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  She caught his hands in hers and squeezed. “What do I do if something happens to you?”

  “You go with your friend and get far, far away. As fast as you can. Now, go. He’s coming.” He gave her a not-so-gentle push and swallowing a few choice words, she marched off into the woods. No man pushed her around! No man. Bad guys or not, she’d make sure he understood that.

  And there was no way in hell she’d abandon him if things went bad.

  Hadn’t he figured that out already?

  * * * *

  It couldn’t have been an accident that Raul Zant was the one to have found him. Tarik knew better than that. No, Torborg had planned this. Which meant Raul was probably being used as a pawn, lied to and manipulated, much like Tarik had been all these years.

  He hoped he’d be able to convince his old friend of the truth. He had to try, if they’d have any hope of escaping. He wanted a chance to do some research, see exactly what Torborg had been up to, what kinds of experimentation Omega was conducting. He hadn’t had time to do anything yet. The motel in Bear Creek didn’t have the internet. How could he possibly blackmail his way to freedom without information?

  Raul slowed as he reached the outer fringes of the woods. He peered between the trees, pushed aside some branches and stepped into the cool shadows. Being careful to stay hidden from the van and whoever else might be in it, Tarik approached his friend.

  “Tarik,” Raul said on a sigh. He looked and sounded relieved. “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I found you. I’m glad to see you’re okay still.”

  “Still?” Tarik asked, not ready to say much yet. Raul had been a true friend for several years now, but it was hard knowing what he knew, what he thought he knew, and what he intended to do about both.

  If there was one thing Tarik was sure of, it was that Raul was one very strong and very determined individual. If he was on your team, you had a guy who would move Mt. Everest to make things happen. If he was on the other guy’s team, well, then you’d be damn lucky to finish the game at all, let alone win.

  Whose team was Raul on?

  “Yeah,” Raul said, giving Tarik a thorough once-over. “Torborg told me you’ve been exposed to some kind of contaminant that’s making you sick. If what he said is true, you need medical care. Now. Not two days from now. Or even two hours. He even sent the helo.”

  “Is that right? What kind of contaminant did he say I’ve been exposed to?” Tarik asked.

  “He didn’t go into any details but with the kind of stuff you guys work with in the labs, it’s not hard to figure it’s possible.”

  “That’s interesting.” He eyed his friend. “Now that you see me, do you believe him?”

  “Honestly? I don’t know what to believe. You yourself said you looked at him as a mentor, a friend. The man claims you’re like the son he never had. And you have to admit he’s always treated you like you’re special. So why would he lie? Why would he go to all this trouble and expense if it wasn’t true?”

  “Yes, why do you suppose he’d do that?” Tarik asked.

  Raul didn’t speak for a long time. Looking like he was contemplating the future of all mankind, he regarded Tarik with narrowed eyes. “Do you know for a fact you haven’t been exposed to anything dangerous?”

  “Yes. I’m positive.”

  “Because if you are sick and I don’t haul your ass into the hospital, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

  “Believe me, I’m not dying from some kind of poisoning or exposure to a virus.”

  Raul crossed his arms over his chest. “Then tell me what this is all about, Tarik.”

  “I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know more. I need to get to a computer. I need a few hours at least. Will you help me?”

  He heard the hum of an engine. It had to either be the van Raul had been driving or Abby’s friend. He glanced in the direction of the sound but his view of the parking lot was cut off by the scrub at the front of the forest.

  Raul glanced in the same direction.

  “Who’s with you?” Tarik asked.

  “No one. At least not in the van. I left Torborg and Verga off at the front door to check in.”

  Tarik glanced back toward Abby’s hiding spot. Had she walked around them? If she had, she’d been quieter than he’d given her credit for. “Then that must be my ride. I have my friend’s cell. I’ll give you the number. Abby’s friend probably has a pen in her car. We can keep in touch. I won’t call you. You call me. Okay?”

  Raul slanted a glance at the motel. “Wellllll…”

  “Torborg’s feeding you lies. I’m not sure exactly what he’s up to, but I know this must be important or he wouldn’t be going to such trouble and expense to find me. I will face him. Soon. But not yet. Not until I get some answers.”

