Free A Jaguars Touch by Lacey Thorn

and we’re pulling out information we really need instead of trying to ascertain what we need from the more ambiguous tests we were running.”
    “That will only work for so long,” Gideon warned.
    “What do you mean?” Abby asked.
    “You have two people working in your lab, running tests. You have no idea what you’re up against. The hunters you’re facing? Despite what you might have seen at the Blane Farms I heard you visited, hunters are a very well-organized machine with many sites specifically designated for research,” Gideon said.
    “Tell us,” Tah ordered.
    “I understand you know a bit about where the feral cat fever virus Dillon had access to came from,” Gideon said.
    “Clara’s uncle brought it back with him,” Logan answered.
    Gideon nodded. “Thomas was attacked and captured. They tortured him for days. Strategically placed cuts, puncture wounds, beatings. You name it. All to see how long it took to heal. To see what he couldn’t heal from.”
    “Bastards,” Murphy muttered.
    “I’ve heard of a time when they severed limbs just to see if they’d grow back,” Gideon added.
    “Jesus Christ,” Reno muttered.
    “Trust me when I say the hunters with guns who merely want to kill us are the least we should worry about,” Gideon informed them.
    “Thomas wasn’t the only one captured,” Abby said softly.
    Vic jerked her head to look at Gideon and knew Abby was right by the way he stood, the way he held his head.
    “Those labs are hell on Earth,” Gideon said and finally tugged his hand free.
    Vic watched him along with everyone else as he began pacing around the room.
    “I was there when Thomas was captured and brought in,” Gideon said. “They kept us locked in cages when we weren’t being used for testing.”
    “Cages?” Abby whispered.
    “We’re animals to them. Not human,” Gideon stated.
    “What tests did they run?” Tah asked.
    Gideon shook his head. “Things that would give you nightmares. Things no man or animal should ever be submitted to. Feral fever is only one of their pet projects. They have an entire department devoted to discovering ways to biologically fuck with us.”
    “Such as?” the Professor asked.
    Gideon stopped walking and turned to face Vic. His gaze locked with hers, as if he needed the connection to keep talking. She wanted to go to him, to cross and wrap him in her arms, but her feet were rooted to the ground.
    “For entertainment, they would inject us with different things and make us fight one another. Hallucinogens they were working on, adrenaline boosters, variations of feral fever—anything they wanted to test. Then they’d sit back and watch.”
    “Until?” Vic asked, knowing there was more.
    His gaze met hers. “Until one of us won.”

 
    Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Gideon scanned the room, taking in the faces of those around him. What would they think of him if they knew the whole truth? Thomas had been so afraid shifters would blame him for the things he’d been forced to watch and even participate in. But Gideon was tired of pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
    “Oh, Gideon,” Abby said. “How long were you there?”
    Horror—that was what he saw. And concern. There was no hate, not with these people. And knowing that made him wonder if he might be able to tell them everything. Maybe began to heal parts of him that had been broken for a long time.
    “Two years,” he said.
    “How did they get you?” the Professor asked him.
    “I was young, cocky and arrogant. I walked right into a trap and didn’t even realize it until I woke up in a cage. They brought in a dozen more of us over the next couple days. And that was when the fun began.”
    “There’s no shame in surviving,” Reno said, and it was as if the other man knew the things Gideon had been forced to do, the lives he’d ended.
    “You left with Thomas?” Logan asked.
    Gideon nodded. “They were planning to make us fight one another. They didn’t know I’d