Sloane did as he was instructed, providing a urine sample and allowing Reuter to draw blood. They inspected every inch of his body, poking him, prodding, scanning him with their equipment, making notes. They checked his height, weight, and muscle mass; listened to his heart; did an ECG and a full-body CT scan.

  Dr. Reuter clearly thought he was either stupid or didn’t care, because there was absolutely no reason to run all these tests on him. He pretended to be bored, even while he made a mental note of everything and everyone. Keane would take care of any files and information later. It was unlikely Vaughan would share any of it yet. Not until he had his golden goose where he wanted him.

  A couple of hours later, Reuter was done with the tests. Sloane let out a loud yawn, and she smiled at him.

  “Why don’t you take a little nap? We’ll wake you up and get you back to your Human in an hour. How’s that sound?”

  “Sounds great.” Sloane got himself comfortable and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds around him as everyone left his private room, the lights turning off promptly after. As soon as the door closed, he opened his eyes and stretched. The room was empty, the guards having left as well. He doubted they’d gone far.

  He got up, grabbed his clothes off the chair, and quickly dressed. He slid the heel on one of his shoes to remove a tiny black box, then opened the box to reveal the clear circular sticker-like object. He stuck it behind his right ear. “You there?”

  “We’re here,” Keane replied. “Scanning the room now. Clear to initialize mapping device.”

  Sloane pressed his thumb to the gunmetal plate on his belt, activating the scanner. Anything and everything around him would be scanned and sent to Keane’s computer.

  “Since the lab isn’t on the resort’s network, there has to be a server room somewhere in there. I’m going to need you to find it and get me backdoor access,” Keane informed him. “Watch out for cameras. Use the blind spots.”

  “Copy that.” Sloane grabbed a pair of gloves from the nurse’s station across the room and pulled those on as he hurried over to the set of double doors at the end. Checking the coast was clear, he slipped out through the doors into a wide gray hall with several doors and additional hallways. Fuck, this place was big. How the hell was he supposed to find the server room? Wait. He tapped his earpiece.

  “K, where are the highest spikes of electricity coming from?”

  “There’s more than one, but they’re located Northwest of your location.”

  Sloane hurried down the hall, his Therian hearing picking up every sound. He made a left and hurried to the next hall, but he heard someone approaching. Keeping as close to the wall as possible, he stilled and steadied his breathing. When a door closed, he took a quick peek, then hurried out, turning right into the hall and moving quickly. The sound of another door closing somewhere close by had him ducking into an entryway to wait. He held his breath. Not only did he not have a lot of time, but he also couldn’t afford to get caught. Playing dumb would only get him so far.

  “You’re close to one of the bigger spikes,” Kean said into his ear.

  At the end of the hall, Sloane spotted a closed door. That had to be it. He took a step, but his Therian hearing picked up heavy footsteps coming from the next hallway. Shit. He needed to hurry. Sloane took off, running for the end of the corridor. They were almost at the door. Sloane slid to a halt in front of the door he needed, then opened it, slipped inside, and closed the door quietly behind him just as a guard walked by. Sloane stood against the wall, waiting for them to pass, before hurrying to the computer on the small metal table at the end of the room. The place was mostly occupied by servers and equipment.

  “Found it.” Sloane removed one of his shoes, and this time, he removed a small slim silver box from the heel. He slid it open, revealing the translucent sticker-like square. He stuck it to the back of the computer’s monitor. The screen flickered and a black screen with a red and white bullseye flashed, then disappeared.

  “I’m in,” Keane informed him. “Running backdoor access and taking over the security feed. Doing a scan, mapping the facility, and searching for the lab. You won’t have long.”

  “I know.” Sloane needed to scan as much of the facility as possible, and if he could find where they were keeping Cory and the other Therians, even better. They had to be somewhere in this place.

  Talking caught his ear, and Sloane silently hurried over to the door to peek outside. The two guards who’d entered the hall earlier were standing a couple of yards from the door in the direction Sloane had come in.

