Cain’s eyes were locked on her, too bright with the flames that he stirred. “You …” His voice was dark, rumbling.
He recognized her. Eve’s breath left her in a rush. He knew who she was. He knew—
“You”—a muscle jerked in his jaw—“killed me.”
There was fury in his stare. So much dark rage. And deadly intent.
Eve glanced toward the dark tunnel once more. Cain had tried to warn her. She should have listened when he’d told her to run.
He reached for her.
I’m listening now.
She ducked under his arm and raced down the tunnel, but she could hear the thud of his footsteps as he followed her and she knew …
There’d be no escape.
“Run,” Richard whispered as he watched Eve flee.
Cain followed right after her. The phoenix didn’t bother running. He just slowly stalked his prey.
Why should he run? He’d track Eve down easily enough. It wasn’t like the tunnel had an exit. Eve would hit a dead end soon enough.
“Sir …” From the guard on Richard’s right. “Do we need to go down and follow them?”
Richard shook his head. “No need. There’s no way out of that tunnel.” It was why the vampires were trapped there. The area had proven to be the perfect prison for a particular failed experiment.
Richard glanced over at the guard. His eyes narrowed. The guy was sweating. Had it been the first time the man had seen a vamp get fried? If he stayed around Genesis, it sure wouldn’t be the last time he saw such a sight.
Richard was glad those particular vamps were gone. He’d figured that once Cain was tossed in their midst, the vamps wouldn’t last long.
That breed of vampires had proven to be a disappointment. An unfortunate experiment that had gone wrong. His father had made those beings. Tried to transform soldiers into an enhanced breed of vampires.
At first, the transformation had seemed to work. The soldiers who’d volunteered for the program had become stronger, bigger, and faster. Their senses had been better than any shifter. They’d been such great hunters. Perfect killers.
At first …
The genetic splicing had been flawed, though. The humans hadn’t been able to maintain the transformation, not at an optimum level.
The speakers on Richard’s right picked up the sound of a scream. Not the high-pitched cry of the vamps in that hole, but a woman’s cry. Eve.
His fingers tapped lightly over the keyboard. He’d counted on Cain to protect Eve when he’d dropped her into that hole. Cain had already risen once—all alone with Eve—and not attacked her, so Richard had thought Eve would be safe with him.
Maybe he’d thought wrong.
He glanced back at the monitor. “Send a team in. Bring the female out.” He needed her, and he couldn’t afford a miscalculation with her life.
“Yes, sir.” the guard replied readily enough, but then he hesitated. “Ah sir, just how far does that tunnel stretch into the mountain?”
Richard kept staring at the screen. He’d been in that tunnel once, a lifetime ago. Been trapped with the vampires. Another experiment. His father had always enjoyed those experiments.
Richard had hated the darkness. Hated the vampires all around him.
He’d been seven years old.
And he’d been the experiment then.
Don’t worry, son. They don’t want your blood. I’m sure of it. His father’s voice. And then he had just … pushed him into the dark. Pushed him into that pit with the vampires. I just have to test them. His father had left him with the monsters.
How long was I down there?
Richard swallowed back the memory. Shoved it back deep inside.
This lab, all of it, had been created by Jeremiah. The first Genesis lab. The original. The place that still housed so many secrets.
And plenty of failures. Failures that were hard to kill. Failures that had to be contained.
“The vamps made that tunnel,” Richard said. They’d clawed it, hacking their way through the dirt and rock over the years. Searching for a freedom they’d never find. “It ends in a wall of stone.” His father had made sure of that. No getting out, not for the pet project that had gone so horribly wrong.
Vampires who could never satisfy their hunger. More beast than man, their intelligence had begun to plummet just weeks after their transformation. His father had wanted to make a super soldier, a human with a vampire’s strengths and none of the creature’s weaknesses.
Instead, the soldiers had broken down. Their bodies and minds hadn’t been strong enough to survive the change for long. After a few months, they’d had all the vamps’ weaknesses.
And very few strengths.
They’d been such a disappointment to his father.
“My vamps are better,” Richard said, the words a dark growl. So much better.
“Uh, sir?”
Richard stiffened and glanced back. “Didn’t I tell you to get a team in there?”
“But … the phoenix, the vampire—”
“Use the tranqs on them and bring the girl out.” Cain could rot in that dark pit for a while longer, but Richard wanted to start harvesting eggs from Eve before the phoenix decided to kill her.
If he hasn’t already …
Eve wasn’t screaming anymore.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hunt.
Cain rushed through the darkness, striking out at the beings that were foolish enough to attack him. He touched them, the fire flared, and the beasts turned to ash.
The tunnel smelled of death. Blood. Rot.
And … her.
Sweetness inside the gaping mouth of hell. A light scent that pulled him forward. One image was burned into his head, the image he’d had as soon as the fire brought him back.
A gun, pressing into his heart. Her. Dark hair streaming around her, shadows slipping over her body. Tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m … sorry …”
Then the thunder of a gun. The white-hot agony as a bullet ripped into his heart.
She’d shot him.
Killed him.
Now his beast wanted vengeance. The fire burned inside him, so hot that when he breathed, a puff of smoke appeared before his mouth.
Deeper he went into the tunnel. He could hear the shuffle of footsteps. To his right.
He reached out—another vampire died by his hand.
Then he heard her scream. A wild, terrified cry. He rushed after the sound, running as quickly as he could.
Mine. She was his to punish. No one else could hurt her. No one else should fucking dare to hurt her.
Mine.
The beast knew it. Even death couldn’t change that truth for him.
He saw them. Eve, struggling in the arms of a vampire. She was holding him off, pushing him away from her neck, but the vamp’s teeth were mere inches from her.
He lunged forward and grabbed the vampire. The man tried to scream, but couldn’t. Cain didn’t give him a chance.
The vamp died instantly.
She ran. She lurched away and tried to escape into the darkness once more. Didn’t she realize? There was no escape.
He sent his fire out, letting it lick the ground on either side of her body. The fire showed that there truly was no way out. A wall of giant rocks waited just ahead.
She stumbled to a stop. After a moment, she spun around, facing him again. He kept advancing on her. One step at a time. The flames were low on the ground, burning softly, but he could make them rise with a thought.