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  “Secure that bitch,” a stranger demanded.

  Pain lanced through her. Whoever had her hair fisted in his hand was crushing her face against the unforgiving tile. The boot on her ass held her down so forcefully that she wondered if her hipbones would break from the pressure. The handcuffs being placed on her wrists were tightened to an excruciating point. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She would have screamed again but the pain became too intense. She had a hard time even breathing.

  “Someone shot out the electrical box on this floor,” a man stated.

  “The dumb bitch probably thought she’d kill the power to the elevator. Let’s get these doors open. I have a feeling we have live ones, guys. Let’s rescue them. We need to move fast. We don’t want this place to end up like what happened at that testing facility in Michigan last year. It could be wired to explode.”

  Jeanie focused on one word. Rescue. They weren’t guards who worked at the facility. The men holding her down were cops. The fact that they hadn’t shot her already was secondary proof of their identity. She managed to suck in more air, breathing a sigh of relief. They won’t kill me.

  Loud pops sounded. Some smoke filled the area but it wasn’t suffocating, more of a slight taste in her mouth and an acrid smell. She just lay there, hoping for respite. Her eyes closed—keeping them open seemed impossible. The boot on her ass shifted a little but it didn’t ease up on the weight holding her down.

  “We’re here to save you,” a soothing male voice stated. “We work for people just like you who have been freed from these testing facilities. We’re going to take you out of here to your own kind.”

  “Hello,” a deeper voice said. His tone was quieter but it carried. “I’m like you. See? We’ve come to rescue you. You are free now. These humans with us are good ones who work with our kind. We’ll take you to a safe place. We need to get you out of here. No one is ever going to chain you up again.”

  She listened, hearing the same speech multiple times while they cleared cells of the test subjects down the hall. All fifteen of them on that floor had survived. She hoped the ones a floor above had been equally as lucky and that no one had managed to break through their cell doors. The cops were using some form of small explosive devices, something the facility guards didn’t have access to.

  “Wait,” a soft, feminine voice protested. “Get off her. Tech Shiver?”

  A gentle hand brushed hair away from Jeanie’s cheek. She forced her eyes open. It was difficult to even focus, the pain and coldness that racked her body growing worse. A pair of familiar dark eyes stared back at her and she tried to smile at 433. The other woman had dropped to her hands and knees next to Jeanie, so close to the floor that their faces were inches apart.

  Jeanie opened her mouth to assure her everything was going to be fine, wanting 433 to know that she could trust her rescuers, but nothing came out. She couldn’t speak. Her throat was too dry and exhaustion had taken hold. 433 brushed her thumb along her cheekbone, growled, before jerking her head up. The sound deepened into a threatening one.

  “She helped us. Get off her!”

  “She’s not your concern.” The man spoke softly but his tone was firm. “Please back away from the prisoner.”

  The thumb left Jeanie’s face and 433 rose to her feet, snarling. “Get off her! She killed them to save me. I smell her blood and she’s hurt. She needs a doctor.”

  “Forget it. Let the bitch die,” the same man stated.

  433 stepped closer and Jeanie couldn’t move her head enough to see what was going on but the weight on her ass was suddenly gone. A man grunted.

  Another growl sounded, far deeper in pitch. “What is going on?” The angry voice belonged to the man who’d given the speech over and over to the men and women they’d been rescuing, claiming to be one of them.

  “She saved my life. That guard on the floor came in to kill me but she shot him first. She said help was coming and she had to disable the locks on the doors to protect us. She was hurt but your males have hurt her more. She is always kind to our people. She stopped a guard from mounting me last month.” 433 sounded pissed and frantic. “Make them help her, please. She’s hurt. Smell her blood.”

  “Do as she says,” the deep voice commanded. “Get help for the human female. We’ll sort this out later.

  “She’s an employee here.” Someone yanked on her coat. “Here’s her card with her picture. She’s one of them,” a man declared. “Technician Jeanie Shiver.”

  A deep snarl sounded and the rough grips securing her hands and hair were gone. Someone else grabbed her arms and she groaned when she was gently rolled onto her side. Pain made her cry out. She closed her eyes and felt blackness taking her. I’m dying.

  “Look at me,” a deep voice snarled.

  Jeanie forced her eyes open again. More flashlights had been added until the hallway was now well lit. 710 glared down at her. His dark gaze swirled with fury but she saw recognition there. He remembered her.

  She studied him. He was tanner than he had ever been and his blond hair had grown longer. He wore all-black clothing and his vest had white NSO lettering, which stood for New Species Organization. She’d been given proof that 710 had survived the rescue assault she’d helped set up on the testing facility but had never thought she’d get to see him in person again.

  “Shiver,” he rasped, his voice sounding harsh but gentle at the same time.

  She blinked at him, holding his gaze, running her tongue over her dry lips. She tried to speak but nothing came out. His nose flared as he inhaled and a scary growl tore from his parted lips as he looked at someone behind her.

  “Your men shot her?”

  “She was that way when we found her. There were two dead security officers also shot.” The man who spoke sighed. “It looked as though they turned on each other.”

  “Get help for her now,” 710 snarled. “She’s dying.”

  “Okay. Medic, come to the subbasement, lowest floor. We have a critically injured.”

  Another man snorted. “Let the bitch die. They obviously shot each other to avoid being caught for questioning. It will save us from having to kill her later.”

  710 obviously disagreed. “Get those handcuffs off.”

  Jeanie moaned as someone touched her and pain shot up her shoulder and down her injured side as the metal was removed from her wrists. It hurt to move but she wanted to touch 710 just once more. She knew she wasn’t going to survive, despite medical intervention. One glance at the pool of blood she lay in was enough to convince her of that grim fact.

  She reached out and covered his hand with hers where it rested on the floor as he crouched over her. His face was only inches from hers. She curled her fingers around the back of his fist. He felt really warm, where she was so cold. She clung to him as tightly as possible.

  He glanced down at the contact but didn’t jerk away from her touch. She was afraid he might. Blood soaked her hand, staining his as well. She half expected him to get pissed. She just longed to touch him. She was scared to die alone.

  He lifted his gaze to hers. He turned his hand under her palm and tightly clasped her fingers. Gratitude filled her that he’d care enough to attempt to give her some comfort. She licked her lips again, desperate to get words out.

  “I tried to save them all. Did they make it? Did they all survive?”

  He blinked. “They made it. No Species died.”

  Tears blinded her but she blinked them back, desperate to keep him in focus. She’d succeeded in saving all the men and women trapped inside the building. It had come at a high price but she had known the risks when she’d driven to work that morning. So many of them—all those lives were more important than hers. She closed her eyes and a sense of peace came, blocking out some of the pain.

  “Shiver?” He growled her name. “Open your eyes.”

  The demand was one she couldn’t resist as she peered at him again. He’d inched closer until his warm breath fanned her lips. Breathing t