to use."

What weapon? Orion would have liked to find out more, but the woman clapped her hands. "Someone gag and bind him. We don't need him spooking the target. Let's get them both to the main floor to do the exchange."

Orion wasn't about to allow himself to be bound. He spun and smashed his fist into the visor of the nearest soldier. That man staggered, but the others reacted quickly, poking him with the electrified prods, sending him to his knees, his whole body trembling, his jaw clenched.

His arms got yanked behind his back and zip tied. A wad of tissues stuffed in his mouth.

Hekate. Your hound needs your aid. He tried praying, and while he didn't get the stonewall of before, she didn't reply.

He had no choice but to be marched back into the elevator going down, Ambrose, still showing no signs of life, by his side. When the doors opened, the soldiers formed a wall at his back, pushing him and Ambrose forward, not that his friend argued. Ambrose slept-walk out into the falling twilight, whereas Orion stalked.

He had to figure out a way to protect Adeline.

Across the parking lot, he could see a slight figure flanked by two cats. Adeline had foolishly come to trade her life for theirs. She bravely drew closer, and he could see she'd managed to get changed since he'd last seen her, the jeans and hoodie fitting her properly, the shoes on her feet a light pink.

"Here's the prisoners you asked for," declared a guy by his side.

Adeline stopped a few paces away and cocked her head. "What did you do to Ambrose?"

"He's just being quiet on account of the drugs," lied the soldier with the nasally voice.

"I'm sure he is." Adeline strode closer, standing confident though grim of expression. Her gaze flicked over him, and her lips pinched, but when she glanced at Ambrose, sorrow filled her eyes. "I'll fix this," she whispered as she passed them.

How could she fix anything if she handed herself over?

Orion craned to look over his shoulder. Ambrose turned, too, muttering, "Need it.

When Ambrose and Orion would have followed her into the building, the soldiers blocked them.

"Git. You're not needed anymore."

Orion glared. If he didn't have his hands tied…

As you wish, Hekate replied suddenly and acted too. Magic warmed his wrists and the zip ties fell to the ground. Oh hell yeah.

He yanked the tissue from his mouth and snarled, "Out of my way."

The soldiers formed a tight wall and held out their prods. "Or what?" sassed the nasally fellow.

"Or we will fuck you up!" Ambrose stated before letting his fist fly.

Rather than gape at his friend's sudden recovery, Orion joined him in giving the soldiers the beating they so richly deserved. They had help, Smudge and Fudge having expanded in size to join the fray.

It didn't take long before they had a groaning heap at their feet.

Only then did Orion eye Ambrose and say, "Are you really you?"

His friend smiled. "Yeah."

"But your soul…"

"Was never taken. Not for lack of trying. They're holding some guy prisoner and forcing him to obey, only he's tired of it. When he saw the color of my soul, which is apparently a really sparkly silver, he asked me if I served a god. When I told him I was Hekate's scion, he begged me to help him escape. I agreed, which is when we faked him taking my soul."

"You fucker!" Orion punched him in the arm before dragging him close for a hug. "You had me fooled."

"I had to if I wanted them to ignore me. Now, what do you say we go help our mate?"

"Fuck yeah, and after we do, I'm burning this hellhole down," Orion vowed because some places should never exist.