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“Two tigers and a lion,” Rourke said with a low growl. He left his phone propped up on the hotel desk, and Chad watched as he limped to the bed and sank onto it with a low groan. The slashes and bite marks on his upper body were raw and swollen, and Rourke grimaced when a bite on his abdomen started bleeding again.
His left arm dangled uselessly at his side, and Chad leaned in closer to the screen. “Is your arm broken?”
“Yeah,” Rourke grunted. “Fucker bit through and snapped the bone.”
Using one hand, he unfolded a leather pouch and withdrew one fluid-filled syringe. Grimacing, he injected it into his broken arm before removing a second syringe.
“Just one,” Chad said sharply. “You don’t need both.”
“Fuck you,” Rourke snarled, flipping his long hair out of his face.
“One is enough to heal you,” Chad said.
Ignoring him, Rourke injected the second syringe before dropping it on the bed next to the first one. He closed his eyes, his nostrils flaring, and rolled his head from side to side.
“For fuck’s sake, you asshole,” Chad said. “You remember that we have a limited quantity of serum, right? There’s only three more, and based on how you look like you just got your ass kicked, I assume you didn’t get the formula.”
“You watch your fucking mouth,” Rourke growled as his eyes popped open. Their normal dark brown had gone a golden yellow, and his body was swelling. “You think because you’re in your office and I’m here in this buttfuck city in a second-rate motel, that you’re safe from me? I will tear your head from your fucking body and nail it to the goddamn wall for everyone to see if you keep mouthing off to me.”
Cold fear ran down Chad’s spine, but he didn’t allow it to show on his face. “Did you get the formula or not?”
“Does it look like I got the fucking formula?” Rourke roared.
Chad flinched back when Rourke stood and turned toward the wall. He drove his right fist through the wall, roaring again as he pulled his hand out. Drywall dust and blood coated it, and Rourke licked at his knuckles before glaring at Chad. “I’m getting fucking tired of your dumb questions, Chad.”
“I’m still your superior,” Chad said. “So, you’ll answer those stupid questions without losing your fucking shit, or you’ll find yourself going through withdrawal just like the rest of the team.”
Rourke’s face paled, and the fur that was growing on his body faded slowly away. “Are you threatening me?”
“No,” Chad said. He was playing a dangerous game, one that could very easily get him killed, but if Rourke thought he had all the power, they were in big fucking trouble. “But it’s a reminder that you work for me, not the other way around. We need that formula.”
“I know,” Rourke sank onto the bed again, rubbing gingerly at the claw marks that covered most of his upper body. “I would have had it today, but that lion shifter’s asshole buddies showed up.”
Chad took a deep breath. “I’m sending a team of six to you. We’ll keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t move her to some secret location where we’ll never fucking find her. In a couple of days, you and the team will hit them again. This time, you’ll - ”
“I don’t need any fucking help,” Rourke growled.
“You do, or you’d have the formula right now,” Chad said. “We’ve underestimated this security firm, and we need -”
“I don’t need shit!” Rourke shouted. “I’ll be back tomorrow night with the fucking formula. You send anyone here to help, and I’ll send them back to you in a fucking cardboard box. You hear me, asshole?”
“I’m in charge, not you,” Chad said. “I make the decisions about -”
“I’ll get the formula tomorrow,” Rourke said and ended the call.
“Fuck!” Chad slammed his hands down on the desk, barely able to restrain his urge to throw his laptop through the window behind him.
“Still think it was a good idea to send Rourke?”
“Fuck off, Hoyt,” Chad said, glaring at the man standing in his doorway.
“You sending the others to help or not?”
“Keep listening in on my private calls, and I’ll have you cleaned,” Chad said.
“I’m the least of your fucking problems right now, buddy. You need to clean Rourke,” Hoyt said.
“You’re insane,” Chad said with a tired laugh. “He’s the only one of the enhanced we have left. Even if we get the formula back and make more juice, Doc doesn’t think the others can handle it. Says their bodies are too weak now and that it’ll most likely kill them. Which means we gotta find more recruits and -”