  “Where are we?” Sloane whispered.

  “I’ve got control of the security feed. Downloading intel off the servers. It looks like the lab is on the other side of the server room. You’ve got thirty-four minutes before Reuter comes looking for you.”

  “My exit is blocked,” Sloane said. He moved around the server room, checking the ceiling and floors. Bingo. “Where’s the air vent in the server room go?”

  “Lots of places. Oh, there’s a vent in a utility closet across the lab.”

  “Perfect.”

  “I suggest you hurry. The guards are heading back your way.”

  Sloane dropped to his knees in front of the vent. It was shielded by one of the huge servers. He opened the gunmetal buckle in his belt and removed a small screwdriver. The voices down the hall got closer to the door as he quickly removed the vent. Crawling inside feet first, he kept the screws in his hand and secured the vent back in place. Unless someone took a really good look, they wouldn’t notice the screws were gone.

  Being too big to turn around in the duct, Sloane carefully and silently crawled backward through the duct until he reached an intersecting duct. He turned just as Keane spoke up.

  “Go straight, then make a left, right, then another right.”

  Sloane quickly did as he was instructed. He had twenty minutes left before he had to be back in the hospital bed in his room. Reaching his destination, he readied himself. There was no way to remove the screws from the inside, but this was where his Therian strength came in handy.

  “You’re clear.”

  “Copy that.” Shoving his hands into the vent, the white cover popped off. He winced at the noise it made when it hit the floor on the other side. After crawling out of the vent, he replaced the cover in case anyone came in here. He opened the door to the utility room, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end when he spotted the metal door in front of him. Closing the utility room door behind him, he swallowed hard and approached it. This was it. A large digital pad sat to the right of the door.

  Why wasn’t there more security around the lab? Sloane had expected the place to have guards posted up and down the corridor, especially outside the lab door. Was Vaughan that confident no one would find the place? Or that if they did, they wouldn’t get close to the lab? Was he confident no one would get out if they did find it?

  Interpol had been after Vaughan for years. The US branch of TIN was hardly the first agency to go after the guy. As far as Sloane knew, all the three-letter agencies were after Vaughan, monitoring him, sending agents after him. Why would he have so little security where he needed it the most?

  “Something doesn’t feel right,” Sloane said as he silently made his way down an empty corridor. “What do we know about Vaughan’s previous facilities?”

  “Nothing,” Keane replied. “No one has ever found any of them.”

  “I want you to cross-reference any countries Vaughan has been sighted in with any incidents connected to large property.”

  “What am I looking for?”

  “Vaughan covering his tracks.”

  “On it. Accessing the panel.” Keane hummed. “You’re right. It’s too easy. There’s no kind of retina scan or voice recognition needed to access the lab.”

  The pad turned green, and the door clicked.

  “I don’t like this,” Seb chimed in.

  Keane cursed in Spanish.

  “What?” Sloane asked, slipping inside the lab.

  “I think you’re onto something,” Keane said. “Every city where Vaughan has been sighted has had some kind of accidental explosion or fire in structures that could have easily been used for his shady business. In each instance, there have been casualties, but the bodies have been too burned to identify. It could very well have been Vaughan. Nothing was left behind that could connect to him in any way.”

  “That’s got to be him.” The lab was huge and brightly lit, with white walls lined with white cabinets. Rows of steel-topped tables stretched down the center, covered in all kinds of equipment, beakers, centrifuges, autoclaves, analyzers, microscopes, incubators, and more. At the end of the lab was a closed white door. His blood ran cold, and he knew whatever was on the other side, he wasn’t going to like it.

  “You’re running out of time,” Seb growled.

  Sloane forced himself over to the door, then stilled with his hand on the doorknob. Releasing a steadying breath, he braced himself and opened the door, the lights turning on as soon as he walked in. Sloane froze, bile rising in his throat, and he feared he might lose what little he had in his stomach.

  “What did you find?” Keane asked softly.

