by Lisa Kessler
I stood, glancing at his desk. “When I heard about the fire at Brightwood, I knew it couldn’t have been an accident, but I didn’t want to believe you killed her.” I swept my fingers underneath the center drawer on his desk and located the key to the filing cabinet. My father insisted on keeping the sensitive documents on paper. He didn’t trust computers. He envisioned hackers sending blackmail threats in his email.
I thumbed through the files. Most of his special projects I’d been aware of, but in the past two years I’d discovered there was much I didn’t know about my father’s work. Now as I skimmed files on young women he’d abducted from Brightwood for his breeding experiments, and the shifters he’d attempted to “enhance,” I realized he’d kept me in the dark much more than I’d known.
Any traces of morality in me were signs of weakness in his eyes. My gaze wandered over to his body. I hated myself for the irrational need to speak, but I had to get it out…
“You took the miracle of our race and turned us into nothing more than specimens for your profit.” I shook my head slowly. “You’re a stain on my soul, and if it takes the rest of my life to atone for your sins, I’ll do it.”
I grabbed his briefcase from under the desk and emptied it, then stuffed the folders inside. At the door I stopped, looking back one last time. Robert Frost’s words crossed my lips in a hushed whisper.
“But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.”
“Good-bye, Father. See you in hell.” I slammed the door behind me.
While General Sloan started placing the charges around the building, I went to the guardhouse at the gate and freed the two men inside. After cutting their bindings, I took down their contact information and gestured toward the main building.
“General Miller Sloan wants to talk to you before you go.”
One of them shook his head. “We won’t say anything. I swear.”
“No, you won’t. Anything you say about his place would be considered a national security threat. The general will explain the details. Suffice to say, if you talk, no one will ever see you again.”
They both nodded. The other guard’s voice was hoarse. “What happened up there?”
“Nero has fallen.” I cracked my knuckles and picked up the briefcase again. “You’ll be receiving a severance check within thirty days.”
They glanced at each other and back to me. “Thank you, sir.”
As I turned to go, General Sloan passed by to counsel the survivors. I stashed the briefcase in General Sloan’s car and went to work placing charges on the outbuildings. Once we were ready, I took the elevator down to check the lower levels for any remaining Nero agents or human guards. Satisfied it was empty, I stepped out on the bottom floor and opened the door to the utility room.
I was numb inside when I opened the furnace and blew out the pilot light. Although I had very few happy memories of this place, it was all I’d ever known.
And I was about to destroy it.
I clenched my jaw. This was my past. I had a future waiting for me. A future with Isabelle. I was closing this chapter and starting a new one.
I cranked up the thermostat and walked out without looking back.
When I stepped outside, an unexpected smile curved my lips. Isabelle was standing beside the general, propped on her crutch.
I closed the distance between us and cupped her face in my hands, tipping her chin up to meet my eyes. “I thought you were on your way to Reno.”
She shrugged with fire in her eyes. “I told you I don’t take orders well.” Her expression softened. “This is a big deal. You grew up here. Good or bad, this was your home. I figured you might need a shoulder to lean on.”
I swallowed the swell of emotion in my chest. “I don’t want you pulled into this. The less the government knows about you, the better.”
“I’m not going to D.C. with you. Jason’s waiting with the car just outside the gates.” Her gaze moved slowly over my face. “I know you want to protect me, so let me do the same for you.”
I took her hand, our fingers lacing together. “Thank you.”
We both stared up at Nero’s headquarters beside General Sloan.
He cleared his throat. “Your father was driven. He wanted to make our country safer.”
I chuffed out an exasperated breath. “You didn’t know my father.”
“I knew your dad longer than you’ve been alive.” He glanced over at me. “And I know I looked the other way when I probably should’ve investigated.”
“Too late now.”
He nodded. “I’ll do everything I can to keep the Nero defense projects classified.”
“You need to destroy the research files. If any of the videos of soldiers shifting into animals ever get out, we’re all in danger.”
He crossed his arms. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just delete classified files. They’re encrypted and backed up. But we can pressure the committee to protect the American soldiers who bravely volunteered for the experiments.”
I shook my head. “I hope it will be enough.”
He handed me the radio detonator. “I’m sorry it ended this way.”
“It should’ve ended years ago.” I took the controller, caressing the button. I’d lived on these grounds my entire life.
But that life died with my father. My eyes met Isabelle’s. With her at my side, I had a chance at a new life. A better one.
We walked down to the gates, and I took one last look back, then pressed the button. It started with a pop followed by another, and then the rumble began as the monstrosity collapsed in on itself.
My gut clenched as I turned away, unable to watch anymore. Isabelle took my hand, her voice low, meant only for me. “You’re free. It’s behind us.”
I walked her to Jason’s car. “Thank you for staying with me.”
“You don’t need to thank me.” She stopped and looked into my eyes. “I love you.”
