Rise to Embrace [Rise of the Changelings, Book 3] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Lynn Hagen Page B

to be recaptured. Some were going to be killed. But Willow was not going to be either of them.
    He ran down a white corridor, stopping at the first room he came upon. Deluca swung open the door, his gun held in front of him as his eyes swept the room.
    “Holy mother of…” Brooke whispered as they looked at what had to be a changeling. The poor creature was lying there whimpering, half human, half tiger. It almost looked like the—Deluca wasn’t even sure if it was a man or woman, but the changeling looked like it had been turned inside out.
    “Kill me,” the creature begged in a raspy voice. Deluca swallowed hard, aimed his gun, and put the poor bastard out of its misery. He began to pant heavily, becoming dizzy at what he had seen.
    What in the fuck was going on in this place? Was the government experimenting on the nonhumans? This would be the perfect setup if they were. They had multitudes of changelings at their disposal. Nothing would stop them from experimenting on one after another. The sight of the creature disturbed Deluca in ways that he knew he would never forget. He was going to have nightmares about the sight and voice of the creature. There was no way he couldn’t.
    Willow.
    Sheer terror filled him as he renewed his search. He had to find her. If they had done anything to Willow, Deluca was going to hunt down every last one of the bastards responsible and…he tamped down the rage and fear as he hurried from the room.
    He was almost afraid to see what was in the next one. Deluca was terrified to find Willow in the same form, begging him to kill her. He couldn’t think about that. He didn’t want to find her that way.
    “I’ll go first,” Brooke offered. Deluca nodded as he swallowed around the fear in this throat.
    The next room was empty.
    Deluca was almost relieved. They half jogged to the next room, and Deluca began seething when he saw a coyote lying on the metal bed. The coyote wasn’t moving. It just lay there, but Deluca could see a small rise and fall of the animal’s chest and knew it was alive.
    “Is that her?” Brooke asked.
    “I sure as shit hope so.” Deluca holstered his weapon and quickly, but carefully, picked the coyote up and began to make his way from the room and down the hallway. Brooke ran next to him, his gun raised.
    They made it back to Cell Block C. Brooke climbed down, and then Deluca slowly lowered Willow to him. “I’m going to get Rick.”
    Brooke nodded as he disappeared from sight with Willow in his arms.
    God, I hope that is Willow.
    Deluca turned and ran toward the control room. Rick had the men tied up and he was watching the area around him when Deluca came to a stop. “Move out!”
    Rick ran from the room. “Not everyone is out.”
    “We have to go, Rick. We are about to be invaded by America’s finest in uniform. Trust me, you don’t want to be here when they arrive.”
    “I’m not leaving anyone behind,” Rick snapped as he spun around and began to hurry away.
    Deluca tackled him. Rick was not a small man, and it took the forward momentum to bring the guy down. “You are too damn important to lose, Enrique Marcelo,” he said angrily. “If they capture you, it’s over.”
    Rick pushed to his feet, knocking Deluca right off of him. “I never understood why I’m so goddamn important in all of this! Yeah, the government thinks I’m some sort of unstoppable force. But why? Why do they fear me? I know they think I’m powerful and influential, and that I won’t sit by and watch the changelings be destroyed. But what made them look twice at me?”
    “Because,” Deluca said as he got to his feet, “whether you know it or not, the changelings have made you their leader.”
    Rick stood stock-still. “The entire species?”
    “Did you ever wonder why they targeted you in the first place for those murders?”
    Rick nodded.
    “When the werelion told the world you existed, the government captured him. He told them that if a war should ever break