Fury Read online

  “No.” She shook her head. She had been too afraid to tell her handler that she’d interfered, certain he’d be angry since she’d gone against direct orders to do nothing to make anyone at Mercile suspicious. Killing a technician to protect a New Species would have definitely done that. His words sank in. Suffered?

  “Were you too ashamed of what you’d done?”

  She hesitated. “You have no idea how much so. I―”

  “You told the guards I killed him,” he snarled, cutting her off. “You smeared his blood on my hands. Don’t bother denying it.”

  Hot tears of regret threatened to spill but she rapidly blinked them back. “I―” She swallowed. “I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t think they’d kill you or I never would have implied you’d been the one to kill Jacob. You have to bel−”

  “Believe you?” His dark gaze narrowed and a dangerous sound emanated from deep within the back of his throat. “It turned you on to see me suffering, to know what kind of cruelty you would cause me.”

  How does he know I was turned on? She didn’t dare ask but she wasn’t about to lie to him, considering she owed him far too much to do that. Her lips sealed. She was unsure how to explain to him why she’d responded so strongly to him because she couldn’t justify it. Her body’s response to him as a man under those circumstances had just been wrong.

  “It wasn’t because you suffered or that I planned to jab you with that needle. I had to make it look as if he’d died while trying to inject you to make the story believable. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m surprised you aren’t attempting to lie.”

  Ellie lifted her chin to meet his angry glower. “You’re right. My body did respond to being that close to you. I have no excuse. All I can do is apologize. I know it was immoral and I feel really guilty. You are…” She hesitated, about to tell him how attractive she found him. “You were naked and I couldn’t help but notice despite the horrific circumstances. I’m sorry.”

  Fury’s jaw tensed. She could see his features clearly now that only a few feet separated them. “You were working for Mercile Industries. Did you drag your feet on finding incriminating evidence? Did you enjoy what that technician did to me?” He snarled at her, flashed sharp teeth, and inched closer. “Did it turn you on that he harmed me and planned to rape me? Did you earn the trust of other Species males when you walked into their cells until they didn’t growl at you either? Did you lure them into a sense of being nonthreatening? Did you allow them to be blamed for things you did?” His nostril’s flared and he growled deep in his chest. “Who else did you betray?”

  Ellie reeled back at his vicious accusations, as if he’d physically struck her. “No! You were the only one I ever had to do that to. I tried to find enough proof for a judge to issue a warrant. How dare you! I collected samples, wrote reports, but I wasn’t given access to any of the older files that showed anything that would prove you existed down there. Every day they strip-searched us before we were allowed to leave. I couldn’t smuggle in a camera to prove what the hell they were doing to any of you or that you weren’t just a rumor. You have no idea how terrifying it was for me to go through the main door to that elevator every single shift. I always wondered if I’d ever see daylight again if they figured out I spied for the police. They would have killed me. The other employees talked and warned me what happened if Mercile even suspected anyone would turn against them. They cautioned that I’d just disappear and my body would never be found.”

  “If they stripped you then how did you smuggle evidence out?”

  Heat bloomed on her cheeks. “You really want to know?”

  “I do.” He snarled.

  “I swallowed it.”

  His features blanked for a second and then he frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “I had to make friends with a few of the doctors and that took time. I didn’t have access to anything vital but they did. I carefully gained their trust, became very close to a doctor who looked similar to me, and I switched lab coats with her during lunch. I stole her keycard, started wearing my hair the way she did, I tucked my head when I passed the security cameras and when I marched into her office. I’d seen her punch in her code a few times and remembered it to gain access to her office. I had a tiny computer data drive my handler had given me to copy files. I swallowed it. So many things could have gone wrong.”

  He stared at her, frowning.

  “I was sure they’d catch me and that guards would storm the office and kill me. You have no idea how terrified I felt walking out of there and praying I could switch coats back without her figuring it out. It was that day too, you know.” She paused. “The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention with that damn thing sitting inside my stomach, knowing how important it was to get to my handler, but I still tried to save you regardless of the risk to myself or the evidence. Do you want to hear how painful it is to throw up something the size of a mini thumb drive? It made it seem easy to swallow it in the first place. I was willing to allow them to operate on me to retrieve it if puking didn’t work. They were afraid my stomach acids would damage the thing if much time elapsed.”

  He continued to frown as seconds ticked by. “You deceived me as well. That’s what you do.” His mouth pressed into a firm line. “You lie to people and then betray them. You’re no better than those monsters who created and enslaved my people.”

  Pain lanced through her chest at his harsh words, followed quickly by all-consuming anger. She’d killed someone for him and risked her life to free his people. Damn him.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you in any way.” She paused. “But I’ll tell you one thing. I saved your ass, Fury. You are still alive because of what I did. You would be dead if I hadn’t walked into your cell and stopped that asshole. You’d have died chained to a floor being abused by that son of a bitch just mere days before you would have been set free. If that’s unforgivable to you then too damn bad. Keeping you alive became my main priority.”

  “You said you hated me. You called me a worthless bastard and you wanted me to know that. I never forgot what you said.”

  Ellie gaped at him. “No.”

  “I lay there on my back helpless and you moved away from me to take blood from the technician to smear on my knuckles. You hissed those hated words at me.”

  Understanding dawned and she knew the color drained from her face. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was saying it to Jacob! I hated him and he was a bastard for what he’d done to you.”

  “The male was dead. Don’t lie to me. You spoke those hated words to me.”

  “No.” She frantically shook her head, her gaze locked with his. “I swear, I was talking to him. I hoped that if he could hear me in hell—I’m sure that’s where he went for all his evil deeds—that he’d know how I felt about him.”

  Fury frowned, studied her features, and remained silent.

  “That’s the truth.”

  “Do you want to know the worst part when you walked into my cell?” His deep voice turned ice cold. His entire body tensed visibly.

  She just shook her head and her fear returned. Rage emanated from his eyes. They looked darker than she remembered but it was dimmer in the park than it had been inside the conference room weeks before.

  “I can still feel your touch on me. You soothed me at first. You saved me and I believed you wouldn’t cause me any harm. I actually welcomed your hands on my body. I close my eyes and the memory of you is burned there.” He took another step. “I remember you running away after what you’d done, leaving me confused and in pain. The needle you shoved it into my skin hurt less than the pain that pierced my heart.”

  “I’m so sorry. Not a day goes by when it doesn’t haunt me.” She paused. “I did it to save your life. You know what Jacob planned to do to you but I stopped him. I had to find a way to smuggle that evidence out. I’m so sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you more. I didn’t want to frame you for his murder or jab you with that needle but I