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When Tamian got the text from Lucy, he rushed to the rental car and headed toward the dorm. Tessa offered to ride with him, but he asked her to stay at the hotel in case he needed her on the computer. He’d just pulled up across the street when Lucy exited the building, followed by a man, presumably another agent considering the way he was dressed, carrying her garment bag. After tossing the bag into the van, the man got into a sedan and drove away, leaving Lucy to get into the passenger seat. Tamian called the license plates of both the van and sedan into Tessa, just in case they needed to run them later. Tamian hung back from the van, able to follow at a distance and still keep them in sight.
His plan to sneak into Lucy’s room had been thwarted when she sent him a text earlier than expected. He’d wanted to be waiting so they’d have a chance to talk without fear of being overheard before he took her out for dinner. It would be hard to discuss shifters around human ears. He also didn’t know how much privacy the Hounds would give her, if any. There was too much he didn’t know about Lucy’s situation, and now, it looked like it would be a while before he found out anything.
Two motorcycles were following closer to the van, and Tamian figured them to be Hounds. He wasn’t the only one looking out for her, and for that he was glad. At the moment. Having been the one watching out for Tessa when she and Gregor got together, he understood wanting to protect his sister. Or in the Hounds’ case, their niece. However, things would be different when he and Lucy got together. They weren’t two Gargoyles finding their mates. They were two species of shifters, who, as far as Tamian knew, had never mated before. Knowing nothing about her kind – if she was a shifter – put him at a disadvantage. He couldn’t very well go up against the Hounds to defend himself with regards to mating with Lucy if there was something about her specifically that would keep them apart.
Just as the van turned to cross over the river, Tamian got caught behind several vehicles at a red light. There was too much traffic for him to go around, so he had no choice but to wait. When it turned green, Tamian sped as quickly as possible, trying to catch up with Lucy, but it was too late. There was no sign of the van on the open highway, so Tamian turned around and drove down every side road there was. He had to hope the Hounds were able to track her location, because he had nothing.
Before he drove out of the area, Tamian first tried calling Lucy. It immediately went to voicemail, so he sent her a text and told her he lost her in traffic. He then reached out to see if she was able to unshield her thoughts. After several unsuccessful attempts, Tamian headed back toward the city. He often pondered why the fates made it so hard for some of the Goyles and their mates to come together once they met. Several of their cousins had been able to find their intended and bond with them quite easily, but for most of them, it had been a challenge. And maybe that was the point of it all, to see if they were worthy of the mate bond.
Never expecting to find his own mate, Tamian had let himself believe that if and when it did happen, things would go smoothly because he was special. He would meet his mate, he would ask her out, and after taking her dozens of flowers and spending hours talking and getting to know one another, they would immediately bond and live happily ever after. Hah. He’d been reading too many of Tessa’s romance novels. Those dreams had been nothing more than youthful folly, having seen his parents and Jonas and Caroline together. Tamian didn’t date many females over the years, but those he did, he compared to Tessa, because to him, his sister was the perfect female. No one ever met his expectations. Not until Lucy.
Now he understood why. Tamian loved his sister more than life. He was part of her and she him. But Lucy was his mate, and that bond was beyond compare. He had faith they would be able to find their way to each other and make things work, even if she were a different type of shifter. While he waited on Lucy to get away from her obligations to the GIA, Tamian wanted to talk to someone regarding these shifters. His first thought was Rafael, but Xavier was his father as well as his true King. He would start there out of respect.
Having called Tessa to give her a heads-up about what he wanted to do, she had a video chat going with their parents by the time he got back to the hotel. Tamian wiped his hands on his jeans before taking a seat next to his sister on the sofa. “Hey. I guess Tessa already told you a little of what’s going on?”
“She only mentioned there are shifters in your area who aren’t Gargoyle,” Xavier said.
“Have you ever heard of there being a species besides ours?”
“There was always talk, going back as far as when I was your age, but as far as I know, nobody ever met one. It was just hearsay.”
