slid down to the floor, seeing stars and tasting blood for the second time that day
Then there was no time to do anything more than try to protect myself, because Talon was on me, a whirlwind of fists and anger from which there was no escape
But it barely lasted more than a few minutes, because the tingling in my body became a power that would not be denied. It swept around me, through me, blurring my vision, blurring my pain. Screaming filling my ears, screaming unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Then, suddenly, there was a blur of red fur, and Talon’s weight was gone
“Rhoan, no!”
Jack’s voice, sharp with command
I scrambled upright, my claws scrabbling against the steel floor. Rhoan, in wolf form, stood above Talon, his deep-throated growl making his whole body quiver, his bared teeth a hairsbreadth away from Talon’s neck
Talon was beyond caring. His eyes were wide and glassy, and he still screamed. His body was aflame with the flicker of golden energy, which usually signaled the change from one shape to the other, but the sliver of silver I’d forced into his shoulder had him trapped in human form
I’d always wondered just how bad that would be
Now I knew
Jack strode forward and grabbed Rhoan by the scruff of the neck, hauling him off. “He’s no use to us dead,” he snapped, then glanced at me. “You all right?”
I nodded. There was little else I could do. Rhoan walked over and nuzzled me. I licked his nose and wished I was in human form so he could just hug me
“Then I suggest,” Jack continued tartly, “you two go find our missing vampire.”
We went
But Quinn had disappeared
And so, too, had the body of his friend
Chapter 16
At the foot of the hill on which I sat there was a hive of activity. Trucks lined the rough dirt track that led to the entrance of the underground lab, and people were bustling back and forth, some carrying equipment, others leading prisoners
To my right, thick black smoke trailed skyward, and the smell of burning flesh rent the air. The clones had been killed and the cleanup had begun
I rubbed my forehead wearily. I just wanted to go home, take a long bath, and forget this whole episode. Everything except Quinn, that was
But Jack had ordered me to remain until he had a chance to talk to me, so I remained, watching and waiting and wondering how I was going to sidestep the rest of the mess
Because it wasn’t over yet
I closed my eyes and lay back, enjoying the caress of the breeze and partially drifting off to sleep. After a while, footsteps approached, and I cracked open an eye
Jack, not Rhoan
He sat down on the grass a few feet away, staring up at the sun, his face drawn and tired-looking
“So why were you late?” I said, when he didn’t immediately say anything
He snorted softly. “Would you believe traffic?”
“No.”
“Ah. Well. I guess I’ll have to admit we lost the signal.”
“Bugger.”
“Could have been.” He glanced at me. “It was Rhoan who found you. He just started walking, and before we knew it, there you were.”
Thank God for the connection of twins. “I’ll have to tell him to walk a little faster next time.”
A smile touched his lips, but his eyes were all seriousness. “You know what I’m here to say, don’t you?”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “The job is only half-done.”
We’d found the source of the clones, but while Talon had been flirting with crossbreeding, his labs were not the main source of the crossbreeds. And definitely not the source of that weird-looking blue thing that had attacked me in the parking garage
Jack nodded. “Everything I’ve found in that lab suggests Talon was not working alone.”
“He said he’d worked with Misha in the past.” Talon had been so sure of his success that he’d blabbed far more than he should have. “He also said that he wasn’t responsible for those two men kidnapping me and that the person behind it all was someone I apparently know quite well.”
“Yes. He’s been quite talkative in the past hour or so, as well.”
Not willingly, I’d bet. “So what has he said?”
He hesitated. “His idea to get you pregnant was all his own.”
“No surprise there.”
Jack nodded. “No, but apparently, it’s been happening for well over a year. ARC1-23 was not the first fertility drug he’d tried, though all the others were legal.”
Meaning lack of success had forced him to try other drugs. Meaning I might be as infertile as the doctors had feared. I closed my eyes, not really sure how I felt about that despite the lump that rose in my throat
“So why wasn’t this picked up in my six-month checks?”
He grimaced. “I checked, and it was. But fertility drugs are not on the reportable list, so it never made the overall summary.”
“I’m gathering it will in the future?”
My voice was dry, and he grimaced. “
Even though it might be a case of shutting the barn door after the stock had bolted
“Of course,” Jack continued lightly, “Talon’s desire to create the ultimate werewolf is quite amusing considering he himself is not entirely wolf.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“He’s a dhampire, just like you.”
“He said he was a werewolf.”
“And still insists he is. Our tests reveal otherwise.”
So much for Talon thinking he was the pinnacle of wolf breeding. “So if Talon is an example of what was achievable, how come everything is going balls up now?”
“Because his father was a very powerful, very wealthy maverick working on his own, and much of his research was lost in a fire that destroyed his lab and took his life.”
“That suggests that maybe Talon’s not the only successful creation.”
“Exactly.”
“And maybe one or more of those creations are running the other lab.” Which might or might not be called Libraska
Jack gave me another of his pleased smiles, but I was too tired to get annoyed by it
“Did all this come from reading his mind?” I asked
“And the files in his office. Many of them are his father’s.”
“So you know who Talon’s working for?”
He grimaced. “No. That section of his memories has been burned away. Someone with very powerful psychic gifts has been at him in the last forty-eight hours. He’s only reciting what they’ve told him to recite.”
“So why has he been so chatty?”
