Dark Veil (21 page)

The other Society members said nothing, listening intently. It was doubtful that Patterson would realise he was talking to a room full of
Others
. He gasped at Malcolm’s accusation. “I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said. “In fact, I think I am quite offended that you would insinuate …”

“I am not bothered what you are. I have it on good authority that you took Cadence MacDonald, Gemma Davies, and now the boy. I am not calling you to ask about it. I am calling to tell you that you need to release them. Immediately.”

Silence greeted him from the other end for a moment, then Patterson’s stern voice was heard again. “I told you I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, if you don’t mind, I have business to attend to.”

The phone clicked and the line went dead.

Chapter Twenty-Six

One thing that Phoenix never imagined he would learn was the terrifying lessons about the
Humans
and all the badness they held inside of them. He had been one of them. He had lived with them. Yet now, he was at their mercy, their cruelty uninhibited. Vile and disgusting and dripping with greed, it was beyond belief. His father’s words and teachings echoed in the back of his mind always.
Others
were monsters—unnatural creatures that shouldn’t be allowed to exist.
Others
killed for fun and sport.
Others
wanted to turn the world for their own benefit and rid it of the
Humans
. It was lies, all of it, and it stared Phoenix in the face right now. How foolish he had been growing up, blind and gullible, taking everything in and never questioning it. If only his father could see this—maybe then he would see the truth of things.

Phoenix squinted and let his eyes roam the brightly-lit room—a room made by
Humans
, purpose-built and designed to hold
Others
prisoner.

Humans
—such sick and disgusting creatures.

His head throbbed unbearably and his stomach churned. His eyes shone brightly against the dull room, a kaleidoscope of colour captured within them.

Patterson stood in front of him, or was it
Fucking
Patterson, as Stephen so often called him. It seemed to suit him more. Phoenix chuckled as the thought first entered his mind, causing him to flinch and regret the action immediately as the action rocked his brain in the confines of his skull and sent bolts of agony around every single nerve fibre, turning his laughing into an agonising growl. When the pain eased and he could open his eyes again, Phoenix focused his sights on Patterson—fucking Patterson—and breathed, short, shallow breaths to better control the pain. God damn them, he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of crying from it. He had even managed to grit his teeth through the pain in his shoulder where the stupid
Human
had shot him—with silver of all things. Did they really not know?

“Why are we here?” Gemma asked. She had been wheeled into the room and shoved into a cage. It was close enough to Phoenix that he could see every detail on her exhausted features, but far enough away that Patterson could stand between them with the reassurance that he was safely out of reach of either of them. Phoenix entertained the thought of kicking Patterson square in his smug, smiling face, slamming him back against Gemma’s cage so she could hopefully rip his throat out. But the probability of that working out well for them was low. Chains held Phoenix’s arms out to either side, and another pressed around his throat, keeping his head back and cutting off his own air supply if he tried to look down. Yeah, Stephen had it right—
fucking
Patterson.

The
Human
with the wonky smile stood at the side of the room working on one of the many computers that lined the long counter. He had drawn blood from Phoenix and gave the impression of being some kind of doctor. The machine spat out a printout to him and he yelped and squealed, his excitement rising with each new piece of information. “This is amazing,” he exclaimed and hurriedly brought the papers to Patterson. He thrust them in front of his face, breathing rapidly. “Look at this ... just look. I have never seen anything like it. It’s incredible.”

Phoenix watched them curiously, wondering what the hell the guy was yapping about. After a moment, Patterson and the doctor lifted their eyes to stare at Phoenix. His mouth had transformed into a wide, lopsided smile even worse than the one he had displayed back at the car. All he needed was a white coat and a wiry hairstyle, and he would be set.

“So this is the half-breed,” Patterson murmured, glancing at Phoenix before turning to the next sheet. Phoenix was sure that at any moment, the doctor was going to start bouncing on the spot. Patterson raised his eyes to him once more. “You're very special, do you know that?” he smiled. “It is such a shame that it took us so long to get you here.” His smile broadened. “Not to worry, though. You’re here now.”

