Chapter 3 #2
“Yes. Give me five minutes to convince you that the Mistveil dragons are not bad, or evil…or feral.”
I snort. Like that will ever happen.
“This should be good,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest.
Fury speaks for the first time since the failed handshake. “The Reds aren’t your enemy. We never were. The Mainland is lying to you. They’ve been lying to all of us for a very long time.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Right. And I’m supposed to just take your word for it? You’re not thinking clearly, Shadow.”
“I assure you that I am,” Shadow says, stepping closer. “I was just as skeptical. You need to listen.”
“Fine.” I nod once.
Shadow takes a deep breath. “The vaccinations for Hemorrhagic Fever that every shifter on this island is required to take every year. They’re not what the Mainland says they are.”
My dragon stills inside me. “What are you talking about?”
“The Hemorrhagic Fever outbreak that killed thousands of shifters all those years ago?” Shadow’s voice is quiet but firm. “It was engineered by the Mainland. They purposefully infected our people.”
“That’s insane,” I say, but even as the words leave my mouth, doubt starts to creep in.
“The Mainland created the virus,” Fury continues, his voice low and intense. “They did it so that we would believe that the annual vaccination was a necessity to prevent further outbreaks.”
“Why would they do that? It doesn’t make any sense,” I ask.
“The vaccination serves a purpose, alright, just not the one they are selling us,” Shadow says. “On Draig Island, the vaccination makes and keeps our dragons feral. They made us believe that the Reds are worse than us.”
“They are,” I scowl at Fury. “Your beasts are completely out of control.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Grim,” Shadow tells me. “They have full control of their beasts. I have full control of my beast, now that I no longer have the vaccination in my system.”
“Why do the Reds attack us if they’re so in control? Why do we need to guard Mistveil in the first place?”
“They feel oppressed by us. There are those who get pissed and retaliate,” Shadow tells me, her eyes on mine. “You would do the same, and you can’t tell me any differently because I wouldn’t believe you.”
I don’t say anything.
“Then there are the banished shifters who live on the jungle side of Mistveil Island. They’re all males; most of them have gone feral.”
“Now that, I believe.”
“Hear me out.” Some irritation bleeds into her voice. “The shifters on Mistveil also get vaccinated for Hemorrhagic Fever.” The way she says it tells me that she thinks it’s bullshit.
“You’re about to tell me that the vaccinations on their island are bogus, too.” I glance at Fury, who nods.
“They are,” Shadow says. “But instead of making the dragons feral, they make the females on the island infertile and the males incapable of fathering female offspring. There are those who are immune, a handful of females who can still have young, despite the vaccination. There were hardly any babies being born, and females were rare.”
I look at Drake, desperate for him to tell me this is all bullshit. Some elaborate lie the Reds have concocted.
But Drake just nods slowly. “It’s all true, Grim. Every word.”
“I can prove it,” Shadow tells me.
“How?” I’m still skeptical.
She takes a step back and starts pulling off her shirt. Within seconds, she’s stripped down completely, her clothes in a neat pile at her feet.
“Watch,” she says.
“What are you doing?” I ask her. “You can’t let her do this,” I tell Drake, who does nothing to stop her.
“I’m in perfect control of my dragon,” she tells me, and then she shifts.
The transformation is instantaneous and fluid. One moment she’s standing there in human form, the next there’s a pretty gray dragon in her place.
My dragon roars inside me with recognition of her beast. Then he is silent all over again, withdrawing into me.
I half expect her to tear off. Or to tear into us, but it doesn’t happen.
Instead, Shadow holds her dragon form for a long moment, stretching her wings, flexing her claws. Making her point. Then she shifts back, just as smoothly as before.
She’s human again, reaching for her clothes and dressing quickly.
Drake just nods slowly. “It’s all true, Grim. Every word. Shadow isn’t feral. You saw how easily she shifted form. How in control she was for the whole time she was in her scales.”
I scrub a hand over my face and nod once in a jerky motion. I can’t deny it, even if I want to.
“The two Councilors who were dismissed and jailed for treason,” Drake says.
“Tairn and Ember. They were traitors to Draig. They were spies for the Mainland government. They were feeding information back to the Mainland, helping to cover up the truth about the vaccinations. Tairn was trying to get more spies onto our Council. They have eyes everywhere.”
“We have documents,” Shadow adds. “Proof. Medical records, communications between Mainland officials. All of it confirms what we’re telling you.”
I can’t breathe. The air feels too thick, too heavy.
A whole hell of a lot of what we’ve been told – what we’ve been made to believe – is all a lie.
“Things are turning around for us on Mistveil,” Fury says. “Females are getting pregnant again. I’m sure some of those offspring will be female.”
“How?” I frown.
“About eight months ago, we orchestrated to get one of our people working in a vaccination center, in a trusted position. Four months ago, they were able to swap out large contingents of the vaccinations with placebos. We just got a second person into a second vaccination center. It won’t be long before we infiltrate the third and start swapping out the doses there, too.
We need to take back our power…all of us,” Fury says.
“Not just on Mistveil but here on Draig Island, too.”
“We also need to work toward brokering peace,” Drake says, determination shining in his eyes, his eyes on Fury. “But that’s my job.” He turns back to me.
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask. “I think I know where this is going, and I’m not sure I like it.”
Drake and Shadow exchange another look.
“Because we have a job for you. We need your help. I trust you, Grim,” Drake says.
I bark out a harsh laugh that holds zero humor. “A job. I thought so.”
“It’s dangerous,” Drake continues, his voice serious. “If you’re caught, you’ll be risking everything. Your freedom, your life, all of it…everything.”
Everything.
I think about my empty cabin, my dead-end job, my dragon slowly disappearing inside me. I think about the numbness that’s been eating away at me.
