As if it was for Noah to decide what Simon should be focusing on.
Part of him wanted to test if Noah truly couldn't be killed. He could get his stake through Noah's skull before the man could blink.
Noah shook his head as if he could read Simon's intentions.
"It's no use," he said, and his outline began to glow with a light so bright that it made Simon's enhanced vision water and his barely controlled vampire nature want to run.
"I've been been watching the Organization play god for too long," Noah said, and the light, whatever it had been, faded, leaving Noah looking human again. "They've gotten bolder lately. They're planning a new project. Project Expansion, targeting adults instead of kids. Your friend Charlie was a mistake, actually. They wanted his friend. Brent, isn't it?"
Simon's world tilted. "Brent?"
"Apparently, he's got the right physical condition." Noah pulled another book from his cart, this one with no title on its spine. "The Organization's gotten very scientific about their selection process. Brent checked all their boxes."
"But Charlie was turned instead."
"A drunk vampire stumbling through alleys behind bars wasn't part of anyone's plan." Noah opened the title-less book, pages fluttering without any wind. "Charlie was an accident. A beautiful, chaotic accident that disrupted everything."
Simon forced himself to think past the roar in his head, past the image of his mother's last moments that kept trying to claw its way forward. "How would they even arrange all this?"
"They have their methods. Tracking vampires, predicting hunting patterns, sometimes just ensuring the right victim is in the right place." Noah snapped the book shut. "But Danny turning Charlie instead of Brent? Pure chance. The best kind."
The thought of Charlie—soft, apologetic, turning into a rabbit when threatened—made something crack in Simon's chest. An accident that had upended everything the Organization planned.
"Why are you telling me this?" Simon asked.
"Because you're my best shot at stopping this situation before it escalates even further. The Organization wants an army. Enhanced humans loyal only to them, strong enough to control both mortal and paranormal populations."
"That's insane."
"That's Reuben." Noah turned, and his eyes held that strange bright light again, subtle but undeniable. "He lost someone to vampires forty years ago. It broke something in him. Now he breaks others the same way, thinking he's making the world a better place."
Simon thought of Reuben's office, all those weapons from different eras. The way he'd talked about Simon's mother being proud.
Could he be responsible for her death?
All these years… could he have been lying?
"Tell me," Noah said. "What do you think is in those pills they make you take?"
"Suppressants," Simon said. "They keep the vampire infection from spreading to keep me human."
"Is that so?" Noah moved his cart slightly, wheels squeaking on the worn carpet. "Viktor's been off his pills for three months now. Has he gone feral?"
Simon didn't bother asking how Noah knew about Viktor. "No," he said shortly.
"Has he lost control? Become a monster? Started hunting humans?"
Simon grimaced.
"He hasn't," Noah answered for him. "Interesting, isn't it?" He pulled another book from his cart. "Richardson supposedly went feral after stopping his pills. Keane killed herself rather than face withdrawal. But Viktor just... walked away. And survived."
Simon couldn't argue with that.
But maybe Viktor was a fluke. An anomaly. Or just lucky.
Before Simon could voice his thoughts, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, expecting Reuben, but it was a text from Viktor's number.
At the retreat place viktor mentioned. Im okay. They have really good blood here that doesnt make me sick. Everyone is nice to me. It feels weird.
