By the time she and Jayson had finally gotten out of the Russian-held territory with Dylan, Anya, and Olek, it had been midnight the next day. Getting the diplomat’s son and his Ukrainian friends back to their families after that had been simple.
She and Jayson just reached Kendra’s office when the woman came running out and almost mowed them over.
“Whoa!” Jayson said, catching Kendra before she lost her balance. “Where are you off to so fast?”
“The lab,” Kendra said, quickly getting her feet back under her and hurrying down the hallway, leaving them both staring after her.
Layla exchanged looks with Jayson before they followed.
“What’s wrong?” Layla asked when they caught up to her.
Kendra didn’t answer as she pushed open the double doors and started down the sidewalk.
“Did someone get hurt?” Jayson asked.
Kendra shook her head. “No one got hurt, not yet anyway. Zarina just called to tell me that Dick found another test subject for his hybrid serum. The same doctors who injected Jayson are there right now.”
Oh no.
“Who is it?” Jayson demanded. “Did Zarina give them the same antidote she gave me?”
Kendra did a double take, clearly surprised Jayson knew about the antidote. “It’s Moore. And no, Zarina didn’t give him the antidote. She hasn’t even been able to make any more yet. It took months to make the batch she gave you. Plus, Dick’s doctors tossed her out of the lab the moment they showed up. She didn’t even have a chance to warn Moore about what he was getting into.”
Layla frowned. Why the hell would Moore want to take the hybrid serum? He hated shifters and hybrids alike.
When they got to the medical building, Zarina was standing outside in the hallway, one of the DCO security guards keeping her out of the out of the lab. Layla didn’t recognize the guy, but whoever he was, he definitely didn’t look happy about what was going on inside.
“We have to get in there,” Jayson told the man. “Moore is going to die if we don’t.”
A muscle worked in the guy’s jaw, but he shook his head. “I can’t let you in. The deputy director said that no one goes in there.”
Jayson’s eyes narrowed, and Layla knew he was half a second away from physically moving the guy from his post when a gut-wrenching cry of agony came from inside the lab. It climbed higher in pitch before becoming a savage, pain-filled growl.
Cursing, Jayson grabbed the security guard by the front of his uniform and tossed him aside, then rushed into the lab. The guard followed them in, no doubt so he could throw them out, but the sight that met their eyes stopped all of them in their tracks.
Three doctors were restraining a struggling Moore while Dick slowly backed away from the table. His eyes widened as Moore bucked and thrashed like he was being electrocuted. Moore’s eyes were glowing dark red and blood was running out of his mouth from the gashes he’d inflicted on himself with his fangs. Stunted and misshapen claws reached out to tear savagely at the doctors. They weren’t going to be able to control him for long.
Layla was right. A moment later, Moore punched one of the men in the chest, knocking him halfway across the room. Jayson and the security guard raced over to help the remaining two doctors restrain Moore while Zarina hurried over to do what she could to save Moore’s life.
Even though Layla was no doctor, she knew it was too late. Before the end, the poor man was shaking so hard that it was all Jayson and the guard could do just to keep Moore from falling off the exam table. He yowled, in such horrible pain that Layla simply couldn’t watch anymore. It reminded her too much of what could have happened to Jayson.
Knowing there was nothing she could do to help and refusing to just stand there and watch the man die, Layla spun around and hurried out of the room.
She was leaning against the wall outside the lab when Dick came out a few minutes later. His face was pale and his hands were shaking.
“I hadn’t realized that Jayson was back,” the deputy director said. “Or that you’d been with him. I can’t say I’m surprised. I knew there was nothing that could keep you two apart for very long.”
While Layla seriously wasn’t ready for this conversation, she couldn’t imagine having a better opening to talk to Dick about whether he was going to get in the way of her and Jayson being partners.
“No, there isn’t anything that can keep us apart—not as a couple anyway,” she said. “But you can certainly get in the way of our partnership. I suppose the question is, are you going to?”
Dick considered that. “I mentioned the possibility of you and Jayson being partners when I talked to him, but I didn’t really give it much thought after that.”
“Perhaps it’s time you do.”
He regarded her thoughtfully. “There are several factors that could make your partnership difficult, not the least of which is the fact that Jayson and Powell are technically a team right now.”
“That isn’t an issue,” she said.
