The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) by Alanna Faison Page B

hard.
                “Rayne, please understand.
You are my family. No matter what I disagreed with, you have to know that I
would have never stood by and let anyone or anything do that to Jason. I’m
saying this because whoever is behind this hit, they felt the way I did and I
know that it looks bad. When you saw your father torturing that man, it was
because he had kidnapped those researchers to copy the work they were doing at
the company. Your father refused to sell him anything and they did not want to
take no for an answer. The man warned him that if he wouldn’t sell to his
employer, then he needed to shut down his research. Jason ignored his warnings
as well as mine that what we were getting into was a dangerous road.”
                “I don’t doubt for a
second that you had nothing to do with this and I kind of see your point, but,
there’s more to this isn’t there? There’s a piece missing, I can feel it.” I
lean forward, enthralled in our conversation.
                “Well, yes, other than the
fact that I can’t get any fucking information on who’s behind this shit. You’d
think they’d want to announce to the company what they did to prove a point not
to fuck with them or not take their demands seriously. Right now, we are just
watching our backs and reassessing every single person or company we’ve ever
done business with. That could be their plan too, to throw us into chaos and
confusion and I have to admit, it’s kind of working. It’s the same strategy
that terrorists use. They are slowing our entire production down and some of
our best people who know the truth have resigned.”
                Damien stands up, clearly
stressed as he rubs a hand over his dark hair. “But, there has been talk that
it is becoming more difficult not to risk exposure for the supes and that a
type of governing body of their own may be forming if they haven’t done so already.
I don’t think those people like that either and it seems that they may be
trying to arm themselves for a type of power struggle. We already know that
individually, each race has their own way of dealing with their kind, but now,
they may be working together like never before.”
      He begins to pace with his hands
behind his back while he speaks. It’s a sign of nervousness that I don’t often
see from him. “That may spell trouble of a different kind if we push too hard.
We may outnumber them in terms of bodies, but with their combined strength
added to the fact that we have only myths and rumors to rely on, it could end
tragically with a war unlike anything the world has ever known. The problem is,
we can’t trace anything and that’s the problem with dealing with the supes,
it’s hard to find evidence when they truly don’t want it to be found. They have
ways of making people forget or see things that are untrue. The only thing we
do know is that the person we are looking for is a magic user. Selene is the one
that figured that one out.”
                We both look at Selene who
doesn’t seem ready to offer any more information, so I start.

            “So, let me make sure I
understand all of this. My father wanted to keep a special group in the
government armed against supernatural threats. You, and this mystery person or
group, both think that by doing so it could lead to unnecessary ‘witch hunts’
against anyone who is ‘different.’ This group wanted dad to either sell them
the same weapons or stop production completely, for a price of course. My dad
refused. So, this person had one of his men kidnap the researchers and then
kill them as a message. When that message was received, dad retaliated by
hunting the guy down and torturing him in revenge. Then, the same thing
happened to my family.”
                I stop for a second as I
figure something else out. I put my hand over my mouth in shock, but finally
continue after Damien looks at me