“One of my favorites,” Larson added. “Such an entertaining toxin.”
Larson’s favorite experiments were the ones that drew a physical reaction. The ones that made Jesse’s heart stop, the ones that made him froth at the mouth, all but writhing in agony.
For so long, Jesse had looked over his shoulder, vigilant, half-expecting to be attacked with no way of protecting himself. He’d run through various scenarios: being drugged, being captured again. He’d gone into so many panic attacks, thinking he was back at the Facility.
And here Larson was, picking up a scalpel, tracing its pointed end down Jesse’s chest.
He was Jesse’s worst nightmare. Jesse struggled with the fear clogging up his throat, the helplessness that made him want to lash out. All his instincts screamed at him to run. He couldn’t.
“While that shot settles in, we’ll investigate this curious protrusion.” Larson’s scalpel paused at the start of Jesse’s abdomen, where the bump was.
Jesse froze. His heart pounded. And an amused smile spread across Larson’s face.
“Oh, did you find out about this little surprise?”
“Fuck off,” Jesse snarled.
Larson pushed the scalpel into Jesse’s skin, breaking it. Jesse stopped breathing. And the doctor brought their faces close, all the cheer slipping away from his expression, leaving a chilling stare. “It seems you’re no longer a virgin.” The doctor had awful sour breath. “We’ll replace your internal organs and restore you to your previous glory.”
Oily horror slid through Jesse’s veins. “You can’t do that.”
“Of course we can.” Larson drew his scalpel down, opening more and more of Jesse’s midsection—a shallow incision. Pain bloomed through Jesse’s insides. “I’ve already harvested some cells. In a few months, we’ll have everything to make you completely untouched. This should go, too. We’ll put in an uncontaminated one.”
Larson called one of his assistants over. Jesse watched in horror as the scalpel dug deeper into him. Straight for the uterus.
He’d been wavering over that thing inside him for the past several weeks. He still hadn’t decided if he wanted it. It had come from Larson.
But seeing Larson’s scalpel now—he wasn’t giving Jesse a choice at all. And Dom wanted that baby. That was Dom’s baby that Larson was about to pull out.
Dom had tried damn fucking hard to get Jesse to leave the parking lot with him. He’d been there, over and over, lifting Jesse out of his bad moments. Jesse had wanted to go home with Dom, he’d wanted to share Dom’s bed again, because he’d felt so damn safe in Dom’s arms.
Now that Jesse had been captured... If he never managed to see Dom again, if Larson was too late to administer an antidote and Jesse died at his hands—that baby was all Jesse had left of his alpha. A reminder of the kindness Dom had shown him.
He couldn’t let Larson take that baby.
He twisted himself away; the scalpel slipped and dug into his side. “You don’t need that out,” Jesse hissed.
Annoyance flickered through Larson’s face. Then, a calculating delight. “Have you... become attached to this?”
He stroked Jesse’s abdomen with the back of his scalpel, looking thoughtful. “What if I let you keep the fetus?” Larson asked slowly. “Maybe we should observe this pregnancy. I’ll remove it closer to the due date.”
Jesse didn’t dare to breathe. That sounded too good to be true. What was the catch?
Larson picked up another vial. “Of course, we should resume the toxin trials.” Larson’s smile grew. “I wonder how that would affect the fetus.”
Jesse’s stomach turned so hard, he thought he would throw up right there. “No,” he snarled, yanking at his bonds, trying to break them. Something had to give. And then he’d kill Larson, once and for all.
Larson leaned away, pushing a syringe into the new vial. “This one interacts with the previous toxin,” he said. “It’ll get better.”
Jesse snarled and thrashed. The doctor jabbed the syringe into his side. Pain clawed through Jesse; he panted and tried to breathe through it, but his lungs were closing up, his throat tightening. His vision flickered into darkness, and then it came back.
He couldn’t let Larson do this to him. He had someone to protect.
Jesse roared and heaved, and the metal chains snapped somewhere, freeing his shoulder and arm. His fist connected with Larson’s nose, crunching it. Larson’s glasses broke; fury flashed in his eyes.
“Ingrate,” Larson snapped. He waved his assistants over. They drew their tranquilizer guns, and Larson picked his scalpel back up. “Maybe you should be taught a lesson.”
Jesse had the faint thought that maybe Dom might not arrive in time with his help. He wished desperately that he could see Dom again. He wished that he could’ve left Dom on a brighter note. That he could’ve told Dom it didn’t matter whether Dom loved him or not, Jesse would keep the baby. Because it was Dom’s, because his entire soul was Dom’s.
He fought down the panic surging through his chest, yanking hard on his other arm. More chains snapped; he could sit up now. His legs were still tied.
“Fire,” Larson ordered.
Darts shot into Jesse’s arms, his chest. He yanked them out and lunged. In the split second before he toppled the table with his momentum, Jesse plunged the darts into Larson’s neck.
His weight took him down; the needles snapped. He fell onto the floor with the doctor beneath him, Larson swearing.
Then the doctor stabbed his scalpel into Jesse’s middle, right where the uterus was.
Jesse’s conscious mind shut down. It left only his instincts, and the roaring fear that pounded through his veins.
He was going to kill.
29
Dom Comes to the Rescue
Dom didn’t know how many strings Nate pulled, but it was probably enough to weave a blanket.
The blades of the helicopter whirred above. Nate was silent as he scrutinized the landscape, guiding the chopper over the forest, then some hills. In the distance, the rising sun tinted the sky a pale orange.
It had been hours.
Dom swallowed the anxiety that crept up his throat. He needed to be at Sinclair’s side right now. Hours ago. But Nate