  Sloane walked into the cold room, his instincts drawing him to one of the steel slabs.

  “Sloane?”

  “I, uh, I found the morgue,” Sloane said hoarsely. A young male lion Therian lay dead on the steel table, chest open. “At least I think it’s a morgue.” He found another door and opened it, reeling back at the sight. “Oh God.” Tears stung the back of his eyes, and he covered his mouth with his fist. Bodies, a pile of them, stored inside a freezer.

  Sloane slowly approached, dead amber eyes staring up at him from the corpse at the top of the pile. He leaned over and closed the Therian’s eyes. “I’m so sorry we didn’t get here in time,” he whispered.

  “Sloane?” Seb asked.

  “I found… bodies. One’s a… jaguar Therian.”

  “Fuck. Sloane, you need to go,” Seb urged.

  Sloane nodded. “We have to put a stop to this.”

  “And we will, but we can’t have them catch you there.”

  “I know.” Sloane forced himself away. He closed the door and left the lab. There was no time to snoop around. They’d found the lab, had evidence of what Vaughan and Reuter were up to. First things first.

  As quickly and carefully as he could, Sloane went back the way he’d come, with Keane guiding him to avoid running into anyone around the facility. He made it back to his bed with just enough time to get undressed and leave his clothes on the chair exactly how he’d found them, then got into bed.

  The door opened and Reuter spoke from his bedside. “Time to wake up, Brodie.”

  Sloane groaned and pretended to stir. He slowly opened his eyes and frowned. “Has it been an hour already?”

  “Indeed it has. Time to go back to your Human.”

  Sloane wasn’t going to argue with that. He got up and got dressed. Unlike when he’d come in, he was escorted down a different corridor. This was one had no doors, except for the one at the end, and on the other side were stairs that led to the villa above the fighting ring. A bus waited outside, and he was escorted onto it.

  A quick headcount showed everyone was accounted for. Sloane walked to the end and took a seat in the empty spot next to Kenley. Knowing Kenley had been spared from fighting meant he’d gotten his injuries from Ramos, and that had Sloane wanting to claw the shit out of Ramos. Kenley was covered in bruises and cuts, a white bandage placed over one of his eyebrows and the bridge of his nose.

  The bus’s engine came to life, and Sloane leaned in subtly. “You okay?”

  Kenley blinked at him. He nodded quickly, then stared down at his fingers. On the ride over to the resort, Kenley snuck glances at Sloane but never said anything. Whatever Kenley’s story was, Sloane’s heart went out to him. It was obvious the poor kid wasn’t with Ramos and his wife because he wanted to be. How long had this abuse been going on? Sloane wished he could tell Kenley that everything was going to be all right, but he couldn’t. They had to get these kids out of here alive, and having their cover blown could risk that. He still had no idea how they were going to rescue the young Therians, only that they’d find a way somehow.

  The bus pulled up to the resort, and everyone hurried off. Sloane didn’t waste any time heading for his room. He needed a shower, but more importantly, he needed Dex. The sun was beginning to set, the sky alight with reds and oranges, as if the sky were on fire. Sloane tried to get the images of dead amber eyes out of his mind, but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

  Reaching their room, the door opened before he could knock, his husband having sensed his presence. Dex closed the door behind Sloane, the curtains drawn in the room. Dex didn’t say a word, just drew him into his arms and held him tight.

  “Hi, baby,” Sloane whispered against Dex’s neck as he embraced him.

  “Thank fuck. I was getting antsy.”

  “I know. I could feel it.”

  Sloane let his brow rest against Dex’s. For the first time in hours, he could breathe easy again. “I need a shower,” he grumbled. Reluctantly he released Dex. “Shower with me?”

  “Like you need to ask.” Dex kissed his cheek and led Sloane into their bathroom. “How about a nice bath instead?”

  Sloane hummed. “Even better.”

