Reyna jolted awake. She stared blearily around her and realizedshe’d fallen asleep at her computer. The screen was blank. She’d accomplished nothing. Great.
She rubbed her eyes to try to clear the haze of the evening. It was late. When she glanced at the giant clock in the corner, she realized it was just past six in the morning.
Jodie was passed out on the couch in the corner. Gabe, Meghan, and Tye had long ago gone to bed, by the looks of things.
Another string of curses came from the entranceway. Reyna stood and stretched her aching limbs. When she walked out of the dining room, she found Gerard and Zoya restraining a blond woman. She appeared to be in her late twenties. Tall, trim, otherworldly beautiful with blue eyes that nearly glowed. Reyna watched in horror as the blonde snapped her fangs at Gerard. He dismissed her as if she were nothing. And to him she probably was.
“What’s going on?” Reyna croaked. She cleared her throat. “Who’s this?”
Gerard shot her an impassive glance. “You asked for a vampire. I brought you a vampire.”
“I didn’t ask for anything.”
“Irrelevant.”
“What the hell is going on here?” the blond woman asked.
“I won’t be a part of this,” Reyna said, ignoring the woman.
“Then don’t,” Gerard said.
He muscled his way past her as Katarina and Philippé entered, holding an unconscious man between them. He looked to be in his forties in a battered button-up and slacks. Unlike the screaming blonde, he looked as if he’d come out of a gutter. Dirty and disheveled.
“Another one?” she whispered.
Katarina tipped her head at Reyna and smiled as she pushed past her. “Morning!”
Beckham appeared then. Coming out of the early morning light in a fresh three-piece suit. Not a trace of his near-death experience on him.
“Little One,” he said with a smile as he approached.
“What are you doing with these people?”
“They’re vampires. My circle found them. Do you have another solution?”
“Becks, please. This iswrong.”
“I know,” he said.
“If you know, then stop this.”
“What’s going on?” came a voice from behind her. It was Jodie. She glanced between Reyna and Beckham and Katarina’s disappearing back. “You found someone to experiment on?”
“Beckham is going to put a stop to this,” Reyna said.
“It’s us or them. And none of my men are going to volunteer for something like this.”
“So instead you’re going to force people to do it against their will?” Jodie asked, her voice panicked.
She stalked toward them, stomping her feet with each step. Gabe, Meghan, and Tye were standing at the top of the stairs, staring down at them. Even Genevieve peeked her head out.
“I was taken at the age of twelve and experimented on by men who believed that this was ethical or just didn’t fucking care. They wanted my blood and they didn’t care what the fuck it did to me. If you do this, how are we any better than Visage?” Jodie asked with fire in every word.
“We aren’t,” Reyna said. “We do not need this cure to win. We can be better than them.”
“I would keep you innocent of this if I could,” Beckham said. “But sometimes we have to think like our enemies to defeat them.”
Jodie reared back and slapped Beckham across the face. His head didn’t move an inch. She wrung out her hand like a dirtydish towel as she yelped in pain. Reyna’s jaw dropped.