  Raul sighed. “Okay. But don’t wait too long. If there’s any chance he’s telling the truth, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Tarik nodded and pushed through the bushes, heading toward the parking lot. “What’re you going to tell him if he asks what kept you so long?” he asked.

  Following, Raul answered, “I don’t know. I guess I’ll say I saw something in the woods.”

  Tarik fought his way through the thick brush but halted midway between two lines of thorny bushes. “Fuck.”

  Standing about twenty feet away, facing Tarik, was Torborg. And worse, the man was holding Abby, hostage-style, her back snug against his front, his arm across her chest, and a pistol in his hand. The barrel was pressed to her temple and Torborg’s finger was positioned on the trigger.

  The blood pumping through Tarik’s veins turned to acid. “Let. Her. Go.” Even to his own ears, his voice had taken the pitch of a growl. He glared at Torborg while considering his options. He sensed an uncertain desperation about the man, like he felt as trapped as a rat in a jar.

  Tarik knew the feeling all too well.

  Torborg tipped his head, lifting his chin in a show of defiance. “I can’t let her go. You have to come with me. Now. Why would I let her go when I know she’s my ticket? To you. She’s your mate. You’d die for her.”

  “You’ll die if you hurt her.”

  “It’s your choice.” The hand holding the gun trembled slightly and Torborg’s face slowly took on a pale, ashy cast.

  This only made Tarik more desperate to get Abby away from the man. What if Torborg jerked his hand and accidentally discharged the weapon? He was obviously barely holding it together. The scent of his fear was thick in the air, pungent and acrid like burnt plastic.

  What the fuck was going on? Why was Torborg doing this? Holding innocent women hostage? Clearly, he didn’t feel good about what he was doing. There had to be more to this situation than he’d had shared with anyone.

  The beast inside woke.

  Between Tarik’s worry for Abby’s safety and the smell of Torborg’s fear, Tarik had to struggle to keep from shifting. His muscles burned. His skin tingled. He tried to ignore the scent carried to his nose on a chilly gust, but it stirred his instincts and made his nerves fire up like mini-explosions.

  He felt himself losing control. He staggered backward, bumping into something behind him. A set of hands closed around his upper arms and he jerked, yanking himself free before turning to give the offender a warning snarl.

  Raul. He stared at Tarik gape-mouthed as a goldfish cradled in a cat’s tongue.

  Tarik didn’t have to look down to know he was about to lose the battle with his body. The thick brown hair had begun sprouting from his pores and his bones ached as they began to stretch and reshape. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hold back.

  “Tarik.” Abby’s whisper reached his ears just before he closed his eyes against the mounting agony.

  Temporarily crippled while his body changed, he endured minutes of torture, coupled with the terrifying thought that something was happening around him that he couldn’t stop. He heard shouting, men and women. A hollow pop that could’ve been a gunshot. A scream
that chilled his burning blood.

  By the time he opened his eyes, he figured a whole lot of something had happened.

  What he saw knocked him breathless.

  In full bear form, he staggered backward and fell on his rump. It took a while to comprehend the sight before him—Torborg and Raul stood bent over a fallen Abby. She was positioned between sitting and lying down, holding her shoulder. Her face was the hue of a clouded fall sky. A pasty grayish-white.

  Tarik lifted his nose, catching the scent of fresh blood. He saw the red patch staining her sleeve and slicking her fingers. A bizarre hunger gripped him, threatening to overtake him and lock away what little remained of his humanity. Saliva flooded his mouth. He stood on all fours.

  The two men lifted their heads simultaneously, looking like twin puppets being controlled by one player. Or little dolls. Delicate and weak. When he took a step forward, toward Abby, they both stood and shuffled backward.

  A chase! What fun!

  Now able to push aside his hunger for blood, he took a second and third step toward the men. In response, they turned tail and scampered, like a couple of kicked-up rabbits. The thrill of the chase pushed him forward into a full run. He caught Torborg first, knocked him to the ground with a swipe of a paw.

