Her gut twisted at the memory of having to kill them but she refused to fall apart. Instead she focused on the fact that everyone had used the emergency exits to escape. “Shit. They all got away?”
“Yes.”
“But they didn’t take any New Species with them, right? All of them were accounted for? They survived?” She gave him a headcount of New Species at Cornas.
He nodded. “Our teams had to blast open their doors with low-level explosives. Evidence was left that Security attempted to reach them but failed. There were scars on the doors from bullet strikes and it appeared as if they’d used one of the emergency axes to try to pry loose the hinges on a door. They failed.”
Relief was immense. “Thank goodness.”
“You disabled an entire floor of locks with a stun gun. What made you think to do that?”
“I saw an electric door lock malfunction at the hematology lab.”
“Hematology lab?”
“It’s where they processed all the blood tests. I took a sample there once and found two of the technical support guys working on the door. One of the security officers was doing rounds and reached for his identification card to swipe and accidentally hit the on button for his stun gun on his belt. His other hand was touching the keypad. The jolt he got was enough to reach the pad and fried the circuits inside. It took them half an hour to replace the lock and get the door open.” She paused. “I realized I could use a stun gun to disable the doors if the need ever arose, and it did.”
True continued to caress her. “You need to be completely honest with me, Jeanie. I won’t hate you or be angry if you were aware of more than you’ve claimed. I know money, to humans, is very important and you may have reasons for needing to withhold the location of Species to get the NSO to pay you. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the absolute truth. The human task force will find out everything, they always do, and this is the time to be honest.”
He slid off the bed to his knees, putting them at eye level. “No matter how bad you think it is, even if you believe I’ll be enraged by the details, I will protect you. Do you understand?” He lifted the hand holding hers and brought it to his lips. The kiss he brushed against the side of her thumb was featherlight. “I’ll forgive you. Just confess anything bad you’ve done now. I give you my word I won’t allow anyone to take you to prison.”
“I’m not lying to you, True,” she said each word with care. It hurt being questioned again after being intimate but she understood why he’d have doubts. It was even touching that he’d make the offer if she had been neck-deep in the horrific things done to him and other New Species. “Everything I’ve done since discovering what Drackwood was really doing in those sublevels has been to get New Species free. It was never about money.”
“Okay.”
“I really thought I was working for someone who represented the NSO. I had no idea he wasn’t who he claimed to be. I trusted him because he had a badge and everything he told me seemed reasonable at the time.”
He settled her hand on the bed, releasing it. “I’m going to get you paper and I want you to write down all the names of the humans you can remember at Cornas. I also need a description of the so-called agent. We are going to find him and learn if he knows the location of other Species. Did he tell you about another job he had for you? A new place? Ever mention other medical facilities where Species were being held?”
She shook her head. “Just Cornas after Drackwood was taken down.”
“I’ll be right back.” He rose to his feet and exited the room.
Jeanie missed the warmth of his touch. It didn’t take him more than a minute to return with a notebook and a pen. He passed them over. She mumbled, “Thanks,” and opened the cover to begin writing.
“I’m going to make some calls. I’ll just be in the next room. A few arrangements need to be made.”
She nodded, not looking up from the list she printed neatly to make certain it was legible to anyone he gave it to. Her mind wandered as she wrote, thinking of one action she’d taken that caused guilty feelings. She wasn’t sure if True would have a problem with what she’d done to help New Species at Cornas Research. The more she thought about it, the more she decided to tell him. He wanted her to totally come clean about anything bad she’d done. It had been unavoidable.
The sound of his voice could be heard from the living room but she couldn’t make out the words. The list was finished and a written description of Agent Brice outlined when he returned to the room. She closed the notebook and held it out with the pen.
“Here you go.”
He accepted it. “I’ll go pass this off to Flame. He’s stationed outside my door.”
“To make sure I don’t make a run for it?”
He hesitated. “The door doesn’t close all the way. No one will enter my home.”
Jeanie figured the New Species in the hallway pulled double duty and True just didn’t want to admit they believed she’d try to escape. “You know how you told me to tell you about anything I’ve done that might have been wrong?”
He’d turned away and taken a few steps before she’d spoken. He halted, his shoulders stiffened, and he slowly turned. The expression on his face wasn’t a happy one. “What did you do?”
“I’m not really proud of it but I had no choice.”
He approached. Her heart rate accelerated when he crouched down, dropping the notebook and pen on the floor to brace his hands on each side of the bed next to her hips. “Tell me.”
“I didn’t have access to the room with the mainframe computer. It was above my security clearance. I also knew I had to get a stun gun. Only security guards carried them.” She kept looking into his eyes, hating seeing the anger and suspicion there. She didn’t glance away, though, because she wanted him to know she wasn’t lying. “I barely slept the night before the raid. I learned it was going to go down after I’d already left work because they’d kept me there that day longer than normal. I got home around eight thirty, changed my clothes to go for my jog, and got the text around nine.”
