Black Moon

soldiers!”

“I don’t keep my test subjects in cages. They’re strictly volunteers.”

“I can’t believe you said that with a straight face.” He shook his head, pushed angrily to his feet and paced a few feet away to put distance between them. “I saw with my own eyes two of our team members being held in cages. They’d been tortured and experimented on, one of them for months!”

Malik stood, looking troubled. “Ah. You’re referring to Orson Chappell’s and Dr. Gene Bowman’s unfortunate decisions. They became a bit fanatical in their approach.”

“You don’t say,” Kalen mocked. “And you didn’t seduce or coerce them into performing the heinous shit they did in the name of science, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t, not that I expect you to believe me.”

“I don’t. You had to know what was going on.”

“Whether you believe me or not doesn’t change anything. And it certainly doesn’t change my goal, which I must say is a worthy one.”

“To create this perfect breed of super-shifters.”

“Yes.” The Unseelie’s eyes lit with excitement. “What if we could perfect a soldier whose supernatural abilities far exceed any of the humans’ weapons in existence? What if humans were no longer the top of the pyramid of intelligent life on earth? Can you imagine being a part of implementing the greatest fundamental change to civilization in the history of the universe? The soldiers would work for you and me, and the planet would belong to the Fae, shifters, vampires, and every other creature who’s had to live in the shadows for centuries. Like you and I have been forced to live.”

“That’ll never happen. Powerful men in history have tried shit along those lines and ended up with their heads on pikes.”

“Men have tried. Never an Unseelie king.”

Tired, he rubbed his eyes. “Show-and-tell time, Malik. Let’s see what you’ve got or I’m leaving.”

“I was getting to that before our little debate about what constitutes evil. And I happen to know that a bit of sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.” He held up a hand before Kalen could voice further argument. “We’ll put the super-shifter issue to rest for the evening. Follow me.”

“Where to now?” he muttered.

But the other male didn’t answer. Kalen followed the Unseelie through the house, turning over in his mind all the stuff Malik had told him. He still couldn’t grasp, well, any of it.

Jesus fuck, he was Fae. Like Sariel, Malik’s half Seelie–half Unseelie son and the Pack’s good friend. Maybe he could trust the guy to answer some questions for him discreetly. Once Sariel recovered and got over the fact that Kalen had been seduced into letting the witch loose, who then almost killed Sariel on his daddy’s orders. Yeah, the Fae prince would be happy to have a heart-to-heart with Kalen, become best buddies.

Right. That would happen.

Kalen was brought out of his thoughts when Malik reached a doorway off the kitchen. The doorway opened to a flight of stairs that led down. Right into a dark, creepy basement, it appeared.

Kalen balked. “You want me to go down there with you? I’ve seen this movie, and it didn’t end so good for the stupid hero.”

“I’m not going to harm you. You have my word.”

“I’m sure that promise is worth framing and hanging on the wall.”

Malik descended the steps, waving a hand as he passed. Several lights came on, and at least Kalen could see to the landing at the bottom. With a sigh, he went after the Unseelie. If he was making a mistake, this would likely be his last.

Kalen was completely unprepared for what he found.

In the center of the basement floor, hanging with his arms bound above his head, was a man he recognized. A big son of a bitch he’d met just once before—

That night, weeks ago, when the guy and his hick asshole buddies had attacked Kalen at the Cross-eyed Grizzly.

Billy Beer Gut.

Four

“What the fuck’s going on here?” Kalen looked from the frightened man back to the Unseelie. “Why do you have this shithead tied up in your basement?”

The shithead in question darted his gaze from him to Malik, eyes bulging in fear. The sharp stench of urine reached his nose. It permeated the room, and a dark stain was visible at the crotch of the man’s dirty jeans.

“I see you remember Billy,” Malik said pleasantly, as though they were getting reacquainted over a nice dinner of wine and lobster. “He’s been kind enough to join us for a brief reunion.”

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but Billy is good and scared now. Right, Billy?”

“Y-yeah! I got no beef with either of ya’ll!”

“See? I’m sure that’s what you wanted, and you’ve had your fun. Let him go and I’ll wipe his mind. He won’t remember this ever happened.”

“What would be the point in that? He has to know what he’s done wrong.”

Before I kill him went unspoken, but Kalen was suddenly, dreadfully sure that’s what Malik had planned. “He knows. Isn’t that so, Billy?”

The man found his voice, nodding emphatically. “H-hell, yeah! R-right! I recognize the purty fella here, from that night at the Grizzly.” He laughed nervously as though sharing a joke. “We don’t git many dudes like him in our neck of the woods and we was just havin’ us a little fun, that’s all! I swear we wasn’t gonna hurt him or nothin’!”

“As though you could.” Malik scoffed in contempt. “Fat slug of a human.”

“H-human?” He glanced around in confusion.

“Malik, please. Let him go.”

“He must pay, my pet.”

“For what? Him and his buddies ganging up on me? It’s not the first time that’s happened, and you can’t go around killing everyone who tries to walk all over me. . . .”

He trailed off, seeing the catlike expression on Malik’s handsome face. The triumph. And in that moment he realized two things.

First, the hapless Billy wasn’t leaving this basement alive.

Second, Malik had killed on his behalf before. When? How many? Every single person in the entire time Malik had been following him, since he was a homeless teenager?

“Yes,” the Unseelie answered his thoughts. “Every last one. And they were delicious.”

“Christ.” Kalen pushed a hand through his hair, feeling sick. Helpless. He couldn’t think of that now. “You can’t do this.”

“I really can. More important, you won’t stop me.”

“You think not? I’m just as powerful as you, and I’m fully capable—”

“But you won’t. My boy, this is why I brought you here—to show you that essentially there is no difference between you and me.” He gripped Kalen’s shoulder and brought their foreheads so close they almost touched. Kalen didn’t pull away as Malik went on.

“You want this scum dead for what he did to you,” Malik intoned gently. “He’s a symbol of all those who’ve hurt you again and again throughout your life. You want him to pay, don’t you?”

“No! Killing is wrong.”

“You’ve been beaten and worse by men like this, when you were little more than a boy. Before you fully came into your powers. Am I correct?”

“Yeah,” he said bitterly.

“Just once, you want to feel what it’s like to show one of them what it means to be completely at your mercy.”