The doctor grabbed the papers from Patterson’s hands, who earned himself a dangerous stare, but he didn’t seem to notice. His excitement over his findings seemed to outweigh everything else. “Look at this one,” he said animatedly, pointing at one of the pages from the back. “It’s not like usual. The
Other
blood didn’t take over the
Human
blood. It’s like … like … they joined hands. This is even better than Anika.”

“Let us go,” Gemma suddenly shouted from her cage, but Patterson ignored her. She slammed her hand against the bars of her cage, making it rattle loudly. “Hey, Patterson. I’m talking to you.”

Patterson tilted his head at her and smiled. “Patience, my dear.”

“Fuck patience. What do you want with us?”

The
Human
in the leather jacket sat in a chair close to Gemma. While the doctor had been examining Phoenix’s blood, he had kept smiling lewdly at Gemma until she had fixed him with a stare and explained to him exactly what she would do to his testicles if he even considered coming near her. He had laughed and told her he “liked 'em wild” until Patterson had told him to cut it out.

Patterson paid no more mind to Gemma, however, and turned his full attention back to Phoenix. “You have a very special gift I want. It can teach us so much.”

“Aren’t gifts meant to be just that?
Gifts
?” Phoenix replied.

Patterson laughed. “Oh, it will be. I promise.”

Phoenix had no idea what the fuck he was talking about. His eyes glanced around the room, trying to look for any means of escape. There were two doors to this room—the one behind Phoenix where they had entered, and the one near Gemma’s cage. It opened just at that moment, and as it did, Patterson’s smile widened, lighting up his eyes.

Janie walked in … except she wasn’t alone. A small hand held hers, that of a
Human
child. She looked frightened, her eyes darting around the room before she quickly, shyly, averted them to her shoes. She can’t have been more than six or seven.

Gemma moved to the side of the cage closest to Janie and gripped the bars. “What are you doing with her?”

The young girl reminded Phoenix of a small fairy that belonged on the top of a birthday cake rather than here in this room—her dainty feet made next to no sound as she walked. Phoenix’s stomach recoiled with images of what the
Human’s
intent might be. He had no idea what Patterson was planning, but to go to all of this trouble, to set this all up and to dare to kidnap Gemma Davies …

There had to be worse things to come.

Ignoring both Gemma and Phoenix now, Patterson walked to the little girl and crouched in front of her, smiling a malicious smile. He raised a hand to her hair, and stroked it, but then his fingers sunk under the strands and twisted. She whimpered and reached up to stop him, but her small fingers could not pry his fingers away. He twisted her hair tighter, bringing a cry from her. “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Patterson asked as he forced her head back for Gemma to see.

“Leave her alone,” Gemma growled at him. “She’s just a girl.”

“Yes,” he grinned and nodded before motioning to the
Human
outside her cage. “Unlock the gate.”

Gemma stepped back in her cage and went to stand at the far side.

“Don’t worry,” Patterson said to the child, “you’re quite safe in there.” He pulled her by her hair, dragging her along and she started to sob, tears streaking down her dirty face. She pulled at his large hand, where his fingers twisted in her hair and kicked out at him with bare feet as she shrieked, but he ignored her, making her small legs work quickly. When he got to Gemma’s gate, he grinned at her. “A gift for you,” he said, and then he launched the child into the cage. She stumbled, tripping over her small feet. Gemma lunged for her, trying to catch her before she slammed into the concrete floor, but the girl scrambled away and threw herself into the corner farthest from Gemma. “Your progeny,” he laughed.

“My progeny?” Gemma padded over to Patterson, barefooted, as they closed the gate, shutting the child in with Gemma. “Do you think that I am going to turn her? I do not bite
Humans
.”

Patterson’s smug smile told Gemma that that was exactly what he wanted. “She is yours to create. Just a little bite. It doesn’t matter to me where as long as you don’t kill her. Wouldn’t want you giving in to those hunger pangs at the wrong moment.”

“I’m not biting her,” Gemma said, setting her jaw in a determined line. “I’ll sit here and fucking starve if I have to.”

