“Why? I mean, we’re underground, right?”

He refused to answer, opened the alcohol, and dampened one of the cotton balls. “This may sting.”

A small sound came from her. She gasped when he applied the wet cotton to one of the deeper scratches. He remembered something he’d seen on television when he’d tried to get used to the outside world. A mother had blown on her child’s injury to alleviate the burning sensation. He leaned in and fanned his breath over it.

“Does that help?”

“Thank you. Yes.”

Wrath quickly cleaned and bandaged both her wrists. He packed away the medical supplies, closed the lid, and rose to his feet. He just wanted to put some space between him and her scent, which drove him a little insane.

The female stared at him as he paused by the bathroom door when he turned to peer at her. Her heart-shaped face was attractive, her nose strange but not unappealing, and she seemed to have a tendency to chew on her full bottom lip.

“I won’t identify you to the police. I want to put that right out there. I don’t care what you do with what’s-his-name, that’s none of my business, but I do want to survive this. Tell me what that’s going to take. Do you want me to sign a sworn statement or something that I won’t go to the cops? I’ll do that.”

“I’m not concerned with you going to the police.”

It shocked him when tears welled inside her eyes and slid down her cheeks. She didn’t bother to wipe them away. He took a hesitant step forward, alarmed that cleaning her wounds might be causing her pain. Her next words halted him quickly.

“I’ll do whatever you want but please don’t kill me. I have a whole list of stuff I want to do before I die and I haven’t done any of it yet.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Right. That’s why you’re hiding your face.” She pointed up at him. “You’re making sure I can’t see your eyes. Is that supposed to terrorize me more, because it’s working? This might be some kind of sick sort of amusement for you but not for me. I’m hungry, tired, and scared. Don’t you have a heart at all?” Her hand lifted to wipe at her tears.

“I am not wearing them to frighten you. My intention is the exact opposite. I wear the glasses to keep you at ease with me.”

“Big fail.”

He hesitated. “Do not be alarmed. I swear I won’t hurt you. Humans are afraid of us.”

Her eyes widened. “Humans? What are you? An alien?” She frowned. “Crap. You’re nuts too? Really? Shit.”

Wrath reached up and slowly removed his glasses. He stared at her calmly while she paled. Her mouth opened, closed, but nothing came out. He figured it was a good sign when she didn’t scream.

Chapter Three

Lauren knew she was gawking at Wrath. His eyes were strange. She was adding up facts and it all slammed together in her brain on why his features looked so masculine.

“Oh God.”

“Do not be frightened.”

Is he kidding? Relief swept through her and her fear eased. “You’re not some ex-con who works for the mob. You’re a New Species, aren’t you?”

He gave a sharp nod of his head.

“You don’t just have weird nicknames. They are actually your names!”

“Yes.” His lips twitched. “And I don’t think our names are weird.”

“Most men have names like Joe or Ralph but I shouldn’t have used the term weird. I know that New Species have names like Justice and Fury. I have seen both of them on television and I heard or read somewhere that you all pick names that have meaning for you. So you really are New Species. I’ve never met one of you in person.”

“I am New Species.”

“I didn’t know any of you kept your hair short. I should have realized when I saw your cheekbones and that nose…damn. I feel stupid for not putting it together. It’s just that the bald man’s eyes are really weird and he doesn’t exactly look like you.”

His eyes widened and he appeared confused.

“I can’t believe I’m in a room with a New Species.” She blushed a little and knew she probably sounded a bit nuts but she was a huge supporter of them. “My best friend and I, well, we’ve followed the news closely since that first facility was raided.”

She rose to her feet and took a few hesitant steps toward him. It dawned on her that it might not be a good idea and she paused. That’s when she remembered they could be dangerous to their enemies. Her eyes widened.

“Brent worked for Mercile? Is that why you’re after him?”

His lips pressed firmly together then he said, “Yes.”

“Son of a bitch!”

Eyebrows arched.

“Sorry.” She tried to tone it down a little. “I really didn’t like him. He’s a dick, treats women like crap, and is a ten on the eeew scale.” She was nervous suddenly. She was alone in a room with a real New Species.

They’d suffered so much. New Species had been created by a pharmaceutical company, using various combinations of human and animal DNA. The company, Mercile Industries, had used them as test subjects, imprisoned them, tortured them, and treated them like animals.

She tried to get a handle on her emotions as everything snapped into place. They were hunting Brent because he was a douche bag who helped suppress them. Vengeance’s words finally made some sense and she paled. “Brent helped kill that bald man’s girlfriend? One of your women?”