“What did you say?” She turned back to him, her gaze slightly distant as she focused on him.
He restrained his smile. He liked Ely.
“I said, is everything okay?”
“Fine.” She nodded, turning back to the vials as she stored them in one of her contraptions.
“So why more tests? You just did this whole thing last week.” He stood to his feet, watching her carefully as he re-strapped the weapon holsters onto his body. They were a part of him now; he felt naked without them.
“You know how it goes.” She shrugged. “You’re in close-quarter contact with an unknown female. I like to keep an eye on your tests in that case. Just in case.”
Just in case. He breathed out heavily, silently.
“She’s not my mate.” He growled the word because for the first time since he had learned of the mating heat he was pissed off that there wasn’t a chance of it affecting him. He’d lost his mate before he’d ever had the chance to know what having one meant.
“I’ve never believed you truly mated, Merc,” she reminded him. “My experience with this is that it takes more than wanting or caring deeply for anyone.” She turned back to him, her gaze compassionate. “Have you been feeling any changes since Ms. Rodriquez showed up?”
She moved toward him, her bare hand, devoid of the gloves she normally wore, gripping his wrist to check his pulse. Then she rubbed his arm, almost like a comforting gesture, before patting it as she would a child’s.
At this point, he was watching her suspiciously.
“Do I get a sucker too?” he asked warily.
“You didn’t answer my question, Merc,” she reminded him. “Feeling anything unusual?”
“Well, Doc, there’s no enlarging of the glands under my tongue, but you checked those, so you know that. No funny taste in my mouth, and that little stroke and pat against my arm didn’t have me cringing in pain,” he reported with an edge of disgust. “Is there anything else I should be looking for?”
Her lips twitched. “You have the symptoms down, I see.”
“Pretty hard not to with the damned epidemic that seems to be going on,” he snorted. “Lawe and Rule are bitching constantly over it. I think they like their footloose and carefree ways.”
“And you don’t?” She leaned against the table, watching him carefully.
“You a psychiatrist now, Doc?” He grinned back at her. “Come on, put away the doctor stuff here. Tell me what you really want to know and we’ll work from there.”
She shook her head at that, a light laugh leaving her throat. “You caught me. Are you attracted to Ms. Rodriquez, Merc?”
“She’s a woman.” He arched his brows. “I’m a man, and I’m not mated. And Jonas has me on her butt twenty-four-seven. What do you think?”
She nodded at that, but something flickered in her eyes that had him frowning down at her. “Is something wrong here, Ely? Something I don’t know anything about?”
“Trust me, Merc, if something was wrong, Jonas would be the first to know and you would be the second. Chain of command.” She rolled her eyes. “If you want to be first in line, you’ll have to take it up with him.”
“Then let’s put this another way,” he growled, growing tired of the feeling that there was a very subtle game being played here. “What would make you suspect it is possible for me to mate Ms. Rodriquez when none of the symptoms are there?”
She sighed at that. “Honestly, there’s no suspicion. As you said, with all the matings recently, and the fact that there were very few in the years after Kane and Sherra, I’m merely being diligent. And a word of warning-when the techs in the control room contact me that you’re acting unusual in regards to the clerk in the file room, it’s my job to check for the mating hormone.”
Mercury stilled at that. “Unusual how?”
“I should inform you, just because they can’t see exactly what you’re doing doesn’t mean they aren’t speculating on it.” She grimaced. “I received the call just before coming for you. They were afraid.” She inhaled slowly. “They thought perhaps you were doing something Ms. Rodriquez may not have been agreeing with.”
Mercury’s nostrils flared as he fought back a rush of pure male fury. “They thought I was raping her?”
“There’s a fine line, Merc,” she said. “They merely thought there might be a problem. I checked it out and now I’ve taken the required blood, semen and hormonal samples. I’ll let you know what I find once I find it.”
“There is no fine line,” he gritted out. “No means no. Dammit, Ely.” He forcibly pulled back the anger eating inside him now. He could feel it building, welling in his head until a tide of red edged at the corner of his vision.
“As I said, it was merely a suggestion.” His gaze flashed down as a needle punctured his vein again and blood washed into the attached vial.
Icy rage stole over him. His eyes lifted, and he was only barely aware of the growl that rumbled from his throat and had Ely pausing to stare up at him in surprise.
“I forgot the last tube I needed.” She slid the needle from his arm and efficiently disconnected the sealed tube of blood from the needle.
He clenched his fists, the need to jerk it from her grip nearly overwhelming him. He needed that blood back. He couldn’t risk it… He reached for it, his hand quickly covering her wrist as she stared back at him in shock.
“Mercury.”
“You don’t need that blood.” He felt as though he were staring out at her from someone else’s eyes, feeling someone else’s rage. He couldn’t allow her to keep that blood.
But he had no reason for it. No reason for the anger, no reason not to trust her, other than the fact that something warned him that he couldn’t trust anyone. And why he felt that way was confusing as hell.
He released her hands slowly, staring at the vial of blood in her fist.
“You’re lying to me, Ely,” he stated, watching her closely, inhaling deeply. He swore-and he had never smelled emotions as other Breeds sometimes could-but he swore he could smell her deceit.
She swallowed tightly. “You’re not acting yourself, Mercury,” she whispered. “Are you certain there isn’t anything wrong?”
“Are you?” He had to get away from her; every word that passed his lips was a growl. He held his hand out. “Give me the vial.”
“I can’t run the tests without it.” Did she pale? Was that fear flickering in her eyes?
“You have enough. Make due.”
As he spoke, the lab door opened and Kane, Sanctuary’s head of security, and Callan Lyons stepped into the room.
Mercury looked up at the all-seeing eye of the camera. Like the labs. Always someone watching. How could he have forgotten that? Always the suspicion, always the eyes tracking and second-guessing.
He turned back to Ely. “I asked nicely,” he reminded her.
“Merc, what’s going on here?” Kane’s voice was questioning, but Mercury could feel his pride leader watching, tracking, smelling the danger in the room.
“He doesn’t like giving blood suddenly,” Ely said nervously, moving to turn away.
Merc didn’t touch her this time as he stepped in front of her. “Make sure you get everything you need from that vial of blood, Dr. Morrey,” he said softly. “Because you’ll get no more.”
“You were ordered…”
His growl surprised him. It rumbled, fierce and threatening in his chest.
“I’m not Jonas’s gigolo, or his puppet. Tell him to get screwed if that’s what he thinks.” He flicked a glance to the other two men.
Kane was watching him worriedly; Callan’s expression was thoughtful. Mercury had had enough. He brushed past the other two and jerked the door open as he moved through the narrow corridors of what had once been a Council lab. The cameras followed him; he could feel them now, and he never had before. Like a brand against his back, they burned into his flesh and sent a surge of anger pulsing through him.