“Unfortunately, we’ve had to use them.”
“The breach when Homeland first opened?”
He growled softly. “Yes. We’re always upgrading our security. That was a lesson.”
Kat let the subject drop. He showed her the reception area. It was a lounge setup with a hallway leading past closed office doors. None of them were marked. He opened a door to a room that held weight benches and free weights.
“May I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“It’s about your name.”
He laughed. “Say no more. I tease that anyone who causes me harm will have bad luck but the truth is…”
Seconds ticked by. “The truth is what?”
His expression grew serious. “I was heavily abused as an adolescent. I have damage to one ear after suffering a blow to the head. It can’t be fixed. It messes with my equilibrium. I didn’t want to call myself clumsy so Jinx sounded better.”
“I’m sorry.” She regretted bringing it up.
“It’s all right. I was one of the lucky ones. Damaged Species were usually killed but they spared me because of my intelligence and because I have a pleasant disposition. It wasn’t a happy place at Mercile but you lived longer if you played their games. I was good at pretending I didn’t hate everyone who worked there.”
He touched his left ear. “This was done by orderlies. I was being taken to one of the scientists for some sort of testing and came across other orderlies escorting a female. One of them had her cornered and was kicking her for some unknown reason. She might have resisted going with them or one of them could have touched her wrong. The others were laughing and helping him keep her trapped. I attacked to defend her. They all turned on me with their batons. We’re good fighters but ten on one wasn’t good odds. I wasn’t fully grown.”
Kat reached out and touched his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“You didn’t do it. I don’t blame all humans for the actions of Mercile or the other facilities. I was taken to a second location then later freed. The humans planned their assault badly. They should have struck all the Mercile facilities at once but instead they did it over a matter of days. It gave some of the staff time to transfer small groups of us out before all the locations were searched.”
“Your task force found you?”
“Yes. See? Some humans are our heroes.” He nodded, patted her hand and turned away, breaking their physical connection.
“May I ask you another question?”
“Sure.” He closed the door and led her down the hall to a room full of mats. It was obviously used for wrestling and sparring.
“How come most New Species are feline or canine? I hardly see any of the primates.”
“There used to be more ape primates but few made it out alive. They are pretty aggressive, with short tempers.” Jinx threw open a door. “Welcome to my favorite place.”
Kat peered in and grinned. “Wow!”
“Do you want to have some fun?”
She stepped into the room and stared up at the sixty-foot wall. The entire surface had been sectioned into three parts. The first was covered in rocks, the middle smooth with handholds and the third appeared to be a flat cliff face with small cracks running through it, as if nature had put it there.
“Our climbing room. We added this. The original ceiling wasn’t high enough. Would you like to try one? I’d suggest the handholds. That is the easiest.”
She stared at the ceiling. “I don’t see safety lines anywhere.”
“The mat is thickly padded. It won’t kill you if you fall.”
She turned to him. “You don’t use safety equipment?”
“What would be the fun in that?” He laughed. “Watch but don’t stand directly below me. I wouldn’t want to fall and land on you. That would hurt.”
He crossed the room and kicked off his shoes. In seconds he was climbing the rock section. He used his fingers and toes to hold his weight while he changed each handhold. He made it to the top in record time and turned his head to grin at her from above.
“It’s fun.”
“It looks dangerous,” she called.
“Not for us. Watch.”
He kicked off and Kat gasped when he flipped in the air, falling. He landed in a crouch and stood. “Easy.”
She was too stunned to speak. He approached with a grin.
“Felines are good at leaping and landing. The floor is very padded. I wouldn’t want to do that on solid ground. Our bone density is stronger than yours but they can be broken. Anything over thirty feet is iffy.”
“You look pretty agile to me.”
He laughed. “That’s easy. Don’t watch me run on a six-inch-wide balance beam. I can’t make it twenty feet without missing a step. I actually wanted to land a little closer to you.”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Try the handholds. I’ll catch you if you fall. You’d have to slip to do that. They are for…” He sobered. “Um, beginners. I have faith in you.”
It was her turn to laugh. “I’m glad someone does.”
“Have a little fun, Kat.”
She bent to remove her shoes. “Okay. I know you guys have an onsite medical center, right? I might need to use it. I’d hate to go home with crutches or an arm in a sling.” Or dead. That fall could kill a human, no matter how thick the mat was.
Jinx cleared his throat. “You might want to leave those on. Your toes are human.”
She straightened. “And?”
He bent a leg up to show off the bottom of his foot. “See the padding on my toes? You could compare them with calluses. I’d hate for you to hurt yours or get a blister. You’ll also have better traction with your shoes on so you don’t slip.” He dropped his leg.
“Okay.” She blew out a breath and approached the middle section. She’d done indoor climbing before but not without being in a harness, rigged to a rope in case of a fall. “I wish I had gloves.”
He took her hand and turned it, studying it closely. One of his fingertips brushed over the tip of her index finger. He frowned. “Perhaps you shouldn’t climb. We don’t have gloves. I didn’t think about that.”“I’m good.”
She grabbed one of the handholds. It was curved in a way her that fit her fingers comfortably and the rim seemed solid. The inside and top even had rubber to help a climber keep a firm grip. She caught one a little higher. There were no footholds until about five feet off the ground so she had to use her upper-body strength to hold her weight until she could climb high enough to brace her feet.
“You’ve done this before.”
“It’s been awhile.” She was a little out of breath but it was fun. “I forgot how much I like it.”
“Take your time.”
She twisted her head to stare down at him. She’d made it about ten feet off the ground. He stood under her. “Maybe you should back away in case I slip. I’d hate to land on you.”
“Just twist in the air so you fall sideways and I’ll catch you. Tense your body if it happens.”
“I think I’ll climb up and then down. I don’t have your grace. I’d just go splat!” She faced the wall and reached up for another handhold.
“What the hell?” The snarled words startled her.
Kat’s hand slipped but she managed to recover since she had solid footholds. She turned her head again and watched Darkness across the room. He looked furious as he glared up at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Climbing.”
“She’s doing good,” Jinx assessed.
“I told you to give her a tour, not allow her to use our equipment.”
“She has experience.”
“Kat?” Darkness bent and tore off his boots. “Don’t move.”
“I’m fine.”
He ignored her and pushed Jinx back. He bent at the knee and she gasped when he jumped. He landed on the wall beside her, grabbing onto handholds and finding footing. He maneuvered next to her and used his longer arms to stretch around her until he pressed against her back.
“Turn and wrap around me.”
She refused to let go. “I’ve got this.”
“Do it,” he snarled.
The look on his face wasn’t something she could ignore. He was enraged and his eyes were almost black. He bent a little and braced. “I can take your weight. Just release with one hand and twist your body. Wrap one arm around my neck and then the other. You won’t fall.”
“I wouldn’t have fallen anyway.”
“Kat,” he hissed, “do it or I’ll tear you off and just fall back so you land on top of me. You could get hurt that way.”
He braced his arms wider and gave her room to move. She followed directions and ended up clinging to him. He pressed her body against the wall and let go with one hand to hook an arm under her ass. He hefted her higher.
“Wrap your legs around my waist.”
She did, with his help. Her upper arms were braced against his shoulders. He climbed slowly down until his feet reached the floor. She eased her hold and slid down him until she stood in front of him.
“I was fine.”
He growled low but fixed his angry stare on Jinx. “We’ll discuss this later. Take her to Security to finish the tour. Don’t let her play with our weapons while you’re there, either, or put her in a uniform and take her to the wall to discover how rude the protestors are…for the fun of it.”