Katie's Hellion

"Hey, Ully wants to see you. Something about science experiments," Megan said, poking her head in.

"I'm coming," she replied, stifling a groan as she shrugged out of the sheet to stand. Her legs were wobbly, the muscles of her inner thighs stiff.

Megan disappeared, and Katie changed into one of the outfits she'd chosen. She almost felt normal in the jeans and light sweater. She slid her feet into clogs and left the room, meeting Ully just outside the girls' locker room. He beamed a smile and offered his arm, which she accepted.

"All hell's broken loose," he said cheerfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Sasha's created some sort of funky monster that even an immortal can't kill."

Her thoughts went to Jade, and she frowned, troubled.

"Awful."

"Yeah," he agreed. "The tests I did with your blood came back promising, but I can't nail down the right genetic code."

He led her down a floor to a large gym where a group of men stood in a loose cluster on a mat. Her eyes found Rhyn first, then Kris. Jade was there, another man with Kris's eyes but whom she didn't recognize, and a fifth man. All but the man with Kris's eyes and oriental beauty were sweating and bloodied in at least one spot.

Ully stopped a short distance from them, as if expecting them to launch into a battle despite their relaxed poses. The oriental man held a PDA and was frowning as he read through notes while the others waited for him to speak. Ully cleared his throat. The five turned, and Rhyn winked at her. She crossed her arms, forcing herself not to cover her neck as four sets of eyes landed there. Her gaze settled on Jade, whose dark eyes still held the fire of danger.

"Kiki, this is Katie, Rhyn's mate," Kris said coolly. "Katie, Kiki, one of our brothers."

The oriental man looked her over, almond-shaped turquoise eyes assessing.

"Pleasure, Katie," Kiki managed before returning his gaze to his PDA. "That's five, brother."

His voice held an accusatory note that Kris ignored.

"Your theory looks legit, Ully," Jade voiced at the tense silence. "Rhyn is immune to everything. Kris was for all of five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Ully repeated with a frown. "That would mean…"

"Either we get an emergency five minutes or you figure out how to make it work longer," Kris said.