“Can you read my mind?”
His lips slowly turned up into a wicked smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She blinked several times. “Yes, yes, I would. Hence why I asked you.”
Cain chuckled, and the sound was as wicked as his smile. “As much as I would love to have that ability, no, I cannot read your mind.” He walked over to the wall just a few feet from her and leaned his shoulder against it. “Is that what you wanted to speak to me about?”
Alice blew out a breath. “No. I wanted to speak with you about Lizzy. She asked to see Finn.”
His smile evaporated. “No.” Cain bit out the word through clenched teeth.
“Why not?”
“They’re true mates. Any time they spend together will make the bond stronger.”
Alice frowned. “Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because I have no idea how that will affect the change in her,” he explained. “It’s bad enough that she has a true mate. The bond between true mates is powerful. I need to see how her body responds to the virus without introducing his blood.”
Her brow drew down even lower. “Why would his blood be introduced?”
Cain’s eyes flipped up to the ceiling. “Because if they were together, the urge to complete the bond would be too strong.” His tone suggested the answer should be obvious. “They’d wind up biting each other, and then his blood would be in her system. For all I know, that might fight the virus, and she wouldn’t become a hybrid.”
Alice ran a hand through her hair and tried to focus. Her mind was a mess with the information she’d learned about healers, the guilt of helping Cain with his experiments, and the nagging thought that she needed to call her father and report back in. She really did not want to speak with her father. He was an ass on the best of days. If she didn’t give him any information that he felt was relevant, he’d be insufferable. She pushed the thought away and refocused on her conversation with Cain. “What about if they couldn’t have physical contact? What if you kept them somewhere where they could see each other and speak to one another, but not … bite each other?”
Cain shook his head before she even finished speaking. “They’re already speaking. They have a mind connection. And as you pointed out”—his lips pursed—“I’m old. I know much about the true-mate bond. They are having plenty of communication, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it, short of sedating them both. And even then, they might be able to speak to one another.”
She fought the urge to stomp her foot. I can’t believe I want to stomp my foot. I’m a grown, freaking woman. Alice had a feeling stomping her foot like a ridiculous child would only amuse Cain, and she did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting under her skin.
“Are we done?” Cain pushed off the wall and then pulled at the cuffs of his dress shirt to straighten out the sleeves. Without giving Alice another glance, he moved to the door. “Try to get some rest. I will monitor Lizzy. If something happens, I will need you, which means you need to be well-rested and functioning at maximum capacity.”
“What could happen?”
He pulled the door open and looked back at her. “Anything, everything, nothing.” He shrugged. “She’s the first of her kind in history. I have no idea. It’s been two days since the transfusion. The virus is infiltrating her organs. Her heart will slow more and more with each passing day. The changes her body is undergoing might awaken the dormant wolf in her. Again”—he sighed—“I don’t know what will happen if that comes to pass.”
Alice blew out a breath and rested her face in her hands. She was tired. She wanted to go back to her life as a rational scientist who didn’t know a thing about the supernatural world. Ignorance is bliss and all that.
“Why do you look like someone just told you that your career is over and your dog died?”
She dropped her hands and looked at him. For someone so evil, he was incredibly handsome. Weren’t evil things supposed to be ugly? If they weren’t, then they ought to be. It should be a rule or something. “This isn’t the kind of thing I ever expected to be doing with my career. I never imagined I’d have to learn about supernatural creatures and then be asked to help create a new species. It’s not easy for me to reconcile this with my moral code.”
His brows raised in surprise. “You’re experiencing conflict with your conscience?” Cain seemed bewildered. “Are you perfect?”
“What?” She huffed. “Of course I’m not perfect. Nobody is perfect.”
“Then why are you struggling with your moral code?” He repeated her words, only his tone made them sound absurd. “You’ve done things your whole life that fall under the ‘stuff that is wrong to do’ category. Did you lose sleep over them?”
Alice shook her head incredulously at him, knowing he probably saw a look of disbelief on her face. “I might have made mistakes, but I’ve never done something like this. Do you really think that something small, like swearing at someone in traffic, is the same as taking away a person’s freedom of choice? Not even close.”
Cain shrugged. “Wrong is wrong.”
“These people may not want to get injected with blood. And they sure as hell don’t want to be imprisoned here.” She stood up, nervously brushing her hands down the front of her pants. “Why am I talking to you about this? It’s almost funny to think that a vampire would understand the concept of morality.”
Cain stepped back into the room and closed the door. “You say that like you’ve known many vampires.”
“Oh, okay, vampire morality runs the spectrum. You’re not all evil parasites that want to create a new supernatural race and take over the world? And not all of you are willing to work with the human government in order to make that happen. I guess if I traveled the world, I’d find all sorts of vampires. I’d find vampires that were the very essence of paragon and virtue. Why do I seriously doubt that? Tell me, Cain, that you’ve been honest with the government about what you’re doing. Tell me you’ve told them the whole truth.” She crossed her arms in front of her and glared at him.
Cain’s shoulders tensed, and he lifted his chin, his eyes piercing her in place. He clenched his jaw, and he seemed to wrestle with whether he wanted to voice a thought. Finally, he spoke. “You’ve admitted that you’re not perfect, and yet you stand there and judge me?”
