Two dozen prime beasts were ready and willing to take apart anything Ricardo put in front of them, so long as he rewarded them with drugs and pussy come their victory.
Ricardo had promised them the moon, and he intended to deliver. Just as soon as he got his hands on Sheridan. He'd pretty much given up on Hawkins. After much discussion with Manoel, they'd agreed Hawkins would probably force them to kill him before being taken captive again. But Manoel's synthetic version of Hawkins's talent for invisibility held promise. It didn't completely change Ricardo's DNA, but it did work when taken every two hours. And Manoel had worked with it so that Ricardo could call on the ability to disappear and reappear at will.
Using his night-vision goggles, Ricardo watched as the Circs finally opened the door and fanned out in front of the back patio. Ricardo recognized Jesse Fallon, Kisho Hayashi, Morgan Reynolds, and Julian Hawkins. But no sign of Tersch, Sharpe, Olivia…or Sheridan.
Ricardo glared at the pricks he'd come to kill and fought to retain his calm.
“Julian, how nice to see you again. Where is Sheridan?”
“She's not coming.”
“That's a pity.” Ricardo snapped his finger, and Grayson did something that had Ava crying out. “I'll kill pretty little Ava if you refuse to hand over my fiancée.” A quick glance over his shoulder pleased him.
Grayson held a knife to Ava's throat, and a thin line of blood trickled down her neck from where he'd stuck her. Grayson maintained his human form as a backup, a lethal surprise to use just in case Hawkins and his men got the jump on Ricardo.
The Dawn Endeavor team took a few steps closer. At their current distance of a few dozen feet, Ricardo could easily shoot each man before his rogues killed them.
Too far away to help Ava and too far away to reach Ricardo and his team. He had timed this perfectly.
Ricardo stepped back into the shadows and disappeared behind a tree. He removed his night-vision goggles and tossed them to the ground before stripping out of his clothes. But he held on to his gun as he focused, the way Manoel had instructed. Ricardo literally vanished, using his new ability to shift the alignment of his cells to refract the light around him, masking not only his body, but the pistol as well. The energy it took to keep himself and the weapon invisible was draining, but if Hawkins could do it, he could damn well do it too.
“You have no one to blame but yourself, Hawkins,” Ricardo shouted. “Grayson, do it.”
Except Grayson was no longer there. There was a loud, inhuman roar, and then several of Ricardo's rogues attacked in the direction of the monstrous noise.
More rogues joined the fray. Several started slamming into trees and each other, as if something tossed them around like puppets.
Ricardo raced away from the chaos to the house, bypassing Hawkins and the others as they ran toward the noise. Inside, another crew of Ricardo's men waited.
Strategist that he was, Ricardo had left nothing to chance. Unnoticed, Ricardo slipped into the house. He saw four of his rogues surrounding the Sharpe woman.
“Kill the bitch,” he ordered, startling several Circs who obviously hadn't seen him.
The largest one grinned and latched on to her arm.
Ricardo left them to join a rogue he'd seen standing by a door, glancing around.
The creature stopped looking around, apparently catching his scent, and narrowed his slit-eyed stare in Ricardo's direction as he approached.
“Where's Sheridan?” Ricardo asked.
“Downstairs with another female. I was told to wait here.”
“Good. Do that. When I'm finished, you can have the female with her.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ricardo passed him and descended one floor into a brightly lit corridor. Trust these idiots to put a friendly face on science. In Ricardo's world, there was no place for sentimentality or niceties. A metal table, chains, and a cave had served his purposes just fine.
With the drugs from his compound, as well as the cache of Circs he now owned, Ricardo could well afford to go into hiding, not to be seen again for years. He planned to maintain his wealth from a distance, using others to mediate while he worked on his own dynasty—namely, the sons he'd fuck out of Sheridan. With his brains and her natural ability to heal, he'd sire boys who would never die. A perfect scenario.
Lost in thought, he neared a room where the sound of voices lowered in argument could be heard.
An open door spilled blue light into the hallway.
He neared it then stood in the doorway, surprised. Both Olivia Fallon, a Circ in her own right, and Sheridan were hurriedly stripping out of their clothing.
“You aren't supposed to be here,” Sheridan said, glancing at the doorway. She looked right through him, and he decided to play with her while invisible. Her shock and fear would make fucking her even better when she tried to fight against a demon she couldn't see.
“Screw that. I'm not leaving you alone to that bastard Montaña.” Apparently his reputation preceded him. Ricardo smiled and stroked his mustache, reveling in the sight of Sheridan's full breasts, her tight nipples, and the pussy he'd soon discover for himself.
Olivia slowly changed, her features broadening as she grew several inches in height and packed muscle on to her enlarged bones. Her black hair touched her ass, and her bright blue-green irises now surrounded the feline pupils of a Circ. Despite her largeness, Ricardo found her sexy as hell. He wondered how strong she was, how much pain she might be able to tolerate. Perhaps he ought to watch the Circ upstairs take her down. It would prove interesting and most likely arousing.
Ricardo returned his attention to Sheridan, wondering why she had disrobed.
“Come on, already,” Sheridan snapped. “I don't like him looking at me.” Ricardo didn't understand. And then he did, a split second too late. Sheridan's features began to change just as a piercing pain slashed through his side, where large claws raked him.
Blood poured from his wound and interfered with his ability to cloak himself.
He looked down at his boots and swore. He did manage to jump out of the way of Hawkins's fist, just in time to avoid a crippling blow to his neck. When he glanced around again, though, he saw only Olivia and Sheridan. Hawkins had vanished.
“Get back,” Sheridan called to Olivia in a husky voice, and it was then that he saw her for the freak she'd become.
“No. I had plans for you!” he screamed, furious she'd yet again thwarted him.
Via the various breeding experiments he'd studied, he knew that a female Circ could only breed with a male of her species. Which meant she wouldn't be able to provide him any heirs. The bitch.
She sneered. “Please. I've seen all of you, Ricardo. And none of it's pretty.” She dismissed him with a look. “I much prefer a man who can satisfy me. A masterful lover, like Julian.” The bitch purred, literally purred like a cat, and Ricardo launched himself at her.
Instead, he bounced off something solid and crashed over a metal table holding several sharp instruments. Picking up a scalpel in one hand, he removed the gun tucked into his belt with the other and fired two times at Sheridan.
A heavy thud sounded before Hawkins reappeared lying on the floor. Ricardo had shot the bastard twice in the gut. He looked down at Hawkins bleeding on the floor before the fucking Circ disappeared again. Fuck.
Sheridan slapped the gun out of his hand. Her next slap broke Ricardo's nose, and the third jarred a few teeth from his mouth. Though they now stood at the same height, the woman had the strength of a Circ, and she didn't mind using it. Behind her, Olivia Fallon had picked up his pistol and now aimed it at him.
“Enough, Ricardo.”
Sheridan's husky voice aroused him, and he wanted to crouch with shame.