  The smell of his prey’s terror spiked Tarik’s hunger. He roared and lunged at the man, now rolling on the ground, trying to get back on his feet.

  No sooner had he stood than Tarik hit him again, this time harder. Torborg sailed several feet through the air before landing heavily on the gravel. Tarik stood over him, lowered his head to draw in a nice long breath. The smell was intoxicating.

  “Tarik!” someone yelled.

  He ignored the voice, content to breathe in the delicious scent of his quarry. Barely capable of thought, he stared down at the man’s face.

  He knew that man. He recognized him, yet didn’t know him either. Like fading dreams at daybreak, his memories of life as a human were dimming. Like he had woken and the images he’d seen as he slept were drifting away…

  Farther...

  Gone…

  All he saw now was a meal laid out at his feet, not a man. Not a person. Starving, he lowered his head to take a bite. His teeth broke the skin and his mouth filled with the sweet flavor of blood. His hunger increased a hundredfold and he bit again.

  “Tarik!”

  He lifted his head and turned toward the sound. He knew that voice from somewhere. But where?

  That face. That scent. A woman…a woman he knew. She was staggering toward him, one hand stretched out in front of her, the other clasping her dampened clothing.

  Blood. He could smell it. Sweet, sweet blood.

  He licked his mouth, and forgetting the man at his feet, walked toward her. His instincts told him she was easy prey. There’d be no chase. Just the satisfaction of an effortless meal. But something held him from charging her. Something he didn’t understand.

  “Abby!” someone shouted.

  His head hurt. Strange sensations buzzed through his body. He felt something. A heaviness inside. And a lightness.

  “Tarik, it’s me. It’s Abby. I’m hurt but I’ll be okay. Stop this. Please. Come back. Fight.”

  Fight?

  Come back?

  The words barely made sense to him at first. Then the sensations increased, the pain in his gut, the chill that had nothing to do with the temperature in the air. Slowly his head cleared. It was like flying an airplane through a cloud. Suddenly, he could see again. He understood what was happening. The light filled him.

  Abby.

  She was shaking, wide-eyed and terrified. Pale. Weak. She needed him to protect her.

  Torborg.

  He turned and was sickened by the sight of his former boss and mentor lying on the ground, his abdomen torn open. A crimson puddle stained the gravel of the parking lot.

  Had he...? Done that? Killed Torborg?

  The truth slammed him like a brick. He’d killed a man. And not just any man. A man he’d admired for years. The one man who had the answers he needed to hear.

  Torborg lay dead, silenced forever.

  Raul stood dazed, not far from Torborg, a gun raised and aimed at Tarik’s chest.

  “Don’t move,” Raul said in a low voice. His eyes were wide and full of fear.

  Tarik briefly considered moving toward his friend, knowing he’d shoot out of fear.

  Better to be dead than to kill again. This time the beast had taken over, totally wiping out his ability to think, feel, comprehend the consequences of his actions.

  It would happen again. And next time...who would he kill...?

  An innocent child?

  Or a defenseless woman?

  Abby?

  The beast within him whispered, easy prey.

  “Tarik, it’s okay.”

  He felt Abby’s light touch on his back through the thick coat of fur.

  Abby.

  He raised his head and looked at Raul again. Shoot me. End this now. Before I do something else. Something worse. Something to Abby. He took a step toward Raul and he stiffened.

  “No!” Abby screamed. “Don’t shoot him. Don’t. Oh God, no!”

  Raul’s gaze shot to a point behind Tarik. It didn’t stay there long. Tarik drew in another breath and took another step toward his friend.

  Shoot me. I can’t stop this. I can’t control it. I’m dangerous to everyone.

  Raul flinched again, but he didn’t shoot.

  “Noooo!” Abby scrambled around him, stopping in the line of fire. She turned a tear-streaked face to Tarik and gently stroked his chest. “I won’t let you do this, Tarik. There must be another way. There has to be. If anyone can find it, you can. Please, please don’t give up.” She shouted over her shoulder, “See what that man did to him? See now? Who’s the beast? The one who was forced to suffer or the one who created the suffering?”

