by Eva Leon
Tate took a slide out of a black machine and placed it into a microscope. He looked into the eyepiece and didn’t say anything for a few minutes.
“I found them,” he said with a huge smile. “I found the shifting cells. Hang on a second.”
Tate took a scraping of cells from his cheek and put them on the slide with Caspian’s cells. He looked back into the microscope and concentrated hard.
“The transforming cells appear to be consuming the regular cells and then dividing,” Tate said. “They can transform cells.”
“That’s amazing,” Caspian said. “I wonder how many medical applications there could be.”
“Yeah, but Cas, we’re talking about your body. This puts you in danger, baby. I think it’s probably why Halston wants you too. There are more than medical applications possible with your cells.”
“I’m sure anything that can be used to heal can be used to hurt too,” Caspian said.
A little while later, Jaden returned. Tate and Caspian filled him in on what they’d figured out.
“We should wake up Xavier,” Jaden said. “We need to get to the safe house,” he said and jingled a set of keys. “My father has a place we can use.”
Chapter Fifteen
Halston
“Oh, my beautiful Alessa, I’ve almost got that gorgeous brat of yours in my hands. He’s slipped away from us so far, but my agents are closing in. We’ve received a nice, juicy tip, and soon I’ll be able to make good on my promise to reunite you with your baby.”
Silence.
“Alessa, my love,” Halston pleaded. “Please stop with the silent treatment. I thought if I brought your boy back to you, you’d finally stop being so cross with me.”
Halston’s phone rang, and he turned away from Alessa. “What is it? Tell me you’ve got good news. I’m not in the mood for anything but good news,” he barked into the phone.
“The source checks out, boss. I know where they’ve got the asset. I’ll have him in hand by tomorrow night.”
“Make it happen,” Halston said. “Or it’s your head.”
Halston hung up the phone before Conrad had a chance to grovel any more. He hated when the hired help whined. He also hated when his beloved Alessa ignored him, and she’d been quiet for so long this time.
He turned and left the room. She’d run into his arms when he reunited her with her Caspian. Halston knew his plan would work.
Chapter Sixteen
Jaden
A window in the safe house shattered and, in moments, the Alphas were on their feet and moving Caspian to the rear entrance. They made it to the truck and sped off with seconds to spare.
Conrad and Patty missed capturing Caspian by moments, but they tailed the truck with desperate precision. Jaden could tell the agents had gotten desperate. He just hoped their pursuers didn’t kill them in pursuit.
In a last ditch effort, Jaden turned the truck into a subdivision full of manicured lawns and large McMansions. He quickly turned down street after street until he found a house with a long, empty driveway and no lights on.
Jaden turned into the drive and pulled all the way to the garage. He turned off the car and everything went dark around them. Seconds later, the black SUV that Conrad was driving sped past the driveway.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but they waited a few minutes before Jaden backed the truck out into the street. They left the neighborhood and got on the highway. Jaden didn’t know where they were going yet, but he needed to put some distance between himself and the agents.
Eventually, Jaden spotted an abandoned warehouse off the side of the highway. He took the next exit and worked his way back to the possible shelter.
It was abandoned, and Jaden pulled the truck into the dark building while Tate and Caspian held the doors open. They settled in to try and get a few hours of sleep.
“We’ll need to get a new vehicle in the morning,” Jaden said. “This truck is going to get us caught.”
“How do you think they found us?” Caspian asked.
“I don’t know,” Jaden said.
“Do you think it could have been your father?” Tate asked cautiously.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to believe that, but what other explanation is there? I’ll never go to him for help again,” Jaden said sadly.
Chapter Seventeen
Caspian
Caspian couldn’t sleep. He was uncomfortable and terrified. The Omega was still in the back with Xav, and the Alpha was awake as well. He was red-faced and sweating, and Cas guessed that his pain pill had worn off. Just to be safe, Caspian checked the wound. It wasn’t showing any sign of infection, so Cas gave Xavier another pain pill and held his hand.
“I’m scared,” Caspian whispered.
“We’ll protect you,” Xavier said and gave Cas’s hand a squeeze.
“That’s what makes me the most afraid,” Caspian said. “I’m worried that the men I love will be hurt helping me. I can’t live with that. I’ll never forgive myself for the pain you’re enduring.”
“You can’t think of it like that,” Xavier said. “And I’ll be fine. I’ll heal soon enough.”
“I should turn myself in. It would be better than all of you dying on my behalf.”
“No!” Xavier growled.
The other two Alphas woke up at Xavier’s exclamation. They turned around, and Xavier told them what Caspian had said.
As the Alphas were telling Caspian what a terrible idea it was for him to turn himself over to Conrad, the Omega heard a noise. He shushed the Alphas when he heard it again.
Seconds later, Caspian’s door flew open and hands reached in to yank him out. He fought against the arms holding him, and an unfamiliar voice told him to calm down.
The arms set Caspian down and he whirled around to face the person who’d pulled him from the truck. Jaden flipped on the truck lights so he could see what was going on.
A tall, thin and very pale man stood before Caspian. Next to him was an equally tall, pale, and thin woman.
