“I texted Tobias the moment the shitheads showed up. I figured if we lost to them, we’d at least manage to slow them down, and the Bureau would have their chance at the rogue fucks.”
Li nodded, although her almond eyes had narrowed with Malik’s words. “We ran into some hunters exiting your tunnels, Alpha. They’re safe. And I’ve positioned my team to capture any of the rogues who might’ve attempted escape.” Her gaze was now pinned on Joanna. “Now, I would like to help you.”
Joanna chuckled, something unspoken being exchanged between the two of them. “No, thank you.”
Hill lowered his gun. “Joey, listen to—”
“I’m not letting her give us false hope, Agent Hill.” She sucked in a pained breath through clenched teeth, flinging her head back.
I didn’t know what they were talking about, but it didn’t matter. “Do it.”
With her head still back, Joanna hit me. “Marcus, stop—”
“Can you really help her?” Latoya asked, cutting her off.
Hill regarded Joanna’s sister for the first time. He blinked, and his eyes flitted around before he responded to her question. “We can try. But only if she lets us.”
Joanna groaned. “What… are you going to do? Hook me up to… a machine? Clean my blood?” she scoffed. “Spare me.”
“We both know that wouldn’t work,” Li said calmly. “There’s no recorded way of scrubbing the Essence from a victim’s vessel.”
“Then what the hell are you wasting our time with, lady?” Malik tried to push past Hill, but the agent held him back. “Answer me!” His voiced cracked.
Hill holstered his gun to place both of his hands on Malik’s shoulders as the hunter’s chin dropped to his chest.
“Adifferentapproach to transference.” Li’s cadence remained unaffected by our looks of confusion. “A hunter’s mark does more than pull power to the surface. It’s a veil protecting its owner from misfortune, like oil to water. It’s why scars heal quickly, why broken bones mend in a fraction of the time… why the Essencemaybe susceptible to settling on a different host.”
My wolf snarled, my eyes glowing bright. “You said we can’t remove the Essence from a vessel.” I jumped to my feet. “Now you’re saying we can?”
Li did not shy away from the irritation burning in my eyes. “Not remove. Transfer.”
“Fuck this shit,” Malik mumbled.
“Let her finish, asshole,” Latoya pleaded.
“In the past, it wasonlyabout the blood, never about the aura. Itneedsto be both. The Bite is not a disseminating disease; it’s supernatural absorption.”
Joanna blew out a heavy breath. “Director… I know you mean well, and I appreciate it… but only the fucking government thought it was a disease. Because if it was so easily transferrable… you could weaponize it.”
Li pinched the bridge of her nose. “What I’m trying to say is, if we found someone else with a veil, Joanna, during a blood transfusion, my magic could form the bridge necessary to—”
“Transfer.” Joanna hadn’t meant it as a question, but the look of disbelief on her face told a different story. Any angrier, and the sweat on her brow would have sizzled to mist. “You’re telling me not only can yousaveme… but that to do it… a hunter has to die?”
“They could survive, Joey,” Hill said lowly. “Right now, the odds are a lot slimmer for your child.”
Hill’s words were blunt. And distasteful. And I lunged for him with my claws extended, ready to tear through his face for his offense.
I paid no mind to Li’s hand as it shot out for my arm, and that was a mistake.
When her cold palm made contact with my skin, my muscles turned rigid, and I froze. I sank into the ground, like osmium had fused to the souls of my feet. My claws retracted without the fluidity I’d known all my life. I felt every painstaking inch as they forced themselves back into my fingers.
“I’ll do it,” Malik declared.
It was then I realized the hunter had a knack for disruption. He’d open his mouth and leave us all irritated and furious… or in awe and gratitude.
“No.” Joanna pushed herself to her feet, shoving me away but letting Grace support her.
“Sit the fuck down, Little Red.”
