Read Online Cat Scratch Fever; Blue-Collar Werewolves V by Buffi BeCraft - Free Book Online Page B

knocked her balance off kilter. The lioness jumped and
she hurried to stifle the first twinges of a shift in forever.
Frowning, his steady brown gaze raked over her before, looking back
at Sanderson. “You were fired.” The words were cold and calm.
Dismissed, Naomi swallowed hard, fighting to regain her own inner
composure. Drake was right; she and the cats needed to escape. Her
mind was about to snap from the captivity. She moved back a few
inches and ducked her head.
    “Months ago,” finished Sanderson. “But who
wants to work half-days on stupid flea spray anyway? I imagine your
replacement will hire me back so Kemlec doesn’t have to handwrite
my check anymore.” He leaned in close for a stage whisper. “Here’s
a secret. He likes the books to look on the up and up. He
hates when you actually look. ”
    “Let me go.” Ridley demanded. He struggled
against the straps and winced. She wondered what exactly Kemlec and
his guards had done after they captured him. The concentration on
his face splintered into gray faced agony. “Fuck. What the hell did
you do to me? This is wrong. You can’t just lock people up and
do—.” He looked around, angry fire lighting his gaze. “Whatever it
is you’re doing, it’s not constitutional.”
    “Sorry. Time to kill two birds with one
stone.” Sanderson tittered as he pilfered through the drawers at
Drake’s workstation. Seriously, the scientist was unhinged. He
pulled out a syringe waggled it, before setting it down. Opening
the small refrigerator, he leaned in to look. “Oh, happy day,” he
sang and pulled out Dr. Drake’s tray of vials. Grabbing the
syringe, he set the tray on a rolling table and walked back to the
gurney. Checking his watch first, Sanderson took the protective
wrapper off the syringe, then pretended to decide which vial to
pick up.
    “You know,” he said conversationally,
finally choosing one and jamming the needle into the
rubber-Stoppard end. He pulled hard on the syringe, filling up the
barrel with the clear fluid. “I should probably swab the area.” He
shrugged. “But can only catch lycanthropy from werewolves.
Injecting you with Drake’s cat samples is just going to make you
sick—and look at that, he’s got quite an extensive collection.”
Sanderson snickered evilly. “You’re going to be real sick.
Maybe even die. And Drake’s going to get kicked out.” He jammed the
needle into Ridley’s shoulder and depressed the plunger with a
small cold smile. “And you know, Kemlic has a strict retirement
policy for employed psychics. It’ll be fun watching that big fucker
change into a werewolf in my lab. No more sharing for Dr.
Samuel Sanderson.” The mad scientist giggled again. Yes, her inner
lioness twitched her whiskers, agreeing with Naomi. The guy was
completely nuts.
    * * * *
    Matthew fought against the straps holding
him to the gurney. His head hurt, but he was more afraid of psycho
Sanderson killing him than the migraine that kept fracturing his
abilities. Damn but he was stupid for not accepting and using his
powers before now. His chest burned all the way down through his
lungs. His limbs weighed a ton from whatever was in those darts.
Sanderson jabbed him with another dose, adding to the ache that was
starting up in his muscles. Aww, fuck. He hissed a breath as a
Charlie-horse seized his thigh. Then another in his right bicep.
“Someone will tell,” he slurred.
    “Nope. Sorry,” Sanderson gestured at the
cages of prisoners. All of them watching him with pity. They knew
what was going on; they’d obviously seen or been the victim before.
“They’re nobody. Besides, Kemlec wants the cats dead and out of
here to make room for his pet werewolf project.” He filled the
syringe from another vial, then gestured at a rolling silver cage
across the room. “With Drake out of the way, I’ll have the werewolf
for myself. I’ll develop the contagion to kill off the werewolves
and the rest of the supernaturals for good.”