bit down on her lip. Why do you have to be so wise?
Just a curse I get .
Not a good time to make that kind of joke. Curses are not amusing . She groaned.
Kendrick pulled her out into the yard. She didn’t have any clothes on since her shift, and the cold blast of what felt like arctic air assaulted her skin. She cried out.
“Oh. Are you cold? That’s just too bad.” Kendrick tugged her even harder across the yard. “It’s cold this time of year in Canada. What can I say?”
“Is that where we are? Canada?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Or perhaps we’re in Alaska. Or maybe somewhere else entirely. I’m never going to tell you where we are. I can promise you if you try to leave there is nowhere to go.”
“I’m not going to run away, father-in-law. I’m going to endure.”
Kendrick laughed. “You amuse me, daughter-in-law. I must say. It’ll never be dull with you around. But you will bow down to me. I promise you that.”
He shoved her inside of a shed. Three men in white lab coats surrounded a table. She sniffed the air. Besides the three individuals, one of whom she scented as Claudius—he always stank like old tobacco, not an aroma she could tolerate for very long—one other man resided in the room.
Carrie looked left and right, desperately trying to find who else was around her. Getting caught unawares wouldn’t do, not with Kendrick around.
Finally, she saw a toe at the end of the table. Someone lay in the center of the men in the lab coats.
Kendrick let go of her arm. Drawn by curiosity, she moved forward until she could see the owner of the toe, the male she hadn’t been able to locate upon entrance in the shed.
He must have been young based on his smell. Carrie tried to focus on that fact. The rest of who the man had been—or maybe even still was —had been so distorted she wouldn’t have recognized him as human.
Where his nose should have been, she saw a muzzle instead. His mouth remained human and his eyes, which rolled around in his head, changed from wolf to human and back again in the course of a few seconds. He had fur on his body but his bones had not yet shifted, although given the awkward angle of his arms, they looked like they had tried.
Carrie covered her mouth to try to stop the sound but she couldn’t help herself when it happened. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Kendrick had made a monster.
Chapter 5
Twenty years after the destruction
“Tell the old man I don’t have anything to report and if he wants to keep harassing me for information that doesn’t exist he’s going to get caught and then this whole thing will be for nothing.”
Gabriel didn’t look up at the man who walked beside him. He didn’t have to. Recognizing Claudius’ putrid scent happened to be downright easy. Someone should tell him to take a shower some time.
“He’s getting impatient. You haven’t had anything useful in too long. He’d like to remind you that he has Carrie, and her well-being is dependent on you doing what you said you would do.”
“I’m not likely to ever forget.” Without turning, Gabriel reached out and grabbed Claudius by the throat. With a shove, he had him up against the wall of the building they passed. Winter in Portland meant seasonal restaurants were closed. No one would be coming around the bend to see the scene Gabriel intended to create.
Claudius gasped for air. “If you kill me, Kendrick will kill her.”
Gabe shook his head. “I don’t think so. Seems to me that if you were really pivotal to the operations at Kendrick’s place you’d still be there. What’s the matter? Now that he has his plans in place and Drea by his side, you’ve become, what, sort of the fifth wheel to all this insanity?”
His father’s comrade gurgled as Gabriel increased the pressure on his throat. “Tell my dad I’ll report when there is something to report. There’s nothing new going on. Back off.”
He dropped Claudius on the ground with a thump. “If I
Just a curse I get .
Not a good time to make that kind of joke. Curses are not amusing . She groaned.
Kendrick pulled her out into the yard. She didn’t have any clothes on since her shift, and the cold blast of what felt like arctic air assaulted her skin. She cried out.
“Oh. Are you cold? That’s just too bad.” Kendrick tugged her even harder across the yard. “It’s cold this time of year in Canada. What can I say?”
“Is that where we are? Canada?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Or perhaps we’re in Alaska. Or maybe somewhere else entirely. I’m never going to tell you where we are. I can promise you if you try to leave there is nowhere to go.”
“I’m not going to run away, father-in-law. I’m going to endure.”
Kendrick laughed. “You amuse me, daughter-in-law. I must say. It’ll never be dull with you around. But you will bow down to me. I promise you that.”
He shoved her inside of a shed. Three men in white lab coats surrounded a table. She sniffed the air. Besides the three individuals, one of whom she scented as Claudius—he always stank like old tobacco, not an aroma she could tolerate for very long—one other man resided in the room.
Carrie looked left and right, desperately trying to find who else was around her. Getting caught unawares wouldn’t do, not with Kendrick around.
Finally, she saw a toe at the end of the table. Someone lay in the center of the men in the lab coats.
Kendrick let go of her arm. Drawn by curiosity, she moved forward until she could see the owner of the toe, the male she hadn’t been able to locate upon entrance in the shed.
He must have been young based on his smell. Carrie tried to focus on that fact. The rest of who the man had been—or maybe even still was —had been so distorted she wouldn’t have recognized him as human.
Where his nose should have been, she saw a muzzle instead. His mouth remained human and his eyes, which rolled around in his head, changed from wolf to human and back again in the course of a few seconds. He had fur on his body but his bones had not yet shifted, although given the awkward angle of his arms, they looked like they had tried.
Carrie covered her mouth to try to stop the sound but she couldn’t help herself when it happened. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Kendrick had made a monster.
Chapter 5
Twenty years after the destruction
“Tell the old man I don’t have anything to report and if he wants to keep harassing me for information that doesn’t exist he’s going to get caught and then this whole thing will be for nothing.”
Gabriel didn’t look up at the man who walked beside him. He didn’t have to. Recognizing Claudius’ putrid scent happened to be downright easy. Someone should tell him to take a shower some time.
“He’s getting impatient. You haven’t had anything useful in too long. He’d like to remind you that he has Carrie, and her well-being is dependent on you doing what you said you would do.”
“I’m not likely to ever forget.” Without turning, Gabriel reached out and grabbed Claudius by the throat. With a shove, he had him up against the wall of the building they passed. Winter in Portland meant seasonal restaurants were closed. No one would be coming around the bend to see the scene Gabriel intended to create.
Claudius gasped for air. “If you kill me, Kendrick will kill her.”
Gabe shook his head. “I don’t think so. Seems to me that if you were really pivotal to the operations at Kendrick’s place you’d still be there. What’s the matter? Now that he has his plans in place and Drea by his side, you’ve become, what, sort of the fifth wheel to all this insanity?”
His father’s comrade gurgled as Gabriel increased the pressure on his throat. “Tell my dad I’ll report when there is something to report. There’s nothing new going on. Back off.”
He dropped Claudius on the ground with a thump. “If I
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