by Tl Reeve
Gabriel grunted. “Makes sense now why Rafe smells like Frankincense and Myrrh.”
“Wait.” Rafe held up his hand. “I smell like Frankincense and Myrrh?”
“And wolf.” Gabriel shrugged. “I suppose this is what you didn’t want to tell me?”
“We’re not angels,” Caim grumbled. “We’re fallen angels.”
“O-kay.” Natalie appeared even more confused. “You’re still angels, though. Fallen or not. Are-are you saying you’re all ashamed of who you are?”
“Fuck, no,” Rafe snapped. “It’s— Not something we advertise.”
Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, nothing surprises us. You could have been up front about it.”
Natalie removed the sling she carried Halo in and gently placed the baby in her brother’s arms. “Well, I’m still hungry. I’m sure you could all use a bite to eat.” A teasing smile stretched across her lips. “Is there anything fallen angels can’t have?”
“Shax knows what we like,” Rafe answered. “Hurry back. Looks like we’ll be pulling an all-nighter.”
Natalie nodded. “Right.” She kissed her brother’s cheek then the baby’s. “Play nice, big brother.”
Gabriel snorted. “Not likely.”
“You’re such an asshole. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were uncle Kalkin’s son, not dad’s.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing.” Gabriel gave her a lazy smile, and she huffed out a breath.
The interplay between the two of them had been interesting to say the least. They didn’t act like normal siblings, yet when he watched them while they worked, Gabriel would lay down his life to protect her. And, had he not stopped the guy, Gabriel would have tried to kill Shax. It still surprised the hell out of Rafe how fast the guy could shift mid-leap. Had he not been watching— Shit.
“Join us,” Rafe said, motioning to Gabriel as Natalie left with Shax. “You should see some of this shit.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, what did you mean ‘overseas?’” The heat of Gabriel’s body warmed Rafe’s back, and his body tingled to life.
“Looks like PBH ships shifters and people with abilities overseas.” He pointed to the transactions in the ledger.
Gabriel growled. “How far back does this go?”
“Best guess?” Raum said, scrolling through the ledger. “At least twenty years. Maybe more?”
“Adrian would know about it, wouldn’t he?” Rafe hedged.
“Don’t know. I’d assume if he did, he’d have told Kalkin.”
“Well, we all know what happens when people assume shit,” Raum grumbled. “It should be printed off, if you want to look it over.”
“Thanks.” Gabriel stepped over to the printer.
“What’s this?” Rafe pointed to a photograph.
“I hadn’t gotten there yet.” Raum clicked on it. “Fuck.”
Gabriel joined them along with Caim and Lix. “Is that... Is that another laboratory?”
“Yep,” Raum said. “Looks like by the terrain, it’s close to where we are now.”
“Find out if you can get a location for it,” Rafe said. “If we can, we’ll do a little recon on the place.”
“Who are Magnus and Cash?” Lix asked, lifting up one of the pages off the printer. “Because there is a full iMessage communication here between the two of them, and it’s interesting.”
Gabriel sat down on the couch with Halo as he started going through the ledger. The little girl snuggled into the crook of his neck and sighed before nuzzling him in her sleep. “Not ours. Anyone have a pack of colored highlighters?”
Caim brought him a pack from the supplies he’d bought first thing that morning. “You sure you don’t want to sit at the table to do that?”
Gabriel glanced up at Rafe’s second-in-command. “Nope. We’re comfortable here.”
“So, if they’re not yours, who do they belong to?” Rafe brought him a notebook to lay the pages on, so it was easier to highlight the important sections.
“Well, I would suppose PBH, since the hard drive was found in the pile of data. Probably came from the assholes who tried to burn down the warehouse.” Gabriel grasped the yellow cap between his teeth then pulled the highlighter free. “Which is suspect.”
“What are you thinking?” Lix prodded.
“Well, what if it’s a rogue faction of PBH. We already know Adrian didn’t like the “sheep boys.” What if whoever this Magnus and Cash are, they’re in charge of the rogue faction.”
