Deadly Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page B

deadly side effects and seizures had been crucial to that success.
    Unfortunately, by the time Rufin perfected all the adjunct systems, they’d been down to two test subjects. And the Serum 89 was gone.
    Creating more had proved impossible. In fact, after poring over Zadovsky’s journals for the hundredth time, Rufin concluded that the highly revered Russian scientist had somehow lost the recipe and the priceless research for Serum 89.
    Ironically, Rufin’s knowledge of Zadovsky’s work, combined with his own attempts at replicating the serum, had now inadvertently put him light-years ahead, too. If anyone could reproduce Serum 89, Rufin could. Eventually…right now no one could get it right on the short timeline the Thais had given. Too much of Zadovsky’s data was still missing.
    Eager to distract his own thoughts, Rufin checked the computer screen in front of him. Still downloading.
    Grabbing a tablet and pen, he scribbled a computation but then crumpled it after realizing it was something he’d tried weeks ago. The nagging feeling that he was close haunted him. That and the certain knowledge that whether he succeeded with these experiments or not, the Thai government would kill him.
    Fortunately, Rufin wasn’t as gullible as he’d led his Thai handlers to believe. While he’d long dreamed of escaping with the data , it had only been recently that he’d figured out a way to actually pull it off. If anyone deserved to profit from it, he did.
    Now if his luck would just hold a bit longer…
    The computer beeped, drawing his attention.
    “Finally.” He pressed ENTER then moved to the viewing window on the hyperbaric chamber.
    Taz, the older of the two remaining test subjects, was inside. How strange that Rufin didn’t think of them as human anymore, but with his own life at stake, ethics meant little.
    Of course, even stranger was the notion of Taz and Hades working willingly with him . Taz, who had twice tried to kill Rufin, was now his unwitting accomplice and savior. Soon Hades would be as well. Once these newest programs were installed, Taz and Hades would give their lives to protect Rufin.
    Still, it truly unsettled Rufin to know he’d eventually have to sacrifice Taz.
    In many ways, Taz had been more fascinating to study with his uncanny ability to stabilize and adapt. It had appeared that no matter what they threw at him, he’d survived. Flourished. At least for a while.
    Lately, Taz’s ability to recuperate seemed slower. Inarugably, they’d made some seemingly irreversible errors with him. Zadovsky had likened it to faulty wiring that did too much damage to the circuitry before it was detected. But wasn’t that how progress unfolded?
    Rufin consoled himself with the thought that he’d still have Hades. They had proceeded more cautiously with Hades and it had paid off. Hades was the real gold mine. A nearly perfect specimen.
    Hades was almost there, and once Rufin fully controlled Hades, could make him do the morally unthinkable on command—
    A hand clamped down on Rufin’s shoulder, spun him around. To his horror, he found himself looking into Hades’s eyes. Eyes that glittered with that now-you-die expression Rufin had witnessed many times.
    Instinctively, Rufin’s hand went to his side. Too late he remembered he’d left his tranquilizer gun on his desk and dismissed the guard.
    His bladder released as his vision tunneled. It was over.
     
    Max tightened his grip on Rufin’s neck. So easy to crush his windpipe. “Don’t you dare pass out! Free him. Now.”
    “I c-c-can’t.”
    “Oh yes, you will!” Max shoved the scientist closer to the chamber. He needed to get Taz out before one of the guards returned. “Shut it down.”
    “I can’t interrupt the process,” Rufin pleaded. “P-p-please.”
    “Fuck your process.” Max reached around the scientist and grabbed for one of the latches that sealed the chamber.
    Behind them a door crashed open. Swinging Rufin around in a semicircle,