“Thank you for tracking him, Claudia,” the pale man said to the woman.
“You’re most welcome, Singh. It wasn’t hard at all. The mer people have a very distinctive scent.”
The Alphas, even Xavier with his wounded shoulder, surrounded Caspian protectively. Rage filled Caspian, and he pushed past his protectors. For some reason, he was not afraid of the strangers, but their intrusion and rude behavior filled him with anger.
“You human Alphas had better back down,” Singh said. “You’re no match for a vampire and a werewolf. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. There’s no need for bloodshed today.”
“Why are you here?” Caspian demanded.
“Halston wants you,” Singh said matter-of-factly. “That means you are useful to me.”
“How do you know that unless you work for him?” Caspian asked suspiciously.
“I assure you that I do not work for him,” Singh said. “Claudia and I have been spying on him electronically for some time now. His interest in capturing you gives me the in I need to get my wife back.”
“Your wife?” Caspian asked.
“Yes, she is a vampire like me. Halston captured her, and based on the intel Claudia gathered, I am convinced she is still alive. Halston has a remote island facility. I believe she is there. Unfortunately, I’m not even sure of the location. We weren’t able to get exact coordinates.”
“Why do you need me?” Caspian asked, but he already knew the answer.
“It’s impossible to sneak onto the island. I’m going to pretend to be an agent and turn you over. You’re my ticket onto the island.”
“There’s no way you’re taking Caspian and turning him over to Halston,” Jaden said.
“How can you be sure that you’d even be allowed to escort me all the way to the facility? You have no way of knowing that,” Caspian said to Singh.
“I’m going to tag you. We can trace your signal to the island even if we can’t escort
you.”
“You’re going to have to find another way. I’m sorry about your wife, but there’s no way I’m going to volunteer for this,” Caspian said.
“We’re not asking,” Claudia said and took a step toward Caspian.
When the Alphas tried to surround Claudia to protect Cas, she pulled out a black stick and pressed a button. A pulsing light made the Alphas flinch and cover their eyes. Before long, they fell to the floor, completely unconscious.
“I apologize for this,” Singh said. “If there was any other way…”
“What did you do?” Caspian asked as Singh secured his hands with zip ties.
“It’s a light spectrum that affects humans, but we’re immune,” Claudia said with a wink. “One of my greatest creations. Don’t worry, it’s painless. They’ll be fine in a little while.”
Singh and Claudia dragged Caspian to their vehicle and shoved him into the trunk. “I’m sorry,” Singh said. “I wish there was another way.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tate
Tate came to and leapt to his feet. His breath caught in his throat when he realized that Caspian was already gone.
The Alpha ran out of the warehouse, but the vampire’s car was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t hear anything that sounded like a vehicle speeding away.
They were gone.
He went back inside and shook Jaden and Xavier awake. Jaden rushed to the SUV and pulled out his laptop.
“If Caspian is still wearing his bracelet, we can find him,” Jaden said. “You drive, Tate. I need to focus on tracking Caspian.”
“Is this a bad dream?” Xavier asked. “I think my pain meds are making me hallucinate.”
“It’s not a bad dream,” Tate said as he slid into the driver’s seat. “This is really happening.”
“Great,” Xavier responded.
“You’re taking the news that there are vampires and werewolves in our world very calmly,” Tate said to Jaden.
“I think I already knew. I’ve seen enough videos on the internet that can’t be explained away,” Jaden said. “Ghosts are real too. Don’t believe all of those debunking videos. Most of them present logical sounding arguments, but if you ask the right questions it’s pretty easy to debunk the debunking.”
“I’m just going to drive,” Tate said.
A few miles up the road, Tate pulled the truck into a parking lot. The trio quickly located a car with the keys in the visor and borrowed it.
Tate felt bad stealing a car, but Caspian’s life was on the line. They’d have to worry about their theft later.
“They shouldn’t have left the keys in it,” Jaden said without looking from his laptop as they pulled away. It was as if he could feel Tate’s discomfort. “Looks like we’re heading to some docks a few miles from here.”
Tate wanted to drive faster, but if they got pulled over in a stolen car, they’d never get to Caspian. He kept the car at five miles over the limit.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes, then,” Tate said. “Just give me the directions.”
“Will do,” Jaden responded. “But I think we’re too late to get to them on the docks. It looks like the tracker is already out over the water. We’re going to need a boat.”
“Maybe someone left one with the keys in it,” Xavier said with a chuckle.
Chapter Nineteen
Caspian
When Singh and Claudia opened the trunk to let Caspian out, they were dressed in black suits. Cas assumed this was how they were going to convince Halston’s people they were agents.
“I’ll do my best to rescue you after I have my wife,” Singh said. “I won’t just leave you.”
Caspian rolled his eyes. He couldn’t say anything because Claudia had gagged him as soon as the pair opened the trunk.
Cas cried out against the gag as Singh injected something into his arm. As much as it hurt, Caspian could only assume that it was a tracking chip.
The Omega struggled hard as Singh and Claudia dragged him into a building that looked like a bank. The black glass windows and perfectly trimmed shrubs reminded Caspian of the bank his grandparents used back in Kansas.
