Therian Prisoner(19)
“It didn’t take me long to get used to the pain.” Her whispered words tightened like a fist around Ian’s heart. Anyone who could intentionally hurt an innocent didn’t deserve to live. “Even the humiliation didn’t bother me after a while.” There were a million things he wanted to ask and nearly as many he felt compelled to say, but she obviously needed to talk, so he just worked on her hair and listened. “It was the isolation that wore me down. They wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t answer my questions, and hour after hour, day after day, I was left alone in that blank room.”
To his astonishment, she placed her hands on his legs and scooted back into the V between his thighs. Desire rushed through his system and his hand shook, barely able to hold on to the comb. His body chose now to react to her nearness? What was wrong with him? She wanted warmth and comfort. This wasn’t personal and it sure as hell wasn’t a come-on. He took a deep breath and resumed his slow, long strokes with the comb, trying to touch nothing but her hair.
“At first they just ran tests and took samples, but they didn’t seem satisfied with the results.” She turned her head and grabbed his hand, momentarily halting the comb. “Is Carly still alive? I don’t know what she told you, but that bitch was right in the middle of everything they did.”
“Her involvement in the program gave her access to important information. She will be held accountable for her actions, but if it wasn’t for her, we never would have found you.”
“I don’t care.” She released his hand and turned her head back around. “Carly was no casual flunky. She was one of the leaders. I want her punished.”
“The final decision is up to Kyle. The crimes took place in his jurisdiction.”
“Well, I’ll have a thing or two to say to my useless brother before he passes judgment on that…creature.”
Useless brother? Devon and Kyle had always been close. Apparently she hadn’t forgiven him for the Lokesh debacle.
Ian didn’t want to distract her with a tangent, so he asked, “Do you remember what I told you about the raid? The other captives were rescued. Everyone is safe now.” Her hair was smooth and shiny but he continued to comb it, needing something to do with his hands.
She shook her head and her voice grew stronger. “There are other facilities. The one the Italian took me too looked like it had been deserted, but I know there are others.”
“How were you able to learn these things if you were kept in isolation?” He hadn’t meant it as a challenge, but he felt her tense. “I’m not questioning the information. I’m just curious how you gathered it.”
“Most of the guards wouldn’t talk to me, but there was one who felt sorry for me. He’d sneak in books and tell me what was going on around me. That’s how I learned about the other captives and the backers.”
“Carly hasn’t told us much about the backers. She swears she knows little more than their names.”
“She knows more than I do. Roberto is the one who moved me, but I never saw the other two.”
When she didn’t elaborate, he nudged the conversation in a different direction. “We rescued nine captives, all female. How many were you aware of?”
She nodded and began to fiddle with the edge of the quilt. “At one point there were twelve females and one male. The male was a tiger-shifter, but I don’t think he was part of Jake’s clan. The guard told me he barely spoke English.”
“Go on.” He hadn’t meant to pressure her, but the more she talked the calmer she became. Besides, her wounds wouldn’t start healing until she purged herself of the pain.
“They had drugs that forced the other captives to shift, then they’d run all sorts of tests while they were in animal form. That’s how Carly learned I wasn’t defined. She thought I was strong enough to resist the catalyst at first. When she realized my ‘potential was untapped’ I became her obsession. All the drugs did was make me violently ill. At least in the beginning.”
“Did you ever see Osric at the lab?”
“I never saw him, but I heard his name often enough to figure out he was working with them.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Was he captured during the raid?”
“He wasn’t there that night, but I saw him during recon. Needless to say, we’re still searching for him.”
“It’s hard to imagine what humans could have offered him that would have made it worth betraying his own kind.” She took the comb from him and wiggled away.
Her talkative mood was obviously fading and he still had so many questions. “What did Carly do once she realized you weren’t able to shift?” When she hesitated, he felt compelled to add, “If you’ve had enough for tonight, I understand.”