and threshold, though he didn’t know whether it was from the forced entry of the men or Harper’s attack.
Sucking in several breaths of the fresh woodsy air, he surveyed the ugly scene with a troubled gaze. Uncontrolled weapon explosions; cruel, torturous behavior; monstrous strikes of natural weather. He had seen all of that and more.
But this? This was something different. Harper was something different. Never before had he seen such an act of power. A terrifying, inhuman act of power. How had she done this?
Walking back over to her slumped form, Rome was forced to admit that she scared him. She absolutely frightened him. Just minutes before, he was cursing himself for wanting her. Now he was cursing himself for trusting her.
Damn it all. He’d known she’d been hiding something. Information, maybe, but not the fact that she was some sort of supernatural freak.
Jeff had been right. Harper Kane was most certainly dangerous. She was a walking lethal weapon, for crying out loud. So much for his razor-sharp instincts. This was a doozy. Mentally slapping himself for forsaking his duty for a gorgeous woman, he retreated out the back to his rig for some rope.
Promise or no, he had to take her in.
C HAPTER S IX
Pain. Darkness. The two had been her constant companions since she’d been here. Wherever here was.
Every breath she sucked in made her ache. Harper had no idea how long she’d been in this awful place, but judging from the sporadic food trays she’d been brought, it seemed like two, maybe three days had passed. The most recent meal had been shoved through the door just a few minutes before. She hadn’t even gone searching for it in the darkness, preferring to stay seated in the farthest corner from the entrance.
The last thing she remembered was seeing the stark fear on Rome’s shocked face after she’d tried to use her new power to help them escape the ambush at Bobby’s house. Then she’d passed out.
And awakened to an experience beyond her worst nightmare. Alone.
She’d opened her eyes to inky blackness and immobilization, her body secured and bound upright to the wall. She couldn’t see a thing. Panicked and confused, she’d attempted to focus on the special force in her mind, knowing full well she had no real control over it. But it wouldn’t work. Somehow she’d been able to summon the power at Bobby’s house, but she couldn’t do it here in the totally dark room.
After a while, they’d come for her—burly men dressed all in black and carrying guns and thick clubs. They’d already yanked her out of her dark prison and dragged her to a small, badly lit room with twisted contraptions and threatening devices.
Cruel medical tools and wicked-looking equipment had gleamed ominously on chrome tables, complete with rough, padded restraints straight out of the nastiest horror movies ever made. Again she’d tried to beckon her mind to do its thing, but nothing happened.
Though she’d struggled with all her might, her larger captors had forced her onto one of the platforms and latched the restraints onto her. A shot like a dart had pricked her arm and after that, her vision blurred and she’d felt nothing but pain. Sheer unadulterated pain. Then someone in a harsh white lab coat began to go to work on her.
They’d asked her countless questions for which she had no answers. That hadn’t made the person in the lab coat happy. She couldn’t remember even saying anything, which had made them even more furious.
Harper had alternately been drugged with who knows what, and they’d drawn what seemed like gallons of blood. Again, she’d been questioned beyond reason. And still she hadn’t been able to give them what they wanted.
Then the brutes had lugged her back to this dark room and left her here for hours. Food had come, but she didn’t eat it. She couldn’t eat it. Even if she had been able to see it in the complete darkness, she didn’t think her groggy and battered body could
Sucking in several breaths of the fresh woodsy air, he surveyed the ugly scene with a troubled gaze. Uncontrolled weapon explosions; cruel, torturous behavior; monstrous strikes of natural weather. He had seen all of that and more.
But this? This was something different. Harper was something different. Never before had he seen such an act of power. A terrifying, inhuman act of power. How had she done this?
Walking back over to her slumped form, Rome was forced to admit that she scared him. She absolutely frightened him. Just minutes before, he was cursing himself for wanting her. Now he was cursing himself for trusting her.
Damn it all. He’d known she’d been hiding something. Information, maybe, but not the fact that she was some sort of supernatural freak.
Jeff had been right. Harper Kane was most certainly dangerous. She was a walking lethal weapon, for crying out loud. So much for his razor-sharp instincts. This was a doozy. Mentally slapping himself for forsaking his duty for a gorgeous woman, he retreated out the back to his rig for some rope.
Promise or no, he had to take her in.
C HAPTER S IX
Pain. Darkness. The two had been her constant companions since she’d been here. Wherever here was.
Every breath she sucked in made her ache. Harper had no idea how long she’d been in this awful place, but judging from the sporadic food trays she’d been brought, it seemed like two, maybe three days had passed. The most recent meal had been shoved through the door just a few minutes before. She hadn’t even gone searching for it in the darkness, preferring to stay seated in the farthest corner from the entrance.
The last thing she remembered was seeing the stark fear on Rome’s shocked face after she’d tried to use her new power to help them escape the ambush at Bobby’s house. Then she’d passed out.
And awakened to an experience beyond her worst nightmare. Alone.
She’d opened her eyes to inky blackness and immobilization, her body secured and bound upright to the wall. She couldn’t see a thing. Panicked and confused, she’d attempted to focus on the special force in her mind, knowing full well she had no real control over it. But it wouldn’t work. Somehow she’d been able to summon the power at Bobby’s house, but she couldn’t do it here in the totally dark room.
After a while, they’d come for her—burly men dressed all in black and carrying guns and thick clubs. They’d already yanked her out of her dark prison and dragged her to a small, badly lit room with twisted contraptions and threatening devices.
Cruel medical tools and wicked-looking equipment had gleamed ominously on chrome tables, complete with rough, padded restraints straight out of the nastiest horror movies ever made. Again she’d tried to beckon her mind to do its thing, but nothing happened.
Though she’d struggled with all her might, her larger captors had forced her onto one of the platforms and latched the restraints onto her. A shot like a dart had pricked her arm and after that, her vision blurred and she’d felt nothing but pain. Sheer unadulterated pain. Then someone in a harsh white lab coat began to go to work on her.
They’d asked her countless questions for which she had no answers. That hadn’t made the person in the lab coat happy. She couldn’t remember even saying anything, which had made them even more furious.
Harper had alternately been drugged with who knows what, and they’d drawn what seemed like gallons of blood. Again, she’d been questioned beyond reason. And still she hadn’t been able to give them what they wanted.
Then the brutes had lugged her back to this dark room and left her here for hours. Food had come, but she didn’t eat it. She couldn’t eat it. Even if she had been able to see it in the complete darkness, she didn’t think her groggy and battered body could
Similar Books
