Bound to Fear Read Free Page A

this time planning the operation just to elude
them so easily.
    He halted behind the broad trunk of an oak
tree, pulled out his cell phone, and punched in speed dial.
    “I’m going in,” he said.
    “Have fun,” Sebastian replied.
    “Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen.”
He ended the call, tossed the phone into the undergrowth and peered
around. The place was in darkness, no sign of any lights.
Presumably they were using night vision, because he could still
hear them heading toward him, smashing through the undergrowth like
a herd of blundering elephants.
    Finally, when he was about to give up hope
and go looking, one of them appeared. Tall, he was dressed all in
black, with camouflage makeup darkening his face, and a rifle in
his hand. A second man appeared at his side, and then a third—all
armed. Jack was guessing the weapons would be loaded with
tranquilizers. They wouldn’t go to all this bother to get hold of
him, and then risk killing him off.
    He hoped.
    Not that bullets could kill him, but they
would hurt like hell.
    Time to get this over with.
    He stepped out from behind the tree and
turned to face them. Then stopped abruptly and plastered a
surprised expression on his face.
    “Don’t move.” The first man raised his
weapon and pointed it straight at Jack.
    He hadn’t been planning on moving, though he
did snarl, baring the tip of one fang, just so they could be sure
they had the right person.
    The weapon made no sound as it fired. Jack
released his breath and glanced down. A small dart stuck out of his
upper arm. He waited to see whether the drug would have any
effect.
    Nothing.
    Closing his eyes, he swayed and toppled to
the ground.
    He kept his eyes shut and his body limp as
they wrapped him in chains. Silver chains. What did they think he
was? A bloody werewolf?
    They carried him through the forest, slung
over someone’s shoulder and finally dropped him in the back of a
vehicle and slammed the doors shut, leaving him alone.
    The journey took over an hour. At long last,
they stopped moving and the door opened.
    “Welcome to The Facility.”
     
    After two long and tedious weeks, Jack was
far from impressed by the hospitality at The Facility. He hoped
that was about to improve.
    He opened his eyes and stretched on the
narrow cot.
    Someone was approaching.
    With any luck, they were bringing him some
food. He’d told them he needed sustenance, that he was starving,
might even die without it. Though in truth, he was far more likely
to die from boredom in this place, than he was from hunger. At over
five hundred years old, he could go months without feeding, but
they didn’t know that. In fact, here at The Facility, they knew
fuck all. At least about his kind. And if he had any say in the
matter—and he planned to have a great deal—things would stay that
way.
    But he also needed information. After all,
that was the point in his being here. He’d thought to coerce it out
of the guards, but his first attempt had ended up with the man
having some sort of aneurism and ending up bleeding from the ears.
Then dead. Very inconvenient.
    The guard must have had some sort of implant
in the brain, which had reacted to the compulsion. But Jack had
never come across anything like it, and he didn’t want to risk it
again, at least not yet. Once they might put down to an accidental
occurrence. Twice and nobody would believe it a coincidence.
    That was a week ago. Afterward, he’d decided
the best way to get his information was for them to believe he was
cooperating. So he’d made them an offer. His “collaboration ” in
exchange for food, though he was actually telling them a load of
bullshit. He’d even managed to convince them he was allergic to
garlic, and many a bored hour was spent coming up with even more
ludicrous misinformation.
    The footsteps came to a halt outside his
cell and he heard the numbers being punched into the keypad locking
mechanism. There was also a retinal scan—the security