I bent to kiss her, my lips lingering on hers. Resting my forehead against hers, I whispered, “Be safe. I’ll be in touch every day until I can join you in Reno. You have my word.”
Doubt still lingered in her eyes, but she got into the car anyway. I understood her fear, but I would do my best to reassure her.
The last thing I wanted was to hurt her. Odd sensation for me.
But it gave me hope for the future. The poets were right. Love could change everything. Maybe my mother understood that all along.
Bur her love was never enough to save my father.
Maybe nothing could’ve deterred him from his path.
I got into the black SUV with General Miller. In the side mirror, black smoke billowed up to the heavens with plumes of flame and ash.
Nero was dead.
Chapter Thirty
Isabelle
“Thanks, Luke,” I called over my shoulder as he set down the last box.
Not that I had much to move, but I appreciated his help.
Seeing Luke and my sister together made me happy and at the same time lonely. Okay, a little jealous, too. I sounded like a total asshole to even think it.
Maybe I was an asshole.
Anyway, with Sebastian on the other side of the country, I stayed with Raven and Luke in their tiny two-bedroom apartment for a week, and that was long enough. Hearing them laugh, seeing them hold hands—all of it was a constant reminder that my mate was far away.
I spent the next few days apartment shopping. If I was going to stay in Reno, I figured I might as well have my own place. I also hung my shingle online as a PI and bounty hunter, and next week I had two meetings with local bail bondsmen.
Anything to keep busy.
So far Sebastian had been a man of his word. He contacted me every day either by phone, text, or Skype. But the conversatio
ns were short and…shallow. The few times I’d been able to see his face when we video chatted, he looked exhausted and worried. He was hiding something, and trying to guess what it might be was making me insane.
It didn’t help that he hadn’t mentioned coming to Reno or said the L word. I was locked in a constant inner battle, fighting my fear of being abandoned by replaying Sebastian saying he loved me and he’d come back.
But with every short phone call, I lost more ground, insecurity taking a deeper hold.
My cell rang, and I checked the screen. Speak of the devil. “Hey, Sebastian.”
“How is the move going?”
“Fine. Luke just dropped off my last box…” I worried my lower lip. I was not going to fall into this trap again. “How are things there?”
“Every loose end I tie up leads to three more.”
I sighed. “Can I help?”
“Hearing your voice helps.”
“Psh.” I rolled my eyes. “Enough with the bullshit. I know you’re hiding something.”
“Nothing for me to hide.” He cleared his throat. “Did you check your PO box?”
I frowned at the change in subject. “Not today. Why?”
“Just curious.” He paused. “I need to get back to this meeting. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Already?” I checked my screen. “We’ve talked for less than two minutes.”
“I’m sorry. Be safe.”
And he was gone. Weird. I put the phone in my pocket, replaying the conversation. The post office box. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want me to go check it. I grabbed my keys and headed for the door.
As I drove away, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. My gaze flicked between the windshield and rearview mirror. I didn’t see a tail, but I’d collected bail jumpers long enough to trust my gut.
Something wasn’t right.
Or I was getting paranoid. So much for trusting my gut.
I parked and went inside. I didn’t catch any scents that were out of place, but I still checked around before sliding the key into the drawer. I flipped through the envelopes until I found a big one with Sebastian’s writing. I tore it open, scanning the text.
My dear Isabelle,
I have reason to believe I’m under surveillance. It’s not safe for me to talk on the phone, and my email messages may be monitored, too. As word of my father’s death spreads, the Senate committee is pressuring General Sloan to retire. They have their eye on a younger general. Without my father’s political power and contacts, there’s not much I can do to intervene, but a new set of eyes reading the files on Nero’s research could put us all in danger of exposure to the human world.
I can’t let that happen.
Enclosed are the files I took from my father’s office. You’re the only person I can trust. Read them and hide them.
I’ve also included a plane ticket to New York. A driver will be waiting for you at the airport. I hope you’ll come. The only thing keeping me going is the hope of a new future with you.
All my heart,
S
I clutched the mail to my chest and hustled back to my car. Inside I read the note one more time. For weeks, I’d been second-guessing everything, that familiar defensive wall forming around my heart, preparing me for the inevitable.
He was never coming back.
It hadn’t occurred to me that our conversations were short and shallow because our communications might not be private. I’d assumed the worst. Old habits died hard.
I drove back to my new apartment and went straight inside, locking the door. This was my first home base since I’d been bitten, so furniture was sparse. I dropped the envelope on the new card table from Target and pulled up a folding chair.
As I scanned through page after page, a chill slid down my back. Nero had its fingers in more pots than I’d ever dreamed, and not many were legal. Pages of ledgers regarding deals with drug cartels for hired hits by Antonio’s enhanced assets. It appeared the huge influxes of cash were funneled into his private research projects. It became clear as I neared the end of the file that Antonio Severino had had a vision for a new world order.