Rafe narrowed his eyes. “Wouldn’t they have normal jobs within PBH to concentrate on? How could they do both without getting caught?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Adrian did it for almost twenty years without someone catching wind of what he did. Had he not met his mate as he did, no one would have figured out he was a telepath.”
“So,” Caim started. “Finding his mate brought the whole mission crashing down?”
“No,” Gabriel said, highlighting another entry on the page. “His telepathy did. See, for as long as any of us knew, Adrian was a null. He had no abilities and couldn’t see a person who had abilities, unless they used their gift in front of him. Then he met Haley, and it changed. They created a psychic chain or thread as my aunt would call them. We’re all connected in my family. Anyway, the minute he did such, his telepathy came online.”
Rafe whistled low. “So, he became a beacon.”
“Yeah. Wide open to everyone who could use telepathy.” Gabriel changed colors and marked something else on the ledger. “You can pretty much guess the rest of it.”
“What are the experiments for?” Lix glanced up from the paperwork he read over. “I’ve seen them referenced over and over again. Then there is Éviel.”
“Super soldiers. Or well, a government-run super soldier. When PBH first started out, they were supposed to be harnessing those who have abilities and shifters. They were supposed to be protecting them. Then one general saw an opportunity. He gathered all the greatest minds together and began experimenting on those who’d been brought in under the guise of clinical trials.” Gabriel set aside the ledger and placed his hand on Halo’s back, rubbing it small circles.
“They weren’t clinical trials. They were torture camps. They were sex trade. Shit, I don’t even know what to call those, honestly. The general thought if he could create the perfect specimen of shifter with abilities they could be used as a secret soldier. Think SEALs teams jacked up on steroids and then add in psychic abilities.”
“But, you’re an example of a human and shifter creating a shifter with abilities,” Rafe said. “You’re not anything like they tried to engineer.”
“Nope. Not even Nicolas or Colin and Ella are even close to “super soldier,” status, and their mothers are two of the most gifted psychics in the world,” Gabriel said.
“What was the point?” Raum glanced over at them. “If your family is the prime example of what they wanted to create, but you’re not anything close to their plans?”
“It devolved,” Gabriel answered. “It turned into more of a capture and contain mission. If the government couldn’t engineer the perfect soldier, they would keep psychics and experiment on them. Simon and Hazel were two of the scientists who dissected hundreds if not thousands of shifters and those with abilities.”
“And your father?” Rafe prodded.
“Precognition and, at the time, the Alpha-potential’s younger brother.”
“Fuck,” Rafe snarled, snapping to his feet. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” If it was what he suspected, Hazel and Simon experimented on Gabriel’s father to finally achieve the goal of the government. Create the ultimate weapon for the military. Instead, it all backfired or had it? Damn. He had so many questions for Gabriel, but all of them would be invasive and probably stir up more shit than was necessary.
“Anyway, according to what I’ve found so far, it looks like this ledger is a big trade sheet.” Gabriel pointed to several transactions. “If I had to guess, the
larger amounts are paid out when they get a combo. Shifter and psychic. Smaller payments for psychic or shifter.”
“Do you know which is which?” Rafe joined him again.
“Not yet. I’m thinking there has to be another document to go with this. It would have to be a list of people. Maybe not names but basics. Male/female, age, ability or shifter. Maybe hair and eye color and a transaction number or case number. Or, even a small note about their abilities or what type of shifter they are. Raum, think you can find it?”
“Well—” Raum grinned— “I wouldn’t be the computer expert if I couldn’t. Give me time, though. I still have at least a terabyte of information to scan through.”
“I’ll try to condense this list, get everything color coordinated by file number and transaction code.”
“How long will it take you?” Rafe asked.
“An hour or so,” Gabriel answered. “As long as this little angel cooperates with me.”
“Do you need me to take her?”
