“Nice to meet you. I understand you met our boy here when you were in the process of busting one of my civilians out of that lab. I’d like to thank you for your service to the species and for what you’re doing with John’s case.”
“You’re welcome.” What the hell else was she supposed to say? “Listen, if you could just—”
The King spoke right over her—which was better than getting beheaded, she decided. “You can’t stay in our world, however. I cannot allow you to do that—”
Murhder cut in. “There are humans all over your training center—”
“I know you did not just interrupt me,” the King bit out at Murhder. Then he refocused on Sarah. “Now, I realize you mean us no harm. I can scent you.” He touched the side of his noise. “You are without ulterior motive and you do not lie. But—”
“She’s in danger,” Murhder interrupted. “They already killed her fiancé for what he learned about the hidden lab. They’re going to do the same to her. She’s seeking asylum from that CEO—”
The male with the tattoos on his face turned his cell phone around. “That boy’s dead. Assuming you’re talking about Dr. Robert Kraiten, CEO of BioMed, he was found on the floor of his kitchen with a knife in his own hand and his lower intestines all over the place about two hours ago. So if that’s the threat you’re talking about, it’s been neutralized.”
“Goddamn it,” Murhder said under his breath.
Sarah blinked. “He killed himself?”
“Gutted, I believe is the term,” the vampire with the cell phone said. “And yup, did the handiwork all by his little lonesome.”
“Is there anyone else you can think of from that company who’d want to hurt you?” the King asked.
“Not that I know of.” Sarah shook her head. “But who can say for sure. I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not working there anymore.”
They weren’t going to want her anyway—
“No one’s going to be working there anymore.” The vampire with those tattoos shrugged and put his phone away. “The whole thing is closing down. That guy with the abdominal leak closed up everything yesterday. Shut the two campuses. Sent everyone home.”
Sarah could only blink as the ramifications of it all spun in her head.
“So I don’t need to worry about meeting with HR,” she muttered.
Shutting the whole corporation down? Made sense, and apparently, Kraiten wasn’t going to be doing anything in the future but pushing up daisies. Still, what if there were other labs around the country run by other people, doing the same thing?
As she fell silent, Murhder started to argue for her safety, and immediately, the tenor in the room got aggressive, male voices raising, male bodies leaning forward. It was all the same arguments, that other humans were allowed in the world, that she was helping John, that nobody wanted attention from Homo sapiens, but exceptions had been made; they’d been through all of it before.
“This is bullshit,” Murhder spat. “And it’s more to do with me than her, isn’t that right.”
The male with the tattoos spoke up over the debating. “Finally, you get it. You’re not sticking around here, big boy. So she’s not. It’s really just that simple.”
“I can take care of her—”
“You can’t take care of yourself—”
“Fuck you!”
“Stop it!” Sarah said in a loud bark. “Just stop.”
With her head pounding and her emotions on the brink, she took a couple of deep breaths in the silence that followed. All of the men—males—were focused on her. She stared at the King.
This was going absolutely nowhere. Even though they knew she had no ulterior motive, it was very clear that they would never trust Murhder, and it was for that reason she wasn’t going to be allowed to stay.
With a heavy heart, she thought about what he’d said in the car outside. That he didn’t want her to know what he was really like.
The problem was more that these males didn’t know who he was. But have fun trying to convince them otherwise.
“I don’t want any trouble,” she said to the King. “And it’s not for us to second-guess your decision. I’ll go back where I belong. I just—I promised Nate I would say goodbye before I left, and I want to hand over my idea about John’s treatment properly. Will you permit me to do both of those things before I leave?”
The King inclined his head. “Yes. And as for the young, we will make sure he has a place in the species.”
“He needs a family,” she heard herself say. And then she thought of the reality that he’d never been outdoors. “Please remember, too, that he has no frame of reference for the world at large or the freedom we all take for granted. He’s been in captivity his entire life. You’re going to have to give him a hell of a lot more than room and board if you want him to come through what was done to him and where he was kept. That is all on you, not him. He’s been through enough.”
The King cracked a smile, flashing enormous white fangs. “I like you.”
“Thanks,” she said with resignation. “I appreciate that.”
“Go back to the training center. Do your goodbyes. And then you have to go.”
“Okay,” Sarah said with a heavy heart. “I will.”
John resumed his corporeal form in the driveway of the Audience House just in time to see Murhder and the human scientist leave out the front door. As they headed down the walkway to Mary’s Volvo, neither of them was saying anything, but they were holding hands, both of them focused on the shoveled snow beneath their feet.
They were not happy, and he could guess why. God, he wished he could help.
Entering through the kitchen in the back, he greeted both of the doggen who were making cupcakes for the waiting room, and then proceeded through to the front hall. There were no civilians hanging out in the parlor on the right, which was kind of a surprise. There was still plenty of night left for Wrath to see people.
But with Murhder here? Accompanied by the human? No doubt the place had been cleared out of an abundance of caution.
The archway into the dining room was open, the doors wide on their brass hinges, and he felt a surge of envy as he looked in. Tohr, V, Rhage, and Butch were clustered around Wrath, the five of them clearly discussing “Brotherhood business.”
Tohr looked up. Smiled. Motioned. “Come on in, John.”
There was a part of him that wanted to no-thank-you the invite. But what point was he proving by that and to who?
Stepping into the dining room, he looked up at the twinkling chandelier, and then down at the fancy Oriental rug, and then over to the sconces and the heavy, closed drapes.
Helluva a long way from that shitty flat he’d been able to afford for himself as a dishwasher.
“How are you?” Tohr phrased the question casually. But his eyes were too direct to carry off the no-BFD. “You look good.”
Well, he’d had a shower before he’d made arrangements to see Beth, Mary, and Bella.
Wrath glanced up even though he couldn’t see. As those nostrils flared, John had a moment of anxiety—and sure enough, those brows disappeared behind the wraparounds.