“Go on.”
She bit her lip and sighed. “The guards watch the monitors so they’d spot me on the cameras in a section I wasn’t allowed to be. Protocol would have sent them running to question me for being there, preventing me from doing what I had to do. That morning when I arrived I told them I saw a suspicious white van passing slowly by and that I thought I’d seen it before. I knew they’d want to review all the outside security feeds to check it out. They couldn’t watch the hallways and look at old feeds at the same time. There were only four monitors.”
His features relaxed a little. “The lie was necessary. I understand.”
“That’s not it. I’m getting to the part you might not like.”
His mouth twisted downward but he didn’t say anything.
“They had this kid working Security. He was barely out of high school and we didn’t really have lives working there. I mean, it wasn’t as if we could complain if they kept us fourteen hours instead of a standard eight-hour shift. We all lived in fear of pissing someone off by saying no. It meant that our social life suffered and the only other people we spent time around were other employees. I told Security I was a little freaked out and this kid liked me since he sure didn’t have time to meet girls his own age. He had what I needed.” She hated the tears that filled her eyes and she blinked them back.
“You killed him to get his stun gun?”
“No!” It shocked her that he thought her capable of committing premeditated murder. It quickly dulled though when reality set in. She had killed two security guards. Part of her mind kept attempting to shield her from allowing that to sink in. “I just fooled him into thinking I liked him to get close enough to grab his stun gun and I knocked him out to steal it and his card.”
“That’s everything?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll be right back. We need to move down the hallway to another home until this one
is repaired.” He glanced down her body. “You also need clothes. I don’t mind you wearing my shirts but I didn’t enjoy other males seeing your bare legs. We have a supply store and they keep clothes for the Gifts there. Not many since they enjoy shopping online but they should carry pants that might fit you.”
She watched him leave the room and sagged a little on the bed. Her eyes closed and the sound of his soft voice carried. The relief that he wasn’t angry that she’d flirted with some kid to use him still didn’t alleviate her guilt.
True disconnected the call and nodded to Flame as he passed over the notebook. The male accepted it but glanced at his bandaged arms, frowning.
“You should go to Medical.”
“Jeanie took care of it.”
He sighed. “She worked for Mercile on the medical staff?”
“No—Drackwood.”
“I don’t understand how you could protect her. She seems nice enough but I’m not sure I could trust a female who worked at such a place. Don’t you worry that she might harm you if you go to sleep? You’d be vulnerable sharing a bed after you adjusted your senses to ignore her every movement so you wouldn’t wake.”
Anger surged but he forced it down. The male wasn’t malicious, just curious and wary. “She didn’t know Species were kept there until after she took the job. I believe she did her best to get us freed.”
“I heard what she said about the agent. You think he exists?”
“The team is sending someone to find the cell phone she used to communicate with him. It will prove her innocence.”
The male cocked his head, studying him. “What if it can’t be found?”
True knew Tim would suggest she’d lied. The human really wanted Jeanie returned to his custody. “I’m hopeful it will be.”
“I hope they find it too. She seems like a nice human.” Flame hesitated. “It’s tense downstairs. Some of the males are nervous to have her in the dorm. I wanted to warn you.”
“She’s no threat to them.”
“Jericho pointed that out but they are aware of what she did to him. He had to sit with an ice pack against his balls in the community room downstairs. She nailed him hard enough to cause lasting pain.”
“She didn’t mean to. She was afraid. You saw her. Instincts took control.”
“Do humans have those?”
“I’m sure they do.”
Flame appeared thoughtful. “They are so foreign to me.”
“Humans?”
“The female ones. They aren’t as tough as our females and they don’t say what they think. We have everything in common with our females and nothing with the humans.”
True couldn’t deny Jeanie was different from Species females. “Differences can be good too.”
Flame sighed. “I’ll take this to the elevator. Darkness is on his way up. Tim is not happy that you took the female from Medical.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’s the one you have to deal with when you return to work once you’re not taking care of the human. How long is she staying with you? I’ve been assigned backup duty to keep watch and Jericho will change shifts with me when he’s feeling better.” He lowered his voice, glancing down the hallway and then smiled. “I can’t believe the little human dropped him. He’d never have allowed one of the males to get that shot in. Everyone is teasing him about it.”
That news didn’t amuse True. “Is he angry with her?”
“No.” Flame shook his head. “The opposite.”
Jealousy flashed through True as hot as a fire igniting. “He is attracted to her?”
“No.” Flame took a step back. “That look is scary, man. Calm down. If looks could kill, I’d be exhaling my last breath on the floor. He feels bad for her is what I meant. He’s referring to her as that ‘poor terrified female’. He admires that she fought instead of just fainting the way he expected one of them to do. That’s all. Admiration and sympathy but not attraction. I doubt he’d ever look at her without wincing after the number she did on his nuts. That’s not the kind of reaction a male wants in that region.”
