Marie Harte - Hale

He wanted very badly to use Doc's men for testing. But I wouldn't let him. Not a good idea, to ruin the only real successes Project Dawn has ever had. Not until that group starts producing offspring, at least.”

Kuntz agreed. “We considered Elliot's data. The general doesn't see much of a need for the mutants beyond attrition. And I agree.” McKinley tried to understand all of it but couldn't think beyond the fact that they wanted to use him in some kind of experiment. Kohl didn't make it sound as if he was asking for consent, either. Did they know about McKinley's false loyalties or didn't they? “General, why are you telling me this?”

“I see everything, boy, whether I'm here or not. Consider it a payment for loyalty rendered.” Kohl showed his teeth in more of a snarl than a smile. Fuck . “This information will haunt you, the more you think about it. Dr. Eckles thinks he might be on to something. And given your obvious differences from the rest of our Circs, who knows? You might be the one to break our cursed luck with the drug.” The breeding program was bad enough. He thought he'd ruined enough data that they'd never get that particular program to work. That he hadn't known the truth about the control drug bothered the hell out of him. How had Elliot kept him out of the loop for so long? Suspicious bastard.

“It's funny,” Kohl continued. “Eckles found and read all of Elliot's notes. Did you know he created the control drug using your blood in the first place? He had planned to use it on you again at a later date. And then he wound up dead. Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?”

McKinley's world was spiraling out of control. Fury and a keen sense that warned him disaster loomed near forced him to maintain a facade of calm. He was too close to have to pull out now, but it seemed his cover would no longer hold him. He had to share what he'd just learned, but he had to be careful. There was no telling where Kohl's and Kuntz's influence stopped. Could he afford to trust Diego Santana—his only contact to stopping this mess?

Remain calm. Don’t let them see your worry. Paige needs you. Don’t forget about Paige.

Kohl picked up the phone and called for security, then hung up. “I never questioned your loyalty, McKinley. Not until I learned that after almost four long years with Project Dawn, you still hadn't given the labs one usable blood sample. That, of course, led to other inquiries.”

The head man in charge of Pearson Labs should have been occupied by the bigger picture, not with one of his lowly guard's blood work. Who the hell had shared that information? Not Kuntz. Senator Kuntz thought of McKinley as his boy, so to speak.

Despite McKinley's refusal to obey petty orders, he did whatever else Kuntz asked, especially because he could smell dissension in the ranks. Dr. Eckles was too new to the upper echelon to be much of a threat. Diego had nothing to do with the labs; he'd been McKinley's source at Doc's compound. And most of the other rogues were too new or too scared to pose any danger to him. Which left just one possibility.

The newly promoted Simon Dunn.

Tamping down his fury, McKinley did his best to sound puzzled. “General, I think you're mistaken. Dr. Pearl never had a problem with my samples.”

“You're telling me Pearl worked with you, and none of us knew about it?”

“Torrence regularly took samples of blood, hair, and skin.” McKinley shrugged. “I don't know what she and Dr. Pearl did with them. I'd assume they're still in his lab.” With the other blood that asshole stole from me to control Circs, turning them into freaks.

Kuntz scowled. “You see, Harold? This is why I told you we needed to keep a close eye on Elliot. He wasn't a team player. Who knows what he did with McKinley's workups? And if he had that Torrence bitch working on them, Evan Dennis might even now have that information.”

“Maybe it's time I contacted my good friend Doc again.” Kohl paused. “Eckles is good, but he's no Elliot. Only one man comes close to that kind of genius.” Hell. Were they planning to kidnap Doc now?

Someone knocked at the door, and Kohl bid them enter. Several unarmed rogues filed inside, and McKinley had a moment of hope. Until he noted the last rogue to enter.

Hawkins. Shit . And he carried a stunner.

Kohl stood. “McKinley, your escort is here. Once Dr. Frasier is finished with you, you'll report to Simon Dunn, your new squad leader. You'll take all orders from him from now on. You no longer have any clearance within the building, so escape is impossible. I highly recommend you don't try anything. I'd hate to have to kill you before we see just how 'special' you really are.” Kohl sneered. “Hawkins, take him to Dr. Frasier. If he tries anything, do what you have to.” Two of the rogues grabbed his arms and pushed him toward the door. Hawkins and the other followed him.

McKinley could have taken out his closest captors. Hawkins, however, was a wild card. Instinct told him the man just might be able to give him a real challenge. From what little McKinley knew of him, Hawkins had been a Navy SEAL before volunteering for the new and improved Project Dawn. Tough to put down as a civilian, even harder as a rogue Circ. In other circumstances, McKinley wouldn't have minded sparring with the man. Having him here now, however, absolutely sucked.

“Move it, McKinley.” Hawkins shoved him, and he turned to glare at the bastard.

The message in Hawkins's eyes was clear— don’t make me do this the hard way.

McKinley glanced at Kohl and forced himself to remain cool. “You're going to regret this, Kohl.”

“I already do.” Kohl swore. “And that's General Kohl. Get the hell out of my office, you traitor.”

McKinley ignored Kuntz and walked with the men holding him through the door.

He moved on autopilot while planning a means of escape. Without an access code, he'd have to resort to brute strength to push past several secured doorways, and he needed to conserve himself for the battle ahead, once he escaped this fucked-up situation.

The guards with him remained oddly silent, not prodding and taunting him the way most of the rogues often did with those who'd turned against the program.

McKinley took a closer look at the men and realized all of them were new transfers. All US Navy men, if he remembered correctly.

All too soon, they arrived at the basement level. Just down the corridor sat Dr.

Frasier's lab. McKinley tensed, ready to put his half-assed plan to escape into motion—to disable communications and take out these rogues before the fight drew attention to him. Yeah, right.

To his shock, Hawkins and the others backed away. Hawkins nodded at the others, who left without question.

“They'll buy us some time with a distraction. Don't fuck around. You have to make this look good.” Hawkins grimaced and handed McKinley his stunner.

“Why?” What the hell was Hawkins up to?

“You know why. I didn't sign on for this.” Hawkins swore. “Just find us an antidote. Torrence seems to be evening out, right?”“How the hell do you know that?”

Hawkins grinned, fangs extending as McKinley watched. “I hear things. And I owe my team. They only signed on for this because I was so damned sure it would work. Captain Delancey has a lot to answer for.” McKinley had never heard of Delancey, but he didn't have time to play around.

He tightened his hand around the stunner. “You sure about this? I could just as easily beat the shit out of you.”

“Thanks, but no,” Hawkins said dryly. “We're counting on you to help us out. The way you helped Torrence.” Hawkins handed him his ID badge. “Once they sound the alarm, you'll have no more than five minutes before everything goes completely lockdown.”