Once Bitten, Twice Burned(13)

All part of the deal.

The guy had even sent in a small bed, when Ryder had been sleeping on his floor during all the other long days and nights of his captivity. The bed was supposed to make the fucking easier.

And though Ryder wanted her—hell, yes—he wasn’t about to fuck on command.

Not for Wyatt. Not for anyone.

His mouth pulled away from hers. “What did Wyatt tell you?”

“That—that there were more experiments to come.”

Yes, there were. The experiments wouldn’t stop, unless they stopped them. “You have to call up the fire.”

“Ryder!” Wyatt’s snarl blasted through the speaker.

Screw him. “Call up the fire, and none of the guards will be able to hurt you.”

She shook her head. “They’ll drug me. They keep injecting me.”

“Burn hot enough, and the drug won’t be able to get to you.” If she had a wall of flames in front of her, if she burned with all of her power, then she’d be safe.

Her gaze was so confused and scared. She didn’t understand. Dammit. The guards would be coming soon. So he grabbed her. She yelped and punched at him, but, in an instant, Ryder had trapped her against the far wall and, just like before, he used his body to block Wyatt’s view of her.

“One of your parents had to be a phoenix, too.” Because what she was—it was in the blood. “They must have told you—”

Her eyes were stark, whispering with pain. “My real parents abandoned me when I was two years old.”

That sure explained how she hadn’t known that she was a supernatural. She’d been totally clueless, completely unprepared for Wyatt’s torture. Unprepared for me.

“I don’t want to be a monster.” Her words were hushed.

He stiffened, knowing that his next words would be brutal, but she had to face facts. “Too bad, because you are.” They didn’t have time for a pity party. He had to get her to embrace the beast within her. They needed that beast for their survival. She couldn’t pretend to be human—being human wouldn’t save their asses. Being an unstoppable machine of fire and fury? Oh yes, that would buy them a ticket to freedom. “You need to learn how to call up that beast that lives inside of you. Because Wyatt has big plans for you. Plans that involve you dying and screaming and him using you to create a whole new army.”

She shook her head. “You want to hurt me, too.” Her lips were red from his kiss. “You want—”

“He’s going to give you to another vampire.”

The color bled from her face.

“Your blood . . . there’s something about it.” When I taste it, I just want more. Because it tasted like pure, hot power flowing on his tongue. The best wine, the wildest drug, all rolled into one.

He held her shoulders against the wall. Ryder had to make her understand what was happening—and why she needed to pull up the phoenix inside. “He’s going to make sure you die again.”

She blanched. “No, I don’t want to! Help me.”

He wanted to. Ryder was tearing apart inside. “I will. You trust me, and I’ll help you.” He hadn’t helped anyone else in a century, but he’d just given his word to her. A second chance. “We have to get out of the facility.”

The only way out was through Wyatt.

The guards were just steps away from the cell. He could hear their shuffling footsteps.

“You’re breaking our deal,” Wyatt told him through the speaker, sounding not-too-shocked.

Ryder tossed a vicious grin over his shoulder, a grin aimed at the two-way mirror. “What are you gonna do? Kill me?”

The door opened. Ryder’s gaze jerked to the left. The armed guards stood in the entranceway. They weren’t wearing their fireproof suits, but they were all heavily armed.

“Maybe we’ll let you watch as we kill her,” Wyatt said. Of course, he wasn’t with the guards. The guy was far too much of a coward to come and face him when Ryder was strong.

The guards lifted their weapons. Aimed them at Ryder’s body. He was shielding Sabine, blocking her so that the guards couldn’t even see her body.

“New deal,” Wyatt thundered out.

He wanted that man’s head.

“Drink her blood, Ryder, or I’ll find a vamp that will.” The weapons stayed pointed at him.

“This hardly sets the mood,” Ryder drawled lightly even as his fingers tightened on Sabine. No other vampire could drink from her. “An audience isn’t really my thing.”

The weapons weren’t lowering.

“No! You can’t do this!” Sabine pushed against Ryder. “We have rights! You can’t just lock us up like this!”