Dark Wrath (16 page)

By the time Erin
had managed to expel most of the water from her lungs and drag in a decent
breath of air, Jesse had shifted into the form of a wolf once more.  She
would’ve far preferred to walk at this point, but Guillume had suggested they
should hurry and she had a feeling that he was right.  The Feds were sure
to pull back to the island the moment they realized they were taking the worst
of the beating.

Without
complaint, she climbed onto Jesse’s back once more, clutched him tightly and
prayed it wouldn’t take them long to reach the shore.  Guillume had said
it was only about a mile from the fall.

The first fifteen
or twenty minutes was rough going as Jesse plowed through the undergrowth,
bounding over some of the brush, pressing through other areas.  In time
they landed upon a narrow trail and the going was easier.  As the trail
began to take a more northerly turn, though, Jesse left it, pressing through
the thick jungle growth again.

Erin was
exhausted just from the effort of holding on while Jesse ran.  By the time
they finally emerged from the jungle onto the beach she could barely cling to
him.  The tide was in and very little beach was visible.  Grateful
that that much of the ordeal was over, Erin slipped off of Jesse’s back and
sprawled in the loose sand.  She didn’t get the chance to actually rest,
however.  The other Lycans had already retrieved the dingy and pulled it
into the water.

Jesse shifted
from full wolf to manbeast, rising up on two legs.  “Get into the dingy,
chère
,
and lie on the floor.”

Erin
nodded.  Pushing herself to her feet with an effort, she followed Jesse
across the narrow stretch of sand, waded water until it was almost to her knees
and yelped when Jesse yanked her off her feet and deposited her in the
dingy.  Juan and the Lycans surrounded the boat and began moving
deeper.  “You’re not getting in?” Erin whispered uneasily when they made
no move to do so.

“It’s not
designed to hold so many.  Don’t talk.  Sound carries on the wind.”

Erin fell silent,
staring up at the stars and trying not to think about the possibility of
sharks.  Lulled by the rocking of the boat and the soft splash of water,
Erin found some of the fear that had gripped her since they’d fled the panther
compound dissipating.  As it did, a sense of excitement began to grow in
her.  Soon they would have Joshua.

She couldn’t
allow herself to think otherwise and could not bank her rising
excitement.  She knew he was alive.  She didn’t know what they’d done
to get the information out of Dr. Wagner, but she didn’t doubt for a moment
that it was true.

It flickered
through her mind to wonder what they’d done with the man, not that she
particularly cared what happened to him as long it was something bad.  He
might not have been able to stop the research.  He might not have been
able to prevent anything they had done to her and her baby, but the fact was he
hadn’t tried.  He had treated them all as if they were of no more
importance than lab rats.

When it seemed to
her that enough time had passed that they must be nearing the island and she’d
grown bored with imagining what it would be like to be reunited with her baby
at last, Erin turned over carefully and lifted her head just high enough to
peer over the edge of the boat.

She caught a
brief glimpse of a rock looming upward from the sea and then a hand landed on
the top of her head and shoved her flat again.  Fuming silently, she lay
still, but the resentment didn’t last more than a second.  Her heart was
pounding with joy and excitement.  Almost there!  Only a little while
longer and they would have Joshua!

The sound of
waves crashing against the shore finally overshadowed the noise of lapping
water around the boat.  Erin tensed, listening as it occurred to her
belatedly to worry that they might be spotted.

That was why
Jesse had made her lie down in the boat and why the others had swum the
distance, buoyed by the boat they guided through the water, because Jesse knew
there was still danger that they might be spotted and come under fire. 
She felt like an idiot.  She knew nothing about war tactics, or soldiers,
or security.  From the sound of the battle at the compound she’d assumed
they’d thrown everything they had at them, but they wouldn’t have done
that.  They might have taken most of the men and left only a small group
to guard the island, but they would have left armed men to guard the facility.

Her joyous
excitement deflated like a popped balloon as visions of Jesse running through
the halls dodging bullets with baby Joshua in his arms rose to her mind’s eye.

He could be
killed.  They both could.

