“—at the Barnabas Institute of Genetics.”
“How did you find out that’s what they’re called? Like, you saw their sign as we flew away?” Because I’d completely missed seeing a single thing that could’ve labeled the place.
“It was on every computer as a screensaver and every piece of paper as a letterhead.”
I glanced back at him. “How long were you in there?”
“I don’t know precisely.” He looked out the window. “I could guess.”
“Okay?” When he closed his eyes, I backtracked because it looked like he didn’t want to answer. “Look, if you don’t want to say or think about it or whatever, you don’t have to tell me.”
He heaved a sigh. “You weren’t the first man they brought me. I need to feed at least once a week. There were five before you.”
And he didn’t escape after the first one or the fifth, so it was entirely possible those men were all dead. By him drinking all of their blood? By a soldier’s bullet afterward?
“They kept me in that form,” Hamilton said in a deadened tone. “Theyknew howto keep me in that form by spraying a drug on me. They took samples of my hair, blood, and cum. They dug into my wings, muscles, bones…” He closed his eyes and dropped his head. “I killed those men. I may not have drained them completely, but they didn’t walk away from me, and I doubt anyone helped them recover.”
I sat with that for a few minutes. I’d seen Hamilton tear through soldiers and lab workers like they were nothing, all rage and revenge. But he’d also taken me with him, tried to keep me safe, and trusted me with his truths. It was clear to me that he hated himself for what he’d done to the others he’d drunk from. He felt the guilt, even if it wasn’t all his. I still didn’t know why I was the one he hadn’t killed, but I couldn’t condemnhimfor what might’ve happened to the others.
“You shouldn’t carry around other people’s guilt. They were alive when they left you. You can feel guilty for biting them, but not for whatever happened after you let them go.”
I saw him snap his gaze to mine, surprise all over his handsome face, and grinned at him before giving my attention back to the road. We were fine.
“So you’re thinking maybe six weeks?” I said with another glance in the rearview. “One guy per week? They knew that’show often you’d need to feed, too, so it sounds like they’re well aware of supernaturals. You weren’t their first one at all.”
“Yes,” he said, “I believe I was there for six weeks, and I was definitely not their first Contestrello. I can’t speak to whether they know of other supernaturals because I never saw anyone else, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
“Well, if The Coalition people want to talk to me, I’ll tell them everything I remember, too. It’s not much since I was so out of it, but it’s theirs so they can stop the institute of fucked up bullshit.” I laughed at my next thought. “Wouldn’t it be cool if tearing apart the elevator made the whole building collapse, though? Like, problem solved!”
He huffed a laugh but didn’t say anything more. A little part of me was okay with not saying more myself, but there was still one thing I really needed to know.
“Why was I the one that made you strong enough escape?”
“If you wouldn’t mind,” he said a bit slowly, “I’d prefer to explain that once we’re safe with The Coalition. Perhaps tonight.”
He was playing with the end of his tie, and I thought maybe he was uncomfortable. Worried? For the first time, I couldn’t quite read him, so I nodded and kept driving.
“That’s fine,” I said. “It’s a date.”
Hamilton’s expression shifted to one that told me loud and clear that dates with him would always end in sex. I bit my bottom lip as a blush hit my cheeks, really okay with that promise.
The Coalition’s unmarked building—literally,there was a street number and nothing else—was seriously corporate. Like, if the security guards and receptionists working the lobby were anything other than human, I couldn’t tell. I felt like I was going into a bank or some fancy company that I had no business bothering. Hamilton gave our names to a blond woman behind the desk, a guard wanded us both, and we were given badges to wear. Mine had visitor in big red letters, while Hamilton’s…
“Hey, your badge looks like you work here.”
He clipped it to the pocket of his suit coat and smirked at me. “I do.”
“Oh.” I shouldn’t be surprised since I’d never asked him what he did. “As what?”
“A lawyer and…consultant.”
I had a feeling he was being cagey on purpose, so I just squinted at the back of his head and followed him to the elevators. The inside of the car gleamed with mirrors and chrome—very different from the elevator he’d destroyed—and Hamilton pressed B7. We started going down.
Okay, that was concerning. This building was a skyscraper, but we were going underground? In the movies, nothing good ever happened in the basement levels. I looked to Hamilton, not sure why the hell he would take us down there.
“Stop panicking,” he said mildly.
“This isn’t panic,” I said with a hand over my pounding heart. “This is growing concern.”