“Nope.” He grinned at Rafe. The small smile transformed the guy’s face, hitting Rafe right in the fucking gut. He was in knots over the man, and Gabriel didn’t appear affected by him. “I know it doesn’t look like I take care of her, but Natalie is stingy with babies, and since she’s mine now, I’m taking all the bonding time I can get without my twin butting in.”
Rafe chuckled. “I keep fucking this up.”
“What?”
“Assuming shit I shouldn’t,” he said. “Whatever you need just tell me.”
“Will do,” Gabriel replied.
An hour later and with a full belly, they were finally getting to the nitty-gritty of the files on the computer hard drive they found on the site. Most of the documents had been printed off and those not, were in the queue to be done. Gabriel had gone through the whole ledger and tallied up the money used in the transfers along with those who were bought and sold. So far, he’d added up at least fifty million in trades. Those who’d been bought outright were more in the hundred million range.
As he’d been breaking the codes of the file, his initial thoughts were true. Those who were sold for more were shifters with abilities. Those with the least amounts were humans with abilities and the median amounts of money spent were for regular shifters. It made Gabriel sick to his stomach as he looked through it all. To see life appraised by some simple price tag, showed how much PBH didn’t value life.
Halo’s soft sob drew his attention to the Moses basket Rafe had bought for her the day before. He didn’t like the pack and play Kalkin sent them. According to Rafe it was too sterile and detached, unlike the Moses basket which allowed Halo to stay close by while also being comfortable. Gabriel snorted at the thought, but it also warmed him. As much as he tried to keep himself separate from the guy, to give him space and heal, Rafe was slowly creeping in and Gabriel couldn’t control it.
Which pissed him off.
“I’ll get her,” Natalie said. “You’re all better with the numbers.”
“I found the building.” Raum sent the information to the projector, allowing them to see a live feed from one of the security cameras. “It’s active.”
“Where?” Rafe asked.
“Peabody, Mass,” Raum answered. “It appears to have opened approximately five years ago. This facility according to the documents gathered already, mass produces Éviel.”
“Bingo,” Gabriel whispered. “I’ll see if I can gather any government documentation on the place.”
“Do it, you have the connections, and I trust you,” Rafe said. “How many camera angles can you give me?”
Gabriel stepped out of the room and came face to face with Maxwell, Hauser, and of all people, Adrian. “What the fuck?” He’d only met Adrian a handful of times and after their conversation, he figured they’d do everything by phone or email.
“Is that any way to greet family?” Adrian smirked. His gunmetal-grey eyes sparkled with an eager excitement.
“Don’t freak the kid out, asshole.” Gabriel glanced up and spotted Midnight along with Leora. “We thought we’d help you out.”
“I’m here to help find Lu before he can do something stupid,” Adrian said. “I can’t allow him to go on a murderous rampage after all we’ve been through together. I couldn’t forgive myself.”
“But-but you were visiting your family.” As much as Gabriel appreciated the help, he also didn’t like to interfere with family time. If his parents and family instilled one major family value, it was; family time was to be cherished. No one came between them when they were together. Not even their jobs.
Midnight shook his head. “They’re with Haley, Edgar, and Tamerlane exploring Salem. My father is getting his rocks off tormenting school-age kids. This is a vacation for them. Let us help.”
“How did you get here so quick?” Gabriel still couldn’t believe they came.
“We took the jet, kid,” Hauser said. “Kalkin called us about three in the morning and said to get our asses in gear. Who were we to say no?”
“Shit. The asshole didn’t tell me shit,” Gabriel replied.
“Wouldn’t have, either,” Adrian rumbled. “I told him not to. I had to do this as quietly as possible.”
“You’re putting yourself at risk.” Gabriel licked his top lip. “Haley is out there right now, and–”
“Haley will burn anyone who tries to come between her and her family,” Adrian said then pointed to his head. “Plus, we’re connected. If anything happens I’ll know.”
“We’re not called conspiracies for nothing, Gabe,” Midnight added. “We’ll murder anyone who tries to hurt one of our own.”
