Don't Poke the Luna (Xena and Ryder)

Chapter 254

Xena's POV

Come on! It's time to see what I've prepared for you!" Wiley's voice carried a twisted excitement that made my skin crawl.

Hands grabbed my arms and dragged me from the trunk. The parking garage was dimly lit, shadows dancing across concrete walls. I caught sight of another figure being pulled from a second trunk. It took me a moment to realize it was William, but he was unconscious. A warrior threw him over his shoulder like a sack of grain while Tatum gripped my arm, forcing me to follow alongside them.

Despite my efforts to look around for any identifying features, nothing stood out to tell me where we were. By my calculations, we'd only been in the car for an hour or two at most. We'd passed some railroad tracks, but when they'd taken a turn too sharply and I'd been thrown against the other side of the trunk, I'd lost track of our location entirely.

My head had struck something metal during that turn, and I could feel blood trickling down my temple.

"Welcome to our research laboratory." Alpha Wiley seemed proud of this revelation.

The moment he opened the door, I was blinded by harsh fluorescent lighting. Everything was white-floors, walls, ceiling, even the lights themselves were a brilliant, sterile white. The people inside wore full protective suits that covered them from head to toe, leaving only their eyes visible behind clear face shields. The lab stretched out before us, filled with gleaming equipment, computer terminals, and rows of glass containers filled with various colored liquids. The antiseptic smell was overwhelming, mixed with something chemical and wrong that made my stomach turn.

"What is all this?" I asked, the acrid chemical smell in the air making me uneasy.

picked up what looked like a black bath bomb. "We also have various poisons, and our latest creation..." He held up the dark sphere with disturbing pride. "This little bomb releases deadly toxins into your drinking water. Just drop this into a water tank, and everyone

to ice. They were manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. I fought to keep my expression neutral, but rage burned through me like wildfire. These lunatics

I stared coldly at

a look that told me I needed to stop asking questions. Tatum pulled me from that room toward the hallway. "We're researching many things.

Wiley stopped in front of another door and

masks. At first I didn't understand what I

drone. "Now do you see? This little guy flies to its target explodes.

pulled a My heart nearly stopped beating. I stared at Alpha Wiley in shock as he seemed to enjoy my expressi remote control from his pocket, and what had appeared to be a solid gray wall suddenly became transparent, revealing an entire

of these weapons was staggering, and it made me realize just how dangerous our enemy truly was. They weren't just a group of thugs-they were organized, technical,

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Chapter 254

fists clenched

smiled as he pulled me from

opened the door and