“Oh, there is no need for that.” He sauntered over to Phoenix, sure of himself. Positioning himself behind him, like he had with the girl, he reached up and twisted his fingers in Phoenix’s hair. Phoenix wasn’t a child, though, and it didn’t hurt the same for him. His head was yanked back, exposing his throat, the chains that held him in place rattling from the movement. Patterson held his hand out to one of the
Humans,
who placed a small knife in it. “What about now?” he asked and pressed the blade to Phoenix’s throat.

“You’re not going to kill him,” Gemma said. “You’ve gone to too much trouble to get him here.”

Patterson leaned forward, glaring at Gemma over Phoenix’s shoulder. He pressed the blade against Phoenix’s Adam’s apple. Patterson’s breath was thick and hot against Phoenix’s face, his every word dripping with poison. Patterson wasn’t like the others, Phoenix realised. He didn’t smell like fear. No … it was something else, something worse.

Patterson was power-hungry.

He laughed at Gemma. “No, you're right there. I won’t kill him. But you know something we have discovered with this half-breed business?” He paused as if waiting for her to answer. “It’s that they have this amazing resilience to death. I mean, we have shot young Phoenix here ...” He used the tip of the knife to point at the wound in Phoenix’s shoulder that was nothing more than a dark bruised lump now. It was hard to tell that he had been shot. “His body even rejected the silver. I know you all heal fast, but thirty minutes?” He raised his eyebrows at Gemma. “Bite the child.”

The girl huddled in the corner sobbing, her legs raised, face pressing into her knees. Phoenix pulled against his chains, and Patterson pressed the knife against his throat again, harder this time.

Gemma shook her head. “I’m not going to bite her.”

“Very well,” Patterson said, lowering his hand until it was in line with Phoenix’s sternum. He angled the knife slowly, taking pleasure in what he was doing. Phoenix tensed as the tip of the knife pierced his skin.

“Don’t,” Gemma called out.

“You will bite her,” Patterson said silkily. “Should we see just how much Phoenix can heal from?” He dragged the knife down Phoenix’s chest, slicing through his skin. Phoenix clenched his jaw as his flesh parted in a hot trail. He pulled hard against his binds, but the one around his neck cut off his airway.

Gemma slammed her hands onto the bars, grabbing them tightly and then shaking them with enough power that Phoenix thought they might actually come away, even though they were embedded into the concrete floor. “Stop it.”

Patterson brought the knife all the way down to Phoenix’s navel. He pressed it in and Phoenix rocked against the chains, trying to loosen them from around his throat, but Patterson shoved him hard from behind and stepped back. Blood ran down Phoenix’s chest and stomach. He breathed hard, panting, and grabbed the chains that held him. With his head back, he let out a howl. The wound on his chest visibly healed, stitching itself together. “Do you see how fast he can heal?” Patterson asked in admiration. Before anyone could answer, Patterson swung around, knife out and slashed across Phoenix’s stomach. Phoenix yelled, his skin glistening with perspiration. Blood dripped down to the waist of Phoenix’s jeans, soaking in. In a matter of seconds, the wound slowly started to close again.

Patterson cocked his head at Gemma. “Still no?”

“Fuck you,” she spat, tears brimming in her eyes.

“As you wish.” He moved around again so that he could stand behind Phoenix once more. His face held enough evil intent that Gemma wished the fucking devil would come back to claim him. But perhaps even hell didn’t want the
Humans
. They were vile, disgusting, vicious creatures, and she swore that she would see every last one of them dead by the time she got out of here.

Phoenix’s pain-filled eyes met hers, his fists clenched tightly. Patterson wrapped his arms around Phoenix and held the blade over the flesh just above his navel. Ever so slowly, he pushed it in and Phoenix gritted his teeth as pain tore through him. His eyes stayed firmly fixed on Gemma, drawing strength from her as Patterson continued to push the blade in and peel his skin away.

Phoenix held his scream in for as long as possible while Gemma sobbed and yelled for him to stop. His
wolf
seethed inside, but he couldn’t come out, not like this, not with his arms bound all the way up. He had never felt pain like this before—it was rich, thick, lava running under his flesh.

“Stop it,” Gemma screamed. “Please, stop it.”