It took surprisingly little time for the laboratory complex to be restored to order. After her impromptu meeting with Miller, Li Khuli had released the security system back to Jacob’s control, opened the sealed doors to let the staff out and presented herself and her team of five assassins to the head of security. It wasn’t a polite introduction, but rather a lecture on the inadequacies of their defences and the need for a complete overhaul, after which she simply vanished.
Jacob was livid. It was hard to tell which annoyed him more – that Li Khuli had broken into the lab with such ease, or that she had omitted to introduce herself to him at any point in the hours that followed. Jacob liked to be in control, liked to dictate how things ran, rather than having them dictated to him, and Miller had to wonder just how that was going to work out with a free-agent assassin wandering around. Li Khuli answered to no one but the CEO, an elusive figure in the German Head Office, who ran the Noturatii with the refined control of a drill sergeant and the fanaticism of a third world dictator. So, while she was here on Jacob’s request and to serve his lab, that didn’t mean she was going to do anything he said.
So when Miller finally had the chance to catch up with Jacob again, after an hour or two of restoring their systems and debriefing with the security team, it was no surprise to find him in a foul mood.
“You haven’t submitted your report from your investigation up north,” Jacob barked at him when he arrived in his office.
“I was nearly finished typing it when we were interrupted,” Miller said politely, avoiding any direct reference to Li Khuli as it was only likely to send Jacob into a lather again. “It would only take me a few minutes to finish it now-”
“Just tell me what the hell happened and stop wasting my time!”
Miller was not at all put out by Jacob’s harsh attitude. If he was the type to get offended every time a superior officer yelled at him, he’d never have made it in the military. And he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in the Noturatii. “There was nothing particularly informative, sir. The house seemed suspicious, but nothing that could be immediately linked to the shifters. Once the report is finished I’ll submit a request to put them under surveillance.”
“The sooner the better,” Jacob said impatiently. “These creatures are dangerous.”
“The lady we spoke to didn’t seem particularly dangerous,” Miller countered hesitantly, knowing his views on this went against official Noturatii opinion. “She was polite, cooperative, pleasant enough. I would find it hard to believe she had any criminal intentions.”
“Have you ever met a shifter, Miller?” Jacob interrupted, impatience in his tone. “Ever seen one face to face?”
“Only once, sir. The day you showed me one in the lab.” It had been a gruesome experience, Miller’s first real introduction to the Noturatii’s underground world, only an hour after he’d been told that shape shifters were real, and not confined to video games and fantasy novels. The shifter had been more dead than alive from the torture, but that hadn’t been what had shocked Miller. Seeing the man turn into a wolf…
He snapped back to the present, realising that Jacob was talking again. “…innocent face, a girl, maybe, some no older than eighteen or nineteen. And you can look into that face, wide eyes, tears, downturned mouth, and forget what they are. They are deceptive, above all else. They pretend to be one thing, while they’re quite another. Do you know why I do this job?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s because the shifters are the biggest threat to national security – no, to the security of the human race – that we’ve ever seen. Can you imagine how easy it would be for them to carry out terrorist activities? They can travel through remote areas, endure conditions that would kill most humans. They could find their way through a forest to a major dam, for example, set bombs to blow the place up, let the flood destroy a city downstream, then vanish into the wilderness as wolves, and no one, no one would ever find them again. They can cross international borders without a passport – any countries connected by land, at least. They could walk down the street and you’d never know the difference. That’s what you have to keep in mind. The wolves are natural deceivers. They’ll lie to your face, make you believe that black is white, turn your world upside down, and then kill you while you’re trying to figure out what day of the week it is. So never, ever underestimate how dangerous they are.”
“Yes, sir,” Miller replied respectfully. For all his disagreement with Jacob’s assessment, the man was his boss, after all.
“Now get that report finished and send it to headquarters. We’ve wasted quite enough time today already.”
The ritual was over, the mood sombre, as the Den filed back into the house, or out across the grounds, some of them shifting even before they got to the trees.
Baron and Caroline were standing nearby having a tense conversation, and Dee supposed she could have waited for them to finish, asked them to help her back into the house, but a stubborn determination made her attempt to stand up by herself. Her legs were shaking, her arms supporting her weight on the blood-stained table, but she told herself it was only a short walk to her bedroom. Though getting up the stairs might be difficult…
Strong arms scooped her up suddenly, and Dee looked up in surprise, expecting to see Baron carrying her again.
No, not Baron. Mark had caught her, his face grim, mouth a tight, angry line as he carefully nestled her in against his shoulder. “You look exhausted,” he muttered, as if that was her fault, and he set a quick pace back towards the house.
“I’m okay,” Dee said, trying to reassure him, but his scowl only deepened at the words.
“Baron shouldn’t have asked you to do that. You’re too young as a shifter. For heaven’s sake, you’ve only been out of the cage for a few days.”
It was tempting to argue with him, to insist that she was strong enough to look after herself, to make the point that she wanted to be useful to the Den, but given the fact that she didn’t think she could even walk by herself at this point, she suspected the argument would be a hollow one.
“It was rough,” she admitted. “But it was worth it. I know who my sire was, now. And his Den will know what happened to him. That’s got to be worth something, right?”
They were inside the house now, Mark heading up the stairs, careful not to jostle her as he walked, and for a moment he didn’t reply. At the top of the stairs, he paused, looked down at her, pain evident in his eyes.