“I can attest to the fact that it’s true, but as for the type of species, I’m still in the dark.” Tamian went on to tell them everything that had transpired with Lucy and how she admitted to studying Gargoyles. “I don’t know how she was able to get Gargoyle DNA. We didn’t get that far into our conversation. It was a topic I was going to broach this evening at supper, but with her job being reassigned, that’s not going to happen.”
“Can you reach out to her with your mind?” Elizabeth asked. Not all mates could speak silently, but she and Xavier could.
“Not as of yet. I even asked her about that, and she said she would try to let me in. So far it hasn’t happened. Either she’s too caught up in work to try, or she isn’t able. We only spoke of it a couple hours ago. I won’t stop trying to reach her, though.”
“Good luck, Son. If anyone can reach her, you can.” Tamian only nodded at his father. Xavier had never given any indication he had much faith in Tamian. The lump in his throat threatened to give his emotions away, so he let Tessa say goodbye for both of them.
“You really don’t understand how much he loves you, do you?” Tessa asked.
“He’s never really been the type to express his feelings. It caught me off guard. Anyway, I’m going to try to text Lucy again.” Tamian waited after hitting send, but his message came back as undelivered. Taking a chance, he dialed the number, but the call was dropped before it even rang. He tried several more times with the same result. “The calls are dropping,” he told Tessa.
“Wherever she is probably has interference set up. Why don’t you see if Julian can track her somehow?”
“She was using a burner phone.”
“Yes, but whoever she was with probably has their work phone on them. If he can figure out who was driving the van, he can also figure out their phone number, or at least their home address. I’m seeing a little interrogation work in our near future. While he’s at it, see if Jules can get a recent photo of the driver. It may take time, but we can ask Jonas to configure a prosthetic for you. Just in case.”
After Tamian spoke with Julian, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his mate. After a few seconds, it was faint, but there was something touching the corner of his mind. Something that could only be Lucy. He knew this because it was soft yet urgent. Everyone had their own unique signature brain wave, and this was one he’d never encountered before.
“Lucy, are you there?”
“Tamian!”
“Lucy. Talk to me, Sweetheart.”
“Tamian... I...”
“Lucy? Lucy!”
Godsdamnit. Tamian continued trying to reach her, but it was no use. The urgency in her thoughts had him ready to go get her right then, except he had no idea where she was.
Carl pushed past Lucy, coming to a stop alongside four autopsy tables. One by one, he unzipped the black body bags, flipping them over and releasing the contents. He didn’t so much as grunt as his skinny arms strained with the weight of the contents. Lucy swallowed back the bile threatening her throat when a resounding thud echoed in the large room as human torsos were dumped without preamble onto the tables. At least, she thought they were human. The heads, arms, and legs had been removed without surgical precision, evident by the jagged flesh. There were two males and two females who may or may not have been human. Lucy couldn’t be certain without examining their DNA. If they’d had their heads, she could have checked their gums for evidence of fangs. Considering she’d never studied an actual Gargoyle, Lucy was at a loss as to how to detect whether a body was one of their species. Gargoyles looked human even after shifting, except they had additional fangs, claws, and the males had wings. Gryphons could bare their fangs or claws, but as for the rest of them? They completely shifted into their lion, or eagle, or both – their Gryphon. Once they began the shift, it was all the way, or not at all.
The four torsos weren’t the worst of it, though. All around the room, tall, round cylinders lined the walls. Whole bodies were suspended in liquid-filled vessels. Again, Lucy had no idea if they were human or otherwise. Males and females, all of whom appeared to be thirty or younger, who had more than likely been kidnapped for the sake of science, danced in a watery grave. Hair spread out around their heads in multi-colored halos. Dead eyes stared back at hers, accusingly, like it was her fault they were in their current situation. The liquid shifted and bubbled as the low hum of the power source filled the room.
If there was any doubt before that Lucius had indeed been involved with Ramey, that doubt was alleviated when she stepped into the lab. These were the exact same type of cylinders she’d found in the basement of her home. The male she now knew her uncle to be was at odds with the philanthropic one she’d traveled the world with. The one he showed those on the outside.
