I outright grin. “It’s classified.”
A small tick beneath his eye gives away his annoyance, but he composes himself before continuing. “Do you have any live subjects?”
Two of the people beside me lean forward, open interest on their faces, so I assume not. “Capturing a live vampire would be nearly impossible without risking lives to accomplish it.”
Now it’s his turn to smile, thrilled at finally having found some sort of bargaining chip. “I’ll take that as a no. Your research would go far quicker if you had live subjects to study, yes? What if we could provide you with some? That would make partnering with us more mutually beneficial.”
Making sure my intrigue is clearly displayed on my face, I rest an elbow on the table, my chin propped on my fist. “You managed to catch one alive? How?”
Mr. Thompson steals the spotlight back with a smirk. “It’s classified.”
Huffing a small laugh, I shake my head in amusement, sitting up straight. “Well played.”
“But I'd be willing to donate them to your project if you'd consider making a healthy donation towards mine,” he finishes.
Seth interrupts, “Them? How many are you offering?”
Mr. Thompson shares a silent look with his associates before facing us. “Five for now, but we’d be open to an agreement if you needed more in the future, we could do so in exchange for another donation.”
Glancing at the others, eyes alight with the possibilities, I nod slowly. “I’ll need about a week to make the arrangements to transport and set up a way to house them safely back at the lab.”
“Understandable,” he purrs, looking satisfied. “So, Mr. Drake, what do you say?”
I extend a hand in his direction. “We have a deal.”
Twenty-Nine
Rheyas
My thumb strokes a steady path over my mate’s thigh, keeping her caged sideways between me and the table. After the first ten minutes of me growing increasingly agitated during this meeting, she simply slid onto my lap without a word. I’d have thought that actually claiming her would help ease that drive, but I was so terribly wrong.
Any time one of the men across from us allows his gaze to linger on her for too long, I’m hit with the desire to separate his head from his body. She’s mine; I can feel it in my very bones, her contentment through the mark she branded onto my chest, staking her claim as much as I did. Though now, rather than easing the desperate instinct to mark her as mine, I’m constantly fighting the desire to touch her, to coat her so thoroughly in my scent that no one will dare raise a hand to her if I’m not around for fear of the hell that would be rained down upon them.
“Jeeze, I’m the one gone for a few days, and yet you’re the one giving him abandonment issues,” Ian scoffs beside us, a resigned smile on his face. I’m not sure which is stronger; his happiness for her, or his envy.
And how incredibly annoying is it that that’s where my mind goes now? I can’t even blame Rel for this one, because the small twinge of concern that hits my chest doesn’t come for several seconds after my thoughts had already turned in that direction.
“Well, you know what they say,” Rel chirps, shifting on my lap. I have to tighten my hold to keep her still, or else soon I won’t be able to focus on anything that’s being said. “Some say music soothes the savage beast, but I like to lean into the classics. If you can't beat ‘em, beat ‘em off.”
Ethan clears his throat to draw our attention back to the matter at hand. “Like I was saying, the less people involved in this plan, the better.” He looks straight at Ian. “If you’re going to set the vamps loose, the more people there, the higher the chance of someone getting hurt. We want them turning against the people that tortured and imprisoned them; not us. If you’re too busy worrying if the people you care about are safe or not, you’ll get yourself killed.”
Ava nods her support. “It’s a good plan. It’ll simply appear like a nest attacked; there are always a good amount of deaths when that happens, so the humans will write it off as a tragedy and move on.”
Rel sighs, slumping against me, but not fighting us on this, because she isn’t stupid. Walking straight up to the people that want to kill her would be suicide. Doesn’t mean she has to like it though.
She mocks Hawk’s dad in my head, and I don’t bother hiding my smirk. “’You want to help, stay out of the way; that way they can focus on the mission without being distracted trying to protect you.’ Talk about feeling like a useless burden.”
I kiss her temple before resting my chin on her shoulder.He’s just scared. He knows the pain of losing a mate and what that does to a person, wants to spare his son that agony.
Hawk chimes in,“Besides, you’d already said you don’t really want to fight any major boss battles. I know it makes things more enticing the second someone says youcan’tdo something, but honestly, you didn’t want to go in the first place.”
“Rheyas should go with Ian,” Ben declares, and I quirk an eyebrow. “It’d be expected in this instance to show up with some muscle.”
“Yeah, no thanks.”
He simply gawks at me in surprise, apparently not used to being blatantly brushed off, like that’s any concern of mine. “It makes the most sense and provides the highest chance at success.”
“Not my problem. My mate is staying here, so I will be as well. Your issues aren’t my concern.”
