Chapter 14

Athena paced the confines of her cage, seeking any weakness in the seams or bars. The welds were solid, the metal too thick to bend. The padlock unpickable. Her clothes had been stripped from her, leaving her in the dreaded scrubs.

After Rogers left, they didn't see anyone until dinnertime when a soldier, his face expressionless and grim, arrived with three flimsy plastic trays that he slid through the slots.

Once he left, Selene grimaced. "Microwave dinners? Really? That's almost as cruel as this cage. Not to mention no fork. What are we supposed to do, eat our mashed potatoes with our fingers?"

"Or slurp it like an animal. Cutlery can be used as a weapon, hence why we don't get any." Athena remained familiar with how captivity under Rogers worked.

"Good thing we'll be out of here soon," Selene chirped. "I've got leftover cheesecake in the fridge at home."

Athena admired her sister's optimism even if misplaced. Let her keep hope for as long as she could. Athena wished she could share it, but it appeared the doctor had moved locations. The stone cellar older and more rustic than that at the Experimental Farm. Large too, the pillars of wood and stacked cinder blocks rising as sentinels to break up the space. She saw no sign of whatever used to be in place before, unless the ductwork counted. There were cameras pointed at the cages, watching every move and listening to their every word. Other than the cages, there was a staircase, the treads of each riser thick wood, a few stacked crates, and the dreaded contraption Rogers used to call the rack. It was as bad as it sounded. A fourth cage remained empty, and she prayed it stayed that way.

"I hope Ares was smart enough to hide once he found out you were gone," Athena stated, poking at the meat that looked nothing like turkey. More like a hunk of rubber smothered in a thick brown sauce.

"He wouldn't have found out until dinnertime when he got off work. I wish we could have found a way to warn him." Mom ignored her tray and instead sat huddled.

"I don't know how you did it," Selene declared. "A whole month of this? I'd have been skin and bones, not to mention completely bonkers, by the time I escaped."

"It wasn't easy," Athena admitted.

"Did it hurt much?" Selene asked, her tone more somber than usual. "I mean, whatever stuff they did while they had you."

"Depended on the test. The needles and skin scrapings were easy to handle, but Rogers also kept doing stuff to see how I'd react. Like exposing me to hot and cold extremes. Intentionally bruising me to test my healing speed. He had me running on a treadmill like a hamster for hours on end."

"Ugh. I wouldn't last five minutes." Selene, while slim, hated exercise. She preferred to simply eat right to maintain her body weight.

"Were you molested?" Mom's stark question, one she'd shied from asking before.

"No, that's the one thing he didn't subject me to. Although he did harvest some of my eggs." Bragged about how much they'd be worth once he proved her lycanthropy.

The lights went out abruptly, and Selene squeaked.

"It's okay," Athena soothed. "It's our signal to go to sleep."

"Sleep how? No mattress or even a blanket." Athena could practically see Selene's pout.

"Try. We'll most likely have a long day tomorrow."

A day of being treated like lab rats.

Like Selene, Athena struggled to rest. She blamed herself for the situation. Missed Derek. Worried about him. Fretted about Ares. Wanted to cry for her mom and sister. If only she'd tried harder to locate Rogers. Without him, perhaps they would have been safe.

She must have fallen asleep at some point since she had to blink bleary eyes as the lights suddenly illuminated, shining through her eyelids with stark brilliance.

A different guard, his expression just as blank as the last, brought them each a cardboard bowl of porridge, thick paste that she choked down. She needed to keep up her strength.

Selene complained. "No brown sugar or berries? What kind of torture is this?"

"Are the accommodations not to your liking?" Rogers' sudden appearance at the bottom of the stairs had Athena tensing.

"This isn't fit for a dog," Selene declared, pointing to it.

"Would you prefer raw meat?"

"Ew, no. Although some bacon would be nice. Along with some eggs. Home fries, too, if you have them."

"This is not a hotel," Rogers barked.

"Obviously, or you'd have better amenities. Right now I rate you zero stars." Selene kept poking Rogers.

"Mouthy little thing, aren't you? Tell you what. You want better food, and other things to improve your stay, then you simply need to cooperate. Shift."

Selene purposely ignored his request and pointed to the corner. "This plastic bucket you've left us won't do at all. I demand a proper bathroom."

"Change into your wolf," Rogers snapped. "Show me your furry side and we'll see about improving your situation."

"Me, a wolf?" Selene giggled. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Have you been reading too much Stephenie Meyer? Next thing I know you'll be accusing us of being sparkly vampires."

Rogers turned from Selene to Athena. "I already know you're going to refuse. But I wonder if you'll still be stubborn if given the right incentive."

"You've got nothing I want," Athena spat.

"Don't I?" He turned and walked to Mom's cage. She was awake, but quiet, her knees drawn to her chest. "The blood work processed overnight. You don't have the same anomaly as your daughters, meaning you're not a lycanthrope and thus expendable."

A chill swept Athena. "Don't you hurt my mom."

