Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“A few days!” I shout, trying to jerk free again. I didn’t care about the pain. I wanted free. “I can’t stay like this for a few days. I didn’t sign up for this. Get the needles out. Let me go.” A small Chinese man enters the room, and I glare at him. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Dr. Chin,” he stated, reaching for the chart at the end of the bed and then speaking over his shoulder to someone I can’t make out. “Push two milligrams of Ativan.”
“Give me that shot, whoever you are, and I promise you, when I get up, I will remember and kill you.” The blur of white cloth hangs back without approaching, taking heed of the warning. Wildly, I swing my gaze from Jocelyn to Dr. Chin. “I’ll kill you all.”
Jocelyn reaches behind her to whoever the white blur is and says, “Give it to me.” She speaks to the doctor. “Is he okay otherwise?”
He gives her a nod. “I checked him thoroughly before he awoke.”
“Then leave us so I can explain everything to him,” she says, and turns back to me.
“Give me that shot, and you’ll regret it,” I warn.
Unshaken, Jocelyn’s full lips lift into a smile, and she reaches for an IV attachment. “You’re very tough for a man tied to a bed.” She pumps the syringe into the tube and empties it.
“Next time, you’ll be the one tied to the bed, and I’ll have my way with you.” She owes me some pleasure for her deception.
She arches a brow. “Promises, promises. But right now, I doubt you could manage to tie your shoes, let alone tie me down.” She tosses the syringe into a trash can and then settles comfortably beside me, resting her hand on my chest. It was warm against my cold skin. “So why don’t we talk about what’s happening to you, shall we?”
A sudden heaviness thrums across my eyelids, fusing with the heat of her palm, dragging me into lethargy. “Tell. Me.”
“You’ve been given the GTECH serum—a special serum formula no other man has ever received. You will be the strongest, most capable GTECH—as you should be as their commander.”
Strongest. The word rolls in my drug-laden mind. I like that word. I like Jocelyn’s voice—all rich and womanly. She continues, “There will be some pain with the transition as your muscles and fluid levels adjust. But when it’s over, you, Brock, will be the most powerful man on Earth, and we will begin building your army.” She inches closer, that crazy exotic scent of hers spiking in my nose as it had in the van, despite my fading senses. “You’re going to be a hero, Brock.”
Hero, I thought, smiling. I was going to be a hero. The most powerful man on Earth. Satisfaction slides into my mind, and I allow my lids to shut, allow darkness to overcome that bright light.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Creed
With Addie’s limp body in my arms, I appear outside the cavern wall of Sunrise City—barely able to breathe for fear Addie is dead or dying. Desperate to get her to safety, I step to the exact, invisible spot where a scanner tracks my body and identifies me. The cavern splits in two, dividing into an equally invisible entrance. I waste no time entering the massive warehouse that serves as an entry pod to Sunrise City, the doors automatically closing behind me.
I set Addie’s wet, limp body down, her face pale, and check her pulse to realize my worst fear—she’s not breathing.
“No!” I scream in my mind, even as I scramble to save her, ripping away her body armor to the waist and beginning CPR. Rage, defiance, pain, and anger all explode inside me, driven by adrenaline. I pump her chest and press my lips to hers, my mind racing with punishing thoughts. Blame is brutal. I did this to her.
I shouldn’t have windwalked.
I shouldn’t have waited to bond with her.
I try to reason with myself. I would never have saved those fifty women if I’d lifebonded with her. We would never have known about Red Dart in time to stop it. We would never have discovered the body armor. But damn it, had I lifebonded with her, she’d own my full protection. She wouldn’t be dying. And losing her is the one punishment this life has given me that I cannot endure.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Addie
I’m jolted out of the darkness by a deep, guttural roar. I gasp and suck in air, pushing to a sitting position as black and gray spots speckle my vision, my stomach churning in rejection of the movement. It’s Creed I hear, Creed roaring in despair, pain etched in the harsh lines along his face. For me. He’s crying out over me. I can feel his despair.
“Creed,” I whisper, reaching for my voice, and him, grabbing his arm. “Creed, I’m okay.”