“That was horrible to watch, you know that?”
Dee nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. But it was necessary,” she said stubbornly, not regretting her decision to go through the ritual, despite the pain it had caused.
Mark shook his head, marching quickly to her bedroom, kicking the door closed and setting her gently on the bed. He tugged the blankets up over her and set a pillow against the headboard for her to lean against. Then he sat down beside her, watching her intently. “The surprises just don’t stop with you, do they?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been thrown in the deep end so many times in the past few weeks. You’ve been kidnapped, tortured, locked up, insulted… but I’ve never once heard you complain. And then Baron just keeps asking more of you, and you feel like you owe us something. Do you know how much I admire you?”
Dee shook her head. In her own mind, she hadn’t done anything remarkable. Despite the bad circumstances of her arrival, this Den had been working overtime to help her, even when it had caused them plenty of problems of their own. Tonight had been a chance to prove she had something to give back to them, however small it might be.
Unexpectedly, Mark leaned down and kissed her, hands cupping her face tenderly, his eyes shining in the dim light of the bedside lamp. “You are absolutely priceless.”
Dee couldn’t help the grin on her face. This fledgling romance with Mark was moving rather more quickly than she was used to. But then again, everything in her life in the last few weeks had seemed to be happening in fast forward. Her conversion, her ‘death’, her acceptance into the Den, the status fights – it was only a day since she’d officially become part of the Den, and already she was ranked third up from the bottom. Another two weeks, and God knew what more might change in her life.
But there was one nagging issue in her mind, one that, despite her best efforts, wouldn’t leave her alone. “Could I ask you something that might be awkward?”
Mark nodded immediately. “Of course. Anything you like.”
“It’s about the lab.”
Despite his eager agreement only a moment ago, Mark’s expression turned guarded – not that Dee was surprised. The whole issue of the lab was rather a tough spot, after all. “Is this about keeping it a secret from Baron?”
“No! No, I said I wouldn’t tell him and I won’t. I do feel kind of guilty about that, but… Look, there was just… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Okay,” he said cautiously. “What is it?”
“When we talked about how you rescued me, you said you were looking for someone. I’d like to know who.”
Mark grimaced and looked away. Dee didn’t mean to upset him, but nonetheless she needed to know. “My sister,” Mark said finally. “You know we renounce our family ties when we join Il Trosa. But about a year ago, I just wanted to know where my sister was, how she was doing. So I did a little research. It’s completely against our rules, I know,” he added, to his own chagrin. “I wasn’t going to contact her directly, but I needed to know she was doing okay. And then… well, the short version is that I stumbled upon some information that suggested she’d been kidnapped by the Noturatii and was being held in their lab. I did a little digging, found out where it was, explored some of their security protocols so I could work around them. And then the other week, we were in London on other business, but I had a few hours to myself, so… I went looking.”
Dee nodded. It explained a lot, why he’d been willing to take such a risk, how he’d known the layout of the lab to be able to find her. “Then you know what it’s like to lose your family, and to need to break the rules to see them safe,” she said softly.
Mark nodded slowly. “It’s an act of treason. But in this case, the goal was worth the risk.”
“I understand. And because of that… I’d like to ask you a favour.”
“What is it?”
Dee held her breath, glanced around the room like she expected someone to leap out of the wardrobe and yell ‘gotcha!’. She lowered her voice to a mere whisper. “Would you be able to send a message to my family? To let them know I’m alive?”
Silence. And Mark’s expression was suddenly and alarmingly blank.
“I would try to figure out how to do it myself,” she explained, not quite sure why this was such a shock to him, given what he’d done himself, “but I’m not allowed to set a single foot off the estate. I don’t mean to burden you with this, but I’ve got no other options.”
“No.”
What? She’d expected warnings about the consequences, discussions on what it would mean to take such a risk, even anger that she’d ask Mark to put himself in danger on her behalf. What she had not expected was a flat refusal.
“What?”
“I said no.”
“But you went looking for your sister! You didn’t just send her a message, you broke into a Noturatii lab!” Even in her dismay and outrage, Dee managed to keep her voice low, harsh, angry whispers bursting from her lips.
“What I did,” Mark said slowly, sternly, “was betray Il Trosa and my species. And for the record, I never, ever intended to directly contact my sister when I was researching her. I just wanted to know where she was, whether she was safe. If she’d been fine, working, dating some loser or making a couple of rug-rats for herself, that would have been the end of it. I went after her because I believed she was being tortured by the most evil organisation on this planet.”
“And now?” Dee prompted, unable to believe he would refuse her like this. “Don’t you still want to know where she is? Or have you just given up on her so easily?”
“If the Noturatii actually took my sister,” Mark said, his voice tight, “then she is now dead. If they didn’t take her, then wherever she is, it’s none of my business. And either way, there is nothing I can do to help her.” He looked up at her sadly, stark loss in his eyes. “Or you.”
Dee glared at him, the hypocrisy of his refusal galling. “Get out,” she said finally. “Get out of my room.”
Mark stood up. “Give this idea up, Dee,” he warned her softly. “We both renounced our family and our past when we swore the oath of loyalty to Il Trosa. And I can tell you from experience, there is no joy to be had in chasing ghosts that should be laid to rest.”
Dee didn’t reply. Mark waited a moment longer, perhaps hoping she would say something else, something to excuse or forgive his refusal to help her. But when it became clear she had nothing more to say, he turned and walked away.