flashy a move as what she’d been able to do before her injury, but it was getting there. “You think I’d round up a bunch of Skinners and hand them over to get in good with the IRD just to save my own skin?”
“Or maybe you weren’t thinkin’ long and hard enough before jumping over to another side,” Rico shot back. “Maybe that’s a problem you’ve had for a while now, which ain’t exactly the sort of thing that inspires the rest of us to follow you down that road.”
Knowing what he did about Paige’s violent introduction to the Skinners, Cole felt a sympathetic jab when he heard that comment from Rico.
Looking over to Cole, she asked, “Do you have it?”
He shifted his weapon to a one-handed grip with the rear end of the spear trapped beneath his arm so he could make a crude stab if the need arose. With his other hand, he reached into the small satchel he’d brought in from the car while Jessup and the rest of the Skinners had scrambled to try and prepare for Cecile’s impending escape attempt. The satchel was a large pouch with clips intended to be hooked onto a belt or some other sort of harness worn by soldiers in field gear. If he’d been given an official name for the experimental device, Cole had already forgotten it. Weighing about the same as his cell phone and housed in a plastic shell bearing two dials and a row of multicolored lights, the device looked more like something carried by MEG team members while scanning for fluctuations in the electromagnetic field.
“What’s that supposed to do?” Rico asked.
“We’ll find out in a minute.”
Behind him, Jessup said, “That’s not good enough.” When he got a stern glare from Paige, he added, “You’re damn lucky I let you in here with that thing.”
“It’s some sort of sonic transmitter,” Cole said. “Supposedly, it can hurt Half Breeds with a high-pitched frequency. This is supposed to be modified to work on Full Bloods.”
“Does it work?”
“Don’t know yet. We’re supposed to be the ones testing it.”
Jessup approached the cage holding a thick piece of curved leather in both hands. It was thicker than his finger and long enough to clamp around a light pole with small rings embedded along the outer surface. The interior section was stained and shredded as if it had been gnawed on by a set of teeth large enough to scar the thick leather but not tear it apart. Every piece of metal from the rings to the buckle was embedded with runes. Holding the large strap in a way to confirm Cole’s suspicion, Jessup announced, “I need to get this around her neck.”
“Why don’t you just get in there right now before she breaks out?” Rico asked.
“Already tried it when she was brought here,” Jessup replied. “Nothing happened. Must need to make contact with flesh instead of rock.”
The IRD tech who gave Cole the sonic device had also given him a quick lesson in using it, but the more he fiddled with it, the more questions sprang to mind regarding its use. When he first got the device running, he could hear something. After a few twists of the little knobs set beneath the lights, the sound became a tone that quickly escaped the range of a human’s ear.
Although Paige had been trying to get a closer look at the collar in Jessup’s hands, her attention was quickly brought back to the cage as a large chunk of the stony crust fell away to reveal Cecile’s furry, muscular chest. The Full Blood’s torso swelled with a slow inhalation that sounded powerful enough to suck all of the air from the room. When she twisted her head and began to shake off more of the rock, she let out a roar that filled the room and made it seem about half the size it had been a moment ago.
“Here she comes,” Jessup warned. “Brace yourselves.”
But there was no way to brace for the coming of a Full Blood. Even in the more recent days when werewolves roamed their territory freely, their presence was still more than enough to make
“Or maybe you weren’t thinkin’ long and hard enough before jumping over to another side,” Rico shot back. “Maybe that’s a problem you’ve had for a while now, which ain’t exactly the sort of thing that inspires the rest of us to follow you down that road.”
Knowing what he did about Paige’s violent introduction to the Skinners, Cole felt a sympathetic jab when he heard that comment from Rico.
Looking over to Cole, she asked, “Do you have it?”
He shifted his weapon to a one-handed grip with the rear end of the spear trapped beneath his arm so he could make a crude stab if the need arose. With his other hand, he reached into the small satchel he’d brought in from the car while Jessup and the rest of the Skinners had scrambled to try and prepare for Cecile’s impending escape attempt. The satchel was a large pouch with clips intended to be hooked onto a belt or some other sort of harness worn by soldiers in field gear. If he’d been given an official name for the experimental device, Cole had already forgotten it. Weighing about the same as his cell phone and housed in a plastic shell bearing two dials and a row of multicolored lights, the device looked more like something carried by MEG team members while scanning for fluctuations in the electromagnetic field.
“What’s that supposed to do?” Rico asked.
“We’ll find out in a minute.”
Behind him, Jessup said, “That’s not good enough.” When he got a stern glare from Paige, he added, “You’re damn lucky I let you in here with that thing.”
“It’s some sort of sonic transmitter,” Cole said. “Supposedly, it can hurt Half Breeds with a high-pitched frequency. This is supposed to be modified to work on Full Bloods.”
“Does it work?”
“Don’t know yet. We’re supposed to be the ones testing it.”
Jessup approached the cage holding a thick piece of curved leather in both hands. It was thicker than his finger and long enough to clamp around a light pole with small rings embedded along the outer surface. The interior section was stained and shredded as if it had been gnawed on by a set of teeth large enough to scar the thick leather but not tear it apart. Every piece of metal from the rings to the buckle was embedded with runes. Holding the large strap in a way to confirm Cole’s suspicion, Jessup announced, “I need to get this around her neck.”
“Why don’t you just get in there right now before she breaks out?” Rico asked.
“Already tried it when she was brought here,” Jessup replied. “Nothing happened. Must need to make contact with flesh instead of rock.”
The IRD tech who gave Cole the sonic device had also given him a quick lesson in using it, but the more he fiddled with it, the more questions sprang to mind regarding its use. When he first got the device running, he could hear something. After a few twists of the little knobs set beneath the lights, the sound became a tone that quickly escaped the range of a human’s ear.
Although Paige had been trying to get a closer look at the collar in Jessup’s hands, her attention was quickly brought back to the cage as a large chunk of the stony crust fell away to reveal Cecile’s furry, muscular chest. The Full Blood’s torso swelled with a slow inhalation that sounded powerful enough to suck all of the air from the room. When she twisted her head and began to shake off more of the rock, she let out a roar that filled the room and made it seem about half the size it had been a moment ago.
“Here she comes,” Jessup warned. “Brace yourselves.”
But there was no way to brace for the coming of a Full Blood. Even in the more recent days when werewolves roamed their territory freely, their presence was still more than enough to make
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