together when they had to, and Kane
had never known Alec not to get exactly the information they
needed. Sometimes through skill, sometimes pure luck.
“A common foot soldier with uncanny hearing
and an exceptional ability for sneaking around?” Alec grinned.
Kane snorted while Phin and Nico laughed.
That about summed up Alec, but he was getting fed up with the
drawing out of whatever revelation was coming.
“And? What have you found in your sneaking
around down there?”
Alec immediately changed, his countenance
going from good-natured indifference to deadly killer in an
instant. “Do you know what your girl’s sister has been working
on?”
Tension coiled through him, stiffening his
limbs. He forced himself to relax, but it was difficult. He kept
Calista and her sisters far away from this, the secret part of his
existence. She thought he was just another bounty hunter and he’d
agreed with his colleagues to keep it that way, which was a major
problem all things considered. He wanted to claim her, make her
his, but that would be impossible as long as such a deception lay
between them. So he settled for an on again off again affair. That
seemed to be as far as she was willing to go anyway. It rankled,
but for the time being it was safer.
“No,” he answered Alec, not sure he wanted to
know where this conversation was going. How could he know? He’d
been gone several months.
Alec only nodded while seeming to collect his
thoughts. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, tense, and Kane
wished he’d just spit it out.
“She’s been looking for a cure for the
plague, trying to stop the new mutations.”
That news didn’t really surprise him. Isadora
was a brilliant scientist and if anyone could find a way to stop
the plague’s return she would be the one. When it first appeared in
the Middle Ages, people thought the worst of it was the widespread
death toll. Within a generation or two they’d discovered its other
strange effects when the children of survivors were born with odd
new abilities and talents—many varieties of animal shifters and
another, more dangerous, group, the ones cursed with long lives and
a lust for blood.
“But what she found is a cure for us.”
Kane froze. A cure? For shifters and
vampires? He didn’t need or even want a cure; he liked
himself just fine the way he was. It took a few seconds before his
brain kicked in and took over his emotional response. What would
the rebels want with such a thing? Considering some of the
positions weres and vamps held in both Armies he could see the
advantage to one side or the other being deprived of its
extrasensory abilities. If the rebels knew about the cure, they’d
understand the benefit of having access to it.
Dread constricted his heart. He didn’t need
to be here. He needed to be checking in on the Nichols sisters,
seeing to their safety. Calista would go crazy over the suggestion
she needed help taking care of her family, but she’d just have to
get over it.
“Don’t worry,” Phin said. “We have guards
watching them, but we thought you’d want this one.”
“Tell me everything,” he demanded of Alec,
who narrowed his eyes at the order but didn’t hold back his
response.
“Not much to tell. I overheard the general
talking about it to his lieutenants, ordering them to get her and
her research materials. So I arranged a family emergency and came
up here. I need to get back soon, see if I can find out the rest of
their plans.”
Kane looked at Phin. “And they’re safe?”
“Yes, of course, Kane. I made sure of that
first.”
“Really? Do they know anything about this?
Does Calista?”
The other man frowned. Kane knew the answer
without hearing it and swore under his breath. Calista was more
than capable of protecting her home from humans and maybe the
weaker weres or very young vampires, but not from anyone seasoned
or experienced. And without being fully informed she was left wide
open. He glared around the room,
had never known Alec not to get exactly the information they
needed. Sometimes through skill, sometimes pure luck.
“A common foot soldier with uncanny hearing
and an exceptional ability for sneaking around?” Alec grinned.
Kane snorted while Phin and Nico laughed.
That about summed up Alec, but he was getting fed up with the
drawing out of whatever revelation was coming.
“And? What have you found in your sneaking
around down there?”
Alec immediately changed, his countenance
going from good-natured indifference to deadly killer in an
instant. “Do you know what your girl’s sister has been working
on?”
Tension coiled through him, stiffening his
limbs. He forced himself to relax, but it was difficult. He kept
Calista and her sisters far away from this, the secret part of his
existence. She thought he was just another bounty hunter and he’d
agreed with his colleagues to keep it that way, which was a major
problem all things considered. He wanted to claim her, make her
his, but that would be impossible as long as such a deception lay
between them. So he settled for an on again off again affair. That
seemed to be as far as she was willing to go anyway. It rankled,
but for the time being it was safer.
“No,” he answered Alec, not sure he wanted to
know where this conversation was going. How could he know? He’d
been gone several months.
Alec only nodded while seeming to collect his
thoughts. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, tense, and Kane
wished he’d just spit it out.
“She’s been looking for a cure for the
plague, trying to stop the new mutations.”
That news didn’t really surprise him. Isadora
was a brilliant scientist and if anyone could find a way to stop
the plague’s return she would be the one. When it first appeared in
the Middle Ages, people thought the worst of it was the widespread
death toll. Within a generation or two they’d discovered its other
strange effects when the children of survivors were born with odd
new abilities and talents—many varieties of animal shifters and
another, more dangerous, group, the ones cursed with long lives and
a lust for blood.
“But what she found is a cure for us.”
Kane froze. A cure? For shifters and
vampires? He didn’t need or even want a cure; he liked
himself just fine the way he was. It took a few seconds before his
brain kicked in and took over his emotional response. What would
the rebels want with such a thing? Considering some of the
positions weres and vamps held in both Armies he could see the
advantage to one side or the other being deprived of its
extrasensory abilities. If the rebels knew about the cure, they’d
understand the benefit of having access to it.
Dread constricted his heart. He didn’t need
to be here. He needed to be checking in on the Nichols sisters,
seeing to their safety. Calista would go crazy over the suggestion
she needed help taking care of her family, but she’d just have to
get over it.
“Don’t worry,” Phin said. “We have guards
watching them, but we thought you’d want this one.”
“Tell me everything,” he demanded of Alec,
who narrowed his eyes at the order but didn’t hold back his
response.
“Not much to tell. I overheard the general
talking about it to his lieutenants, ordering them to get her and
her research materials. So I arranged a family emergency and came
up here. I need to get back soon, see if I can find out the rest of
their plans.”
Kane looked at Phin. “And they’re safe?”
“Yes, of course, Kane. I made sure of that
first.”
“Really? Do they know anything about this?
Does Calista?”
The other man frowned. Kane knew the answer
without hearing it and swore under his breath. Calista was more
than capable of protecting her home from humans and maybe the
weaker weres or very young vampires, but not from anyone seasoned
or experienced. And without being fully informed she was left wide
open. He glared around the room,
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