by Nina Croft
Not until they were free. She still didn’t know if they were even alive. This proved that they had intended to keep them alive, and explained why they’d had no contact, but who knew what had happened since their capture.
“And tonight,” he continued, “you’ll get the opportunity to keep your side. And then, this will be over.”
She stared into his eyes. “The annual conference?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I’ll keep that to myself as long as possible. Which I’m quite aware, is not very long. Fergus is setting up my security.”
So presumably, all she had to do was get close to Fergus and she could pick out all the details. They hadn’t managed to get hold of any more of the reflector devices. Fergus was not happy. “Are you going to tell me exactly what you want me to find out? I know it’s something about your mother.”
Shock flashed across his face, then was gone. “Of course, you would have picked that up.” He got to his feet. “I’ll tell you more before the party.”
“Is it a fancy party?”
“Very fancy. That’s when you’ll get the chance to meet everyone.”
“And pick their brains. How many of you are there?”
“Right now, thirty-two inherited members.”
“Should be doable. But I won’t be able to read your father. Not if he’s wearing the reflector device.”
“Or presumably Travis, for the same reason. We’ll worry about that if you get nothing from the others.” He considered her for a moment. “You’ll need a dress.”
“Maybe Fergus can take me shopping.”
His lips twitched. “He’ll enjoy that. But I can get some sent in.”
“No. I fancy a shopping trip. There’s nothing else I can do here.” She was itching to get out and contact Jake. She knew how much this would mean to him. How responsible he’d felt for losing the others.
“Max.”
She reached out to the dog in her mind, and he responded immediately. He rose to his feet, his claws clicking on the tiled floor. He came to stand in front of her, nudging her with his nose and whining softly.
“I think he needs to go out,” she said.
“How convenient.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take our guards. I won’t back out on my part of the deal. If the information you’re looking for is there tonight, I’ll get it for you.”
Would he let her out? If not, she’d have to find a different way to contact Jake. And if worse came to worse, she’d phone, but all her calls were monitored, and she could talk more freely if she could reach Jake, mind to mind. If he were still insistent on attacking the Conclave at the party, then she needed to know. And that wasn’t a discussion she was willing to have with Ethan listening in.
“Go then.”
She got up, picked up her jacket from the floor—a stark reminder that he’d kissed her only minutes ago. She could sense his gaze on her as she fastened the jacket and headed to the door, Max by her side.
“It’s strange,” he said as her hand reached for the door. “I have no clue why, but I trust you. You’re one of only two people that’s true of.”
She turned and looked at him. “Don’t,” she said, and then she left the room. Her guards slid into position behind her as she exited the elevator on the ground floor. No doubt Ethan had informed security. She took no notice of them as she made her way out of the building. As Jake had promised, there was always someone close to her at all times. She couldn’t contact them from within the building, but once outside she picked up Ryder’s presence immediately.
“Tell Jake I need to talk to him.”
“I’ll call him immediately.”
She thought for a moment. She would hopefully have more information that afternoon, especially if she could get close to Fergus. She’d hold Ethan to that shopping trip, though, shopping had never been one of her favorite things. But it would be an excuse to get out again. “This afternoon. Say around two.” Where did people go shopping for dresses? “Harrods.”
“Harrods?”
She could hear the disbelief in his thoughts. “I’m going shopping.”
He snorted. “Have you ever been shopping?”
Actually, she did everything over the internet. “No, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“I’ll tell him.”
“Thanks. And Ryder…I think I’ve found them.”
She had a personal shopper. Ethan had arranged it, although probably not Ethan himself. She somehow doubted he knew any more about shopping than she did. No doubt one of his many staff had made the arrangements. She was a woman of about thirty, and was a mine of totally useless information, which Sadie planned to expunge from her mind as soon as she walked out of this shop.
She was in the changing room, trying on long dresses—her personal shopper had been sent detailed notes of what she would need—when Jake made contact.
“You’ve found them.”
“I think so.”
“Tell me.”
She went over the details of how she’d traced them, gave him the address of the facility where she presumed they were being kept.
“What do you think?” she asked as she finished up.
He was silent for a moment, but she could sense the suppressed excitement, buzzing from his brain. “I think they were there at some point. Whether they’re still there is another matter.”
He was being cautious, and she couldn’t blame him. “But this explains why we’ve not heard from them.”
“I just…Christ, I want to believe they’re alive but…”
“You’re scared to build up your hopes. But at least now, there’s something to build on.”
“You’re right. So what happens next? I want you out of there.”
“Just give me a sec.”
She unzipped the long purple dress she was trying on and wriggled out of it, then picked up the next one, a simple black dress that miraculously transformed into something totally special when she slipped it over her head and smoothed the material over her hips.
“Are you still there?” Jake asked.
