“Will your team be at Ascot?” Jamie asked.
Liam nodded. “Working undercover, but they’ll be there. Samaira wants to schedule a get together with you and the rest of our team. Probably at her place. My cottage isn’t big enough for entertaining and she has a gorgeous flat in Camden Town.”
“It would be nice to see her and your team. Preferably under better circumstances, but we’ll take what we can get.”
“Who else will be at Ascot? That agent you worked with in Fortuna-sur-mer?” Kyle asked.
Liam tried not to react to the question, but he was sitting in front of one of his oldest friends and his brother. Jamie and Jasper could read his expression, or lack thereof, and know that something was amiss.
Jamie arched an eyebrow. “Is that a yes?”
“What agent?” Jasper wanted to know.
“I’m not sure you have clearance to know the answer to that question,” Liam hedged.
“Bollocks. I’m your brother.”
“But you’re not a metahuman.”
Jasper stared him down. They’d yelled out their feelings about the incident that had turned Liam into a metahuman years ago. “True, but this whole mess is a threat to our family. If you’re going to have another agent in the Royal Box with Jamie and Kyle, I should know who they are.”
“They aren’t UMG, and I can’t disclose who they work with. I’m sorry, but that’s not information I can give up without the proper authorization.”
Jasper scowled at him before letting out an annoyed sigh. “I suppose I’ll have to accept that even if I don’t like it.”
“They’re good at their job. Trust me.”
“Mm. I’ll be the judge of that if I get lucky enough to suss them out in the field. Have your people leave a gun for me in the Royal Box. I don’t want to be weaponless in case something goes down.”
“If anything does go down, you’re getting your arse to safety.”
Jasper narrowed his eyes. “Liam—”
“No,” Liam cut in. “If the Reborn IRA targets Ascot, you’ll be evacuated and escorted to a safe spot without arguing. Our entire family might be a target and I’m not risking any of you if I can help it.”
“So you can risk yourself and I can’t?”
“I’m a metahuman. Splice won’t kill me. We can’t be sure it won’t kill you.”
Jasper snapped his mouth shut at the forceful remark. Liam took a deep breath and tried to shove his temper aside. He knew he was angry because he was scared at the possibility of his family being subjected to a Splice bomb. He’d lucked out with the genetic lottery, but there was no guarantee anyone else in his family would fare the same way. He wasn’t willing to risk finding out.
Human studies couldn’t legally be done to track the genetic traits within families who had a member turn into a metahuman. Considering the high infection and death rate of the chemical, it simply wasn’t viable. That wasn’t to say people didn’t try. Illegal Splice labs were a problem, as noted by the very one they were trying to track down and destroy.
“We’ll make sure your brother is safe,” Jamie said.
“Good.” Liam pinned Jasper with a hard look. “You’ll listen to Jamie if he gives orders.”
Jasper rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“You are so bloody stubborn.”
It was that stubbornness that Liam loved about his brother, though. Jasper had always known what he wanted to do with his life, and Liam had always looked up to him. They’d had their brotherly rivalries over the years, but they’d grown closer after Liam was turned into a metahuman. Something about almost dying always seemed to put life into perspective.
“I think we need more beer,” Kyle decided, holding his bottle up to the light to check its contents. “And dinner. When do we eat?”
Liam shoved himself to his feet. “I’ll put the pasta on.”
“I’ll get more beer,” Jamie said, extricating himself from Kyle to follow Liam into the kitchen.
