***
“Not stop,” Andre said. “But drastically slow, possibly to the point of being slower than a normal human.”
Connor looked at his hand, the cuts both gone now. The difference had been so stark no one could have missed it. “No wonder I was in such bad shape. I was so blinded by my leg, I didn’t even realize I was bleeding out.”
Andre nodded. “You almost did. It was touch and go there for a bit, until we cut off any flesh where this stuff might have gone. Once we could get the outer cut to seal, we knew your insides would take care of themselves in time.”
He nodded. No one in the Underground was a doctor, and operating on someone was beyond anyone’s skill. But closing wounds, stitching, etcetera, was something that they were all proficient in.
There was a knock on the door, and then Flint walked in. He gave Andre a look. The shifter nodded, gave Connor and Maddy a last look, and then departed. Although Flint wasn’t a shifter himself, he was the head of the Underground, and the shifters gave him deference out of respect for his actions in creating it to help their own kind. No one knew why Flint did what he did, but the shifter community in King City was very grateful for it.
“Flint, we need to tell everyone about this,” Connor said seriously. “Valen, Marcus, everyone back in Genesis Valley needs to be aware of it, not to mention the shifter community at large.”
The leader of the Underground, and Connor’s nominal boss for the time being, nodded. “I know. I’ll make the call and tell them personally myself. I’ll also get a sample of it sent out, along with the vial you brought back. They have a better lab than us, so maybe they can figure out just what it is.”
Connor nodded. He had almost forgotten about the vial. “I’m surprised it stayed intact, to be honest. I figured in all the fighting and running it would have gotten smashed. Hopefully it’s a clue, because we’re going to need one.”
“Why?” Maddy asked the question before Flint could speak.
Connor quickly told Flint about the Agent at the shipyard, and how he was stronger than other Agents had been, even Extremis ones.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Flint asked sharply.
What the fuck is bugging him today? Flint was a tricky fellow to understand, but he was being unusually cranky. Connor filed it away to ask him at a different time.
“One of the Agents sent after me today was an Extremis Agent. A strong one. Much, much stronger than I am. Stronger than any bear shifter I’ve ever known. I’ve sparred with Valen before. This Agent hit almost as hard as him.”
“I don’t get it,” Maddy said as Flint’s eyes widened in surprise.
Connor hesitated. That information wasn’t exactly his to share.
“I’m in it this far,” Maddy said. “I know Valen is one of the owners of that mining company back at your home, the one that’s funding all of this,” she said, waving her hands around. “I’m assuming he’s a shifter too. What kind?”
“Gryphon,” Connor said after just a short pause. He smiled. Damn, she was smart. Excellent powers of deductive reasoning too. “And a strong one. There are very few species of shifter stronger than that. The Extremis Agent I fought was just a half-blood. He wasn’t even a full shifter, but he hit like a full-blooded gryphon. Whatever they’re doing with that serum, they’re getting better at it.” He looked at the other two in the room.
“We’re running out of time,” he said at last. “If they keep this up, we’ll be obsolete.”
Maddy gasped.
Flint’s eyes took on a faraway stare as he contemplated that bit of information.
“Flint?” Connor asked after a moment. “What do you want to do now?”
The other man shook himself visibly, forcing his attention back to the conversation. “I’m working on arranging transportation out of the city for tomorrow night. Rest up until then. Something tells me you’re going to need all of your strength.”
Connor frowned as he left the room, but then let it go. Flint was under a lot of pressure these days. The Agency was moving more and more men into King City with every passing day, and the Underground’s resources were stretched almost to the breaking point. Something else must have happened. Flint would tell him what it was eventually. He always did.
He yawned.
Maddy rose from her chair. “Get some rest,” she said, giving him a tender hug that lingered on and on. “I’ll come check on you in the morning.”
Connor just nodded as his exhaustion caught up with him.
I must have lost a lot of blood. I’m not normally this sleep—