Humans were weak and inferior, but they had the numbers. Antonio had spent his life trying to find a solution to that problem. From these documents, he’d not only had a captive breeding program, abducting prostitutes and homeless women and having them bitten to produce more shifters, but he’d also discovered that human women with psychic abilities had “evolved” and were able to conceive a shifter’s child and pass on the shifter gene to offspring without being bitten.
Apparently Lana Sloan, Adam’s mate, was the first female child born with the shifter gene, and she passed it on to her daughter. Lana was the missing link in his plan. If men and women both carried the shifter gene, eventually purely human children would be the outcasts.
No wonder he’d wanted his granddaughter.
It might’ve worked, but he’d put himself into the breeding experiment pool. Sebastian had notes for me on the side of one page. Lana and Sebastian’s demented brother, Damian, were fraternal twins, both born jaguar shifters. They were born the same year I was.
While Raven and I were a failed experiment, the psychic who bore Lana and Damian had realized her daughter would be Antonio’s guinea pig. She’d left her newborn girl on the steps of the San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas, in hopes she’d be safer in foster care.
When Nero collected the new mother from their satellite facility, she told Antonio the baby girl had died. Satellite facility. Fuck. Blowing up the Nero headquarters wasn’t going to end the nightmare. Not on its own.
How many facilities were still holding women? Were their shifter babies held there, too?
And even if Sebastian knew the locations, what would we do? If any of the women or children spoke out about Nero and shifters…
I didn’t want to think about it. Worries for another day.
According to these records, Lana’s mother had been killed for returning with only one child. Antonio had come close to finding Lana when she first stumbled into Reno, but he’d sent Sebastian to collect her without telling him one important detail.
Lana was Sebastian’s half sister.
That detail ultimately became Antonio’s undoing. The one code he’d drilled into his son was family first, and when his eldest son discovered Lana was his half sister, he did what he’d been raised to do.
He protected her.
That split in loyalties stopped Antonio’s twisted plan from coming to fruition.
I sat back in my chair staring at the ceiling. Now I understood what Adam had said about why fate kept tying his Pack to Nero. Maybe this was destiny’s design to stop Antonio.
Flipping a few more pages, I found the supersoldier notes. These weren’t included in the government records. These were Antonio Severino’s private observations. Chilling observations.
He had notes about werewolves, jaguar shifters, bear shifters, skin-walkers, psychics, and the blending of the races. He had apparently been planning ahead. When the world was dominated by the shifter races, he would need these enhanced assets to exert his power and maintain it.
His vision was to be the leader of a new world order.
I shuddered, grateful there weren’t very many photos. The one labeled “Malcolm Sloan” had to be of Adam’s father. In the picture, he sat in a cell, drenched in sweat, his muscles straining. Antonio had scrawled a note on the side. “Wolves are weakened without contact with their Pack. He’s fighting the shift on his second full moon.”
The next page showed another set of werewolf soldiers, two dead on the floor, blood coming from their ears, eyes, and noses with a note that said, “The Lycan Squad gained the ability to shift at will, but the added adrenaline led to brain hemorrhages. Hopefully bear shifters will be stronger.”
I flipped another page and flinched. Jett glared up at the camera, his brother’s lifeless body in his arms. Antonio’s note
read, “One of the psychically enhanced soldiers was a success. In the next round, we must find a way to block their ability so it can’t be used against us.”
When I got to the final page, I read and reread the heading. “Funding plan complete for the satellite facilities in Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado. Should we ever need to shutter the main compound, our work can continue.”
I closed the folder and pulled my hair back out of my face. Did Sebastian know where these satellite offices were? We needed to find them. God only knew what they were hiding there.
But first I needed to be sure no one got their hands on this file. I picked up the folder, snagged my keys, and headed straight for the car. It would take over seven hours to get to my safe-deposit box in Los Angeles, but I didn’t trust security at the airport poking into these files.
…
It was dark by the time I got the files stashed and found a hotel. I passed out for a few hours before getting back on the road for Reno. The plane ticket from Sebastian was for Friday night. The night after the full moon.
Smart guy.
As soon as I pulled in at my apartment, my cell buzzed. A text from Sebastian.
Is it done?
My fingers flew over the screen.
Done.
Thank you.
Before I could answer, another message popped in.
I would not wish any companion in the world but you. Nor can imagination form a shape, besides yourself, to like of.
A smile crept up on me as my heart melted. The Tempest. If someone was monitoring his texts, they’d never know, that Sebastian Severino had just told me he loved me.
…
I followed Luke and Raven up the Mt. Rose highway to Lake Tahoe. This would be the first full moon I’d experienced with my new Pack, and while I didn’t know what to expect, I wasn’t dreading it like I used to in Caldwell’s Pack.
As I pulled into a long, circular driveway, my jaw dropped. The cabin Luke had mentioned was more of a fortress than the tiny shack I had envisioned. Three floors of natural wood logs. Gorgeous. Apparently, Adam’s father had bought the property years ago to give the Pack a meeting place during full moons, and for special events.
