Dark Veil (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The stench of blood was so thick in the air that Gemma drank it in with every breath that she took. Phoenix’s head rested in her lap, the warmth of it comforting her as she stroked his hair, pushing it away from his face. Maybe it was more soothing for her than it was for him. She avoided his thick red wounds, her hand hovering just above them. She tore a piece of fabric from her blouse and tried to mop up the blood, touching only where she wouldn’t hurt him more than the healing was already doing.

As each wound knitted together from the inside out, blood spurted out occasionally and ran down his side, pooling beneath them both. The sight of it tore Gemma up inside, and she had to stop to catch her breath. Phoenix slowly reached a hand up for hers, gasping through the pain of the action. Gemma laced her fingers through his and pressed her cheek against his cool hand.

“I’m right here,” she whispered to him. God, he smelt so much like Cade now. Her heart hurt from the absence of him, a longing deep within her chest. She pressed her mouth to Phoenix’s knuckles and breathed him in deeply. He was a mix of Cade and his maker, a scent that made him unique, a beacon that called to her
tiger
and begged her to come home. God, she would if she could.

She leaned back against the bars, pressing hard against the cold metal. The minutes ground her down. Patterson and his buddies had vanished somewhere—not that she cared. She wished they would all just drop dead.

She let her eyes close and held Phoenix’s hand. He coughed, wincing from the effort, and Gemma leaned forward again. More blood oozed from his wound, but it was less this time. He healed so amazingly fast, but the pain was evident on his features. Gemma let go of his hand and cupped his face, looking down at him, her face upside down to his. “I’m right here,” she reassured him again. His chest was marred with so many wounds that it was hard to decide where one ended and the next one started, the flesh underneath swollen and red.

The small girl had regained consciousness and sat trembling in the corner of the cage, her body turned away from them. Gemma glanced at her once or twice—she couldn’t help it. Defiance pulsed through Gemma’s veins as she refused to go over to her to comfort her. To comfort her would give the
Humans
what they wanted—it would make her lay claim to the child and that she was, in fact, her progeny. Gemma wanted nothing to do with it, even if it meant leaving a child to die in the corner …

The thought crashed into her mind several times. That was what she was doing, wasn’t it? Leaving a six-year-old to die in the corner.

But she couldn’t be part of this.

Suddenly aware of the life inside her, Gemma bit down on her lip. What if this had been her child? What if someone sat by and let it die in the corner of some damp and rotten cage like this. Phoenix’s breathing slowed—he was resting again, the pain alleviated somewhat. She smoothed his hair back once more and eased herself from under him, trying not to wake him.

After a moment’s hesitation, she slowly crawled along the floor towards the girl, stopping a couple of feet from the child. The girl’s clothes were wet with perspiration and she was shivering, yet Gemma knew it wasn’t from cold. Even from this distance, she could feel the heat emanating from her.

“What’s your name,” she said softly, trying not to startle her.

The girl peered at Gemma over her shoulder. Angry, accusing eyes stared at Gemma. How did she make the child understand that she had had no choice—but then what did it matter? The girl’s life was changed now, forever. She would be
Other
… if she made it that far.

“I’m sorry,” Gemma whispered, not that it made much difference. The girl might one day remember those words, maybe realise why Gemma had had to do it. Maybe she would die like most half-breeds—many didn’t make it past the first hour.

The room they were in was completely empty. The computer in the corner was off—even the weird-looking doctor had vanished. Was this why? To see if the girl would make it through the first hour? Were they such cowards that they didn’t want to witness the result of what they had caused? A small, red blinking light in the corner caught her eye. She frowned and looked closer—cameras, in every corner of the room. She resisted the urge to give them the finger.

She turned her attention back to the girl. “My name is Gemma,” she said, “and this is my friend, Phoenix. He is very hurt.”

The girl said nothing, just stared at Gemma. Did she even understand? She was probably a stray. Maybe she hadn't been taught to talk. Gemma bowed her head, the weight of everything so heavy in her mind. Just another minute, she told the girl in her head. Survive the next minute, and then the one after that. She sat back, her legs in front of her and sighed. The girl didn’t seem inclined to come to her, but at least Gemma could say she had tried.

“Sage.” Gemma’s head snapped up. It was said faintly, but she had heard it.

“Sage? That’s your name?”

The girl turned and leaned with her back to the wall, her mouth set in a straight line. She had tiny dimples in her little cheeks, making her look angelic. In the next minute, her eyes began to change, shimmering with emerald fire, flames dancing inside her eyes.

It was mesmerising.

She cradled her arm where Gemma had bitten her, the wound not having healed a bit—just like when Phoenix had been bitten.  It was still bleeding, blood trickling out from under her small hand.

“Can I look at that?” Gemma asked, pointing to her arm. Sage stared at her for a long moment then gave a small nod of her head. Gemma smiled at her and slowly shuffled along the dusty floor towards her. She gently took hold of Sage’s arm and used the cleanest corner of fabric she could find on her top to clean it. The girl was so dirty—she really was a stray, she realised. She had dark lines under her eyes, shadows that she was too young to have, and bones jutted out under the shape of her clothes. Did the
Humans
just go and pick these kids up off the streets?

Sage began to shake again, shivers wracking her small delicate frame. Her head fell back suddenly, smacking painfully against one of the bars. Gemma lunged for her and scooped her up in her arms.

“Sshhhh,” she soothed. Sage’s eyes rolled back into their sockets, leaving only whites to stare up at Gemma. She held her to her chest, rocking her, finding some strange kind of comfort as she held her there. Was this how Cade had felt with Phoenix? Was this why he would seemingly do anything for him? But then it wasn’t Cade who had made Phoenix, was it? Maybe this would be how he’d feel with his own child.