Would Joshua be
better off if she left him alone and didn’t thrust him into danger by trying to
free him?

She was still
weighing years of torturous tests and the lack of any affection or attention
that would be her baby’s life against the possibility of harm coming to him,
when a dark shadow fell over her.  Her heart felt as if a giant hand
squeezed it.  When she whipped around to see what had caused the deep
shadow, though, she was relieved to discover it was no more than an outcropping
of rock.

With the wet
squeak of something rubbing against rubber, the dingy slipped under it into an
inky blackness.  Sound echoed around them, intensified by the water and
with nowhere to escape.

They were in a
cave.

And the entrance
to the cave was virtually completely submerged.

The scrape of
something against rock caught her attention.  She rose up and turned
toward the sound just as light seemed to explode around them.  As the
glare died, she saw that Juan had climbed from the water onto a ledge and lit a
small lantern. Setting it aside, he picked up a second lantern, lit it and set
it on an outcropping of rock at about shoulder level.  The dingy bumped
against the edge of the ledge.  One by one the Lycans released their hold
on the rope around it and heaved themselves up onto the ledge.

Tavian leaned
toward her, holding out his hand while Jesse remained in the water, holding the
dingy steady.  She reached up, clasped his hand and was yanked from the
dingy so hard she thought for a moment he’d dislocated her shoulder.

That was what
came from having most of her weight on the ass end, she thought irritably,
rubbing her shoulder absently while she waited for Jesse to emerge from the
water.  Sloughing the water off, he made hand gestures at the other
Lycans.

Erin gaped at
him, completely at sea.

He fixed her with
a stern look and pointed to the ledge.  She looked at the ledge and then
back at him.  “Stay,” he mouthed.

She narrowed her
eyes at him, setting her jaw stubbornly.  “NO!” she mouthed back at him.

She heard his
teeth grinding and saw a muscle working in his jaw.  He glanced around as
if looking for help.  The others had already followed his silent command,
however, and disappeared.  Catching her shoulders, he lowered his head
until his mouth was by her ear.  “Not one shriek or gasp.  No
blubbering.  Not one sound,” he muttered in a low growl.

Erin gave him an
indignant look when he pulled away.  “I’m not stupid!” she mouthed.

He pretended he
didn’t see that.

“Asshole!” she
mouthed at his back as he turned away to follow the others.

Naturally, he
missed that, too, but she knew better than to cross him.  He’d stick her
back in the dingy and shove it off--or something equally macho.

Trailing the
pack, she moved as quickly and quietly as she could manage given that she
couldn’t see nearly as well in the dark as they could.  Her calves began
to protest almost at once as they followed a tunnel that curved sharply upward.

The tunnel was
narrow.  Jesse’s broad shoulders blocked most of her view, and most of the
light from the lantern Juan was carrying, but she could hear, faintly, the
movements of the others in front of them, the brush of their arm or leg along
the rocky surface of the corridor, the light scrape of a foot not lifted quite
clear of the floor.

She didn’t want
to think about how much noise she was making.  She was winded before they
had climbed far at all, and wondered if her panting breaths sounded as loud to
them as it did to her.

When Jesse
glanced back at her, she closed her mouth, certain she must be making as much
noise as she’d feared, struggling to get enough air without using her mouth.

The third time he
looked back at her, she flicked a hand at him as if shooing a fly.

“Rest?” he
mouthed at her.

She shook her
head firmly.  She did need to rest.  She already had a stitch in her
side and she’d reached the point where she
had
to pant just to get
enough air in her lungs, but she wasn’t going to let him accuse her of holding
them up later if things went badly.

Thankfully, the
tunnel they were following began to taper off after a while.  It still
sloped upward noticeably, but the angle was easier to handle.  About
fifteen minutes later, they reached a fork.  As Erin followed them to the
left, she peered down the corridor they’d abandoned.  A few yards beyond
the fork, rubble littered the corridor from floor to ceiling.

This must be the
part the Feds had blocked off, she decided.

Did that mean
they were close, she wondered?

