Glen didn’t exactly seem to hear him, but he had opened his eyes and stared down at his bloody palm. Even now the tiny sliced wounds began to heal. The blood was very fresh, and very red. Jason tried again.
“All that matters is that we are here now, and we’re safe. Everything will be okay.” Even as he spoke these reassurances, he couldn’t feel them inside his own heart. They sounded cold and hollow coming from him.
Glen had calmed down enough now and he even gave a bit of a chuckle. He looked up at Jason.
“I don’t exactly believe you.”
All Jason could do was grin, because Glen was doing just the same.
“I don’t quite believe myself on that one either,” Jason admitted.
Glen’s face turned serious for a moment. He wiped his bloody hands on his jeans and left smears down his hips. His eyes still had that golden blaze to them.
“Hunters have taken everything away from me. They took my parents, years ago, and when they did that, I lost all respect for humanity. And now, they threaten what’s left of my family. I will not stand for that.”
Jason nodded. For once, he was playing the rational mind. Glen was always so levelheaded and cool, and here he was, the angry one. Jason didn’t know exactly what to do. He spoke words that felt strange.
“Let’s not think or talk about getting personal just yet. I think the first thing we need to do is find out just who these guys are, and why they are after us.”
“That’s the first bit of good advice I think I’ve heard all day,” Glen remarked. He looked down once more at his bloodstained hands.
“I should get cleaned up first, though.”
“Good idea.”
* * *
The meeting was delayed for a short while. Glen’s quick departure to freshen up had taken more than just a few minutes. And then Rose had complained of hunger. A quick trip to the kitchen was in order.
Jason sat at the counter, seated on one of the barstools and watched as Rose began moving about and finding the necessary items to fix a quick meal. She was quickly booted out of the way by an older woman with salt and pepper colored hair. She wore a friendly smile and dangling earrings bobbed just past her short haircut.
“No, Rose dear, you’ve had a long journey. There’s no sense in you waiting on everyone else. Sit down, rest… I’ll take care of this.” She patted Rose on the back, and with a slight look of uncertainty, Rose sat down beside Jason.
The older woman smiled at him and introduced herself.
“The name’s Anna Williams. I’m one of the researchers here at the PRDI. I’ve known Rose since she was a girl. Helped her through a bit of hard times more than once before.” She gave a wink to Rose, who smiled politely. She regarded Jason with the same soft smile. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you finally, Jason.” Jason merely lifted an eyebrow.
“She’s a researcher?” Jason asked when the woman turned her back and was out of earshot. She didn’t carry the were-scent, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t a half-blood. “She looks more like a grandmother.”
Rose gave him a sharp jab in the ribs to make him shut up, but he could see laughter playing in her eyes. Something had changed in Rose’s demeanor since they had set foot on PRDI property. She seemed happier, like she was back home again.
And it made Jason feel better to know she wasn’t afraid for their lives anymore. Still…he would keep up his guard. Something about this place unsettled him…
“It’s haunted,” Anna said suddenly and broke the silence of the room. Jason, startled, glanced at Rose in disbelief. She fought back a smile.
“What? Haunted? What do you mean?”
Anna turned about halfway from the stove where she stood, stirring something in a pot. She gave a wistful, knowing smile, but said nothing and turned back.
“Wait, what do you mean?” He turned to Rose. “What does she mean?”
Rose laughed. “Anna is telepathic. She can read thoughts at times. Just what were you thinking?”
Jason felt a flush come to his face. He had almost forgotten the PRDI was full of people with unusual powers. Not just werewolves populated their files and rooms here.
“It was nothing,” he quickly answered. He wished the food would be done, because then they could eat and get out of here. He didn’t like the thought of someone inside his head.
Anna chuckled. “He was thinking this place seemed unsettling. I just simply told him it was haunted. There are spirits moving about these walls.”
