Chapter Ten

 

Tamian was shocked to find out Lucy was aware of the Gargoyles. Sure, she’d seen him, but their existence was supposed to be a secret. Tessa returned to the living room, and at the same time, they asked each other, “What’s wrong?”

“You first,” he offered.

Tessa didn’t sit down. Instead, she paced the small area. “I’m a failure as a mate.”

“What?”

“I’m a failure,” she repeated. The sadness was rolling off his sister in waves. “Kaya, Sophia, Lilly, and now Abbi are all pregnant. I’ve been with Gregor a while now, so why am I not pregnant? What if I can’t give him a child?”

Tamian stood and grasped Tessa’s arms. “Is Gregor giving you a hard time about this?” He might have growled his question, because Tessa flinched.

“No. Of course not. He’s too good a male to actually say something about it, but I don’t miss the wistfulness in his eyes or the longing in his voice when he speaks of becoming an uncle.”

“It will happen when it’s supposed to. Think of it this way. All four kids will have to share in being born around the same time. Your child will get extra attention when he or she is born. Is that what’s had you out of sorts lately?”

“Yeah. So, you don’t think I’m a failure?”

Tamian had never known Tessa to be anything less than self-assured, and this side of her was startling. “Absolutely not. There’s a perfectly good reason you haven’t gotten with child. If I had to venture a guess, it’s because you have an adventure you’re going to go on, and knowing you, it will be dangerous. You don’t need to be worrying about keeping yourself and a baby safe. It will happen when you’re ready to settle down a little.”

“You’re probably right. So, what had you thinking so hard when I walked into the room?” Tessa pulled away from Tamian, changing the subject. If her attitude didn’t improve, he’d have a talk with Gregor. He wasn’t one to butt into relationships, but Tessa meant the world to him, and he knew how much she meant to Gregor as well. Tessa went to the kitchen, grabbing another beer out of the fridge. She held it up, and Tamian nodded. He really wanted something stronger, but he could share a cold one with his sister while he explained his news.

When they both had a beer, he led her to the sofa and pulled her down next to him. Instead of telling Tessa, he unlocked his phone and showed her the text string. “This is from Lucy.”

Tessa choked on her beer, coughing as her eyes widened. “Holy shit. She knows about Gargoyles. But how is that possible there is another species of shifters we aren’t aware of?”

“And where did they get the DNA to study?”

“Probably the same way Flanagan did; he kidnapped one.”

“I plan to ask her all this and more when I take her to dinner.”

“Are you not worried about the Hounds?”

“Not really. Even if all of them are shifters, they aren’t Gargoyles, and I can handle them.”

Tessa shook her head. “Of course you can. I forget; you’re Tamian St. Claire, super Goyle.”

Tamian tossed his head back and laughed. “Thank you for believing in me, Andi.” Tamian reverted back to her real name when he was serious, and he didn’t figure there was anything more serious than him going up against a new, unknown type of shifter. He would have to keep his wits about him so he didn’t tip his hand. “Seriously though, it was Lucy’s idea for us to speak in person.”

“And that could be a trap. She has studied Gargoyles. What if she’s setting you up so she can study you specifically?”

“Then I guess the little fact that we’re mates won’t do me any good. Or maybe it will.” Tamian shrugged one shoulder. “I have to believe the fates had a reason for putting the two of us together. Just like you and Gregor. Jonas didn’t want you anywhere near a full-blood, but it worked out for the best. You’re with the one you were meant to be with. I won’t know if Lucy’s truly my intended unless I meet with her. Plus, I will find out about these other shifters.”

“What if she’s one of these shifters?”

“I’m counting on it.” The more Tamian thought about it, the more he was convinced Lucy was indeed a shifter. How else was she able to elude him in the woods? “I think she’s a bird of some kind.”

“What makes you think that?”

Tamian explained how Lucy got away from him in Norway, describing the large eagle which flew overhead. “Regardless, I’m excited to meet with her. And I know you’ll have my back, so it won’t really be one against four.”

Tessa scrubbed her hands together, and her eyes lit up. “You’re damn skippy I’ll have your back.”

Tamian was just as excited as Tessa, but his reasons were on a more personal level than the rush his sister got when thinking about getting in the middle of whatever trouble she could find. Tamian never thought he’d have a mate, but now that he did, he was going to do everything in his power to get to know her as well as her family. Tamian would be the best mate to Lucy and make her see, Gargoyle or not, he was the male for her.

 

 

“Agent Ball, have a seat.” Lucy took the chair opposite her new boss, Deputy Director Ramey. The man was probably pushing sixty, but he didn’t look it. His salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back away from a high forehead. His grey eyes were cold, and his suit stretched taut over a fit body. No beer gut on this man. Her stomach had been rolling ever since she woke. Afraid food would further upset her, Lucy skipped breakfast and opted for two cups of coffee on an empty stomach. Big mistake.

