“I am sure he would die before telling Dressler,” Victor said solemnly. “But I do not think he could stand by and let you die for any reason. Even that one. He will do whatever it takes to save your life if it comes to that.”
Sarita shook her head.
“He is right, Sarita,” Decker said solemnly. “All of us would give anything for our life mates. It is our greatest weakness.”
Sarita lowered her head, her mind suddenly whirling. These people thought that Dressler’s experiments were just an excuse to torture information out of immortals on how to turn a mortal. Or how he could be turned, because that’s what Dressler no doubt wanted it for. But she didn’t totally agree with their assessment.
Dressler was a scientist, he needed to know how things worked, and she had no doubt he’d want to know how the nanos would affect him once he was turned. She suspected many of the experiments were to see what he could survive, or how long certain injuries might incapacitate him. The man did things ten steps ahead after all. He must know that becoming immortal wouldn’t stop the others from hunting him. If anything they’d probably look harder. Knowing what he could withstand and the fastest way to heal, and the like would certainly be useful to a man like that.
But what of her and Domitian? She’d thought they were put on the island as part of an experiment. But this business about turning a mortal and how protective immortals were of their life mates put a new slant on things. The birdman, Cael, had said Dressler was headed to the small island when MacNeil had called with the news that she and Domitian had left it. What had he and his men been coming to the island for? Nothing good she was sure, but . . .
“Dressler probably intended to force Domitian to tell him how he could be turned by threatening your life,” Victor said quietly.
Sarita glanced at him, for once not annoyed that her mind had been read. “But why put us on the island at all? Why didn’t he just try to force him to do it here? In his lab?”
“Perhaps he thought Domitian would be more likely to give up the information if the two of you had bonded,” Decker suggested and then said, “Apparently you did not know Domitian before being thrown together on the island?”
“No. I didn’t know him from Adam,” she admitted. “But he knew me. He’d known I was his life mate and had been getting reports on me for fifteen years. So are you saying that Domitian would give up that information now, but might not have before our time on the island?”
“No. I am saying Dressler no doubt believed that was the case,” he said gently. “You have to remember that he has kidnapped and tortured several immortals in the last couple of years, yet none of them would reveal the information, even though it probably would have saved them from future torture and might perhaps have gained them their freedom. For a man like Dressler, who has no concept of what it means to be immortal or the value of a life mate or even how to love, it would be beyond his understanding as to how a man would not give up that information to save his own life, but would for a woman he had never interacted with. He was probably hedging his bets. Making sure Domitian wanted you badly enough before he carried out his plan.”
“So I am the bait,” Sarita said grimly. “He’ll make Domitian reveal your secret by threatening my life?”
“Undoubtedly,” Victor agreed solemnly. “And Domitian will not hesitate to give him what he wants to save you.”
Sarita thought about that for a minute, and then glanced to the women and asked, “But Domitian and I are the only life mates he has, right? None of you—”
“You are the only life mates that are both here,” Eshe agreed. “Fortunately for us, Lucian would not allow life mates to work together on this hunt. He felt it too dangerous.”
Sarita nodded, then eased the boy’s head to the floor again and stood to approach the bars between her cell and Santo’s again.
“Sarita,” Eshe said with concern. “I can see what you are thinking, but there is no need for this.”
“Christ, she’s going to sacrifice herself,” Decker muttered, sounding dismayed.
“Domitian called Lucian with the information about this island, Sarita,” Nicholas reminded her urgently. “He will be here soon bringing the other men with him and—
“Santo,” Victor growled suddenly in warning when the other man turned his head abruptly, spearing Sarita with silver eyes rimmed with black.
Dressler had said the nanos went into the organs and whatnot to remain in the body when an immortal had been drained of blood, and it seemed a lot of them were in Santo’s eyes. Pausing at the bars, she slid her hands through to his side and gestured to Santo like he was a puppy and she had food.
“Come. Feed,” she encouraged. “Drain me dry. I don’t want Dressler to hurt even one more person.”
Domitian was creeping through the strip of jungle between the bluffs over the beach and the fence around the labs when he heard a pssst.
Pausing, he peered around until he spotted a woman in a white lab coat, crouched about ten feet ahead, behind a tree. He was sure he’d seen her come out of the labs several moments ago and walk down to the gatehouse to talk to the guard there. Apparently, she’d made her way around here afterward.
Domitian eyed her warily, but when she gestured for him to go to her, he considered his options. He’d searched the jungle for Sarita first. He hadn’t been surprised when she wasn’t there, but he’d had to make sure and glancing around as he moved through it hadn’t slowed him much. He’d reached the edge of the jungle to find the men all gathered on the lawn getting instructions on searching the island for him. Using their distraction to his advantage, he’d moved along the inside edge of the jungle until he was parallel to the back of the house and then had quickly snuck across to the back corner.
A glance through the window in the first door had shown him a kitchen with a woman pottering around, apparently oblivious to or unconcerned by what was happening outside. Domitian had moved on without disturbing her and used a set of French doors that had led into an empty games room. Other than the woman in the kitchen, the house had seemed completely empty. Domitian had searched it quickly, but there had been no sign of Sarita. As he’d feared, she’d been taken to the more secure labs with their towers and gatehouse. He’d spent the last hour or better, moving through the woods that lined the back and sides of the fence, looking for a weak spot, or a place he might enter without anyone noticing. But while he could control the guards in the corner towers and make them look away, the cameras everywhere ensured his approach would be seen.
He’d just been taking one last look around, hoping for inspiration on how to save Sarita before resigning himself to giving himself up to Dressler, when he’d heard that pssst. Now he crept to the woman, hoping against hope that the angels had sent a solution to his problem.
“You have to save Sarita,” the woman hissed the moment he stopped in front of her. “I can help.”
“Who are you?” Domitian asked, eyeing her warily. “And why would you help?”
“I’m—My name is Asherah.”
He stilled at the name, recognizing it. Sarita had said the woman had been present when Dressler had injected her with a knockout drug. This woman had done nothing to help her.
“Again,” he said coldly. “Why would you help?”
“Because if you don’t get her away from here, El Doctor is going to use her to make you turn him immortal,” she said grimly.
“And you do not want that?” he asked dubiously.
“Damned right I don’t,” she snarled, glancing resentfully toward the labs. “He’s tortured us long enough. You need to get Sarita out and away from here to somewhere he can’t get his hands on either of you.”
Domitian glanced toward the buildings again, debating whether to trust the woman or not. Sarita had said Asherah hadn’t seemed to like her much, but she might have mistaken the rage obviously boiling under the surface of this woman as dislike of herself. Either way, it didn’t really matter. He didn’t see a way to get in without help. If the woman betrayed him and delivered him to Dressler, than she was simply doing what he’d just about decided he’d have to do anyway and turning him in.