The shuddering began to ease until Sage stilled. Her eyes were closed and Gemma rested her face against the child’s chest, stifling the desperate sob in her throat. If she made it out of here, if she saw Cade again, she’d do anything to keep him and their baby. Was this punishment for thinking of killing their child? Was it karma whipping her like a bitch for almost breaking his heart? Lord knows she deserved it. She deserved every ounce of this. The craving inside her, the urge to have Cade with her, her very soul ached for him, but all she felt was the vast emptiness.

He was missing.

Sage suddenly jolted in Gemma’s arms, her arms shooting up and her legs going rigid as the mixings of the blood struck like lightning through her small body. The first shift ... Sage’s face twisted, seeming deformed as the bones in her nose moved and changed. Her cheekbones rose higher in her face, pushing her eye sockets up.

“Sage?” When the girl opened her eyes, they were slits of green and gold, so very
tiger
. Gemma’s own
tiger
rose to the surface, feeling the pull of the young cub next to her. Gemma pushed her back down—not now, not another shift so soon. Cade had done this with Phoenix. He’d helped him through his shifts … but that had created a bond. Gemma didn’t want to bond with this child. Despite it all, she closed her eyes and tried to find the small
tiger
in her mind, searching for her in the darkness. But all she found were the remnants of her memories, her longings, her own thoughts, and her
tiger
sitting there waiting for her.

Then it was there, just in the back corner of her mind—a frightened child hiding.

Gemma lay down in the cage next to Sage so that their heads were together and her hand rested against the girl’s chest. Her chest rose violently, her back arching, limbs flailing. When Sage relaxed again, Gemma soothed her, hushed her.

And then the shift began for real. First, her face, and then it ran through her body in waves, like someone had wiped down and replaced a small girl with a
tiger
.

“Shit.” Gemma had forgotten the girl’s clothes. They would rip, but the problem was they would hurt, strangulating her. Gemma bolted upright and frantically pulled at them to get them off the girl, but Sage’s arms and legs thrashed in every direction, making it difficult. “Hold on, I’ve got you.”

Sage fought as Gemma struggled to get her clothes off. They stank to high heaven, a mixture of dirt and sweat and urine. It would probably be a blessing if these clothes got torn. They needed incinerating. Gemma threw them to the side and slid back as Sage finished her transformation. A
tiger
cub lay on its side, panting. Frightened eyes stared up at Gemma. Body mass didn’t change when they shifted—they didn’t become bigger because of what they were. The cub was the same size as Sage had been, somewhere bigger than a tiny cub, but not big enough yet.

She let out a slight whimper. “Shhhh,” Gemma soothed her. “I’m here.” She ran delicate fingers through the small
tiger’s
soft fur.

“She did it,” Phoenix said. He hadn't moved, but he had turned his head to the side and was smiling weakly at Gemma and the cub.

“She did,” Gemma smiled back.

“That’s the worst one,” he said. “Feels like your bones are going to snap in half. It’s what made my mum ….”

“You made it, too,” Gemma said, cutting him off. She didn’t mean to, but maybe the topic of his mother was best left for another time.

Phoenix nodded. He understood.

The small cub tried to stand, four paws going in all different directions. Gemma helped her, holding her sides and letting her lean into her. “Like you're crawling,” she encouraged her.

Sage put one paw in front of the other, but she got them mixed up and Gemma caught her as she toppled to the side. It would take some time, she guessed, for her to be able to walk on four paws. For Gemma, it was just as natural as walking on two.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and Patterson emerged with his smarmy smile. He was like a fucking snake sliding out of a basket. Gemma glared at him.

“She survived,” he said gleefully.

“Not thanks to you.”

“I had every faith in you,” he said. “But now it seems your father is a little annoyed at you staying with me.”

Gemma held the cub to her. “Good, then let me go and be sure to please him.”

Patterson smiled. The other
Humans
and the witch, Janie the betrayer, were all with him. They’d all been waiting to see if the girl made it. Gemma had news for them—she still had a long way to go.

When Patterson was standing in front of the gate, one of the men came to stand next to him. He had a large pet carrier, the kind one might transport a large dog in. “I want the girl.”

Gemma narrowed her eyes at him. “You can't have her.”

The other
Human
came to the side of the cage and aimed a gun through the bars at Gemma.

“We’re going to open the gate,” Patterson said. “And then you’re going to let Jason here come in and take the girl. If you don’t …” The
Human
next to the cage cocked the barrel on the gun with a click.

“She needs to be with me. She has to learn things. I have to …”

“Oh, don’t worry, you will be. But first, we need the girl.”

“I can feel her mind,” Janie said breathlessly as if she had just felt the most pleasurable thing going. “It’s there.”

“You can take it?”

Janie nodded gleefully. “Yes.” She inhaled deeply.

Shit
. She was bonding with the girl. Gemma should have done it. She lifted the cub to her, but Sage fussed in her arms, paws flailing, claws out. She nicked Gemma’s arm and she flinched.

“Give us the girl.” The man opened the gate, every move slow and cautious, petrified. He put the cage down on the floor and opened the door on it before taking a step in.

“Give me the girl,” he repeated. The
Human
with the gun leaned in, gun almost touching Gemma. Her heart pounded. She had let this girl down already, and now she was going to do it again.

“She needs my help.”

“The girl …” Patterson commanded. Gemma held her tighter, her reluctance evident. But could she sacrifice her life, her baby’s life, for this girl? Sage would likely die anyway. What did it matter? Gemma reluctantly let go of the girl and slid backwards in the cage. Sage looked up with bright eyes and went to pad over to her, but the man scooped her up, wrapping his arms under her belly before shoving her into the cage and shutting the gate on it. Once he was safely out of the cage, Patterson nodded to the man with the gun. “Shoot her, but watch what you’re doing. I want her incapacitated, not dead.”