“The agency has finally agreed to using you where we will benefit most. Considering your area of study at MIT was genetics, coupled with who your father was, we feel your talents are better suited for a laboratory instead of attempts at infiltrating computer systems.” His disparaging remark regarding her lack of computer hacking talent had her hackles rising. Was he responsible for the last few assignments? The part that bothered her most was the mention of Lucius. Instead of letting her claws loose on the asshole, Lucy schooled her features, sitting completely still.

“I’m not sure what my father has to do with anything the GIA would be interested in.”

The older agent snarled. “Your father was a colleague of mine before I joined the agency. He and I had an arrangement of sorts, and now, I’m interested in you and I having a similar contract.”

Lucy swallowed hard. “What sort of arrangement?”

“Your father was doing a study on genetics. One in which the government hoped to use combatting the Unholy.”

Lucy had to choke back the bile that threatened to grace the top of her shoes. If her instincts were correct, she was closer to finding out what Lucius had been doing in the basement. Only she didn’t want to know. Not this way. She didn’t want to have any part of it, especially if the U.S. government was behind it.

“And what? You want me to continue his work?” Lucy didn’t know whether or not to admit to what she’d found at home. Did she lie and say they worked together during her summers but not on anything substantial? There was no way she would tell this man they were comparing species of shifters. Or had they been? What if Lucius lied to her and they weren’t attempting to figure out the longevity of Gargoyles at all. No. No fricking way.

“That’s exactly what I want. We’ve hired several scientists since your father’s untimely demise, but none of them have been able to accomplish a tenth of what Lucius did. With you having firsthand knowledge of his experiments, it’s time you stepped into his shoes and continued his work. The government needs you to do this.”

“Then I’ll return home this afternoon and get started.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Ramey narrowed his eyes. “I allowed your father the freedom to work in his own home because he and I had been friends a long time. Until I know I can trust you, you’ll be working in the lab here in New DC under my direction. There’s an apartment set up on site, and that’s where you’ll be living.”

Lucy’s insides froze. Not only was she going to be doing something that was more than likely illegal, she was going to basically be held prisoner while she did it. She had to get word to the Hounds and to Tamian. Dinner was probably out of the question, but she had to go back to the dorm and gather her things. She would use that time to call him and apologize.

“Should I gather my things from the dorm now or later?”

“You should get them now as you won’t be coming back this way for a while. I have something I need to take care of while you’re doing that, but I will meet you outside the dorms in twenty minutes.”

Twenty minutes wasn’t a long time to get out of the office building, gather her things, and alert the others to what was going on. Lucy didn’t bother to wait to be dismissed. She stood and opened the door to find another agent standing there. “Agent Barnes will accompany you,” Ramey said.

Well, shit. That narrowed her timeframe further. As she followed the other agent to his waiting sedan, Lucy racked her brain to figure out how to tell the Hounds and Tamian what was going on. If only they could read each other’s minds. Once they reached the dorm, Lucy didn’t bother trying to keep Barnes out of her room. He’d been sent to watch her; that much was obvious. Since she hadn’t unpacked, there wasn’t much to do except grab her toiletries.

“Will you be a dear and grab my garment bag out of the closet?” Lucy asked. The agent rolled his eyes but did as she asked. While his back was turned, Lucy grabbed the burner phone and said, “I’m just going to grab my toiletries and freshen up. Girl stuff, you know?” That was enough information to make the man snarl, but it worked. Lucy stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She sent a quick text to the Hounds and Tamian letting them know she was being taken somewhere to work for the unforeseeable future.

Both Tamian and Monk returned her text immediately, but it was Tamian’s she read.

Tamian: Are you in danger?

Lucy: If I don’t cooperate, probably.

Tamian: This will sound odd, but are you able to block your mind?

Lucy: Huh?

Tamian: I can’t speak to you mentally, and I should be able to.

Lucy: Is that a gift all Gargoyles have?

Tamian: No. But you are special to me, and I should be able to hear your thoughts unless you’re blocking me.

Lucy: I’m special? Dammit, I have to go. I’ll work on the mind thing. And I’m sorry about dinner.

Tamian: Don’t worry about dinner. Keep yourself safe until I can get to you. I will get to you, Lucy.

Barnes knocked on the door. “Let’s go.”

Lucy shoved the phone in the bottom of her toiletry bag, flushed the toilet, and turned the water on. “Hold your horses, Barnes.” The door flung open, and the agent filled the doorway. “Seriously? You’ve never heard of privacy?” Lucy turned the water off, dried her hands, and grabbed her toiletry bag. She shouldered past the man, scowling as she went. As a shifter, she was stronger than most humans, man or woman. If she wanted to hurt him, she could. But that wouldn’t do her any favors toward getting out of her contract.

Lucy slid the straps of her duffel over her shoulder and extended the handle on her suitcase. She walked to the door and waited for Barnes to open it, and then she strode through in front of him. Lucy needed to curb her attitude, but with each step she took, she was getting closer to being locked up in a lab somewhere with no escape in sight. Her father’s lab flashed through her mind, and Lucy shivered.

