Page 7 of Defiance
“Are you that fucking stupid?” He narrowed his eyes, searching Logan’s face. “It’s the first thing we learn in HRU. Always expect there to be more. Never assume what you can see is all there is. Use your other bloody senses, for fuck’s sake!” He roared the last sentence, and Logan flinched.
“He was my prospective candidate,” he hissed. “The whole bloody pack was licking their lips at the thought of him joining our pack. I just wanted to get him back.”
“Tell me what happened?”
“She didn’t put up much of a fight.”Truth.“I got her to take me below to the old rum store. It was empty but Cole’s scent was all over it.” Pausing to collect his thoughts, Logan forced himself to remember what had happened to him in the underground caves, how Tim had taken a sadistic delight in ripping his fangs out. Rage surged through him, and Logan latched onto it, spitting out the next few words in a rush. “There were another two caves below us. Must’ve been another entrance too because I didn’t catch their scents until it was too late.” He closed his eyes, running his tongue over his teeth. “They tortured me. I think they had a contact in your unit—”
A low growl filled the room. “Impossible!” Paul’s hand clamped around Logan’s throat again, cutting off his breath for three long seconds until he relented enough for Logan to speak.
“You sure about that? Because they injected me with something that kept me in a half-shift while they pulled out my fucking teeth.”
Paul’s mouth fell open, the colour draining from his face.
Bingo.
“Fucking hell,” he whispered, more to himself than Logan, and Logan fought to maintain his level of anger and shame. He needed to plant a seed of doubt, one that Aaron would add to if he hadn’t already. From the recognition in Paul’s eyes, Logan was almost one hundred per cent sure Aaron had already played his part. A team of humans might have overpowered one shifter, but they wouldn’t be able to take on a whole unit. Not in Paul’s eyes anyway, and especially not one from the HRU; they were trained for this.
But if they had inside help? Then that tipped the balance heavily.
Paul narrowed his eyes as something obviously occurred to him. “You talked, didn’t you?”
Logan snapped his head up, feigning surprise. “What?”
“You told them who was coming, how many to expect.”
“I—”
Paul shot to his feet, looming over Logan and looking as though he was seconds away from ripping his throat out. “You spilt your fucking guts and my whole team died because you couldn’t keep your mouth closed.”
Logan curled his lip, letting his distaste for Paul flow out of him. “They had me stuck in a half-shift while they pulled my fucking fangs out. I have no idea what I did or didn’t say.” Drawing in a deep breath, he squared his shoulders as best he could with his hands restrained. “The pain was excruciating. I had no control over what came out of my mouth by that point.”
Paul stared at him, expression warring between understanding and outrage. No doubt he thought that he and the rest of the HRU would’ve remained tight-lipped under pressure. But he seemed to grudgingly understand how bad the pain must have been. Not surprising since he’d probably seen the effects first-hand.
The thought sent a shudder through Logan.
If everything went to plan, Cole would eventually be a member of the HRU. The idea of him having to do what Paul and the others did on a regular basis turned his stomach.
“I don’t remember anything after that,” Logan murmured, purposely staring at the floor. “The next time I was awake we were at Mothecombe’s house.”
Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you or Aaron inform Jacob that Cole was with you the first time you contacted him after waking up?”
Logan swallowed and sighed, going for tired and fed up. It didn’t take much acting on his part. “Because the others didn’t know who they had. When we saw who it was, we called Jacob immediately.”
Paul turned the other chair around the proper way and slumped into it. “Fortunately for you, your account matches what we already know from Jacob, Mothecombe, and Aaron.” Hard to tell if he was pleased or annoyed by that fact.
“You made a costly mistake, Logan.” Paul waited until Logan looked up. “There’s going to be consequences.”
“I’m aware.” Logan was more than ready to get them over and done with.
The next few months were going to suck for him, Aaron, and Cole. Hopefully Jacob wouldn’t be dragged into it.
“Michael has already decided on what they’ll be, and Jacob should be along any moment.”
That had to mean Logan’s interrogation was over.
He let himself relax a little, shoulders sagging in relief.
Now they had to hope Cole could get through whatever they threw at him without spilling all their secrets.