  Raul lowered the gun and Tarik knew he’d lost his chance at freedom.

  He felt the first twinges as his body started to change back. Within a few heavy heartbeats, he was once again swept up in agony. Muscles and skin stretched and burned. Bones cracked and popped. It felt like it took forever for the change to end. He was left limp, trembling and nude. The gravel bit at his exposed skin.

  Abby knelt beside him and, wrapping her arms around his weak form, fell into heartrending sobs.

  Looking over her shoulder at his friend, he held Abby until she had stopped crying. Her hot tears chilled as they dripped down his arm.

  Raul put a shaking hand over his mouth.

  “This is what Torborg created,” Tarik said. “This is what he’s trying to hide. I didn’t know until a few days ago. I had no idea. And I have no idea if I can stop it.”

  Another woman ran from a nearby car, Abby’s friend, no doubt. She shouted, “Time to go!” The two struggled. Abby’s friend yelled again. Abby yelled back.

  He gently pushed Abby toward her friend. “Go.”

  She visibly swallowed several times. Her eyes were watery and bloodshot, the hue of the stain on her sleeve. “No. You need help. Where will you go?”

  “You’re shot. You need to get to the hospital,” her friend said with a shaky voice. “We can find him later. Right?” Abby’s friend lifted begging eyes to him. “Right?”

  “Yes. I have my cell…” He looked around, spotting his tattered clothes about twenty feet away. He doubted his phone was intact but he wasn’t going to tell Abby that.

  “But you’re hurt too. Look!” Abby pointed at his left leg.

  He hadn’t felt anything before, but with the pain of the change fading, he became aware of the itchy burn. His leg was wet. A cool breeze chilled the dampness, giving him goose bumps on the left side of his body. He reached down. His fingers found the source of the blood, a hole just above his knee.

  The scent of his own blood filled his nostrils and he groaned. A familiar tingle charged up his spine.

  No. Not again. He didn’t have the stre
ngth to endure another change. Would he lose himself again? Lose his mind? His heart? His soul? Forever?

  “You need a doctor,” Abby said.

  “No!” His voice had deepened again, signaling the change.

  Abby didn’t move away but the others did. Raul lifted the gun again but didn’t aim it.

  “If I change again, Raul, shoot me,” Tarik demanded.

  “No!” Abby shrieked. She caught his face between her hands. “Listen to me, Tarik. You can’t give up. I care about you, dammit! Do you hear me? I hardly know you, but I need you and I won’t let you give up. You’re a strong man. A human being with a heart and soul and mind. Don’t believe what that animal told you.” She indicated Torborg. “You deserve to live. You deserve happiness. You deserve everything that bastard took from you. You deserve a future. Don’t let him take even that away. Don’t let him win!”

  Abby’s friend stepped closer, stood next to Abby in a show of support. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, but I know Abby. I’ve never seen her like this. She cares you. I mean really, really cares. And this woman hasn’t felt these kinds of feelings for a man in a long time.”

  Raul lowered the gun. “I don’t want to shoot you. Dammit, what the fuck did he do?”

  Breathless from the effort it took to fight with his own body, Tarik shook his head. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever know now. And I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. Look what I did to him. I was gone. It was like I’d left my body. I didn’t think. I only smelled and tasted. All that I knew was the hunger. The awful hunger.” He pushed himself off the ground. The gravel bit into his feet but he didn’t give a damn. He needed to get away from them. He didn’t know himself anymore. He didn’t trust himself.

  “You need some clothes. Some money,” Raul said, seeming to understand what Tarik was about to do. He picked up Tarik’s shredded clothes and shook his head. The phone fell out of Tarik’s pocket, revealing its less-than-intact status. It was a cell phone pancake. Raul blocked his path to the woods. “You can’t run around like this. You’ll die of hypothermia, even if you don’t bleed to death. At least let me get you some clothes from the hotel room.”

  “No.” Tarik pushed past his friend. “I need to leave. It’s better this way. No one else will get hurt. If you can’t see that then fuck you.”