A
pparently
they were.  Less than ten minutes later they halted.  Erin craned to
see around Jesse, who was still blocking her view.  To her dismay, she saw
a huge boulder blocking the end of the tunnel.  The light, she discovered,
was no longer coming from the lantern Juan had used to guide them.  At
some point, he’d extinguished it.  Through a narrow crevice along the top
of the boulder, artificial light flooded the passage they were in.

So close! Erin
thought mournfully, wondering why they hadn’t turned around already.  She
realized then that both Juan and the Lycans had tensed, their heads cocked as
if listening intently.  Unconsciously, she strained to hear, too.

She didn’t hear
anything.

Apparently,
neither did they, for after a moment, Tavian moved up beside Juan and the two
of them began to shove at the boulder.  It could not be moved quietly, but
she saw that they were able to move it with amazing ease--which explained
everything.  They’d paused to make certain no humans were close enough to
hear, and the humans weren’t guarding it because it hadn’t occurred to them
that the boulder didn’t present a problem to the werefolk.

They emerged into
a cavern that had been converted into a huge storage area.  To Erin’s
surprise, instead of crossing it immediately toward the elevator shaft on the
other side, the men spread out, examining the cases quickly.

Juan, who’d
apparently been more than once before, went directly to a large crate, pried
the lid off and began pulling AK47’s from it.  Seeing him, the others
hurried over to help themselves to weapons, as well … except for Jesse, who
continued to search the crates and boxes.

She didn’t know
what he was looking for, but he was making her nervous as hell.

She wondered if
she should arm herself?

Apparently
not.  When she held her hand out for a gun, Juan merely gave her a
look.  It irritated her, but since she really didn’t have a clue of how to
use it she decided to let the insult slide.

By the time the
men had loaded the weapons, Jesse was back and loaded down with all sorts of
things.  He tossed coils of rope to several of his men and then some
wicked looking knives.

She hoped that
was just to cut the rope.

The vinyl bag
he’d slung on one shoulder clanked quietly as if it contained metallic objects
of some kind.  More ammunition, she wondered?  The men were armed to
the teeth now.

When he turned to
look at her, Erin knew he was about to argue with her about going any
further.  She was tempted to let him bully her into staying where it was
safe, but she wasn’t going to cower in safety while Jesse and the others took
all of the risks to save her baby.  Glancing away from him before he could
start mouthing orders at her, she headed for the elevator shaft.

Jesse caught her
hand as she was reaching up to punch the button.  She glanced up at him in
surprise.  He was glaring at her.  Shaking his head, he pointed
toward the stairs.

Feeling a little sheepish,
Erin allowed him to drag her toward the stairs.  It wasn’t until they
reached the first landing that it dawned on her that the elevators had security
cameras in them.

She was really,
really bad at this.

Again the Lycans
paused to listen.  Instinctively, Erin copied them, though she knew by now
that she might as well be deaf compared to the Lycan.  Gesturing to her to
wait, Jesse moved to the front and eased the door open a fraction of an inch,
peering into the corridor.  He hesitated, as if waiting for
something.  After a moment, he snatched the door wide enough to push
through and disappeared.

Tavian grabbed
her before she could move.

A minute passed
and then several more.  Erin was sorry she wasn’t wearing a watch, though
she wasn’t certain of how much better it would’ve made her feel to know how
much time had elapsed.  Finally, when she’d reached the point of
considering trying to wrest free of Tavian and taking off, Jesse pushed the
door open again and motioned for them to follow him.

Erin glanced up
and down the corridor, wondering what Jesse had been up to.

She saw a camera
lying on the floor at one end, the wire severed.

As they raced
down the corridor, they passed what looked like an electronic junction
box.  The panel had been ripped off of it and the wires inside were now a
ragged tangle.

He’d been
disabling the video feed?  Wouldn’t that alert the guards just as quickly,
she thought?

Maybe not. 
Although she tensed with the expectation that any moment an alarm would begin
to blast, none did.

There was nothing
but labs on the lower level they discovered when they’d checked every room
along the corridor.  Backtracking, Jesse punched the elevator button and
pushed her behind him while they waited for it to arrive.