She glanced at Jason. Her blue eyes sparkled. “And don’t worry. I won’t read your mind any more, if it makes you uncomfortable.”
As she spoke these words, Jason felt a chill run up his spine and he chose to ignore it. He was thankful when the door opened and someone entered to veer the course of the conversation. He had hoped it to be Glen, or even Gavin, but it was a young boy that entered.
He was no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, and his unkempt blonde hair fell across his face in a shaggy style fashionable in many bands and on television. He regarded them at first with suspicion. Rose stared at him with wide eyes. He looked familiar to her.
“Uh…hi,” he said as he lingered in the doorway. He gave a shake of his head, as if trying to gather his thoughts, then remembered what he had come for. He turned to Anna.
“Mr. Newark says after you finish in the kitchen, he wants to talk to you about something. Then, we can start the meeting.” His gaze left the older woman, and he turned back to Jason and Rose. He looked at them as if he had never seen anything like them before.
Anna nodded her head “All right. Thank you, Aidan.”
She lifted her eyes to the boy, smiled and gestured toward Rose and Jason with a slight inclination of her head. “Have you met our guests? This is Rose, the young woman I was telling you about earlier. And this is her fiancé, Jason.”
Anna smiled reassuringly at the boy, and then addressed Rose. “This is Aidan Marks. You never got to meet him before you left the PRDI. This is Lisa’s boy.”
Aidan looked down at the floor, and Rose’s throat locked up. No wonder he had seemed so familiar. He looked just like Lisa.
Anna went on. “There was so much mystery surrounding his mother’s death. He’s been staying at the main PRDI building until it can all be worked out.” She turned to check on the food.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room, and it was Aidan who spoke and broke the silence.
“So you guys are werewolves, right?”
“Right.” Jason finally spoke up. His voice was harsh and cold.
Aidan looked as if he regretted having said anything. He quickly found something to cover it up with. “Well, that’s cool… I’m not a werewolf. I’m a precog.”
“Precog?” Jason said in that same cold tone. He raised both eyebrows.
“Precognitive. It means he can see the future, on occasion,” Anna explained. She looked over at Rose. Rose felt nervous. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. Here was the son of someone she was suspected to have killed. She didn’t know how to react, but finally, for the sake of being polite, she spoke.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aidan.” She finally choked out.
“Right…” the young boy said, nodding. Rose’s tension eased only slightly. He looked at her, curiously, but not accusingly. She was grateful for that.
Anna had taken the pot off the stove and the scent of fresh beef stew drifted through the air. Rose’s stomach gurgled loudly.
“It’s out of a can, but still good stuff,” Anna said as she placed bowls and spoons on the table in front of them. “Enjoy. I’ll leave you two. I had better see what Gavin wants. See you shortly.”
She left with a smile. Aidan lingered a moment, as if debating on something. He soon turned and left. Jason and Rose were once more alone.
“And you lived with these people?” he asked incredulously. He ladled out a huge helping of the beef stew into Rose’s bowl, and then into his own. “How the fuck did you survive
here?”
“It wasn’t all that bad.” Rose answered. She let the thoughts of Aidan drift away, for now. She toyed with her food at first, the waited for it to cool. She watched Jason as he had already started to devour his meal.
“What exactly do you have against the PRDI, anyway? Every time I bring it up, you act with incredible hostility toward them. Why is that?”
Jason let out a sound like a scoff, but his mouth was full. He chewed his food and swallowed before he answered. His tone was scornful and questioning.
“Maybe because I don’t like the idea of anyone keeping tabs on our kind?”
“Oh don’t be so sarcastic, love,” Rose pleaded.
Jason was amid another bite of his stew, and he dropped his spoon back into the bowl. He turned his gaze to her.
“Ever think maybe it’s not such a good idea have such detailed files, stored away where any jackass can find them?”