“I’m trying on dresses.” She crossed to the mirror and stared.
“Really?”
“Yeah. And I look fucking good.” The material clung to every line of her body. She turned and peered over her shoulder. It dipped at the back, almost to the swell of her ass.
“Why are you trying on dresses?”
“Because I’ve got a party to go to.”
“The Conclave.”
“Yeah. It’s their annual conference tonight. They’ll all be there.”
“I don’t think you should go.”
While she thought about her answer, she slipped the dress from her shoulders so it pooled on the floor. Leaning down, she picked it up and tossed it over the back of the chair. She had her dress. She didn’t bother with the others hanging up around the changing room. “Why?” she asked. “Because you want to blow them all up, and I might get in the way?”
He was silent for a minute. “You know this is our chance to finish this thing.”
“Is that you or Kane talking?”
“Kane. But he has a point.”
“We don’t kill indiscriminately. Besides, if he’s worried about secrecy, then it’s not a problem. The Conclave has him beat—secrecy is their middle name. No one knows what anyone else is doing. I can check that tonight, but if it’s the case, then we take out this Travis guy and we’re clear.”
“No, we’re not.”
She knew exactly what he meant. There were others in the Conclave now who knew of their existence. Ethan, his father, Fergus—who right now was in the next room with her personal shopper, totally pissed off. Jesus, it was messy. She tried to think about killing Ethan, but couldn’t get her head around it. Or Fergus. Ethan’s dad she wasn’t so sure about. Maybe she could kill him.
“Sadie?”
“I don’t think Ethan is a threat. And you don’t wa
nt to kill innocent people any more than I do.”
“No, you’re right.” But she could hear the frustration in his thoughts. “I’d still rather you didn’t go.”
“I can pick up some valuable information. Besides, I still have to keep my side of the deal.”
“You owe him nothing.”
“We made a deal, and he’s kept his side.”
“If they’re still alive. So can you give me the details—location, numbers…?”
She gave him everything she’d pulled out of Fergus’s head as she pulled on the red suit again, finally asking, “So what will you do?”
“We’re going to get them out if they’re alive. Tonight. But I’m going to send someone to watch the party. If you see any sign of trouble, you get out of there.”
“I will. Cross my heart…”
He snorted. “You’ve never been any good at doing what you’re told. So how are things with Weiland?”
What was she supposed to say to that? Hot? “Fine.”
He snorted again. “Have any more of your dreams come true.”
“Not yet.”
“You’d tell me if you saw anything you think I’d need to know, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll see you tonight. After the party. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ethan made his way down the wide staircase. The conference was taking place in a stately home, which had been hired for the purpose, no doubt through a whole hoard of intermediaries that could never be traced back to the Conclave. A huge house, with extensive walled grounds. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter and manned the electronic gates. Every precaution had been taken.
He’d left Sadie in her room, which connected to his. She said she was going to take a bath. He wished he was with her now, but he’d been called to a meeting. Apparently, Travis had arrived, and his father wanted him present. Which was good—he wanted to see Travis.
While he had no real need of Travis now that Sadie had found her friends, he still had questions, a whole load of questions. Starting with, what had Travis been hiding from.
After that, all that remained was to get through this party and finally discover the truth as to what had happened to his mother and then…
Then what? Did he go on with his original plan, which had always been to take control? Run the Conclave as he’d been born to. That was the only way he’d known he could get access to the past, discover the truth, find those responsible for his mother’s death. Now, he no longer needed to stay. Sadie would find the truth for him. After that—could he just walk away? Leave them to their plotting and their plans and their manipulations. Of course, they would come after him. No one left the Conclave, and they were even more ruthless against their own kind. But then, perhaps Sadie’s lot would take them down. Destroy them all. Him included.
So perhaps he should stay, help protect them against the Tribe. Take over the power…rule the world. After all, what did he care who controlled the fucking world? Was the Conclave really any worse than the governments, the corrupt politicians?
A guard stood outside the door, but nodded to him and opened it without a word. He stepped inside and found himself in an old-fashioned library, with floor-to-ceiling bookcases and the smell of old paper and leather bindings filling the air.
His father and Travis stood across the room, talking together.
Travis was his cousin, but four years older than Ethan. Growing up, he’d never had much to do with him. He’d always thought he was a bit of a dickhead.
Now, seeing the two men together, he could recognize the family resemblance, both tall and lean, dark haired, gray eyed. Both dressed in tuxedos, ready for the party. Both with glasses in their hands, and both with the glint of silver at their ears, which showed they were wearing the reflector devices. That would be a problem, but he’d face it later. They turned as he approached, and he studied Travis. His cousin appeared at ease. But like Ethan, he’d grown up inside the Conclave and had learned at an early age to hide what he was thinking.