The elevator opened and Darkness stepped out. He strode toward them. True tensed, hoping the male wouldn’t chew him out over the fight. Darkness stopped and held out his hand.
“Is that her notes?”
Flame passed it over. “Yes.”
“I apologize,” True got out, not wanting to say more on the matter.
Darkness grinned. “For kicking Flirt’s ass? No problem. I took my time arriving, hoping you’d do a little more damage to him.” He tucked the notebook under one arm. “He earns his name and the bruises around that busted nose will make him less pretty. He’s always riding my ass about how I need to smile more or I’m never getting laid.”
True was surprised. “I would be happy to hit him again if he comes after Jeanie.”
“He won’t.” Darkness sobered. “I banned him from going near that female and he knows I mean business. His pride took a beating worse than your fists gave him when she chose you.”
Flame cleared his throat. “He is right though. You might get more offers to share sex from our females if you smiled more.”
Darkness turned his head, silently staring the male down. Flame dropped his gaze. “Just saying. It wouldn’t hurt. I can’t remember ever seeing a female visiting you or you going to the women’s dorms.”
“Mind your own business.”
Flame nodded, quickly backing away. True almost pitied Flame since Darkness did intimidate most Species. His past had been rougher than most and therefore they were uneasy about how he’d respond to their teasing. Flame wasn’t done, though, and True smothered a groan, deciding the male was either too naïve or just looking for a fight.
“Some human males are attracted to other males. Is that it? None of our kind have felt that way yet but there are so few of us. It is bound to happen at some point. No one would tease you if that’s why you don’t smile at our females.”
Darkness rumbled, his dark eyes turning almost black.
Flame backed up enough to bump the wall. “Sorry.”
“I’m attracted to females. Is that what everyone thinks? I like males instead?”
Flame kept his lips firmly sealed but barely nodded.
“Fuck.” Darkness shot True a furious look. “Is that what you think too?”
“I don’t think about you and sex at all.”
That seemed to appease Darkness because he looked back at Flame and stepped into the male’s space, going nose to nose with him. “You shouldn’t talk to me about why I’m not with a female when you can’t shut up about the one you want but don’t have the balls to go after her,” he growled. “But to appease your curiosity I’ll share a secret with you that better not get out.” He paused, the rumble from his chest ceasing. “I’m not too eager to allow anyone close to me, considering the last female I fucked was one I had to kill.”
He spun away then, leaving both of them in stunned silence. The elevator door opened, he stepped inside and it closed. Moments passed before Flame gaped at True with a horrified expression.
“He was messing with me, right?”
True pondered the expression he’d seen on Darkness’ face. “I don’t believe so.”
“Shit. I stepped in it, didn’t I? I didn’t mean to upset him.”
“You have to remember he isn’t quite like us, Flame. We all did what we had to, to survive while held in captivity but they expected much worse from him.” Thoughts of Jeanie filled True’s mind. What if Polanitis had dosed me with the breeding drug and thrown her into my cell, loosening the chains enough for me to reach her no matter where she tried to flee? The answer was easy. It would have badly damaged him inside if he’d killed her when he’d been insane and would have had to live the rest of his life with that knowledge. “I’m moving us down the hallway to new quarters and taking her to get clothing.”
“Both corner units are open at the end of the hall. Take your pick. I hate going
to supply to pick out clothes so do you mind if I stay here while you take her? I was told to guard the door, not escort you both everywhere. I could transfer your clothing and personal items to the new unit while you’re gone.”
“That would be appreciated. I want the one on the same side I’m on now. I like the view.”
“Done. I also want to avoid going downstairs.”
True didn’t blame the male for wanting to avoid Darkness for a while. “I’ll tell her we’re leaving now.”
Chapter Ten
True smiled at Jeanie when she did a slow circle in front of him wearing a pair of his sweats. They were rolled at the ankles and she’d rolled the waist a few times to make them narrow enough to prevent them from slipping down her hips. The result was amusing but unsettling at the same time. The excess material over her stomach under the too-baggy shirt gave her a slight appearance of pregnancy.
His mind went there, imagining what it would be like if she were to carry his child. He suspected the faint achy feeling in his chest might be longing. To have a mate and to create a life with her was something every male wanted. It would mean he could keep Jeanie forever. He pushed those thoughts away.
“Let’s go. You need the sunshine and we need to get you some clothing that fits. Mine is too big. Flame will take my things to the new home down the hallway while we are gone.”
She still hesitated. “Are you sure we can’t just have them send things here?”
He inhaled, picking up the slight trace of fear in her sweet scent. He held out his hand. “Trust me. Going outside will be good for you since I don’t want you to feel imprisoned inside my home and you should pick what you want to wear. Otherwise they will just toss in whatever they think you might like.”
She bit at her bottom lip.
He sighed. “Don’t you want to see some of Homeland? Aren’t you curious?”
“Yes.” Interest finally sparked in her eyes. “I’ve always wished someone would show pictures of it in articles that cover New Species but they never do.”
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