Chapter 148: Cells And Corporate Cruelty

Kane tested his spirit restraints, tight enough to cut circulation but not quite enough to cause permanent damage. Professional work.

"You know, I gotta say, I’m actually kind of impressed with myself right now."

Kane leaned back in the metal chair, affecting a casual tone despite his racing heart.

"I pegged you as the bad guy from the very beginning. Like, the moment you showed up at that charity ball with your whole ’mysterious wolf energy’ thing going on."

Elias raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting this reaction.

"Really impressive villain vibes," Kane continued, warming to his theme.

"The predatory smile, the territorial posturing around Cyrus, that whole ’welcome to our world, little fox, mind the teeth’ speech. Classic antagonist behavior."

He paused, tilting his head thoughtfully.

"Though, to be fair, Cyrus also had major villain vibes when I first met him. All brooding and mysterious in his black suits, living in that ridiculous penthouse fortress. But that’s not the point."

A low chuckle rumbled from Elias’s throat.

"Amusing. Most people beg or threaten when they find themselves in your position."

"Most people don’t have my track record with dangerous supernatural predators," Kane shot back.

"Plus, you went to all this trouble to kidnap me instead of just killing me outright, which means you need me alive."

Elias stepped closer, amber eyes gleaming with genuine interest.

"So this is the fox who tamed the dragon."

"Tamed?" Kane snorted, a sharp laugh. "That’s really not my most impressive feat, honestly."

He tilted his head, studying Elias with mock consideration.

"Cyrus practically threw himself at me just by being himself. All I had to do was exist and not run away, quite literally."

Elias’s amber eyes flashed with something darker.

"Unlike some people," Kane continued conversationally, "I didn’t have to lie or manipulate or pretend to be something I wasn’t."

The wolf spirit’s jaw tightened.

"Speaking of which," Kane pressed, sensing he’d struck a nerve, "what’s the endgame here? You lure Cyrus into some elaborate trap, then what? Kill him? Take over his territory? Steal his lunch money?"

Kane leaned forward as much as his restraints allowed.

"Because whatever your plan is, you’re gonna need more than daddy issues and a superiority complex to—"

"Enough."

Elias’s voice cut through Kane’s words like a blade. The wolf’s amber eyes hardened, all trace of amusement vanishing.

"I didn’t bring you here for conversation, fox."

He turned toward the door, gesturing to the masked figures waiting in the shadows.

"Take him to containment ward seven. Full suppression protocols."

"Wait!" Kane strained against his bonds as rough hands seized his shoulders. "You want Cyrus angry? Fine. But you’re making a mistake if you think—"

"The only mistake," Elias interrupted, "would be allowing you to keep talking."

The guards hauled Kane to his feet, dragging him out of the windowless room.

Kane thrashed against their grip, fox ears flattening as panic clawed at his chest.

"You have no idea what you’re dealing with! When Cyrus finds me—"

"When Cyrus finds you, he’ll be exactly where I want him." Elias’s smile returned, sharp and predatory.

Kane’s fox ears twitched as the guards dragged him through sterile corridors lined with reinforced glass.

The familiar hum of magical containment fields filled the air—the same frequency he’d heard in Bureau holding cells, but amplified tenfold.

Through the transparent walls, Kane glimpsed horrors that made his stomach turn.

Spirits huddled in cramped cells, their natural forms dulled by suppression collars.

Some bore fresh injection marks along their arms, silver veins spreading beneath their skin like infection.

"Holy shit," Kane breathed, his investigative instincts overriding his fear.

The guards paused at an intersection, and Kane craned his neck to peer into a nearby laboratory.

Scientists in hazmat suits worked methodically, drawing blood from a restrained bird spirit whose wings had been clipped and bound.

On the observation deck above, researchers in crisp suits took notes behind bulletproof glass, treating the spirit like a lab rat.

Kane’s eyes widened as they passed a wall of filing cabinets labeled "ACQUISITION LOGS."

Through the open office door, he glimpsed spreadsheets on computer monitors; spirits were listed by species, estimated market value, and shipping destinations.

Names, ages, and abilities reduced to commodity data.

They dragged him past another lab where technicians injected glowing compounds into captured spirits.

Kane watched in horror as a salamander spirit’s natural fire turned sickly purple, its essence warping under the synthetic influence.

The deeper they descended, the worse the horrors became.

Kane’s fox ears flattened against his skull as desperate voices echoed from the containment cells.

A young kelpie pressed her face against reinforced glass, mouthing "please" over and over until her voice gave out.

Next to her, a tree spirit sat motionless, bark-like skin split open to reveal pulsing synthetic veins beneath.

"Help us," whispered a raven spirit, his black feathers streaked with silver. "Please, they’re changing us into—"

A guard slammed his baton against the glass, silencing the plea.

Kane’s blood ran cold as they passed a massive chamber at the corridor’s end. Behind triple-reinforced barriers, something enormous twitched in artificial suspension fluid.

Dragon scales. Massive obsidian scales attached to synthetic muscle and bone, held together by crackling energy conduits. The construct’s half-formed head jerked spasmodically, empty eye sockets sparking with stolen fire.

"Damn," Kane breathed.

They weren’t just trafficking spirits—they were reverse-engineering them. Building weapons from stolen essence, creating armies of artificial beings designed to mimic the most powerful creatures in existence.

But why? What could Elias possibly need an army for?

Kane’s mind raced as the guards shoved him into an elevator.

The water dragon at the pier hadn’t been a test of Cyrus’s abilities—it had been a field trial. A proof of concept.

The elevator descended further into darkness, and Kane realized with growing dread that whatever Elias was planning, the dragon construct was just the beginning.

As they reached containment ward seven, Kane’s investigative satisfaction dimmed.

He’d solved the mystery, but questions remained, and he was still very much trapped.