Thankfully, there
was only one occupant when the doors opened.  The man, who was wearing a
lab coat, only managed to gape at them soundlessly before one of the Lycans
slammed him into the rear wall, knocking him unconscious.  When they’d
piled onto the elevator, Jesse looked the panel over and punched every
button.  When the elevator halted on the next level, he motioned for two
men to get off.  Nodding, they stepped from the cubicle and the doors
closed behind them.  When they reached the next level and the doors opened,
two lab techs were waiting.  Two of the Lycans reached out, grabbed them
and yanked them inside.  Erin closed her eyes, swallowing against the bile
that rose in her throat when she heard the sickening crunch of bone.  They
flew wide again as Jesse grabbed her and hauled her into the corridor.

She looked up at
him questioningly as he motioned to the others.  Two more Lycans stepped
out just as the doors began to close.  The others remained where they were
and went up to the next level.

Lifting his head,
Jesse sniffed the air and then pointed down the corridor.

Frowning, Erin
raced to keep up with him.  Without any hesitation, he led her directly to
the nursery.  Erin’s heart slammed against her ribcage when she saw the
wide observation window.

Pushing her back
against the opposite side of the corridor, Jesse tried the door knob. 
Finding it locked without much apparent surprise, he slammed his shoulder into
it.  The door burst inward, striking the wall so hard it bounced
back.  The man directly behind Jesse caught it, ripping the upper hinge
loose.

Through the
glass, Erin saw the two techs inside freeze, gaping at the door in wide eyed
horror, too petrified with fear even to scream.  Before they could recover
enough wit to do so, Jesse and the other two Lycans had bounded across the
room.  Erin looked away, but she pushed herself from the wall and rushed
inside.  The two techs lay crumpled in one corner.

Joshua, screaming
like a banshee, was lying in a crib in the center of the room.

Pain clenched at
Erin’s chest as she stared at him.

He was so thin he
looked almost malformed, his little body shrunken so that his head looked too
big for him.  Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him, unable to force
herself to move.

Abruptly, rage
ousted her devastation.  Rushing toward the crib, Erin began frantically
dismantling the monitors that had been strapped to him, removing the IV from
his tiny foot carefully.

Fucking low life
bastards! She raged inwardly.  What the hell had they been doing to
him?  He looked as if he was on the verge of starving to death. 
Mopping the tears from her eyes and cheeks with her hands once she’d
disentangled him from the medical apparatus, Erin quickly bundled him in the
blanket he was lying on and scooped him from the crib, holding him close.

Almost instantly,
as if he knew her though she knew he couldn’t possibly remember her after so
long, he began to quiet, snuffling as he nuzzled his face against her
chest.  It took her several moments to realize he was searching for the
milk he smelled.

She looked up to
discover that Jesse was watching her.  Her chin wobbled so hard she could
barely speak.  “He’s hungry.”

His lips
tightened.  “Wait here and feed him,” he said harshly, motioning for the
men to precede him from the room.

She wanted to,
and yet she was fearful they would be caught if she lingered to feed the baby.

Jesse wouldn’t
have suggested it, though, if he’d thought they would be in danger.

Moving away from
the bodies of the techs, Erin quickly unfastened her shirt and pushed the cup
of her bra down, guiding the baby to her breast.

He snorted as he
finally found what he’d been looking for, grabbing it and tugging on it for all
he was worth.  Such happiness filled Erin she thought for several moments
that she wouldn’t be able to contain it.  The urge to laugh was nearly
overwhelming.  She muffled the sound, which erupted as a little snort that
was almost her undoing.

Cuddling the baby
close, she covered her mouth with one hand.

Hysteria.

He was so
adorable, though.

Ignoring the
sounds of mass destruction--of muffled cries and screams and crashing--Erin
carefully examined the baby while he ate, lifting his foot where the needle had
been to kiss it.  When she lifted her head again, she saw that Joshua had
opened his eyes to look at her questioningly--as if he was wondering what the
hell she was doing hanging over him while he was trying to eat.

