She let out a little sigh of relief. “You’re lucky to be alive. I admire how brave you are, but please don’t feel you need to hide anything from me. IMRA supports our employees, especially those who experience unfortunate incidents like yours.”
She walked to a filing cabinet in the back of the room and began to rummage through it. Over her shoulder, she continued to speak as she worked. “The most important thing is that you’re back, alive and in one piece. We’ll address any other needs that stem from this, as appropriate. I saw the monster earlier today, and I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.”
Inwardly, I balked at the word monster.His name is Athos, I thought to myself. I had to bite my tongue to keep from correcting her.
Seeming to find the paper that she had been searching for, she pulled something out of a folder. Taking it in her hand, she crossed the room once more to stand before me, holding it out.
“You saw him?” I asked carefully.
“Yes.” She nodded briskly, stretching her arm further to invite me to take whatever it was in her hand. Remembering myself, I reached for it. “You spent days in his presence. It really is a testament to your survival skills. You must be an excellent hunter.”
My mind was a jumbled mess. There was so much I wanted to say in response, but almost none of it was something I could reveal. If I told her that I didn’t survive at all, but he took care of me, what would she say to that?
Instead, I glanced down at the paper in my hand. It was a little brochure with a few mental health tips. At the bottom, it read, “Can’t wait? In distress? Need an immediate response?” and listed a twenty-four-hour hotline. It was the sort of impersonal, legally required, lawsuit avoidant write up that HR teams all over the country handed out every day.
“Keep this on hand while you’re on leave. We’ll check in with you, of course, and re-evaluate when you return to work. If there’s anything that we can do for you, or if you have a concern not being addressed, please feel free to come directly to me if need be. I want to help you heal and recover.”
Her voice sounded genuine, and I wondered if she’d really convinced herself that he was the bad guy here. Was she being dishonest, or just biased?
I looked up from the paper, trying hard not to look too disinterested. “Thank you. Were any other hunters hurt trying to capture him?”
She shook her head. “No, the second attempt was unremarkable.”
“Did they have to hurt him to take him in?” I prodded further.
“No. He’s waiting in the lab now while we decide what to do with him. As a specimen, he came in excellent condition, so the only delay is on our end.”
“A lab here?” I couldn’t help the intrigue that crept into my voice.
She nodded again. “Yes. Would you like to see him?” Her voice sounded surprised, as though she couldn’t imagine why I would, but she was trying to conceal her shock. “Perhaps it would help with your trauma… to see him contained.”
I hesitated, but finally shook my head no. I did want to see him, but not in a cage. And not with this woman watching us. At least I had some concrete answers. All I could do now was go home and start thinking of my next step.
Chapter Twelve
Athos
Twenty-four hours of captivity. It was hard to tell, exactly… the passage of time. The cage was completely empty, with nothing that would give me a clue as to the time or day. The bright fluorescent lights overhead were kept at a consistent level, never turning off. Day or not, it was all the same.
I had nothing. No stimulation, no entertainment, no mental activities to keep myself occupied. All I had was the glass and metal that surrounded me, and they never changed.
The only clue that I had available was the food they gave me. I supposed that was something – at least I wasn’t being starved. It turned out that there was a door to access my cage, though it blended seamlessly with the rest of the glass. I hadn’t even been able to detect it until two men entered my cage to clean it.
The door also had a narrow hole that served as a food port. It slid open when they pressed a nearby keypad. The men would shove a tray with food and drink into my cage, and then come to collect it later. I had been served three meals during my stay. I assumed they translated into some variation of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, though I couldn’t see any discernible difference in what they served to tell which meal was which.
The men didn’t try to engage me in conversation when they arrived. Even when they entered to clean my cage, they did it by using long tools and remaining as far away as possible. The only words they said was when one of the men warned me that he had a stun gun, and he’d use it if I moved.
I didn’t. I didn’t want to harm them, anyway. They weren’t my captors, even if they worked for them. For all I knew, they were just as confused as Claire, conscripted by an evil agency to do their bidding.
Other than their occasional, brief, and mostly silent appearance, I was completely alone. Alone with nothing but my thoughts, which turned out to be mostly Claire. One would think that I’d spend more time focused on myself. Wondering how to get out of my current predicament. Worrying about what would happen to me.
But Claire consumed me, and there was little room for anything else. I missed her in a way that felt suffocating and profound. My insides ached, longing for her.
Where was she? What was she doing now? I hoped that she was well, and that these people were taking better care of her than they were of me. I hoped she wasn’t being subjected to the same tortures as me. But, if she was free to move around like the other workers, why hadn’t I heard from her? Why did I have to look at the faces of two strangers when they brought me my meals, instead of her?
She’d explained her job briefly to me. I knew, of course, that it wasn’t part of this… this science lab, or wherever it was. But couldn’t she at least try to send a message? Were they really limiting her so severely?
My misery and loneliness were only compounded by the fact that, since our inadvertent separation, I had become entirely convinced that Claire was my mate. I felt as though I couldn’t spend another minute away from her, but I was being given no choice. What could I do to take my mate back? To resume my ordained position by her side?