“Jack,” Kraft called. “You can come in now.”
My uncle Jack came around the doorjamb in zombie mode. His face was ashen. His blue-gray eyes were dull and filled with tears.
I glanced at Sam for no reason other than to collect my thoughts. I was 100 percent sure Jack had seen his son Noah.
The team who’d been assigned to watch Intech’s West Virginia facility had returned to base with my cousin at around five that morning.
I hadn’t known the SEALs had Noah until Sam told me earlier in the apartment. He’d been bound by his top secret clearance and SEAL business to keep Noah’s condition under wraps, and only those on a need-to-know basis were privy to the information.
But Steven had felt it was time Noah’s family knew his plight, which wasn’t good. My cousin was feral, according to Sam. Humans like Noah, who didn’t have any vampire DNA or markers, supposedly didn’t live long after a gene-altering injection. In fact, the serum, depending on the potency, eventually would attack the body’s main organs like the heart and brain, which was what had happened to Blake Turner, Patrick Mason’s first victim.
My uncle shuffled to the chair across from Sam and me, running his hands through his red hair.
“You’ve seen Noah,” I said softly. That was the only reason Jack wasn’t his usual boastful self.
I hadn’t seen my cousin since the day in the West Virginia mountains when I learned he’d been injected with the serum. It had been a horrific sight then. Given Jack’s state of mind, Noah had to look even worse now.
I rose and went over to sit beside Jack. “Uncle Jack, did you see Noah?” My gaze flicked to Sam then Kraft.
Kraft nodded with a dour expression. “We just came from the prison.”
I wrapped an arm around my uncle. I could empathize with him. Rianne might end up like Noah, and that would gut me even though I was furious with her and had a strong desire to murder her.
My uncle shuddered. “His features are…” He shook. “Noah’s face is covered in hair, he has red eyes, and he’s been changed into an animal. A fucking animal. What is wrong with Adam Emery and Carly? To think I accepted that woman into our family.”
My jaw came unhinged. “Hair on his face,” I mumbled to myself despite Sam preparing me on what to expect.
Sam studied my uncle. “Jack, your heart is beating extremely fast. Take a breath.”
Jack popped up and kicked the chair backward. “Take a breath,” he yelled. “Have you seen my son?” He fisted his hands, then paced an area between the wall and the head of the table.
My pulse quickened as I felt sorrow, pain, and anger. Not at Jack but at the situation as well as at Adam, Carly, Rianne, Harriet, and everyone who was on this kick to genetically change humans. It was fucked up on a level that couldn’t even be measured.
Sam watched Jack, seemingly concerned.
Jack paced like a madman. “I want to talk to your resident doctor. There has to be a way to reverse the process. There just has to be.”
A great idea, but I would guess highly unlikely. “Dr. Vieira and Jo should work on a way to do just that,” I said more to myself than to him.
Sam nodded, still keeping his eyes on my uncle. “We’ll call Dr. Vieira, but first I need you to have a seat and breathe, Jack.”
My uncle was turning red as he wore a hole in the floor.
“Kraft, see if Doc is available,” Sam said.
“Copy that.” Kraft stalked out.
“Uncle Jack, can I get you some water?” My heart was breaking by the second as I thought about my aunt Tabitha, who’d lost her eldest son recently to a car accident. If Jack was freaking out, Aunt Tab would collapse on the spot if she saw Noah.
My uncle bared his teeth. “I’m fine. Good thing my wife didn’t come with me. She wouldn’t be able to handle this.” He growled through a heavy breath. “I will go to hell for saying this, but I want to murder my fucking mother.” He came to an abrupt halt and slapped his hands on the table. “And your sister Rianne. I always knew she had a screw loose.”
Sam flew to his feet. “Jack, I’m going to say this one more time. You have to calm down. Your heart rate is off the charts.”
“Uncle Jack, please,” I said, sitting up straighter. “You know heart attacks run in the family.” The last thing we needed was for him to croak like my uncle Ray had.
Jack inhaled deeply, exhaled, then glanced at me before he whirled around and drove his fist through the wall.
I flinched, stifling a gasp.