Tamian said he’d come for her. That might be a good thing. Then again, it might end her career in the GIA and send her straight to jail. She’d have to worry about that later, because Ramey was waiting outside the dorm in a nondescript white van. Barnes opened the back door, tossed her garment bag in, and walked away. Lucy placed her other bags inside before climbing into the passenger seat. As she closed the door, a chill ran down her spine.

Lucy paid attention to each turn they took while searching the area for the Hounds. The urge to twist her ring was strong, but she resisted. The tracker would allow the Hounds to trace where she was going without having to follow too closely. Still, Lucy knew they were out there hiding. Watching. So was Tamian. Thinking back to their text interchange, she smiled inwardly at being called special, but when she remembered him asking about reading her mind, that had her frowning. Did she want him to read her mind? Most of the time, her thoughts were as mundane as the next person’s, but there were some nights she couldn’t escape images of Tamian when she was lying awake in bed.

The deep rumble of a Harley caught Lucy’s attention. She knew without looking it was one of the Hounds. They had eyes on her, and that eased some of the tension in her body. Did Tamian also have eyes on her? He’d followed her to New DC; so somehow, he’d known she left town. Ramey crossed the Potomac River, heading west, and Lucy took that opportunity to open her mind up to Tamian. She didn’t know how that worked. She couldn’t block her thoughts; therefore, she didn’t know how to project them either. Giving it a try, she concentrated on him – his light green eyes. His massive wings. His sleek body. Her own body heated from the inside out at those images, and she really didn’t need to be squirming in the passenger seat with her boss sitting next to her.

Too soon, they were across the river and heading away from the city. “Here, put this on.” Ramey was holding a blindfold.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am. The facility’s location is need-to-know basis only. Put it on, Agent Ball.”

Lucy did as instructed. He drove for another hour, making so many turns Lucy couldn’t keep them straight. He might have taken her around the city just to throw her off.

“You can remove the blindfold.”

Lucy did, blinking her eyes to readjust to the bright daylight. They pulled behind a nondescript, four-story building, where a sliding door rolled up, and he eased down the ramp into a dark bay. The door was closed behind them as he turned the motor off.

Ramey angled out of the van, leaving Lucy to gather her bags. The same man who’d closed the bay door walked toward the van pushing a large cart. He opened up the back of the vehicle and wordlessly removed what looked like short body bags. Lucy gaped at the sight but was blocked from the view when Ramey reached around her to grab her garment bag. “Follow me,” he said.

Lucy walked a few paces behind Ramey down a long hallway. The man with the cart was behind Lucy, and when they got to the elevators, the three of them stepped inside. Ramey scanned his security badge over a sensor and pressed the B2 button. “Test your badge,” he said, pointing to the sensor. Lucy swiped her card in front of the light, but it remained red. Once the car had descended to the bottom floor, the doors opened into another hallway, and Ramey didn’t wait for Lucy to exit. He strode with purpose until he reached a set of double doors. Instead of using his badge, Ramey pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open and entering before Lucy.

Asshole.

“Do I get a k—”

That was the last comprehensible thought she had as she took in her surroundings. Lucy had thought Lucius’s hidden room was bad. That was child’s play compared to the scene laid out before her.

“What the hell is all this?” she asked, backing up toward the door. She couldn’t go far, because the man with the cart was blocking the entrance.

“This is your job, Agent Ball. Don’t act like you are a stranger to such things. The previous scientists left their notes on the desk, but if you’re as smart as your father, you won’t need them. I expect you to be able to continue where he left off.”

“I’m not acting, sir. I can promise you I’ve never participated in anything like what is in this room. The experiments Lucius and I performed were on slides and in petri dishes. This” – she waved her hand around – “is so far out of my comfort zone it’s in the next dimension.”

“That’s too bad for you.” Ramey pulled a set of papers from his inner coat pocket. “You see, Agent Ball, when I requested you be assigned to this department, I was handed the reins to the conditions of your employment. Your baggage became my problem, and that means your tenure is now in my hands. You do the job I require of you, and I’ll consider releasing you from your contract in the timeframe previously specified. You do anything that makes me believe you’re not working to your full capacity? I’ll make you wish you’d taken the jail sentence. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Lucy ground her molars together to keep from going Gryphon on the man’s ass. She had no doubt there were security cameras in the room, and it wouldn’t do for her to get caught slashing her talons across his face.

“Your living space is through that door on the far wall. You’ll find everything you need to live for however long it takes to complete your assignment. I’ll leave you alone to unpack. After that, you should familiarize yourself with the equipment as well as look over the papers left for you. Oh, and I’ll need your cell phone. As you might presume, what we are doing here is highly classified. Sensitive information that needs to remain in this laboratory.”

Lucy pulled her work phone out of her bag, handing it over, doing her best not to show any emotion. If he knew she had a burner phone hidden with her toiletries, she had no doubt he’d ask for it as well. “There is a telephone on the desk that you can use to call the infirmary in case of emergency.” As he shoved her phone into his coat pocket, he said, “I’ll check back later to see how you’re faring. Carl, lock up when you leave,” he told the man with the cart.

Lucy didn’t respond as the jerk walked off, leaving her in the middle of a nightmare.