Jon shook his head. “Where the hell is he?”
“He ditched the ride a while back.” Her chin lifted. “And now you’re left with me.” This was it. The moment she’d waited for. “Take me to Vaughn.”
Jon blinked at her.
“Take me to Vaughn.” Her heart was a drumbeat in her ears.
Jon took her hand. Led her to the back of the truck. They jumped down.
And headed toward the long, flat building on the right. Two armed men blocked the door, but Jon waved them aside.
The interior of the building smelled of . . . blood.
“Do your superiors know what you’re doing?” Cassie asked. Just how far-reaching was his madness?
“I don’t have superiors. I do what the hell I want.”
“Do they know that?” Cassie asked, glancing back to the guards. “Or did you tell them all that you’re still working for the government?”
He stopped. Frowned at her. “Where are we?”
Crap. “Vaughn. Take me to Vaughn.”
A woman rushed up to them. Cassie recognized her. The blonde—Dr. Shaw—who’d taken all of those samples from her at the ranch. It was hard to forget someone who’d made her bleed.
“The vampire,” Jon blasted at her. “We need him.”
Dr. Shaw’s eyes widened, but she turned on her heels. Jon kept his hold on Cassie and pulled her down the hallway, following the other woman.
The scent of blood grew stronger.
“Where’s Keith?” Cassie asked nervously.
“I have a guard at his house . . . in case any of your other friends show up.”
And they would. Jamie. Charles. Eve. Cain. It was just a matter of time until they all walked into the trap.
They’d be taken to Jon, too.
I’ll stop him.
One step at a time. She would do this.
Dr. Shaw pushed open a heavy metal door. An operating room waited inside. Vaughn was . . . oh, jeez, Vaughn was on the table, and it looked like someone had tried to carve out his heart.
“Vaughn!” Cassie ran toward him.
His eyes opened. “Shouldn’t . . . be here . . . Go . . .”
“You shouldn’t be here, either.” The fact that he was still alive with that kind of injury . . . he hadn’t returned to a human state. She could see the sharp points of his canines. Fangs.
He was strapped down to that table. She saw the switch for the release button on the straps, and lunged toward it.
Only to find her way blocked by Dr. Shaw. “What do you think you’re doing?” the other woman demanded.
It should be obvious. “I’m getting him out of here.”
“Jon!” Dr. Shaw screamed. “What’s happening?”
Jon shook his head, but didn’t advance.
“Get out of my way,” Cassie said, pitching her voice low. “Just step to the side and get—”
Dr. Shaw started to laugh.
That laughter chilled Cassie.
The chill got even worse when Dr. Shaw said, “Really, half-breed? You think you have enough power to tell me what to do?” Then Shaw’s gaze turned to Jon. “Grab her and hold her.”
Even Cassie could feel the power in the woman’s voice.
Jon immediately grabbed Cassie.
She stared at Dr. Shaw in shock.
“What?” Shaw’s perfectly arched blond brows rose. “Did you seriously think you were the only siren around? How do you think I convinced that crazy bastard”—she pointed at Jon—“to keep me alive?”
Before Cassie could think of a reply, Dr. Shaw leaped forward and shoved a gag into Cassie’s mouth. Cassie tried to fight her, but Jon was holding her too tightly.
Shaw secured the gag then pointed to the second operating table on the right. “Now strap her down.”
Jon followed Dr. Shaw’s instructions with that dazed look in his eyes.
“If you can’t talk, then you don’t have any power.” Dr. Shaw smiled at her. “And I don’t want you to have any power at all.”
Jon had strapped her down, controlling her struggles like they were nothing.
“You let the phoenix go, didn’t you?” Dr. Shaw asked her with narrowed eyes.
Cassie glared at her.
“Love—it makes women do some damn stupid things. But no worries.” Dr. Shaw pulled out a syringe. “I’m sure he’ll follow you here. From what I could tell, he’s mated to you, and he’ll follow his mate anywhere.” She drove that needle into Cassie’s flesh.
Fire burned through her blood.
“Does this feel familiar?” Dr. Shaw’s voice was mild. “It’s similar to the dosage your father gave you when you were a child, after the first time he accidentally killed you.” She shrugged. “Or maybe it wasn’t so accidental. Who knows?”
The burn . . .
“Because of your siren blood, the guy actually stumbled onto a serum that would make you nearly immortal. You could heal from any injury. Amazing.” Dr. Shaw actually sounded like she meant that. “Of course, I didn’t exactly know what was happening until I took all of those wonderful samples from you at the ranch. Then I saw just what you could do.”
When I get loose . . .
“The drug I just gave you? I’m afraid it’s going to have the reverse effect on you. No more super healing for you.”
It seemed as if Cassie’s heartbeat was slowing down.
“It’s nothing personal. Well, maybe it is.” Dr. Shaw tapped her chin with a white-gloved finger. “You see, I need to hurt Dante because he hurt me. He took something incredibly precious from me a long time ago.”
Cassie’s gaze narrowed.
Jon was standing stock-still.
Vaughn groaned.
“Once upon a time, I loved a man very much. I loved him so much that I wanted to make sure that no one would ever be able to take him from me,” Dr. Shaw said.
There were tears in her eyes.
“So I took steps to protect my Wren. Only . . . Dante didn’t do what he should have done. Instead of dying, he took my Wren’s life.”
Wren. Dante’s brother.
“The way to break a phoenix isn’t just by going through the fire. It’s by taking their hearts. I’m going to kill you, Cassie, and Dante will lose his heart. Then Jon”—she waved her hand toward the still man—“will finish Dante, and maybe then . . . maybe then, I will sleep for the first time in centuries without hearing the echo of Wren’s last cry—without hearing him scream my name before Dante killed him.”