Tainted Blood by Martin Sharlow

him with no choice but to hunt Jason down and do exactly what the company wanted in order to get Heather back.
     
    Unless somehow he could reason with him
     
    He wondered if that would be possible. After all, he didn't want to hurt him, that was, until he took Heather. Which was a stupid mistake on his part.
     
    Brian shook his head at the guy's sheer stupidity. Well, no matter what happened he was going to set Heather free, whatever the cost. Of course, there was a wild card involved: a big pissed off werewolf. That couldn’t be good, and if tonight were any indication, he doubted his aunt was going to be able to do anything about it.
     
    Well, he couldn't worry about that. He would just have to remain armed and keep his ears open.
     
    The manila envelope sat invitingly on his nearby desk, almost beckoning to him to come look at it. Brian reached out with his will, searching for Heather one last time. If he could just find her, maybe he wouldn't have to do his aunt's wishes. The idea that he had been groomed or watched over by this company like a piece of meat irked him to no end. He was a human being. Slavery was illegal.
     
    He began to wonder if maybe the people he needed to go after were actually this company. They seemed like the real underlying evil in the world.
     
    Brian closed his eyes and concentrated harder. If she was out there, he had to be able to find her. No one else had he known so intimately in his entire life, not even his mother.
     
    Heather had always seemed like a part of him, a part that he desperately needed to find. A chill ran through his body as he pushed as hard as he could. It was almost like he had touched something with his mind for just a second, but so brief he couldn't be sure what it was.
     
    “It's her, it's got to be.” he said to himself.
     
    There was no logic in his conclusion, just something deep within him, something he wasn't quite sure what it was. He closed his eyes and pushed again, concentrating on the thing he felt out there. After a few moments, he could feel it again, still there, frighteningly far away. Harder he pushed with all his will, he imagined he was flying towards it with two giant's wings sprouting from his back.
     
    Slowly it got bigger as he closed in on it, a light? No, maybe a box? Maybe it was...
     
    “ Brian! ”
     
    It was like a lighting strike, loud and clear and it startled him so badly that he snapped out of the trance he'd been sitting in. The sun was clearly up as his eyes snapped open. Sweat drenched his cloths and his face. His body ached and screamed at him as he stood up and headed for the refrigerator. A deep gnawing hunger was upon him. He grabbed two IVs and tore the first one open, draining it in seconds. The second fared a bit better. By the time it was done the hunger was all but gone.
     
    He must have used an insane amount of energy to have been that hungry already. Especially since he'd just had that glass of blood just before leaving the limo. Not to mention that he wasn't denying himself anything lately. He should have been full enough to go days without eating again. Instead, he felt like he was on the verge of starvation when he came out that trance.
     
    It didn't matter however, nothing mattered now. He had heard her voice. Heather was out there, and he could reach her, at least if he tried hard enough. He needed to try again, while he still had the feeling fresh in him. Whatever was hiding her from him wasn't invincible, and with enough effort, he could break through it. He was sure of it.
     
    He just needed more strength.
     
    The problem was, where would he get it?
     
    The memory of his near-death months ago came flashing to his mind. He would have died after that werewolf’s mauling if it hadn't been for the fact that there were two agents nearby holding him up. In pain and desperation Brian had slain and drank the blood of those agents, and in so doing healed almost on the spot, not to mention gained a burst of