Thetap, tap, tapof keys resounded, then the large wall screen above us displayed lines of people outside Intech.
“I doubt every one of those humans have any supernatural ancestors,” Sawyer said. “They’re there for the one hundred thousand dollars.”
The question I had was—who was whipping up a new batch? Roman? In addition, Dane and I hadn’t been at Intech long enough for Carly to extract a ton of our DNA. Though Adam had Matthew and two shifters. I was assuming Ross Gray and Tucker Whyte were being held by Adam. Still, my uncle’s notes outlined that I was the key—my DNA was needed for genetic engineering.
“It will be interesting to see what comes out of the experiments,” I said. “Because Matthew was born in a lab, I doubt his DNA will work.”
“In a way, that could be good for us,” Sawyer added. “As they fail and try again, it will give us time to strategize and build our plan to attack.”
He had a point, but it didn’t give me a warm and fuzzy.
“On another topic”—Sawyer waved the folder in his hand—“we couldn’t find much on Kendra Talon or Layla’s mother, Meredith Drake. Except we do know that Kendra grew up in Shelby, Montana. It’s a small town in the northern part of the state about thirty miles from the Canadian border. That’s it.”
I leaned against the edge of the cubicle while Murphy chatted with the master-at-arms. “Layla has left Kendra a voice message and a text.”
Sawyer dragged a hand through his light-brown hair. “Talking directly to the source is best. Also, I want to apologize that my team couldn’t intercept that reporter’s video. We found a bug in our servers that took top priority.”
I straightened. “Are we compromised?”
Sawyer swiped a finger over his eye, seemingly tired. “No, we caught it in time.”
“We’ll probably have many more attempts, given the chaos we’re in,” I said. “Everyone and their brother will try to get a glimpse of us or info anyway. Don’t be surprised if the human military or CIA is trying as we speak.”
“The Special Forces unit has offered up their tech gal. I’m showing her the ropes after our meeting. Speaking of which, I need to gather my iPad and head into the war room.” Sawyer sped off to his cubicle.
Murphy set the receiver on the phone’s base. “Sam, the guards are taking Carly to the infirmary. They confirmed she’s having a seizure.”
Maybe her body couldn’t handle the serum.
I gripped his shoulder. “Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime, man,” he said.
The Aberdeens were falling one by one, and my first thought was why couldn’t Rianne? Carly had started the bullshit, but I would rather see Rianne fighting for her life than her cousin-in-law. And Jack and I would never be friends, but he didn’t need to suffer because of his mother’s stupidity, or Rianne’s, for that matter.
I massaged my neck as I wound my way out of the command center and into the war room that was buzzing with voices, high and low, as stories were told and introductions were made. Viking II, Special Forces, and my SEAL brothers were mingling in groups or sitting in seats.
My gaze bounced around, and I didn’t see Ben until he called my name.
He came toward me, looking haggard and scraggly—thick beard, long reddish-brown hair in need of a wash, and black uniform crusted with mud near his ankles. Not surprised. Living in the woods for months had that effect. Missions could sometimes be brutal on the body.
“It’s great to see you, man,” Ben said as we exchanged a bro hug.
“Same. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with more than stubble on your face or long hair.”
Ben Jackson, half human and half vampire, had a baby face and always wore a military haircut.
He pulled on his beard. “This fucker is coming off after the meeting. I haven’t had time to do much since we rolled in.” He sized me up. “You’re officially a father. My mind is blown, man. It feels like yesterday when we were playing baseball in high school and ogling girls. Now you’re married.” He frowned. “I wished I could’ve been there.”
“Me too. It was a beautiful ceremony. At some point, we’ll celebrate.” It might be eons, but when we did, it would be great to have a big blowout party.
Ben slid to my side and turned to face the room. “My father has been calling me nonstop. I was able to placate him after the hospital incident when your mug showed up on TV. But since Emery’s fucking announcement, my dad has left me twenty voice mails.”
I cringed. Poor Mr. Jackson. When Jo and I first turned, Ben’s dad had been relentless in trying to report my father to the authorities for child neglect. He’d suspected something wasn’t right with us, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It hadn’t helped that Ben had been in and out of the hospital because of Edmund Rain. Travis Jackson blamed my father for everything bad that had happened to Ben since Jo and I became vampires.
But Ben couldn’t bring himself to tell his dad about him or us, and my old man had ordered Ben not to anyway. For the last five years, Mr. Jackson thought he was going crazy. I felt bad for Ben’s dad and had a soft spot for him. He’d gone out of his way to help Jo and me when we were humans. Hell, I owed him for saving me from jail and keeping Jo and me from another foster home.
“It’s time you’re truthful with your dad,” I said. “If anyone deserves the truth, it’s him, Ben.”