Lucy turned three hundred-sixty degrees, counting the bodies. When she reached twenty-nine, Lucy was interrupted as the metal cart rolled toward her. Instead of stopping it, she jumped out of the way, afraid for the cold steel to make contact with her skin. When the cart rammed into one of the cylinders with a clang, Carl cursed Lucy under his breath. Either he’d forgotten to set the brake, or he’d forgotten the floor sloped toward the drain. Still not meeting her eyes, the man gathered the four bags into his arms before depositing them on the wayward cart and leaving the room. When the door closed behind him, the sound of the lock engaging met with the hum of the cylinders, combining for an eerie tune. Lucy shivered, rubbing her arms to stave off the chill.
“What have you gotten yourself into?” Lucy shook her head when no immediate answer was forthcoming. All this because she wanted to find Warryck. If he’d only let Rory raise her, she wouldn’t be in this mess. Lucius had worked with Ramey for years, all the while grooming Lucy to step into his shoes and help with whatever all this was. Lucy had blindly done as he asked, even going to school and studying what he’d wanted her to. If he had lived, would he have introduced her to his work in the basement? Confided in her what the research entailed instead of lying about it?
Lucy had been too shocked to ask the pertinent questions before her boss rushed out. He wanted her to familiarize herself with the lab and the notes. She wanted nothing to do with whatever sick experiment had been started well before she came to work for the GIA.
And she was supposed to live down there? Lucy did her best to ignore her surroundings while she gathered her luggage and made her way to the opposite side of the room. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door to what was to be her bedroom. After taking in her temporary living arrangements, Lucy released the breath she’d been holding. Color her surprised when she discovered her new home was nicer than the dorm she’d vacated earlier. It was more than a bedroom. The living quarters were set up like an apartment, complete with a full kitchen, an en suite bathroom, and a small workout room. The cabinets and refrigerator were stocked with foods she liked. That didn’t bother her as much as it probably should. If only she could lock herself away in the cheerily decorated suite and forget about the freak show that was her job.
After a few minutes of sulking, Lucy decided to go ahead and unpack her bags. She didn’t have a lot of clothes suitable for the lab as most of her work had been done as a field agent, thus the four suits she’d stowed in the garment bag. Digging into the bottom of her toiletry bag, Lucy retrieved the burner phone, hoping to reach out and let Tamian know where she was. There was no signal. Not only was there no signal, but there was no sound coming from the phone at all. Gods, what if they had a blocker in the building? Would the tracker in her ring be detectable? She had no way of contacting the Hounds or Tamian. Except...
Lucy leaned against the counter and closed her eyes. She did her best to clear her mind of everything except for the handsome Gargoyle. How was she supposed to reach him? Mind-speak was something she’d only seen in sci-fi movies, not in real life. Taking a deep breath, she called out to him.
“Tamian?” She waited a beat then tried again. “Tamian?”
“Lucy, are you there?”
Oh, by the gods, it worked! “Tamian!”
“Lucy, talk to me Sweetheart.”
“Tamian...” What was that noise? No! She had to concentrate. “I...” There it was again. Someone was moving around in the other room. At least now Lucy didn’t feel completely closed off from the outside world. With a little more practice, she would hopefully be able to carry on a full conversation with her Gargoyle. She stowed the useless phone in the bottom of her garment bag and zipped it up before opening the door into the lab.
Ramey was closing the door to the industrial-sized refrigerator. When he turned and caught her staring, he stiffened. She had a good mind to tackle the man and check his pockets. He’d said he would give her time to settle in, but Lucy had already figured out the kind of man her boss was – controlling. And now, sneaky.
“It won’t do you a bit of good to hide out in your living quarters, Agent Ball. The longer you put off your assignment, the longer you’ll be sequestered.” He picked up a stack of papers. “Since you’ve yet to read the notes left by the previous scientists, I’ll fill you in on what we’re doing. These are things you should already be aware of, considering your father kept you by his side for years.”