“Jason, it’s not like that…”
“Rose, listen to me… These are good people, in their own way. They helped you, and I am thankful for that. Without them, you wouldn’t be here now…but I look at it on another side as well. If it hadn’t been for them, you probably would’ve never been attacked.”
Rose felt her appetite waning away. She set her jaw and forced herself to stare into his eyes. “You make it sound as if they organized the attack.”
Jason finished another bite of food, then pushed the bowl back with such force that it almost toppled off the counter.
“Maybe they did,” he answered coldly as he stood. “Maybe they didn’t exactly pull the trigger and maybe they aren’t the ones following us, but they are the reason for it all. They did it.” He was out of the room a moment later, and Rose was alone.
Tears stung at her eyes and she fought to hold them back. She stared at the steaming bowl of stew in front of her without really seeing it, without really wanting it. She pushed it away and folded her arms on the counter. Her head rested in the crook of her elbow.
Why did Jason always have to be like this? Always so cold, and distant, and always quick to point the fingers of blame. The PRDI was not the blame. They would never have organized something like this. It wasn’t their fault.
Some members of the PRDI were less than credible, she had to admit that. A few members in the past had even gone as far as to hurt students, but Rose knew Gavin and Anna were not among those. They were legitimate…but what if it had been someone else?
Quickly her mind raced to search out those from her past that might’ve had a grudge against her. None came to mind. Rose closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
She didn’t know what to do. Jason was being impossible, and her one moment of happiness had been shattered when he had opened his wounding mouth. She resigned, finally, to give him some time to cool off. After a while, he would see things differently and he wouldn’t be so hard to deal with.
At least she hoped.
Rose pulled her bowl forward and forced herself to eat a few bites of the stew, though it tasted rubbery and unappetizing in her mouth. She couldn’t face them all and recount her tale on an empty stomach, after all.
* * *
It was late afternoon. The sun was setting, and its light shone through the large window panes of the meeting room. The room had once been a library, back when Rose and Glen had stayed here, but now it had been refurnished and all the old books had been moved to another part of the house.
In their place was a long table, made out of a beautiful red cedar that gleamed from the overhead lights. A few armchairs rested here and there, with fat cushions ready to swallow one’s body.
Jason found the room with little problem, and upon entering found the others were already there and waiting. Glen was seated closest to the door, dressed now in a black sleeveless shirt and jeans. Much to Jason’s appreciation, Glen had several different guns and rifles laid out upon the table. Jason resisted the urge to inspect them.
Gavin was there, seated at what Jason was sure was the head of the table. The older man had his hands folded in front of him, and he had been deep in conversation with the woman, Anna. They had gone silent when he had entered.
The boy, Aidan, sat across from Glen and held a gun Jason recognized as a Highpoint 380. Another woman was in the room, but Jason hadn’t had the pleasure of being introduced to her just yet. Her dirty blonde hair was long and straight and hung down to the middle of her back, and she was gaunt and thin. Her eyes held a sunken look to them. Jason thought she almost looked like a skeleton. Of all the people in the room, she was the only one near the window, smoking a cigarette. She looked at Jason briefly as he entered, then nonchalantly looked back to the outside world.
“That didn’t take long,” Anna remarked, smiling gently at Jason.
“I wasn’t as hungry as I had thought,” he lied, for a moment forgetting the woman could read minds. He immediately wished he had not stretched the truth, but Anna didn’t appear to notice anything amiss.
“Rose will be along soon,” he added as he took his seat.
“Good,” Gavin answered and stood up. He gestured toward the blonde woman. “I don’t think you’ve run into Mary just yet. Mary Robbins, this is Jason.”
Her eyes turned back once again, and she nodded in silent greeting.
“You’ll have to forgive her.” Gavin spoke with a smile that almost made Jason sick. “She’s not very social.”
“I can relate,” Jason said under his breath, but Gavin continued.
“She’s the head of our research department, going on five years now. She’s the best there is at organizing and finding out what we need to know. Very much into her work.”