  They got undressed as the expansive tub filled with water and suds, the scent of lavender filling the air. Dex kissed him unhurriedly, letting Sloane know with each kiss how much he loved him. When the tub was full and the water shut off, Dex climbed in first and Sloane after, sitting in the hot water with his back to Dex’s chest. He closed his eyes with a groan. The water felt amazing against his skin, but his husband’s presence was even better. It didn’t quite feel like he’d washed off the underground facility he’d come from, but it was enough to remind him who he was and how much he was loved.

  “What did they do to you?” Dex asked quietly as he ran a soapy sponge over Sloane’s shoulder. “Who do I have to make disappear?”

  “No one yet,” Sloane said, laughing softly. “I’m fine, but…” He opened his eyes, but the image was seared into his brain. A new ghost to haunt him. “I found dead Therians.”

  Silence.

  Sloane could count on one hand the number of times Dex had been quiet this long.

  “That asshole used them and discarded them. A young lion Therian was dissected on a table, and in the room next to it, they’d… thrown the bodies in a heap, like trash.”

  Dex cursed under his breath. He ran his hands through Sloane’s hair, his voice relaying love, anger, and hurt. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “One of them was a jaguar Therian.”

  “Sweetheart…”

  “I can see his eyes when I close mine. That could have been me… Ash,” Sloane murmured.

  “But it wasn’t.” Dex massaged his scalp, and Sloane melted into his husband, letting him wash away the what-ifs and the horrors of Sloane’s past just as he had all those times over the years.

  “There’s more.”

  Dex’s sigh was heavy. “Of course there is.”

  “They came up with a serum for Post-shift. It works fast, removing the need to eat a Therian-sized Post-shift meal. It’s like you never shifted.”

  “What? What the hell is Vaughan going to do with it?”

  “Whatever will bring him the most money, no doubt.”

  “Fuck’s sake. You know what that serum could mean to Therians around the world? What it would do for the THIRDS, for TIN?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Sloane grumbled.

  “What about side effects?”

  “None, supposedly.”

  “Do you think Reuter was telling the truth?”

  “I think so. She seemed really proud of the fact there were no side effects.”

  “How— The virus.”

  “Yeah. My guess is they’re doing a lot more with it than trying to give Humans Therian traits.”

  “Fuckers.”

  “We need to bring Reuter in.”

  “Any luck on finding the virus?”

  “I found the lab but didn’t have time to snoop around. Something felt off, though.”

  “What do you mean?” Dex washed Sloane’s hair, his strong fingers moving deftly on Sloane’s scalp.

  “There was barely any security. I mean, there were Therian guards, but not as many as I expected, and none around the lab. Vaughan wouldn’t take stupid risks, and even if he was so secure in the fact no one could find or get access to the facility, the place should have been crawling with armed guards. It feels… wrong.”

  “We need to watch ourselves around Vaughan. If you feel something is off, we need to trust your gut.”

  Dex was right. They’d been doing this for too long to ignore their gut feelings. Vaughan was up to something. Could their cover have been blown? How would Vaughan know? And if it was, why wouldn’t Vaughan have moved against Sloane while he had him? Or was Vaughan that secure in his organization, in his never having been caught? They had no way of knowing how many guards Vaughan actually had working for him. Just because they hadn’t seen them, didn’t mean they weren’t there.

  They finished washing up and got dressed. Vaughan was expecting everyone, including the Therian playmates, for dinner on the roof. They dressed in suits for dinner, Dex a brilliant blue tailored three-piece suit with a matching tie and a white shirt, and Sloane a black one with a black shirt and tie. The roof was buzzing with conversation and laughter, everyone enjoying champagne or top-shelf liquor. Would they even be fazed by the pile of bodies in the lab? Doubtful.

  A waiter led Dex and Sloane to their table, and Dex thanked the man as they sat. He ordered a glass of expensive whisky, and Sloane ordered an imported beer. They looked at their menu and put in their order. Sloane might not have had to eat after shifting, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t starving.

  Vaughan appeared, looking like he belonged on some old seventies tropical island sitcom, complete with white linen suit, shirt with upturned collar, and straw fedora.