“Let’s talk about Trenton.” Gray motioned to her kitchen table.
She let them sit but continued to stand, itchy and unsure. “Dr. Caleb Trenton has been around for at least twenty-one years. I met him when I was five. My father worked for him for years until he died. I don’t know what my dad did, only that it had to do with Circ research.”
“Rogue research,” Gray corrected. “Real Circs don’t kill for the hell of it, or because they want to. We live with our beasts. We’re not at their mercy. You’re talking rogues.” His gaze lingered on the black streaks on her forearms. “And mutants.”
“Well, bully for you. But as far as I’m concerned, we’re all the same.” She ignored Bas’s scowl. “Point is, Trenton experimented on me when I was a kid. Lots of shots that made me feel weird.”
“How?” Bas asked.
“Increased my senses, my physical abilities. I can hold my breath under water for more than an hour. Can see and hear things a normal person can’t. And when I want to, I…” She stopped herself before revealing everything, not sure why she felt she could trust these men she’d just met.
“Let me guess. You can release a scent that draws men closer? Circs and humans, I’d imagine,” Gray said quietly. “Some of the female Circs we’ve encountered can do the same.”
She felt better, knowing she wasn’t the only freak out there. “I can mask it too. If I don’t want to be found, I won’t be.” She directed that to Gray, trying to show the male she wouldn’t be caged. Bas already knew she could take control, as she had when she’d bound him. But Gray might not realize she didn’t need Bas to confine him.
Her beast urged her to show him in a more carnal way, to ride him the way she had Bas. To own the stronger male, to dominate.
She cleared her throat when Gray’s eyes narrowed, and hastily continued. “So Trenton, the man you thought you killed, is obviously alive. He’s holed up in a secret lab on Whidbey Island in Washington. I know where it is. He also has a warehouse he uses sometimes in Portland, because it’s closer to these mountains. I think he’s planning to capture me and a few other females, then set up a compound somewhere in the Cascades. It’s perfect, really. Not too many people out here in the deep mountains during the winter. They cluster around the ski slopes. There’s plenty of space to remain undetected while growing a Circ army.”
“A rogue army,” Gray said absently.
“That sucks. We’re going to need a lot more backup on this.” Bas strummed his fingers on the table. “Ali, when exactly did you first change?”
“As in, turn into a she-beast?” she mocked.
“No. I mean when did your eyes turn red? Your skin black? You seem like you’re in midtransformation, from Circ to mutant. But you’re rational. Too human for that.”
“That puzzles me too.” Gray moved as if to stand, but when she tensed, he sat back in his seat. “I’m not going to hurt you, Ali.”
Yeah, right.
“I can see you don’t believe me, and with what you’ve been through, I can understand.”
Incensed at his patronizing tone, she let the angry beast inside her break free a bit, to see how the mighty Gray would take it. A flash of heat entered her vision, the telling red in her eyes no doubt flashing. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. I was a normal kid, and then I wasn’t. I had urges no sane person should have and no one to help me understand but an old man I loved dearly, until Trenton and his fuckers killed him. I was handled and touched in places no young virgin should be. And then I was nearly raped by a Circ. By one of you. I killed him while he was inside me. And you know what? I liked it,” she growled, wishing he could feel the hurt, the anger, and the humiliation she’d endured. “So don’t tell me you understand. Because you have no fucking clue,” she spat, aching to rake her claws down his face and mark him.
The fury made sense, but the transposition of anger to lust unnerved her. She took a quick step back and put a hand on the gun behind her when he stood and kicked the chair away.
“I understand more than you think.” His quiet words were voiced with so much contained rage that he scared her. “I’ve seen women and children mauled by monsters. Girls raped and innocent men killed because they trusted assholes like Trenton. He’s going to die, this time by my two hands while I squeeze the life out of him.” He neared her so fast she didn’t have time to draw her weapon.
Gray’s arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. Helpless and in pain, she struggled. His lips pressed against her temple, and she froze.
“I swear. He’ll never hurt you again. None of them will. I promise.”
Bas suddenly stood at her side and put his arm around her back. “We promise.” He nuzzled her hair. “No one will hurt you while we live, Ali. No one.”
His beast peered out of somber eyes, and she didn’t know what to think.
These men didn’t owe her a thing. She didn’t know them, had no idea why she’d poured her heart out to them. But the venom that accompanied such thoughts, that pushed her into killing or hurting something after reliving her torment, didn’t come.
Shaken yet relieved, she stood there while they stroked her back and her hair, whispering words of comfort. Nothing sexual or twisted about the way they held her. And she blinked back the tears she should have been too numb to feel.
Bas watched Gray handle Ali with kid gloves. For all that Gray could be a complete jerk, when it came to protecting the innocent, he was in his element. To think Ali had been tortured and used like that made his skin crawl. He wanted to find Trenton and skin him alive. Then find the rest of the shitheads who’d hurt her and make them scream out in pain while he broke bones and slit throats.
His beast warmed to the idea as he figured the best way to get information to the admiral. They needed to flush out Trenton before he could escape and start fresh. Bomb the hell out of his labs and rescue any unwilling test subjects the bastard no doubt caged like animals.
Some of what Ali had said reminded him of his time with the PWP, when the scientists had tried to break him, to make him the rogue they wanted, an animal they could control. But he hadn’t broken, and neither had Ali. His beast warmed to the woman even more, glad he’d let her take him, because she felt comfort in their shared exploration. And he sensed she wanted more. He’d seen her looking at him when he’d dressed, had felt her sexual need and gloried in it even more now. Because after all she’d suffered, she hadn’t refused his touch.
“I need you to pass the info on to Keiser while I stay with her. I don’t want Ali left alone,” Gray sent him.
“I agree. But shouldn’t you talk to Keiser? He’s your guy. Ali’s not sure of you.” To his surprise, Bas didn’t feel a hint of jealousy at the thought of leaving Ali with Gray. He just wanted to make sure his mates would feel comfortable with one another.
“She needs to know me. And you need to know you can handle the PWP in any of its forms.”
Gray’s mild rebuke annoyed him. “I don’t need therapy, you jackass.”
“And I don’t need to be sensing your fear anytime we have to deal with psychics. Deal with it, Bas. Ali needs us now, and she needs us strong. Trenton won’t be easy to kill, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has more rogues out in the forest. You need to watch your ass out there.”