Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(39)

Only the idea of having to barf and the agony it would cause her because of her injury made her put it away with regret. She contented herself with another full bottle of water and finally leaned back with a sigh. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d eaten. Ricardo hadn’t concerned himself with making sure she was fed and those days were a big blur anyway.

Through it all, she watched Braden and Ian suspiciously, looking for any of the erratic behavior they’d displayed before. Ian’s lips were tight, but Braden stood in a defiant posture, clearly inviting her to f**k off.

“What are you?” she demanded.

Ian’s lips curled in irritation while Braden continued to stare her down, his eyes as unfriendly as his posture.

“Don’t look at me like I’m some kind of pond scum,” she burst out. “I’m not the problem here.”

Braden snorted, and she glared heatedly at him.

“You came after me,” she pointed out. “Things have been bizarre since the day you kidnapped and drugged me. You act strange, like you’re hanging on to control by a thread. The next thing I know, Ian turns into some kind of damn big-ass cat and tears Ricardo’s throat out. And then you want to get snotty when I run like hell and act worried about the fact that I’m trapped thirty thousand feet in the air with two wild animals?”

Ian lost some of his surliness. He dragged a hand through his hair and walked over to flop into the chair across from Katie.

Braden remained standing, but he turned to include Ian in his view. The two brothers exchanged what could only be described as looks of resignation. There was more there. A deep sorrow. Katie’s chest tightened even as she damned herself for feeling anything for these two men.

“Did Gabe ever tell you anything about our mission to Adharji?” Ian asked.

Her brow puckered, and her eyes narrowed in confusion.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said dryly.

She shook her head.

“We were on a hostage recovery mission when we got gassed. We were captured behind enemy lines and were prisoners until we escaped several days later.”

“Gassed? What kind of gas?”

“That’s just it. We don’t know. But whatever it was turned us into a bunch of shifters. In my case a jaguar, as you’ve seen.” He gestured toward Braden. “He turns into a panther. Eli is more elemental. He can turn into shit like vapor, or smoke, steam, funky shit.”

“And Gabe? Was he affected?” she asked hesitantly.

Ian nodded.

“Wow, he never said—I mean he never told me.” She twisted her hands nervously in her lap. She’d always thought she and Gabe were close, but now she wondered how much of his interaction with her was solely based on obligation. “What was wrong with him?” she asked as she looked back up at Ian. “I don’t understand how this happened. It’s like something out of science fiction.”

“Gabe could become invisible,” Braden said.

“Invisible? Why something so different? That doesn’t make sense. The rest of you change physical forms, become something else entirely and he merely became invisible?”

“None of it makes sense,” Ian said tersely. “We were some scientific experiment gone wrong. Or at least Braden and I were. There was one other guy, our guide, and apparently he fared the worst. While Eli and Gabe were stable, the rest of us have no control over when and how we shift, and we retain no human cognizance when we’re in animal form.”

“Shit,” she breathed.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Braden muttered.

“So Gabe could become invisible at will? And you and Ian have no control?”

She couldn’t hold back the surge of fear at being at the mercy of unstable shifters. She’d seen what Ian could do in jaguar form. He’d gone for the kill with no hesitation, and it hadn’t been pretty.

“We carry an inhibitor,” Ian said. “It’s in aerosol form. Most of the time it works to prevent shifting. Lately though…”

“Since we met you it isn’t as effective,” Braden said bluntly.

“Me?” She reared her head in surprise. “What do I have to do with anything?”

“Braden,” Ian growled in warning. “There’s no point.”

Braden ignored him. “I have no idea, sister. I’d love the answer to that. All I know is that ever since we got around you, our shifts have been more erratic, and the only thing that’s worked has been knocking ourselves out.”

“Seems like it would be a damn good idea to stay away from me,” she said sweetly. “Funny I suggested that from the beginning, but you didn’t seem to listen.”

“Look, Katie, I know it has to freak you out,” Ian said. “If it makes you feel better, we’ll give you the inhibitor so you can keep it on you at all times, and we’ll give you preloaded syringes with a sedative that would knock an elephant out. Worse comes to worst, you stick that in our ass and run like hell. Believe me when I say we’re not any happier about this situation than you are.”

“Is there nothing you can do? No cure? Who gassed you? And why?”

“You don’t ask the hard questions, do you?” Braden said mockingly. “If we knew all that, neither of us would be feeling the urge for scratching posts and kitty litter.”