More Than Life (Arcane Crossbreeds) by Amanda Vyne

some freaky mojo.”
    Raife had worked with the man countless times during ops. He was like smoke. He was a man of few words, and he kept to himself. Like many of the agents who worked at Incog, he was a crossbreed with the scars to show it. Elemental and Guardian. That would be a lethal combination. In this instance, he hoped so.
    His mind was lethargic. It took every ounce of his concentration to keep it from succumbing to the sucking abyss of the hibernation. Cold was one of the only weaknesses a mated Drachon had. Blood moved sluggishly through his body, his heart pumping just enough to keep him alive. The cold wouldn’t kill him, but it definitely incapacitated him. Made him an easy target.
    “Stay on top, Merrick. Gideon’s got visual of the compound. Tell me what intel you’ve uncovered.”
    It took Raife a moment to process the question. Intel. Right.
    “Not much.” Which translated to nothing, at least nothing concrete. He had his suspicions, though. Especially now. He just wasn’t any closer to the why yet. “ I think the missing Drachon were some kind of whack job test subjects. The man who brought me here was an Elemental, one that has a real hard-on for me to mate.”
    “So they’re testing on female Drachon. The Drakes won’t take kindly to that. It’ll be war.”
    “No, there’s no actual Drachon females that I know of. Genetic mutations, I think. Katya still seems Sanguen.” Her bite definitely felt like one, but her fire was all Drachon. “Mostly.”
    “Shit. So they could have more than just Drachon males there. Other species that they’re fucking with.” Tag’s silence was weighted, and he knew what the unmated Drachon was thinking. If these assholes managed to mate him to a non-Drachon, were there other females that would be compatible? It could bring the Drachon back from the brink of extinction. “ We’ll have to inform the Drakes.”
    Raife agreed. Mostly for personal reasons. The Drakes were like elders; their word held a lot of weight. If the Drakes thought there were possible mates in danger, they would bring the fires of hell down on this place.
    He liked the thought of that. Fuck, he wanted to be holding a torch.
    “Gideon’s in. I’ll tell – ” Tag suddenly withdrew.
    Raife felt a shiver of something, some awareness. Just a flash, but it slashed through him, making his body jerk once from the excruciating pain of it.
    Katya. His blood turned to ice.
    “Tag? Tag. Jennings, you better fucking tell me what the hell is happening.”
    “Gideon is on it.” Tag tried to reassure him.
    “Tag. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
    “Hell just broke loose, and your mate is in the center of it.”
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    “It would be so much easier if you cooperated, little one.”
    Katya arched under the precision edge of Dr. Rupple’s scalpel as it slid through the top layer of skin on her abdomen. She was restrained on the table again, her head strapped down with her chin angled toward the ceiling. The good doctor was hell-bent on knowing what abilities she’d developed. It would never happen. They were her key to escaping this place. If she told him, he would guard against them. She’d rather die.
    “I don’t know what you want.” The words were forced through her clenched teeth. Agony stroked down her belly and her legs. She could taste the metallic blood in her mouth from biting down on her lip.
    “I’d like for you to describe in detail any new” —he paused as he slid the scalpel over her hip— “characteristics you’ve developed that have not come up in our previous discussions.”
    Katya’s breath rocked in her chest as she struggled to maintain control of the pain, her mind ripping through reasons the doctor would suddenly change tactics. Why he suspected she was keeping information from him.
    “And do not waste my time with your little dragon tricks. Those were present when I acquired you.”
    Dragon tricks? Her mind snapped back to that room;