She bit her lip
to keep from chuckling.

He looked just
like Jesse when he glared at her.

As if the thought
had summoned him, Jesse appeared in the doorway at that moment.  “Time to
go,” he said shortly.

Nodding, Erin
tugged her nipple from the baby’s mouth.  The moment she did, he set up a
wail of displeasure.  She looked at Jesse a little helplessly.

“He’s as hard
headed as his mother, I see,” he murmured wryly.  “He’ll have to eat on
the run, though.  We’ve got trouble heading our way.”

A shockwave of
fear rolled over Erin.  Lifting her head, she heard the distant sound of
gunfire and realized she’d been hearing sporadic fire for several
minutes.  Tightening her hold on the baby, she rushed from the room and
down the corridor.  Joshua lost his grip and began to complain again, but
Erin doubted his weak cries were loud enough to filter very far.

Jesse grabbed her
when she headed toward the elevator, guiding her toward the stairwell
instead.  When he’d opened the door and examined the area from top to
bottom, he swept Erin and Joshua into his arms and started pounding down the
stairs.  Alarmed at the rate of descent, Erin clutched at Jesse with her
free hand.  “I can run,” she finally managed to say.

“I can run
faster,” Jesse retorted.

“You can’t shoot
and run with us in your arms,” Erin shot back at him.

He ignored
that.  Someone burst through the door on the next level down as they
neared it.  Before the guard could bring his weapon up, Jesse slammed into
the door with his shoulder.  The man flew backward, uttering a horrible
gagging noise as he was crushed between the metal door and its frame.

Erin shrieked as
Jesse leapt over the railing.  The impact when they landed on the landing
below gave her whiplash.  A headache blossomed behind her eyes almost
instantly.  Worriedly, she glanced down at the baby, but he seemed to have
been cushioned from the controlled fall.  His eyes were wide and curious
when she leaned back to look at him.  Relieved, she cuddled him against
her chest again, cupping the back of his head to protect him from jarring
injury as Jessie leapt over the next railing, sailing downward to the level
below.

When they landed
jarringly, Jesse’s hand was cupped firmly against her head that time,
protecting her as she protected the baby.

The storage
level, Erin was relieved to see, was still empty of threat.

Setting Erin on
her feet, Jesse dropped the vinyl bag he’d been carrying, jerked the zipper
open and rifled through the contents until he’d unearthed a flashlight. 
The bag contained electronics of some sort, Erin saw, but she was still more in
the dark than enlightened.

Looking up at
her, Jesse lifted the flashlight.  “Go down to the cavern and wait for me
there.”

“You’re not
coming?” Erin gasped, fear surging through her all over again.

“I need five
minutes… ten at the most with one of their terminals to plant a virus to
destroy the data they’ve collected.  Just be careful.  I don’t think
they’ve had time to send anyone to the cavern, but we can’t be sure of
anything.  Move quietly, quickly, and carefully.  If you hear
anything, anything at all, turn around and head back this way.  We’ll be
right behind you.”

Erin nodded
shakily.  She wanted to argue with him, but she knew it was worse than
useless.  He wouldn’t listen and all she would be doing would be adding to
the danger by delaying him.

He grabbed her
shoulders before she could leave, jerking her to him and hugging her and the
baby briefly.  Erin stumbled back when he released her almost as abruptly,
staring up at him.  “Jesse, I….” She stopped, licking her lips nervously,
but she couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to.  “We need
you.  Don’t take any unnecessary chances.”

Nodding, Jesse
hefted the bag and headed back toward the stairs.

Erin watched him
until he’d disappeared, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time she ever saw
him.  Resolutely, she turned when he’d vanished from her sight and rushed
across the wide cavern toward the opening.  She paused when she reached
it, holding her breath to listen.  When she heard nothing, she flicked the
flashlight on and began the long trek down, pausing every few minutes to
listen.

Dismay filled
Erin when she reached the cavern at last.  The water had risen until it
was lapping over the ledge where they’d come ashore and the dingy was nowhere
in sight.