In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,143

“It’s all very tacky.”

Her eyesight becoming clear, Stevie gazed at the bright silver bracelets on Blayne and Gwen’s wrists. And then her own. Except they didn’t look decorative.

“What are—”

Blayne held up her wrists. “We were told that these are titanium. If we try to shift, the titanium will cut into our flesh and eventually . . . there go our paws.”

“Oh, my God,” Stevie said, disgusted; she was appalled anyone would go this far, but especially a fellow shifter.

“Where’s Bo?” Stevie asked.

“Next door. They didn’t want to put us in the same titanium-lined room because they didn’t want us to think about making more—and I’m quoting here—‘freak babies.’”

“Stop, stop.” Stevie couldn’t hear any more. Instead, she struggled to her feet with Blayne’s help.

Once she stood, Stevie waited another minute for a new wave of nausea to settle down. Although she didn’t appreciate getting banged in the back of the head, she understood why it had been done. Because with hybrids it was impossible to know what amount of knock-out drug to administer. Too little and you had a struggling and angry freak of nature ripping apart your van. Too much and you ended up dropping hybrid bodies on the side of the road and lost out on any experimentation you may have wanted to try.

Stevie pointed at the giant TV on one of the bright-steel walls. Or was that titanium, too? “What’s that for? Cartoons?”

“We don’t know,” Gwen replied. “It hasn’t been on since we got here.”

Stevie let her gaze roam around the room, looking for any weakness. Anything she could exploit.

The hermetically sealed doors opened and James Wells walked in. He wore a suit and tie under his long white lab coat. Four guards were with him. All of them heavily armed shifters in gray body armor.

Staring at Stevie, James pointed at Gwen. The men grabbed her, yanking her off the floor. Blayne was on them in seconds, fighting to protect her friend. One of the guards threw her to the ground, aimed a nonlethal but pain-inducing weapon at her.

Stevie stepped between them and focused on James.

“So it’s not really ready,” she said to him. She would only speak to him. The guards were following his orders, whether for money or out of loyalty, she didn’t know. She didn’t care.

“What?”

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? So you can show me how what you’re working on is fabulous and ready to change me forever. But it’s not ready. That’s why you’re starting with them.”

“You think I’m like my brother? You think you can manipulate me with a few words and—”

“If your great experiment works . . . show me.”

Big hands grabbed Stevie and pulled her out of the room.

* * *

Shen wasn’t surprised when one of the Group’s tactical units surrounded them, keeping them trapped in room 20B. He wasn’t surprised when the Dunn triplets began to growl and huff in warning. He wasn’t even surprised when the MacKilligan cousins who were still hanging out with Charlie and Max for some reason, didn’t leave or cause any problems. It was as if they were just waiting to see what would happen next.

Oh, he also wasn’t surprised when Max came within inches of snapping off an agent’s face. Inches. But that seemed pretty expected by nearly everyone in the room except for the guy who nearly lost his face.

But what did surprise Shen was that Charlie wasn’t saying anything. Or doing anything. She wouldn’t talk to Berg. She wouldn’t talk to Shen! To tell him he didn’t need to worry. Where the fuck was soothing-Charlie? Why wasn’t she trying to make him feel better?

Instead, she was just sitting . . . and staring. And everyone in the room knew that was not good.

But then one of the agents got a call and, suddenly, all of them left. Just walked out. Without a word. And that’s when Charlie moved. Went out the door, Max right behind her.

“This is going to be bad,” Britta noted, but the triplets followed. The cousins followed. And so did Shen. Because he needed Stevie back. Safe and all of her just like she was. If that meant doing things he wouldn’t be proud of, he was ready.

They got back into the armored van that was waiting for them right outside the Sports Center, but this time Max drove and Charlie sat in the passenger’s seat. No one spoke. No one moved. They all just waited.

After they drove for a little while, Max double-parked the van in front