“I have nothing else to do with my life,” she said. Her tone was just a little bitter. She moved away from the brightness of the sun and took a place at the table.
Jason scanned each person in turn as they all took their places. Silence once more went through the room. It was an uncomfortable silence, and Jason felt eyes boring into him. He lowered his gaze to the table. He wished a hole would just open up in the floor and devour him.
Unfortunately, his wish didn’t come true, and he was forced to endure the stares. He took a deep breath, ready to say something when the door opened.
It was Rose. She paused in the doorway, much like Aidan had earlier that evening. All eyes turned to her, and Jason was briefly thankful they were no longer gaping at him. But he felt for Rose. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked incredibly nervous.
“Hello, everyone. I’m sorry I kept you waiting…” She spoke with a confidence Jason knew she didn’t feel. She forced a smile and deliberately avoided eyes with him. Jason turned to Gavin as he began to speak.
“It’s quite all right, Rose. Please, take a seat.” He gestured with one hand and indicated the empty chair next to Jason. She took it and nervously sat.
“Everyone knows the gist of why we are here, but not everyone knows the details,” Gavin explained. His eyes roamed over each person in turn. His face was stern and serious.
“Jason and Rose were attacked a short time ago by several unknown hunters.”
Rose lowered her gaze as everyone once more looked toward them. However, there were no uncertain whispers or accusatory glances. There were no pitying stares. Everyone seemed very direct and businesslike. Mary had even taken out a notebook and pen and was jotting notes.
“Rose, I want you to recount the events of the past few days to everyone here so we can begin our investigation.” Gavin turned his kind eyes to her and offered a reassuring smile. “Take your time and try to be as detailed as possible.”
Rose nodded and glanced at Jason for perhaps the first time since entering the room. He didn’t offer her any smiles of reassurance, but she knew his support was there.
And then she began…
Chapter Eighteen
It took Rose more than a half hour to recount all the events of the past few days. A few times, Jason had to take over when Rose was overcome with too muc
h emotion. But very soon, every one in the room was caught up to speed on what had happened.
“And that’s basically how we ended up here,” Rose finally finished. The room was filled with a stunned silence.
Tears glistened in Anna’s eyes, and she wiped away one of them with a handkerchief. Gavin’s face showed a deep amount of seriousness and a line was creased between his eyebrows. Glen’s gaze rested on the twin Berettas in front of him while Aidan stared with rapt interest.
Mary had been and still was taking notes. She had taken down the names of Marcus Brown and Davis Miller, with every intention of doing a fair amount of background searching before the night was out. Her cold eyes returned to stare at Rose.
“Is that everything?” she asked in a matter-of-fact tone. Rose nodded and Mary scribbled a few final notes. She stood.
“I’ll get started on this right away.” She nodded to Gavin and the others and was the first to disappear out of the room. Rose was stunned by her brashness.
Anna gave a wave of her hand. “You have to forgive her. She literally lives to work. It keeps her occupied.”
Rose felt a slight bit of resentment for having her thoughts read just then, but she didn’t protest. She wasn’t entirely sure if Anna had picked up on her thoughts. In any case, she nodded.
“I know, Anna, I know.”
The older woman once more dabbed at the tears as she stood. “I can’t believe poor Tiffany Clark. She was a wonderful student, a wonderful and gifted young woman. I don’t blame you for what you did,” she added to Rose. Rose didn’t want to smile at the comment. She wasn’t proud of what she had done. Instead, she lowered her gaze, and stared at the dark table top beneath her hands.
There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room. Anna turned to Gavin.
“You think it could be possible to set up a memorial service for her soon, like the one we did for Lisa?” she inquired. Aidan shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his mother’s name.
Gavin scratched his chin with one long fingernail. “Perhaps. We should give things about a week or so to settle down before we start with anything like that. Let us find out more about these men and who they may be affiliated with.”
Sweet Moon Dreams Page 16
