Chapter 17 #2
He curved his face, his mouth only a few inches from mine. “You’re not the only one who can move without being seen.”
Air caught in my throat at his proximity. I couldn’t seem to acclimate to him. To not respond to the carnal intensity he carried.
Andris’s finger pinched the papers and picked them up, his pupils tracking over the documents, the color draining from his face. “Where did you get this?” His gaze darted to Warwick, then me. “How did you come by this? Is this real?”
“It’s real.” Warwick nodded at me. “Ask her.”
“Where did you get it?” Agitation rose in his voice.
“I-I . . .” I swallowed. “I stole it from Istvan. It was in his safe.”
“And he knows you have it?” Andris lowered the papers to look at me fully.
“Yes.”
Andris whispered, almost to himself, before his hand hit the desk. “Szar.” Shit. He hissed through his teeth. “He found it . . . what your farther and I were afraid of.”
“What do you mean?”
“This document was one of the things Markos had your father and me searching for. It was during those trips we were trying to find anything out about you.” Andris flipped between the two pages I was able to steal.
“He had read about this scientist, Dr. Rapava. The more he learned about him, the more obsessed he became with this man’s work.
He liked the idea of humans becoming the superior race again.
He wanted to destroy fae and take back what he felt was rightfully ours.
It didn’t seem to occur to him that it was technically their land first. We sent them into hiding.
Humans have invaded, massacred, and taken over territory since the beginning of time, but all he could see was what they had taken from us.
“Markos is obsessed with power. Every battle we lost, he got more possessed with this idea. Of humans advancing, become stronger, be unbeatable in a war against the fae.” Andris shook the pages.
“Using Rapava’s work was how he wanted to do it.
Replicate his formula in powder form. The problem was, the doctor went to the States in the far West, where all his advanced work was said to be destroyed.
We knew some of his early experimental notes survived.
Another scientist had some of them and Rapava’s first experiment journals.
We continued to tell Istvan that it was merely a rumor, but it looks like he continued looking and discovered it since.
” Andris slapped the documents down. “Damn it. This is bad . . .”
“About to get worse.” I cringed. “Istvan not only found Rapava’s formula but is copying and producing it.
I don’t know how, but he is. He’s sending it to other countries, probably building an alliance with all top leaders there are while lining their pockets.
” A pang hit my chest, as I still mourned the man I thought I knew, the man who spent hours teaching me chess.
Istvan had been aloof, but I never thought of him as a monster.
“He has been shipping pills to the Czech Republic.” To the leader he wanted to sell me off to as a wife.
“And I have no doubt to Ukraine and beyond now.”
Now I realized how sinister Caden’s marriage was. It was part of Istvan’s power grab, to become the ruler of all, eventually becoming more powerful than the strongest leaders in the Eastern Bloc.
“He’s producing pills? He’s been able to procure fae essence?” Andris exhaled harshly. The two words sounded like a weight hitting the floor. “How?”
“I don’t know.” I wagged my head.
“How do you know this? How do you know Istvan is producing them?”
“Because they were the reason I was caught and put into Halálház. I stole them from a shipment heading to Prague.”
“Stole them?” His dark eyes carved into me. “Do you still have them?”
My stomach laced together in knots, fear riding up my spine.
“No.” I pinched my lips. “Killian has them.”
Andris went still, his ribs pushing against the fabric of his jacket.
“The fae leader has these pills?”
I nodded.
“You have seen them?”
“Yes, I saw his test subjects.” I licked my lips. “And I am one of them.”
It was like I’d dropped a bomb in the room. The silence burst into the space, choking and expanding.
“You. Are. One?” Andris’s nose flared, his eyes wide.
“He tested them on me first, but nothing happened to me.” A bead of sweat dotted the back of my neck, the significance of my revelation hitting me.
Nothing happened to me.
Because I wasn’t normal.
“No one else survived.” I unzipped my jacket, heat enveloping my skin.
“What happened to them?”
“They all died. Painfully. But there was a stage where they turned machinelike and became aggressive and easy to control. They attacked on command and had an extremely high pain tolerance.”
“But not you?”
“No.”
“Her body fought it.” Warwick leaned back against the wall, arms folded. “Became stronger, just like me.”
“What do you mean?” I glanced at him.
“You think no one’s tried to kill me in other ways besides coming straight for me? Poison my food and drink?” He tilted his head. “But my body fought it off, growing stronger instead.”
