As she walked toward their room, Jen’s stomach began to feel as if a huge rock had settled in it. Her mouth got dry, and she found it hard to swallow. Shereallydid not want to face her mate right now. But Thia needed to eat and get ready for bed. And at some point, she and Decebel needed to work this out. “Adulting sucks, mini-me,” she told her daughter.
“Aw hell, momma,” Thia said softly and patted Jen’s face again.
“You said it, kid. You said it.”
ChapterFive
“Many supernaturals think humans are useless, not worthy of our regard. And I, too, used to hold that mindset. But that was before I stopped taking orders from the likes of Alston and Ludcarab—those too shortsighted to understand the value of the humans. Once I realized that humans are more than just blood bags, well, that was when I realized I could rule the world.” ~Cain
“How many more dormant wolves can you get me?” The scientist standing before Cain was ridiculously young. Cain had asked for the top mind in the field of genetic studies to oversee his project, and he had assumed he would be working with someone geriatric, or at least old enough to have high cholesterol. He certainly didn’t expect this … this …childin his mid-twenties dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. Cain had almost ripped the whelp’s throat out just on general principle. But now he was glad he hadn’t. Willis had proven to be as intelligent as the human leaders had claimed, even more so.Perhaps there’s hope for humanity yet.Though, considering what Cain had planned for them, there was definitely hope, but it wasn’t as humans. It was as something more. Something better.
Cain stood in front of a large window that revealed a room with rows and rows of beds. On those beds lay unconscious humans. But not just run-of-the-mill normies. These were the coveted dormants that Vasile and his allies had yet to find. And as Cain stood here speaking with the child prodigy, his vampires were scouring the human world for even more dormants.
“How the hell should I know?” replied the vampire with a sneer. “I do not have a magic ball that shows me the location of the dormant mongrels. And I couldn’t guess how many there are in existence.” Yes, humans were useful, and this particular one was intelligent, but Cain still didn’t like them. “My people bring them in as they find them. Until then, you will have to work with what you have.”
Footsteps sounded from behind him, and Cain turned to see another of his valuable assets—an American military general called Carl Brock, who went by his last name for some dumb reason.
“Are we any closer to our goal?” Brock asked, his lips drawn tight across his face. The general’s jaw was sharp, though his cheeks drooped slightly with age, and his blue eyes were surrounded by creases as if he’d spent a lifetime squinting at the horizon. He carried himself with the confidence of a man who was used to getting things done. And Cain needed such authority to accomplish his plan.
Willis clapped his hands together and bounced on the balls of his feet. He glanced from the room of dormants back to the general. He looked like a Jack Russell Terrier whose owner had just pulled out his favorite toy. “I’ve isolated the virus that causes the vampirism.” His shoulders suddenly slumped forward, and he looked like a kicked puppy. “But when I separate it from the cells and inject it into a dormant wolf, the immune system attacks the virus and kills it.”
Cain clenched his jaw and considered the problem. A thought occurred to him. Perhaps it matters how much of the wolf gene the human carries. “Is there a way for us to tell how diluted theCanislupusgene is in the dormants?”
Willis’s eyes brightened. “I hadn’t thought of that. I’d need a sample of a full-blooded werewolf to have a baseline to compare the other samples.”
Brock frowned. “Will heavily diluted dormants be weaker than those with more wolf blood?” The general’s voice carried a hint of annoyance, as if Cain should have known this already and informed him of it when they’d first met.
Cain forced himself to keep control and refrain from ripping the man’s head off. As much as he hated to admit it, Cain needed the general and the resources the human military and scientists provided. They were the perfect cover from the supernatural world and would likely remain so as long as his vamps were careful in their abductions of the dormants. “How am I supposed to know that?”
“You said your kind preferred dormants because they gave you better sustenance than humans and lived longer to feed on. I figured there was a chance you could tell how human or not they were by tasting their blood.”
Cain opened and then closed his mouth. Okay, so the damn human had a point. It was a reasonable question, especially considering how new Brock was to the supernatural world. “Perhaps you are on to something, General. I’ve never given the issue much thought. But if Willis can compare the samples to a full-blooded wolf, then I can taste each one. I may indeed be able to tell the difference.” It would be faster than having to do blood tests on every single dormant.
“Very good.” Brock nodded. “We need to make progress. The higher-ups are getting impatient. They’re chomping at the bit to see their new army.”
Cain wanted to roll his eyes but managed a nod instead. He refused to meet thehigher-upsand had made it clear he would only work directly with a few select humans. When asked why, he told Brock the fewer humans that pissed him off, the fewer humans who would die. That had been the end of the discussion, and the human authorities hadn’t pushed him further. “We are working as fast as we can. I will have to contact my associate and determine if we have any wolves left in our employ.”
“You mean the Order?” Brock asked. It was information that Cain had been shocked to hear a human talking about, especially in a supernatural bar. Apparently, the supernaturals weren’t as unknown as they’d thought. There were humans who’d experienced interactions with them and instead of writing it off as something their mind just couldn’t explain, they’d pursued their curiosity. Some humans could be tenacious in their pursuit of knowledge. Especially those who saw an opportunity to benefit from the supernaturals. Cain might have been insulted if he hadn’t realized that he, too, could take advantage of the opportunity the human government wanted.
“Yes,” Cain answered. “The Order.”
“I was informed by my contact the group had been disbanded,” Brock said.
Cain wanted to know who the hell this contact might be, but the general had refused to give that information up. And since Cain didnotwant to have to work with a new human, he didn’t torture the information out of Brock. “Your contact obviously doesn’t know as much as they think they do.”
The general narrowed his eyes, and his mouth tightened, his disapproval at Cain’s unwillingness to say more evident on his face.Let’s see how he likes being kept in the dark.Though he had to play nice for the moment, Cain wouldn’t go so far as to submit to the general’s supposed authority. Eventually, this fool and his superiors would understand that. And by then, it would be too late for them to do anything about it.
“Keep me up-to-date,” the general finally said. “I expect a call the minute progress is made.”
“Of course.” Cain smiled so his fangs were on full display.
The general tried to hide his revulsion and fear, but Cain saw the pulse in the human’s neck pick up speed and the scent of unease issue from his pores.Ugh,humans are disgusting. Well, except for their blood. That is quite delectable.
Brock made a sharp turn on his heels and marched away.
“He’s an ass,” Willis said softly.
“An ass that we need,” Cain muttered.
