“What did you do to them?” I said, unable to keep the horror from my voice.

He shrugged, unconcerned. “I’m in a competitive business. If I don’t have the strongest, most powerful agents, customers will go to someone else. Customers will pay someone else to protect them or find a missing item. Customers will pay someone else to kill their enemies. One day the people in those cages will have supernaturally strong robotic limbs and indestructible skin. They’ll thank me.”

“And you don’t care that you’re hurting them?”

“No.”

I scanned the rest of the lab, trying not to look at the cages. Toward the back, I saw my friends and family locked inside a glass cell. I gulped hard and stumbled. Vincent righted me. Even from this distance, I could see that my dad shook with fear. Lexis had her arm around him, offering what comfort she could. Tanner radiated hatred and fear, and glared at everyone who approached him. Rome was propped against the wall, slumped and weakened by the tranquilizer. His expression held no emotion.

How long would they be allowed to live? Damn it! I had to save them.

Vincent thrust me at an older woman who looked as prim and proper as a librarian. “Strap her down,” he said, eyes alight with eagerness-the first real emotion he’d displayed. “And take some blood.”

“How much?” Her fingers curled around my arm in a viselike grip.

“Whatever you need. I want to know what’s in her blood that isn’t in anyone else’s.”

“You don’t need my blood. You have the formula now,” I protested.

“You survived. I want to know how.”

“I survived because the formula was perfected!” I pressed my lips together. I hadn’t meant to admit that out loud. I didn’t want to help Vincent in any way, but the words had spilled from me of their own accord, unstoppable.

You can’t lie to Vincent, Rome had once told me. Holy hell, I was in trouble.

“We’ll see for ourselves,” Vincent said. “I’m going to conduct my own tests. And believe me, they’ll be like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Let me know if she gives you any trouble,” he added to the evil-looking lab tech. Having pronounced my sentence, he sauntered away.

Ding, Ding. Let the torture of Belle begin.

WHAT FOLLOWED WERE endless hours of poking and prodding, and it hurt like hell. I felt drained, but at last Martha, my prim and proper tormentor, finally decided to let me rest. She wanted me fresh for tomorrow’s torment, I suppose, when the initial test results would come in. These scientists were, in my expert opinion, concerned only with their experiments. Mercy, compassion and morality played no part in their actions.

Wanna bet tomorrow’s adventure would make today’s seem like a five-star vacation?

I lay on a cot, inside my own glass cell, and stared at the monitor on the far wall. To keep me docile, Vincent wanted me to see my dad and my friends and know that at any moment their lives could end. Though sleep beckoned me sweetly, I remained awake. And though my bruises begged me to sink into oblivion, I watched the screen, unable to glance away.

How could I save everyone? What could I do? Helplessness bombarded me, taunted me. Where was my hope now? Lost, my tired mind supplied, with all the blood that had been taken.

Rome suddenly stepped into the center of the screen, staring into the camera expectantly. In that moment, it was as if our gazes locked on to each other. He blinked. Surprised, I sat up and studied him. Was he trying to tell me something? He blinked again.

Damn it, what did he want me to do? What could I do? Think, Belle, think. I couldn’t start a fire. There were sprinklers above me that would douse the flames instantly. I’d be stopped and my loved ones would then be punished for my escape attempt.

If Cody were here, I could-My eyes widened. Cody! I’d forgotten about him. I pressed my lips together to prevent a victory shout. Streams of hope hit me. Cody might still be in the electrical system.

Vincent had turned on a secondary power source that didn’t rely on electricity, yet Cody didn’t need to physically touch the power. He could create his own from the wires, as I’d seen during the car chase. And maybe, just maybe, he’d gone for help.

If I could get back into the lab and draw Cody to me, he and I could incapacitate the guards. I looked out. Night must have fallen because fewer people were around. Now is the time. I pushed myself to my feet. Cameras followed my every move.

I paced, allowing my gaze to circle the room, searching. My cot was anchored to the floor. The walls were thick glass. The floor was concrete. The only door (that I knew of) was the kind that slid open when it had the proper sensor. I’d never be able to pry it open.

How was I going to get out? I kept pacing. If I attempted to melt the door sensor, I might jam the door in place, closed permanently. If I froze the glass-Wait. Wait!

A memory flashed through my mind. Weeks ago, I had decided to go on a vegetable diet. Not that it lasted. Anyway, I cooked said vegetables in the microwave. In a glass bowl. When I’d taken it out and seen the mushy results, I had lost my appetite, but placed the bowl in the refrigerator just in case I changed my mind later. The hot-cold change of temperature had caused the bowl to crack in half.

I could do that now, to the wall. Heat it, cool it, crack it, then kick my way free. I would have to move and act quickly lest someone realize what I was doing, and stop me. Plus, I’d have to be careful not to use too much heat and activate the sprinklers.

I stared into the laboratory and met the gaze of several scientists. I flipped them off. They frowned and scribbled in their notebooks. What were they writing? “Subject displaying unhealthy sassiness?”

Could I heat the air without causing any actual flames? Without Tanner here to tell me when I was becoming too violent, and without Rome here to filter, that seemed like an impossible task.

I didn’t care. I had to try.

Still pacing, I dug deep into my emotions. I summoned desire, desire for Rome that was buried in my every cell. Drew on it. I let thoughts and images of Rome consume me. Rome -naked. Me-naked. Rome kissing his way down my body. Stopping to lave between my legs.

My body heated, my eyes heated. The air heated.

After Rome tasted me, I’d kiss my way down his body. I’d take him in my mouth. I’d suck him. He’d moan, shout my name.

Both the air and I sizzled, rising another degree.

Tiny flames nipped at my fingertips. I hid my hands behind my back and faced the wall, gaze focused on the glass. My nipples were hard, my knees shaking.

Rome -telling me he loved me.

A tremor stole over me. The warmth from my eyes intensified, hitting the wall. It began to heat, a fine steam covering the corners. Freeze it, my mind shouted. Freeze it now. I switched the direction of my emotions, still remaining deep within myself. The heat from my eyes chilled, getting colder, colder still. The steam hardened into frost.

A loud crack echoed through the cell.

Like a spiderweb, the crack spread over the glass. On a wave of victory, I raced to the wall and kicked. My foot made contact, and the glass shattered around me, sharp, tiny diamonds. Panicked voices greeted my ears as I rushed into the lab.

Someone shouted, “She’s escaped,” over the intercom.

“Cody!” I yelled. “Cody, we’re in here.” Hopefully, my voice would lead him to me.

A silent alarm must have been tripped because armed guards rushed into the lab, shoving the doctors and scientists out of the way. The people in the cages cheered loudly and reached through their bars, grabbing at those responsible for their pain.

“Cody!”

Guards were sprinting toward me. Not knowing what else to do, I held out my hands and iced them all, just as I’d done to the glass. Then, in a cloud of sparks, Cody materialized from an outlet. Without pause, he shot a blast of electricity at the men I hadn’t seen behind me. Their bodies convulsed and they collapsed to the floor.