“Drink?” his father asked.
He gave a nod and waited while his dad poured scotch into a glass. He took the proffered drink and followed his father across the room to where two dark brown leather sofas faced each other. His father and Travis sat on one, he sank down across from them and sipped at his drink.
“So you made it back?” he said.
“Of course,” Travis replied. The annual conference was compulsory. No excuses.
“Travis is going to brief us on the project,” his father said. “Then we can make a decision on where to go next. Though I have to be honest—” He fiddled with the device at his ear. “My vote would be to shut it down. Destroy them all.”
Ethan didn’t think that would be an option. The majority of the Tribe were hardly under Travis’s control. And so far, they’d failed to bring them in. All they had were four hostages, and he suspected that by the end of the night, they wouldn’t have those, either.
He watched Travis, interested as to how he would react. His cousin shifted on his seat, and Ethan realized that however relaxed he appeared, he was on edge. “The project is no danger to us. I plan on winding it down. What do you need to know?”
“Everything?”
“Why? That’s not normal protocol.”
“Let’s just say, I’m interested. And I will want the closed files.”
Travis turned his attention to Ethan. “Has the woman spoken?”
Ethan shook his head. “She knows nothing. Merely a pawn being used by others.”
Travis put his drink down and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We got involved about five years ago. One of our assets, a General Webber, got wind of an ongoing government project that he thought we might be interested in. A group of powerful telepaths were being used successfully in interrogations. I arranged for the man in charge—a Colonel Harry Winters—to be recruited.”
“The missing asset?” Ethan said.
“Yes, he disappeared about six months ago. Presumed dead.”
“Presumed by whom?” his father asked. “This should have been flagged.”
“I didn’t think it important.”
That shouldn’t have mattered. Travis should have followed protocols. And there was some reason he hadn’t, a reason he wasn’t happy to share. He’d get to that later.
“So this group,” Ethan said. “Where did they come from?”
“An organization called the Rayleigh Corporation. They were the result of genetic experiments using DNA from a…tribe discovered in Africa over a hundred years ago. It wasn’t originally known but they were actually telepathic. They were also long-lived.”
“How long-lived?”
“No one knows for sure. But it’s thought that members of the original group are still alive.”
“You don’t know?”
“We haven’t been able to locate them. They were under the control of a Martin Rayleigh. He was recruited by the colonel. But that was a mistake. Rayleigh is…” Travis gave a small shrug. “An honorable man. He didn’t agree with the direction we were going with the group—”
“And what direction were you going?”
“We were carrying out various experiments, mainly to see if we could make them more…manageable. A few deaths occurred. When Rayleigh discovered this, he somehow managed to spirit the original group away, and we’ve not been able to find them since.”
“And Rayleigh?”
“He’s in our custody, but he’s not talking.”
“What happened to the government project? Where are those people now?”
“They’d been told the deaths were from natural causes. After the last one…died, they learned that wasn’t the case.”
Had there been a slight hesitation there. “Who was he, and how did he die?”
A flicker of annoyance crossed Travis’s face. “Is that relevant?”
“I’m curious.”
Jesus.
“They discovered it, destroyed the experiment, and broke out. That was about nine months ago. The colonel was hunting them down, but there wasn’t a trace of them for three months. Finally, we got an anonymous tip as to where they were. We managed to reacquire four of them. We were hoping to use them as leverage to bring in the rest but things went a little astray.”
“Astray?”
“They kidnapped the colonel’s daughter. After that, we lost control of him.”
“His daughter. Is she connected to us?” his father asked.
“Only unknowingly.” Travis leaned forward in his seat, his face animated. “Christa Winters is a renowned geneticist. She was heading up the research on the longevity issue, and she was almost there, on the brink of a breakthrough.”
“What sort of breakthrough?”
“Splicing DNA from the test subjects and introducing it to existing DNA. We were on the point of discovering the secret of immortality.”
“And…?”
“Someone destroyed her laboratory and all her research.”
“Shit. And this was something else you didn’t think to mention.”
Ethan could hear the anger in his father’s tone—he was making no effort to hide it.
“I had it under control.”
“Of course you fucking didn’t have it under control.”
Travis winced at the fury in his father’s voice, but didn’t respond. There wasn’t a lot more he could say. Why had Travis kept quiet? It went against all the protocols. What else was he hiding? The fact was that if he had spoken up, chances were the whole thing would have been closed down, the hostages killed. Why hadn’t he wanted that? Or was there something else? Was it tied to the research? Was Travis hoping to restart the longevity research once things had quieted down? He could see the lure of that.
“So where is Christa Winters now?” he asked.
“Missing.”
His father shook his head. “No doubt presumed dead, like her father.”
Travis ignored the comment. “I decided the leak came from General Webber. He was dead by this point.”