"What happens to her will depend on you." He glanced at Athena over his shoulder. "Your choice. Choice A, you show me your wolf. Choice B, you remain stubborn and we see how loud your mom can scream."

"Don't you touch my mommy," Selene shrieked, grabbing the bars.

"I won't have to if you give me what I want."

"Don't listen to him, girls." Mom rose to her feet. "He can't be trusted. He's going to torture me no matter what."

"I'm hurt." Rogers clutched his chest. "Do you think me a man who'd break his word?"

All three women shouted, "Yes."

His lips curved. "So that's B, then. All right. Let me get the rack and tools ready."

Athena's heart stopped as her mind flashed to her time in the rack. An inversion table with straps. Sturdy ones she couldn't break. He'd had her spread eagle on it numerous times. Unable to block the punches to her body. Unable to stop the slices to her flesh. It had been horrible. But it would be worse this time because it would be her mom suffering.

Rogers walked away and headed upstairs rather than bringing the rack close. Probably grabbing reinforcements.

Mom hissed, "Be strong, girls."

"What's the point? It's only a matter of time before he gets what he wants. Whether today or on the full moon," Athena reminded.

"We just need to hold on."

"For what?" Athena exclaimed. "He's not going to change his mind. He will hurt you. And I don't think I can bear to stand witness."

"Do as mom says," Selene replied. "He won't kill her. He'll lose his leverage."

"He might not kill her, but he will maim." Athena knew his sadistic side. A side she'd tried to forget and that might have played a part in her reneging on her plan for revenge. Fear she'd be his victim again was part of why she chose to remain hiding.

"It will be okay, baby girl. Don't give in." Mom was being so brave, and it killed Athena. The expression on her mom's face was the same as the one she wore at Dad's funeral.

Athena worried more about Selene. While Athena had great control over her wolf side, her sister had to remain calm. When she got too angry, things got hairy. From a young age, their dad had worked with Selene, teaching her to let things slide off her back. It resulted in Selene having a super-positive attitude all the time, even in the midst of calamity. She didn't have a choice. If she were the kind of person who flipped out all the time—wrong amount of sugar in her coffee, person cutting her off in traffic—then her secret would be revealed.

Rogers returned with two guards, or would the better term be mercenaries? They wore no official badges. Didn't have their hair shorn short and sported scruffy jaws. The kind of men who wouldn't bat an eye at torturing a woman.

One of them wheeled over the rack, and Athena couldn't help but tremble. She'd hoped to never see it again.

The mercs entered Mom's cage and grabbed her roughly, despite the fact she didn't fight. Mom shuffled to her fate while Selene and Athena clutched at their bars.

The guards knelt to buckle in her ankles while Rogers handled her left wrist.

"At least one of you understands the futility of resistance," he remarked.

"You'll burn in hell for this," Mom's pleasant reply.

"Hell doesn't exist."

"Neither do werewolves," Mom countered.

"Still sticking to the lie, I see." Rogers went to work on her other hand.

Distant shouting drew Athena's attention. It led to Rogers frowning. He turned to the stocky merc by his side. "Go see what's happening upstairs."

Selene glanced at Athena and mouthed, Do you hear that?

Indeed, Athena could hear the distinct pops of gunfire. A shootout? By who? Ares had only one rifle, and surely he wouldn't have come alone to such a guarded place.

Could it be Derek? Unlikely, because, like Ares, he wouldn't know where to find her. Not to mention, only an idiot would go against Rogers and his cadre of goons.

Whatever the case, this could be the distraction they needed to escape.

The walkie at the merc's hip beeped. "What is it?" he barked.

They all heard, "We're under attack."

"Fuck." Rogers eyed the merc. "Go help."

The man trotted, off leaving them with just the doctor.

Selene taunted Rogers. "Sounds like your evil experiment days are over. You're going down."

"Doubtful. My men are armed. You'd need an army?—"

Boom !

The structure trembled, as if hit by a mini earthquake. Their cages vibrated, and dust sifted from the ceiling, enough Rogers appeared worried. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

Off he scurried, a roach in a lab coat.

"We should take advantage of this distraction," Selene stated.

"Great idea but we're still behind bars." Athena reminded.

"Hey, Mom." Selene spoke softly. Mom remained strapped to the rack, unharmed for the moment, but that would change the moment Rogers returned. "Can you get your hand loose?"

Rogers hadn't quite finished buckling her in, the flap of the restraint not tucked into the metal loop.

"I don't know." Mom's tongue peeked as she strained and twisted, trying to unlatch.

Selene grabbed her bars and shook. "The tremor didn't loosen mine."

"Mine either," Athena stated, giving them a good tug.

"Hold on, babies, I think I've—Aha!" Mom's hand popped free. "Give me a sec." Mom went to work on her other hand while Athena listened to occasional yell and gunshot. A mini war was being waged, and she could only wonder who had the balls to come after Rogers. Could be rescue, or someone worse.

As Mom bent over to work on her ankles, it seemed like perhaps they'd actually manage to get free.

And then the lights went out.