In the image, Kayla was on her side, one leg bare all the way up, her hands holding the fabric tightly to cover her crotch.
I hadn't bothered trying to glimpse at the others, knowing Zoe would likely do the dirty work without my prompting.
So being dirty is a good thing now?
Shush. It's been a long day.
The image turned into a movie in my mind. I closed my eyes and followed the sensuous curves of Kayla's bare legs with my mind.
You know she offered to do anything with you. You could still take her up on that.
It was tempting. It really was. But I wasn't sure about the consequences. About what I actually wanted.
The movie in my mind changed. Kayla and Stella had switched places. Zoe, as usual, knew exactly what I wanted, even if I didn't. Stella's slim leg peeked out at me. I traced the contours higher and higher. As she shifted, the fabric moved. Just a little bit more…
My room's door slid open with an electronic hiss.
Fuck. I twisted onto my stomach to hide the consequences of my leisure activity.
A soldier stepped into my room and banged twice on the wall.
"Dr. Hill wants to see you."
"Okay." I waited for the soldier to leave.
He didn't leave. "Now."
Sighing, I waited a few more seconds until my excitement had subsided enough to climb down safely.
Zoe flashed a final image of Stella at me.
Stop it, Zoe.
I left my room and headed towards Dr. Hill's office. Zoe followed at my side.
You think we're in trouble? Because of the botched mission?
Possibly. Be careful. I don't fully trust anyone but you, not even Hill.
I mulled over the last time Dr. Hill had caught me with my pants down, literally, and separated me from Zoe. But Dr. Hill had trusted me afterward. She was on our side, wasn't she?
I reached Dr. Hill's office. The door slid open, and I stepped inside.
"Dr. Hill…" I froze.
Waiting in the office with Dr. Hill was Dr. Preston, Cody's creepy father. And he was smiling.
Zoe, I have a bad feeling about this.
CHAPTER 4
I stood still near the doorway.
"Hunter, have a seat." Dr. Hill motioned to an empty chair in front of her desk. Dr. Preston was sitting in another chair wearing a spotless white laboratory coat.
I frowned and pulled the seat further away before sitting down.
"I believe you two have met already," Dr. Hill said, gesturing to Dr. Preston and me.
"Indeed," Dr. Preston said, lowering his head. "Hello, Zoe." He looked up at me. "Ah, yes, and of course, Dustin."
I still don't like him, Zoe said.
Me neither. He gives me the creeps. Maybe you should stay quiet, like last time.
"Our last meeting was brief, wasn't it?" Dr. Preston asked.
I traded a look with Zoe.
The fuck? I looked back and forth between Zoe and Dr. Preston. I slowly stood and eyed the door.
"Hunter," Dr. Hill said, standing up as well. She wore a cream blouse and black pencil skirt underneath a laboratory coat, her usual outfit. "I don't like this, either, but we don't have a choice. Get back in your seat."
I sat back down, trying to ignore Dr. Preston leering at my cat. "What's going on?"
Dr. Hill opened and closed her mouth once. "This is going to be difficult—"
"Allow me, Leah," Dr. Preston said. "Zoe, Dustin. It should be obvious to both of you that our current efforts in the War are doomed. Now that the Chimerics have halted their arrival, we have no way to replenish our Beastmaster ranks. Failure is inevitable. Fortunately, we found you, and in particular, Zoe."
"Zoe?" I asked. "What's so special about her? She's just another boring Chimeric."
Zoe didn't say anything but swatted my leg with her tail.
Dr. Preston dismissed my question with a wave of his hand. "We know that's not true. We haven't had our hands on a higher Chimeric since Staccato. Zoe is a golden opportunity—"
I stood up in shock and looked at Dr. Hill. "Higher Chimeric?" She knew what I was asking. Had she told him?
Dr. Hill shook her head with a grim expression.
Dr. Preston finally turned to look at me. "Dustin, there's no need to beat around the bush. With Zoe—and you, of course—we can finally unlock the full potential of the Beastmaster program and turn the tide in the War."
"What's he talking about?" I asked Dr. Hill, ignoring the bioengineer as he had done to me.
"You know our situation," Dr. Hill said. "It's a numbers game. We're running out of Beastmasters, and we need a way to fill the ranks. Jack has one proposal for moving forward." She gestured toward Dr. Preston. "I have another. We want your cooperation with one of us."
I crossed my arms and glanced down at Zoe, remembering her earlier warning. I sure as hell didn't trust Cody's father. And Dr. Hill…
"Fine, let's hear it," I said. It wasn't like I had much of a choice, as Dr. Hill had reminded me many times before.
Dr. Preston rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Excellent. I know you're a true soldier at heart. What we need is your life force. We'll siphon it off at regular intervals—"
Zoe crouched low and hissed.
I took a step backwards, bumping into the chair. I almost stumbled, but I caught myself with my boosted agility. "You're going to drain our life force?" I asked.
"Jack, maybe you should let me do the talking. Hunter, sit down," Dr. Hill said.
I frowned at Dr. Hill.
"It'll be easier for you to take sitting down," she said.
I grudgingly sat back down. "Fine."
Dr. Hill scowled at Dr. Preston. "Let's start from the beginning. The purpose of Beastmaster Zeta Squad."
"Purpose?" I asked. "We're training to beat up Mekanics, aren't we?"
Dr. Hill nodded. "In part. Its full purpose, though, is to repopulate the Beastmaster ranks. Or, rather was. Or will be." Dr. Hill sighed. "Obviously, everything I'm telling you is classified and doesn't go beyond this room."
I shrugged. "Sure, but how are we supposed to repopulate Beastmasters?" Dr. Hill's choice of words had been strange. Like she was starting a colony or something.
"We've had some success creating Beastmasters from scratch," Dr. Hill said. "Well, not quite from scratch."
I stared at Dr. Hill. "You…you can create Beastmasters?"
Impossible. Zoe was too shocked to stay quiet.
"It's quite difficult and rather inefficient," Dr. Hill said.
"But it works," Dr. Preston said. "Problem solved."
"It's too early to say that, don't you think?" Dr. Hill said to him.
"If it works, why do you need me?" I asked.
"We've tried cloning, other methods," Dr. Preston said. "But it wasn't until we discovered Staccato's higher Chimeric—"
"Staccato?" I quickly connected the dots. "You used Staccato's higher Chimeric to do something, didn't you? That's why he went insane? Why he lost his Avatar?"
"Jack!" Dr. Hill said sharply. "Let me handle this?"
Dr. Preston made a placating gesture with his hands. "Of course, Leah."
Dr. Hill turned to me. "We don't know why Staccato lost control. It could have been related to the procedures he underwent. It could be something else."
"What procedures?" I asked.
"Great question, Hunter. That's where Jack and I diverge. Our earliest efforts to clone Beastmasters failed. We have plenty of archived tissue samples from Beastmaster and Avatar pairs, but none of the stem cell protocols worked. Until we found the magic ingredient: Staccato's life force. We regularly siphoned off Staccato's life force to kick-start the cloning process."
Shit. So they wanted to suck my life away. Zoe's too. That was hardly a fair deal for us, even if it was for a good cause. I looked up to see Dr. Hill and Dr. Preston studying me.