Caspian continued to try and fight, but he was still a bit dizzy from the trip. It had felt like his kidnappers had driven the car onto a ferry, and the ride had left him disoriented. It was strange to him that being tossed around by the waves didn’t affect him, but being on a boat could. Although it might have had something to do with being locked in a trunk as well.
Once inside, Singh and Claudia led Caspian to an elevator. Singh pressed a button that said lab at the bottom of all the other buttons. The elevator jerked and began its rapid decent. Caspian figured that as fast as the elevator moved and as long as they continued to descend, they must have traveled very deep into the earth.
The elevator opened and the three stepped out onto the polished marble floor of the lobby. It looked like something you’d expect to see in a five-star hotel and not the lobby for a laboratory. Caspian assumed that in addition to being evil, Halston had to be both extraordinarily wealthy and exceedingly shallow.
Singh and Claudia pushed Caspian toward a marble counter. A beta woman with perfectly coiffed hair and an expensive black suit sat behind it, studying the trio off visitors.
She picked up her phone and called someone. “Yes, your appointment is here.”
Moments later, Conrad appeared in a doorway next to the counter. With a nod, Singh handed Caspian over. He and Claudia immediately retreated into the elevator and left Caspian to whatever fate awaited him in Halston’s hands.
Conrad dragged Caspian through the door and down a much more clinical looking hallway. Cas assumed they’d be going to a lab, but instead, Conrad dragged the Omega onto a different elevator.
Much to Caspian’s surprise, they went up. The elevator doors opened up into a breezeway that led to a dock. At the end of the dock was a speedboat.
Patty was waiting for them, and once Conrad had Caspian in the boat, Patty took off for another island in the distance. Caspian tried to throw himself overboard, but Conrad caught him and handcuffed the Omega to the boat after removing the zip tie from his hands.
Chapter Twenty
Jaden
The Alphas arrived at the dock just in time to see the last ferry leave for an island off in the distance. It wasn’t a private island, so Jaden didn’t think that could possibly be where Halston’s lab was located, but it was the direction Singh had taken Caspian.
“We need to find a boat and get to that island,” Jaden said.
Jaden and the other two Alphas searched for a boat they could borrow. Just as they were about to give up hope, Singh and Claudia pulled up and offered them a ride.
“Let us take you.” Singh said.
“Fuck off.” Tate replied.
“I just want to get my wife back,” Singh responded. “She’s my priority, and I know the Omega is yours. Let’s help each other. I’m tracking Caspian, so I know where they are going. You won’t find them without me. I implanted an RFID chip in Caspian.”
“How are we going to follow them? The last ferry is gone for the night.”
“They aren’t on that island anyway. They left it and are en route to another one. I see you guys snooping around the empty boats. You can’t find one with keys in it to steal? That’s okay. Claudia here can start just about any vehicle.”
“You deserve to be staked in full sunlight,” Jaden says.
“Well, I understand the sentiment, but that wouldn’t work anyway. I’m a little intolerant of the sun, but it’s not like it would make me explode.”
“Whatever,” Jaden sneered.
“Let’s go with him,” Tate said. “He wants his wife back and we want Caspian. We can deal with the rest of the bullshit later.”
“We have the GPS. We don’t need this asshole,” Jaden said.
“We don’t,” Xavier said and pointed to the laptop. “The signal stopped moving. It must have fallen off.”
&n
bsp; “Fine. Let’s go,” Jaden said reluctantly.
The Alphas got in the closest empty boat, and Claudia started it up with some tools she kept in a sleek black case tucked in a leg garter under her pants. They sped off and went around the first island. There was another off in the distance, and after a few minutes, the boat approached the island that must have housed the facility where Halston kept his favorite experiments.
“Shit,” Jaden said as the signal Singh had been tracking disappeared.
“Don’t worry, human. We were prepared for this. Of course Halston has high-tech, and probably supernatural, defenses. We’re close enough that Claudia can track the mer’s scent.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Caspian
Conrad and Patty presented Caspian to Halston. He smiled in a way that didn’t reach his eyes, and waved the agents away.
Halston didn’t take the cuffs off the Omega, but he did remove the gag. Caspian fought the urge to bite at the asshole’s hand. It would have been satisfying, but he wanted to live to see his Alphas again.
“You’re as lovely as your mother,” Halston said.
Caspian felt his blood boil. If this asshole knew about his mother, then the logical conclusion was that he captured her. “Where is my mother?”
Halston didn’t answer Caspian’s question. Instead, he began a long monologue about the things he learned from experimenting on Alessa. It was things Caspian already knew about how the shifting works. He brought up CFP cells and told the Omega it was the last thing he learned studying Alessa.
When Halston got to the part about the shifting cells, Caspian interrupted him. “I already know about the cells and what they can do. I want to know where my mother is. What do you mean it’s the last thing you learned from her? What did you do?” His stomach dropped. Caspian could feel the truth. He wanted to believe that his mother had escaped, but that was just wishful thinking.
“Do you want to see her?”