Gabriel nodded. “Well, welcome to the team. I need to make a phone call to Keeley, and then I’ll get you all up to speed on what we found this morning.” He opened the door to Rafe’s room. “It’s cramped right now, but it works.”
Midnight placed his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder as he entered the room. “Make the call. We’ll get the space issue dealt with.”
“Right. Thank you.” He gave a shaky laugh.
“Don’t thank us. We’re all doing this to find whoever killed our friends,” Midnight replied. “The thanks come when we know they can all rest easy.”
Chapter Eight
With Midnight and Adrian there, Gabriel thought their investigation would go quicker, however, it only became more complicated—as did the growing need to claim the man who occupied his thoughts. Rafe turned Gabriel inside out. Made it hard to concentrate. No matter which way he turned, the fallen angel was always nearby, and it drove Gabriel to the brink of madness.
Add to it, the new pieces in play. Adrian believed Lu would join up with his sister in Florida, so for the last three days, he’d run the operation from their hotel. Which, essentially, gave Gabriel’s team two jobs. Watch the younger team’s back and find those responsible for Aurin and Bain’s death along with the children and Lyle.
To say the mission had turned problematic would be an understatement. So, he took to doing his portion of work in the room he shared with Natalie and Halo.
Gabriel glanced over at the Moses basket where the small Nephilim slept. She had wolf in her. A strong one to be exact. The animal fought hard for dominance within the girl, and it, too, worried Gabriel. The only time the two natures within her were at peace had been when Rafe was close. It’d been as if the child recognized the fallen angel as one of her own. Damn it, stop thinking about him. You have work to do, friends to avenge. You can’t do any of it, if you’re thinking about your ma—
No he wouldn’t even consider it.
Rafe had been through the wringer. When Gabriel looked at him, he saw Jase, his father. The uncertainty. The hatred and the guilt. He saw the recrimination and fear. Tasted it a time or two as well. The fact Rafe had no control over what he did, only made things worse. Rafe’s inhibitions were lowered to the point he’d have done anything just to get off.
Gabriel scrubbed his face. Damn it. Why’d it have to be hi
m? Why did he have to meet Rafe under these circumstances? What lesson was he supposed to learn through all this? Gabriel snorted. How many lessons were there, after all? His luck with partners had been shit. Sure, he took the blame for the majority of them. He’d purposefully gone out to find one night stands just to keep himself in check. To take the edge off.
He’d done it for years. A rebellion of sorts. He’d been a stupid teen, too, allowing anyone and basically everyone to suck him off during the full moon. As long as he didn’t tie himself off to any one shifter or human, he’d been safe. All he cared about was the euphoria the minute he orgasmed. He chased that shit. He came to crave it, and for a while, he wondered if maybe the drug his father had been dosed with also ran through his veins. Of course, the idea was stupid. It would have meant the drug bound itself to every inch of their father. It would mean it would transfer to their blood streams, their organs and their reproductive systems.
Or worse, what if they were producing children through artificial means to be walking drug carriers? He wouldn’t put it past PBH to produce children out of stolen eggs and sperm. They’d been caught doing it before. What would stop them from doing it now, again?
The implication of his wild thoughts hit him like a ton of bricks. What if he was on to something? What if Hayden and Bodhi weren’t the only children made during Jase’s time in those PBH labs or anyone who’d been captured and experimented on for that matter. What if they’d done it to Aurin and Bain?
He grabbed his phone. If anyone would know, it would have been his aunt Danielle. Since the incident with Hayden in New Mexico when she’d been kidnapped, and due to his father’s monthly tribulations, his aunt had been working on different aspects of Éviel and its properties.
Gabriel scrolled through the contacts until he came to her name then hit send. It was still early in the morning in Arizona, so he hoped he wouldn’t be disturbing her. The phone rang twice before she answered. She sounded a bit tired, but when wasn’t she? She ran the orphanage and the clinic along with helping out Keeley at PRA formally Vigilante Security.
