The Wolf Within (Purgatory #1)(46)

“Kill…” Duncan snarled again, and he tried to toss her aside.

She wasn’t in the mood to be tossed. So she stared right back into his too-bright eyes. Stared as hard as she could and said, “Stop.” She was using her vampire control, the power that she’d never wanted to exert over him, but she couldn’t let him kill another agent. This wasn’t Duncan.

This was the beast.

The glow of his eyes burned even brighter as he stiffened. But he didn’t move. Didn’t try to rush toward Elias.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Elias demanded.

The claws hadn’t sliced him too deeply or he wouldn’t be speaking then. Good. They were lucky. If she and Shane hadn’t both been pulling Duncan back, he could have slashed the agent’s throat wide open.

“Someone took over the controls on the collars.” Someone got into our computer system. Disabled the power, generator, and monitors. And that someone tried to kill the wolves.

Duncan’s hands were still wrapped around her wrists. She could feel the edge of his claws. “Is your control back?” Holly asked him carefully.

He just stared at her. Glared at her.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Crap. An alarm started to sound then, a high-pitched wail. But the wolves didn’t start howling again.

Connor wasn’t moving at all, but above the scent of Elias’s blood, Holly could smell the acrid odor of…burned flesh.

“Stay here,” Holly whispered to Duncan, pushing with her compulsion, then she eased away from him. Shane was at her side instantly, shadowing her.

She pointed toward Elias. “Can you help him?” Without taking a bite?

His lips tightened. “Newborn,” he whispered for her ears alone, “I know how to stay in control.”

She hoped so.

Holly made short work of opening Connor’s cell. She glanced over at Duncan. He watched her with his wild gaze, but he didn’t move.

Couldn’t move?

The power of compulsion was a dangerous thing. It would be so easy to misuse. She knew plenty of vampires had misused their power to torture and kill, that was why many of them were housed in Purgatory.

“Wh-why isn’t Duncan attacking?” Elias asked. Holly glanced over and saw him pushing to his feet.

“Because she’s not letting him,” Shane said without looking away from Duncan. Ah, he knew exactly where the threat was. Like her, he must wonder just how long that control would last over Duncan.

She crept into the cell.

“That’s a bad idea,” Shane called out. “Don’t get too close to the beast!”

“I’m a doctor.” Holly took another tentative step forward. “I can’t just let someone die in front of me.” She knew that with every passing second, the moon was rising higher in the sky. When the moon reached its zenith, that was when the wolf would be at his strongest.

Connor didn’t move as she eased toward him. The silver had definitely burned him. She could see the faint tendrils of smoke still rising from the collar. Unlike Duncan, Connor hadn’t been strong enough to break the collar.

“Who did this?” Holly whispered. Then, louder, “Shane, you need to check the other wolves!”

“Th-that’s why I came in…” Elias said, voice breaking. “I heard his…howls…”

She could hear no sounds at all coming from Connor. He didn’t seem to be breathing. Holly’s fingers slipped toward the silver collar, toward his neck—

And, in an instant, he was on his feet. On his feet, with one arm locked around her and with his claws at her throat. “You should have stayed back.” His body trembled against hers, but his hold was incredibly strong.

She tried to yank away from him, but his claws cut over her skin. The wet warmth of her blood trickled down her neck.

“I thought the FBI wasn’t supposed…to be…in for torture…” The arm around her waist tightened. “Guess it doesn’t count…when it’s just against…the animals?”

She tried to press back against him, attempting to move her neck away from his claws. “I didn’t do this! I’m here to help you!”

“Bullshit.” He turned her body, positioning them so that they stared through the cell’s bars—and right at a silent Duncan. “You wanted him to be top dog in this town, so you were getting rid of the competition.”

She tried to shake her head. When she felt the slice of claws on her skin, Holly froze. “I don’t—don’t care about who is alpha…”

His head bent toward hers. “You should,” he whispered. “Because only the alpha will be able to save you.”

“Let…her…go…” Duncan’s order. Growled. Barely human.

“Come make me,” Connor taunted.

Duncan didn’t move.

Because she’d told him to stay back? Her stupid compulsion?

Now Connor was the one to growl. “Vampire. I know what you did.” She felt the angry rumble behind her. “You think he’s your…dog…on a leash?”

She shook her head. No, she hadn’t thought that. She’d just been trying to stop Duncan from killing Elias.

Connor spun her around. Yanked her up on her toes. Glared down at her. And that was when she realized that his collar wasn’t glowing anymore. Not at all. Deactivated. There was nothing to hold him back now.