Because of his increased Immunoglobulin M levels protecting him . . .
Like mine.
That couldn’t be a coincidence. I just didn’t know what it meant.
Andris started to pace, his hands on his hips.
“How long were you tested? When did they start changing?”
“Killian tested me for about two weeks. I stopped taking the pills about a week ago. Nothing ever happened to me, but when I was down in his labs, I saw what happened to people on them. It took about twenty-four hours before they started to go mad. I think it was around day four or five they went into the catatonic state. He had one try to attack me.”
“What?” Warwick pushed off the wall.
“She was behind bars. I was fine.” I waved him off.
“But I had never seen anything like it. They were robots, then they flipped, turning into feral animals. The only thing she wanted to do was kill me until he ordered her to stop. She had been like that for a few days. After that . . .” I shook my head.
“They start dying—their brain basically melts.”
Andris continued to pace behind his desk. “As if we didn’t have a big enough battle to fight, now both our enemies have the formula and are using it.”
“I don’t think Killian wants to use it against us. I think he wanted to know what Istvan was planning.”
Andris’s head snapped to me. “Don’t be na?ve. Killian is ruthless. He is going to use this against us.”
“I don’t believe Killian would do that.”
“Why are you defending him?” Warwick sneered.
“I’m not.” I switched weight to my other leg. “I just don’t believe he feels threatened by humans. He seemed more disconcerted by what they did.”
“Disconcerted?” Andris left out a harsh laugh. “The man is merciless and cruel. Mark my words, he will use this against us.”
“That wasn’t what I saw.”
Andris halted, his eyes wide on me. “You like him . . .”
“No—”
Warwick snorted, his eyes flashing at the knowledge of how he’d found me with Killian.
“Don’t be a fool, girl. He was playing you. He will slaughter us without a thought. You cannot trust him,” Andris stated.
My mouth opened to respond, but footsteps outside the door interrupted us. I twisted to see a man dressed in all dark clothes, boots, and hat.
“Lieutenant, here to report in.” He lifted his head, showing me his profile.
Holy shit.
My room tipped, shock almost dipping my legs, another blow hitting me.
Soft brown eyes, silky brown hair, his tall stature proud and graceful.
“Za-Zander?” My mouth dropped, eyes running over the horse-shifter. What the hell was going on?
“Brexley? Oh, my gods.” His eyes widened with disbelief, moving instantly to me, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me into his warm chest. “What are you doing here?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Though Andris’s earlier words already came back to me.
“But through a guard, I was able to stay in contact.”
“Oh, gods, you’re the guard.” I leaned back, pointing to him, then to Andris. “He’s with you.”
Uncle Andris’s head bowed in confirmation.
Zander’s assistance, helping me escape both Halálház and at Killian’s palace, became crystal clear. He was part of the Resistance.
A spy.
“What happened? I thought you were back at HDF?” Zander reached out, touching my face, his eyes searching mine, his thumb swiping gently over my cheek. “Though I won’t lie . . . It is so good to see you.”
A growl pulsated through the room. I felt a flash of anger at my back as I sensed Warwick’s presence strolling around Zander like he was hunting a gazelle, his lips curled.
I looked to the massive form behind me who hadn’t moved from his spot.
Stop. I glowered at him. Warwick’s mouth twisted, shifting against the wall.
“You!” Zander’s gaze darted over my shoulder, lowering into a glower.
“What the hell did you do, Farkas? You were supposed to get her home. Safe.” Zander’s hand dropped away, stepping closer to the Wolf.
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you.” Zander charged for Warwick, his hands shifting into hooves as he smashed them into Warwick’s chest. The Wolf only took a small step backward.
“Lófasz a seggedbe!” Fuck you! A horse dick into your ass!
“And here I thought it was her ass you wanted in.” Warwick scoffed.
“Fuck you!” Zander shoved him again.
The switch in Warwick was instant.
“Back off, pony.” Warwick reclaimed the step, puffing out his chest, his aqua eyes darkening with anger. “You get only one warning.”
“You are the reason she was even with Killian. Why the lieutenant ever thought we could trust you again, I don’t know. Who are you going to sell her to now, Farkas? She’s nothing more than a profit for you, isn’t she?” Zander bared his teeth, his hooves striking Warwick in his torso.
A powerful rage filled the room and rushed violently over to me.