“No! I mean put him to sleep for a while. But it’s wearing off and they’re having trouble keeping him under control. They’ve bound him in silver chains and they’re bringing him here as soon as they land.”
She thought fast. “It won’t do them any good to bring him to the infirmary if he’s not injured.”
“Nick wants him sedated.”
“No. That won’t help. Sedation will render him incapable of defending himself mentally, and that will only give Malik an easier path into his mind.”
“Shit.” The general scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Then what do we do?”
God. No. It killed her to say it, but there was only one solution at the moment. “They need to take him to Block R.” My mate, forgive me. “Call Nick back. I have to ready a cell.”
She ran toward Block R, where they kept the creatures that required rehabilitation. The block housed several residents, chief among them Raven and Belial. Raven was the Pack member and former SEAL who’d been stuck in wolf form for more than five years. Belial was a sneaky, seductive basilisk who had yet to earn freedom to roam the compound.
And now it would house Kalen. Her heart ached for her Sorcerer. Quickly she used the keypad to unlock a cell away from the other residents, opened it, and studied the interior. There was nothing in it but a bed bolted to the floor and a mattress on top of the frame. No sheets or pillows. Nothing that he could use to harm himself.
Her father came around the corner and she heard the commotion heading their way from behind him. Kalen was screaming profanities, out of his head, and she braced herself for a horrible confrontation.
Or thought she had until Nick and several others came in to view, barely holding on to the Sorcerer, who was bound in silver chains. Her mate was enraged, twisting his body and slashing with his fangs to try to take a chunk out of his captors. When that didn’t work, he tried to utter a spell in Latin, but Nick slapped a hand over his mouth hard, risking a nasty bite to stop the chant.
“Bring him here!” Mac called.
They struggled but managed to maneuver him into the cell, where Nick and Jax tossed him across the space, then let him go and hauled ass out of there. As soon as they cleared the door, Mac and her father slid the heavy bars home. They locked into place with a loud clang that was awfully final.
Hands still bound behind his back with the chains, Kalen hit the bars, causing the whole door to rattle on its track. Mac stood immobile, watching the man she loved slam himself into one wall, then the other, totally out of his head.
“Let me go!” he screamed. “I’ll fucking kill you! Every last one of you! And I’ll laugh while I’m doing it!”
Tears welled in her eyes, trickled down her cheeks. She couldn’t stand seeing him like this. “Daddy,” she whispered, grabbing his hand. He held on to her tightly. “What can I do? How do we help him?”
“I don’t know, baby girl,” he murmured. The entire team gathered around, looking equally stricken.
“Feast on your carcasses,” Kalen raved. Laughing, he slid down the far wall next to the bed, uttering curses. Perhaps parts of spells that had no effect in the iron-and-silver-fortified room. His eyes were those of his cat, green, glittering, and elliptical. He smiled, showing off the huge fangs that had almost gotten a piece of his friends. “This is what I am. Blood will tell, won’t it?”
Nick stared at Kalen, his eyes suspiciously moist. “We can’t let him suffer like this.”
“I agree,” her father said.
Aric spoke up. “If we can’t reach him, he’ll eventually bring this place down around our ears. He’s too strong to be kept in a cell for long.”
Nick withdrew his gun from his waistband. “I’ll do it. He’s my responsibility.”
“What?” Mac shouted. “No! You can’t give up on him just like that! I can reach him. I know I can!”
“Honey,” her dad began, his face wretched.
“Please. I’m begging you. Give me a chance to get through to him.” Her voice broke. She trembled from head to toe, terrified that Nick would deny her plea.
“Mac, he’s too far gone,” Nick said gently, eyes sad.
“He’s a man, not a dog to be put down,” she spat angrily, wiping her cheeks. “He promised me he would fight this, and I know he’s in there somewhere.”
“God,” Jax breathed. “Where’s the justice in this? We gave him our word that we’d have his back. What’s our word worth if we let him drown the first time his head goes under water? Even Raven is still here, though he’s been stuck in wolf form for almost six years.”
“Raven isn’t a Fae Sorcerer with an Unseelie sire and the power to destroy the entire world as we know it.”
“Another chance, Nicky. Please.”
One by one, the guys voiced their agreement. Against their united front, Nick wavered, then finally relented. “Forty-eight hours. If he’s not showing signs of improvement, I won’t allow him to suffer any longer. Or to endanger us all.”
Even against the backdrop of Kalen’s vile rampage, the guys were visibly relieved. Kalen was one of their own, and they didn’t want to give up on him.
Nick slumped, looking wiped out. “I need to go check on Phoenix. Melina’s taking care of him.”
One by one the guys hugged Mac, then headed for the infirmary to await word on their old friend, found and home once more. Mac was torn, but opted to stay with Kalen for a while. Nick wouldn’t hear of her remaining behind alone and ordered A.J. to stay with her. Just in case. A.J. nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. He understood the situation very well. And he was trained to handle it.
Mac eyed the rifle with the wicked-looking scope slung over the sniper’s shoulder and her gut cramped in dread. She sent a prayer to whatever deity might be listening for her mate to come out of this safely. Alive and whole.
After the others were gone, Mac turned to A.J. “What happened at the research facility?”
The man shook his sandy brown head. “I was on a hillside doing my part to pick off the uglies. I didn’t know what was going on inside, but suddenly the central area of the building exploded and fell in. I raced down there, but it was all over by the time I picked my way to where the guys were.”
“Surely Nick told you something?”
The handsome man looked away. “Doc, all I know is that the team was ambushed. They were able to get into the research lab and the prisoners way too easily. Then a shitload more Sluagh arrived and they were outnumbered.”