“Like I told you before, my father didn’t teach me this,” Lucy said, sweeping her arm around the room. “I only found his secret lab this week, and before I had time to examine the contents, I was called in to work. So you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not up to speed on what exactly you and Lucius were working on.”
Ramey glared at Lucy for several seconds before tossing the papers back onto the desk. Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he said, “This is proof there are beings out there who are extraordinary. Everyone you see here has some type of gift, whether it’s psychic or physical. Your father began studying DNA to search out what it is within these people that gives them their unique abilities. The bodies on the slabs are for you to dissect into their genes. Each one is labeled as to what their specific ability was. The bodies around the room are held within a special medium which keeps them from decaying. Each person has a series of journals dedicated to their study.”
Lucy stepped closer to the tables and found the tag for the torso closest. A woman with small breasts and a flat stomach was able to run exceptionally fast, according to the notes. “Once you get into her cells, you will compare them to those of Subject 26.” Ramey pointed to a man behind him. “26 also has the ability to run at speeds beyond what humans should be capable.”
“Why the torsos? Why aren’t these subjects whole? Deterioration will have already set in.”
“That’s where your father came in. Lucius developed a serum that keeps the cells active for just over thirty days. It’s one reason you need to work quickly. You have one month with these subjects before they’ll become useless.”
Lucy walked around to the other three bodies while pondering Lucius and the serum. How could she have lived with the man her whole life and not known what type of person – or shifter – he was? Gryphons had been put on Earth to watch out for humans. Protect them. Not treat them as experiments for... “What is your end game? When you figure out what gene is capable of producing super strength or sonic speeds, or the ability to read minds, what then?”
“That’s simple, Agent Ball. We, as in you, will come up with a way to introduce the cells into one human, thus giving them all the extraordinary abilities.”
“You want a super soldier.”
“Of course. The United States has been lagging ever since the world fell apart. We’ve yet to come up with a way to combat the Unholy. And now, the Ministry is gaining a foothold not just in America but all over the world. They have to be stopped, and it’s going to take someone ‘more than’ to stop them.”
He had yet to speak of shifters, so it was possible Lucius had kept that bit of information from Ramey. It wasn’t like all humans were unaware of Gryphons. Over the centuries, Gryphons had married humans and had families with them. When that happened, if the human couldn’t handle finding out their husband or wife was a shifter, the Gryphon had the ability to alter their mate’s mind so he or she “forgot” the information. That was easier than trying to hide the fact that the Gryphon was a shifter. Even with mind manipulation, there were certain humans whose minds were stronger than their mate’s influence, and they were aware, but they kept that knowledge to themselves. Then there were those shifters, like Lucius, who never hid their nature. He explained to Lucy that it wasn’t fair for Vera to be in the dark about what her husband was. Too bad he didn’t let her in on the secret basement. Or had he?
“If Lucius wasn’t able to accomplish this before he died, what makes you think I can? He had years under his belt, whereas I’ve been chasing the Ministry through computers for the past four years.” Lucy almost slipped up and said just how many years Lucius had been working in his lab.
“Yes, well that is something I’ve been trying to change for those same four years. Somehow Agent Franks convinced the Director you were needed in his department. I have no doubt they were sleeping together, therefore he got what he wanted. Rumor has it they are no longer together, and I was able to convince Director Higgins you were needed elsewhere.”
Ah, politics at its finest. Lucy had never been a fan of those in powerful positions. No matter what platform they ran on or how good they claimed to be, she always felt they were crooked and would lie and cheat to get what they wanted.
“That still doesn’t answer the question. My specialty was incurable diseases, not superhuman powers.”
“Then I guess you better get started. Like I said, you have thirty days with the four new subjects.” Ramey walked to the door, and with his hand on the knob, he said, “If they happen to expire before you get to them, it will be up to you to retrieve the next four.” The door closed with an ominous click.
“And just where am I supposed to find dead bodies with superhuman powers?” Lucy mumbled as she picked up a stack of papers and began reading. She had no idea how long it would take her to make sense of the notes, but she knew she only had thirty days to do it.
