Free Winter's Wrath: Sacrifice (Winter's Saga #3) by Karen Luellen

daughter needs me, Gavil.  She may not realize it yet, but she is a part of me.  My prodigal child will come home, eventually.”
    Oh thank you, God.   Creed prayed silently.  They escaped .  Now, no matter what happens to me, at least my family got away. Then he swallowed the sadness he felt for Paulie.  It was so unfair.
    “Shall we try rousing our friend, again?” Williams asked.
    “How do you suggest I try this time?” Gavil growled.
    “Don’t you find it unusual that nothing has brought on any level of consciousness?” 
    Gavil must have responded nonverbally. 
    Williams spoke again. “You’ve tried fire to the palm, dousing him with ice water, breaking a finger, hum…I have an idea!”  The metallic scraping finally stopped.
    “Dr. Chaunders, please bring a syringe with .30 milliliters of epinephrine for our guest.” Williams said, obviously having placed a phone call.
    S ilence
    “Yes, I’m fully aware that will stimulate his adrenaline , possibly increasing his strength and aggression.”  Dr. Williams said with a frustrated sigh.
    M ore silence
    “I realize that’s twice the amount usually used to treat anaphylactic shock.  Stop blabbering, Chaunders.  Just bring the requested med, immediately!”  Williams slammed what sounded like a cell phone down and mumbled profanities at the room.
    “I would kill that imbecile myself except we may need him for the return flight.”
    Creed thought of the damage his body had undergone and wasn’t surprised nothing physical had awakened him any sooner than his own internal will.  His pain was turned off, even in his unconsciousness.  He wouldn’t have felt any attempts at rousing him. 
    Now, adrenaline, he thought.  That could be useful.
    Minutes later, Creed heard a knock.
    “Dr. Williams?” said a quivering voice. 
    “Gavil, have the other soldiers come into the room—just precautionary, of course.”
    Creed heard the shuffling of a dozen boots crunching across the littered floor.  The rabid dogs were in place—standing around for security.
    “Proceed, Dr. Chaunders,” Williams said with a note of anticipation.
    Creed sensed someone near him and even felt slight pressure on his right thigh.  Within seconds, the physiology of his body respond ed to the thick dose of adrenaline.  His heart began racing, his breathing quickened and he felt an intense surge of strength.
    Calmly he raised his head, opened his eyes and got his first image of the mutated Dr. Williams.  The picture was so disturbing, it imprinted on his memory. 
    Holy crap! Creed thought, not letting his facial muscles register the revulsion he felt.
    “Hello, Mr. Young.  So glad you could join us.  I’d like to get right to the point.  It’s obvious you turned traitor, against your own kind, too,” he shook his bloody head as though deeply wounded.  Creed tried not to stare at the flap of loose flesh dangling from what should have been Williams’ chin.  “Gavil tells me you had a remote detonator on your person.  Tell me about that.”
    Creed peered around the room as the director spoke, counting mutant soldiers, exits, and any items in the room that could be of use.  There wasn’t much.
    “The Winter family are good people.  They only wanted to be left alone,” Creed said more to test the functionality of his jaw.  His mouth felt thick and thirsty, but he was coherent.
    “I’m not interested in your opinions .  You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Williams eyes began to ooze blood from what should have been tear ducts.
    “Tell me about the detonator and the serum.”
    Creed breathed, dramatically.  “They left me to destroy everything in the lab at the house.”  He dropped his eyes, pretending to feel sadness at being left behind.
    “Why didn’t they just destroy it themselves?” Williams asked.
    “They were planning to, but ran out of time,” Creed spoke a half-truth.
    “Yes, speaking of that: How did they know I was coming?