“How did you find that out?” For once, he and Beverly seemed to be of one mind. Perhaps the apocalypse was upon them all.
“It took some serious digging. I grew suspicious after I contacted this Devon person, telling him outright that the SBW needed more than empty accusations to act. He described a man of considerable height and arrogance who often seemed to be ‘popping’ into Dr. Abber’s lab.” Rasputin made finger quotes around the word ‘popping’. “The height and the popping reference were my first clues. Then I remembered the perfect letter he sent in answer to our first contact. We did wonderhow he knew to use the right paper and ink, not to mention he even had a seal. My suspicion was aroused and from there, it wasn’t difficult to follow the leads. Dr. Abber listed one Sammy Langhorn as one of his employers, which initially spoke for him, because this individuum is well known on the market for antique books, but it seems Dr. Abber is not only an employee but also a close acquaintance of Sammy, who is, as you know, the mate of Dresalantion.”
“Ah, Beaconville.” Beverly nodded. “We knew Dr. Abber was from there.”
“Yes, but we never dug deeper, which we probably should have done. The group of paranormals residing there is pure power, as you well know. And Dr. Abber has ties to them.”
“Yes. The changes the two uber alphas have made are still shaking shifter society.” The hint of a smile around Beverly’s lips indicated she wasn’t too sad about the shaking. Not because she was a great champion of equal rights, no, she would never lower herself to the mundanities of normal people’s lives, but because she generally liked it when those she viewed as beneath her got what they had coming for them. Since she saw practically nobody as her equal, there was an entire planet for her to sneer at.
“Dresalantion is Quirion’s brother, as you also know.” Rasputin tapped one of his long, spindly forefingers against his lower lip. “From there, it was easy to find the connection.”
“Do you think Quirion wants back into the society?” There was real worry in Beverly’s tone now. Worry Quirion didn’t understand. What would he want back in the stupid SBW? The reasons why he left were still valid. Judging from this interaction and what he could deduce, getting back into the society was now even less desirable than it had been all those years ago.
“Who can say with him? We didn’t part in a fight, which in hindsight might have been better. To be honest, I was so relievedwhen he just left without going full demon, putting the whole thing way behind us seemed like the best option.” Rasputin managed a delicate shudder at the ‘full demon’, which was simply ridiculous. First of all, Quirion knew exactly how many times Rasputin had gone all ice elf on people—and even though there usually wasn’t any blood, because those unlucky enough to incur his wrath were first frozen then shattered to tiny pieces, the sight was still as gruesome as any bloodbath left by a demon, just on a different level of yuck—not caring the least about decorum or manners or politeness and second, such pettiness was far beneath Quirion. There were other, more subtle ways to get back at the SBW, ways he had employed and which they had obviously never realized. Really, how had he ever thought working with them would be a good idea?
“Well, perhaps we should have been more attentive.” Beverly tapped her lower lip with her index finger, the blood-red nail polish not doing her complexion any favors. “It’s too late now. Dr. Abber’s research is interesting and could be a real feather in our cap.”
“You want to risk Quirion coming back?” Rasputin sounded hesitant.
Beverly did a complicated dance with her brows that made them look like underfed caterpillars trying to escape her face. “Not really. We don’t have a credible reason to reject Dr. Abber, though. The board is going to have questions if we don’t take him on.”
“May they be frozen for all eternity!” It was such a heartfelt curse, Quirion immediately liked the board. If whoever was on it could manage this level of helpless agitation from the ice elf, they had to be great.
“You’re right, but we need them. I may have an idea, though. If Dr. Abber does not meet the required standards, our hands are tied.”
“I’m entirely with you, though he does meet the standards, as you well know.”
The smile on Beverly’s face was everything Quirion had detested when he had been acquaintances with the woman. No way was he ever going back tothat.
“Well, at the moment, he does. You remember this stipulation we had put in the statutes for granting funding to new scientists?”
A malicious smile graced Rasputin’s face. Quirion wasn’t sure what repelled him more, this or the syrupy sweet tone he suddenly adopted. “You, my dear Beverly, are a genius. By asking something of him he will surely fail at, we can tell the board everything is above reproach and keep that demon at arm’s length. What do you suggest?”
“A test. On subjects he won’t have a chance to become enough of an expert in to pass.”
“You are devious, my dear. I like it.” Rasputin reached for Beverly’s hand and when he lowered his head to actually kiss the back of it, Barion mercifully stopped the projection. Beverly and Rasputin and whatever they had gotten up to after this discussion vanished into nothingness.
“Are we going to show them why you don’t mess with demons?” Barion’s eyes had a red tint, and his claws were out. It warmed Quirion’s heart to see his brother getting all defensive on Milo’s behalf.
“Oh, we will, brother, just not the way you think. That we reserve for later. First, I’m going to crush them at their own petty little game.”
“You heard that despicable woman. She wants Milo to fail.” Jon’s usually calm demeanor was gone. “I think we should tell the others.”
Quirion imagined how that would go down. Of course, Sammy would be the first to hear about it and his huge, heterochromaticeyes would fill with sadness because somebody treated one of his friends wrong. Then the SBW would get a visit from an enraged Dre, who tended to shred first, ask questions never where his beloved mate was concerned, accompanied by an equally enraged Alerion, who loved Sammy like a son and also tended to go into destruction mode when the little human batted his lashes. With Alerion would be Declan and Troy, ready to stand by their mate, their uber wolves happy to defend a pack member. Which in turn would motivate the rest of the group to show their full destructive potential as not to be outdone or forgotten. It would totally be what the SBW deserved, but Quirion wanted them to eat their spitefulness first. There was something to be said about prolonging suffering compared to ending things too quickly. Well, quickly was relative since supernatural creatures were so much sturdier than humans, but still.
“Let’s wait with telling the family. I have this under control, and should I need help, I’ll tell you immediately.”
Jon opened his mouth to say something, but Barion stopped him by putting an arm around his shoulders. “We will keep it to us for the time being, brother, but if they fail Milo, we’llhaveto tell Sammy. You know that.”
“I do. But Milo won’t fail. He has me as his teacher. Thank you for helping me here, Barion, Jon.” Quirion nodded at them, then opened space and time to get back to Milo.
Chapter Nine
Milo was in his lab thinking about the test the SBW wanted him to do when he heard the door opening. He turned to see who it was, his heart sinking when he spotted Devon. He so didn’t have the nerve to deal with him at the moment. Unfortunately, Devon thrived on making others miserable, especially Milo, it seemed, so he outright ignored the subtle signs Milo was giving him, like rolling his eyes, staring very pointedly at the door, then stating in a frosty tone, “Merrybone, this is not a good time.”
“Oh, but I think it’s the best time, Abber. You see, I couldn’t get your additional funding out of my mind and as it turns out, you’re not entitled to it when you’re cheating.” Devon smiled maliciously, the gleam in his eyes that of a dog who had just found an extra juicy bone. Milo refused to be baited.
“And you must know all about cheating since without it, you wouldn’t get any funding at all.”