That’s just it; I don’t have a damned thing to lose. Not a single thing that matters, at any rate.
“Tell me,” I say, and for the first time in months, I feel something other than numb anger stirring in my chest.
It might be purpose. It might be rage.
Whatever it is, it’s better than nothing.
“We need you to get a key player on board with us. Someone who works at the Vaccination Center. Someone with access to the vaccinations. That, or you need to get close enough to someone to be able to steal their keycard…to gain access that way,” Drake says.
I laugh, and this time I mean it. Shit! It actually feels good to laugh again. It feels so good that it takes me a while to stop. When I do, I go serious in an instant. “Because I’m one hell of a charming motherfucker, is that it? Because I have a deft touch? I’m great at winning people over.”
“I happen to have it on good authority that one of the human females likes you. One of the nurses. I’m not sure why, but hey.” Drake smirks.
“Likes me?” I frown. “How is that even possible?” I’m an asshole. I do what I need to do, and that’s it. I’ve made no effort to get to know anyone. The only person whose name I know is Sally, and that’s because she calls me all the time, coordinating my collections and hunt-downs.
“She’s into you,” Drake says. “Wants you really bad.” He smirks again and winks at me.
“That’s bullshit,” I snarl, my blood pressure starting to rise. “Even if it wasn’t, I’m not fucking some human for her keycard.”
“Did I say anything about fucking?”
“You insinuated it. I’m going to be very clear: it isn’t happening. I can get you samples. Break in. Spy. Whatever you need, but cozying up to some human for the sake of the job…” I shake my head. I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Hell, I burned the damned T-shirt.
“I need you to make friends with this human. Spend time with her.”
“Spend time with her? I’m not fucking her, and that’s final!” I growl, my hands closing into tight fists.
“You do know that you can spend time with a female without taking your clothes off? This assignment doesn’t require fucking, unless it’s—”
“No!” I snarl, my blood hitting melting point.
I’m hot all over, my shirt tightening as my muscles bulge.
“I don’t want anything to do with this female.
There is more than one female working at the center.
More than one with access to the vaccinations.
What is her name? The one who supposedly likes me. ”
“Wren Lewis. She’s one of the nurses.”
I scratch my chin.
“You really have no idea which one I’m talking about, do you?” Drake chuckles.
I shake my head.
“You’ve been working there for six months…nearly seven, and you don’t know the names of the nurses?” He sounds shocked. The fucker is still smiling.
“No,” I growl.
“They have name tags, you know?”
I shrug. “I don’t need to know their names to do my job,” I tell him.
I huff out a breath. “I want to be involved. I want to help fix this, but I don’t think this Wren person is the right way to go about it.
I’m sure I can get friendly…without fucking…
” I growl, “with one of the others. I’m going to stay far away from her.
I don’t need that kind of complication in my life. ”
“I don’t mind how you go about it,” Drake says, shrugging.
Of course he doesn’t mind. It’s not him being expected to fuck someone for their keycard.
“You need an in. Then you’ll need to – with their help – swap out certain doses.
Bring the ones you swap out to us for analysis.
It will be very specific whose doses you swap, at least initially.
Only those in the know will get the placebo.
We need to test the theory, but I’m sure it will be as we suspect. ” Drake looks over at Shadow, who nods.
“You will need to be able to trust the individual you make friends with,” Shadow tells me.
“That could take time.” I rub my chin again, the stubble catching. “Trust is earned.”
“Time is a luxury we don’t have. You are due for your next vaccination in less than a month.
I’m due only two weeks after that. There are several key players due in the upcoming months.
I don’t want any of us to get the actual vaccination, given what we know.
Keep in mind that there are batch numbers and dose numbers.
It’s all logged and recorded. That means the placebos would have to match the doses they replace exactly. ”
“Which would take time.”
“Yes.” Drake nods. “Once you get us batch and dose numbers, we would need at least five days to get you exact replicas.”
“Which means I have three weeks to make friends with one of the nurses?”
“Yep,” Fury tells me.
“I’m afraid so,” Drake says. “If you can’t fully trust them, then you will need to use them, steal their keycard, and get them to do your bidding without them knowing about it.”
“Sounds easy.” Sarcasm is evident in my tone.
“I can try, but I’m not sure I’ll pull that off with such a definite time limit.
One thing is for sure: I don’t want to take one of their bullshit vaccinations.
” I think of Kaine and his words to me earlier.
I thought he was a crackpot. Turns out these conspiracy theorists are right… at least some of the time.
“Be careful, because any one of them could be a spy. You know what happened with Jordyn. She had us all fooled.” Drake touches the side of my arm, and I step away.
My eyes narrow. “I’m fully aware. I won’t make that mistake…I assure you.”
“Be extra careful,” Shadow says, her voice soft with concern. “Please, Grim. I know you don’t care much about your own safety right now, but we need you. This mission needs you.”
“I’ll be careful,” I tell her, which is probably the best promise I can give.
We spend the next hour going over details. How to extract samples without raising suspicion. How to document procedures. Who to watch out for in the Vaccination Center. By the time we’re done, my head is spinning with information.
“We should head back,” Drake says. “Harlow will start worrying about me if I don’t get home soon.” His whole demeanor softens when talking about his female. For just a second, I feel jealous of the male, and then I catch myself. What the hell!? I’m happy on my own.
Shadow hugs me again before we leave. “Thank you for listening. And for agreeing to help out. I know this isn’t easy.”
“Nothing important ever is,” I mutter.
Fury extends his hand again. This time, after a moment’s hesitation, I shake it. His grip is firm, his palm calloused like mine.
“Welcome to the resistance,” he says with a smile.
Resistance. Is that what this is?
“How did you guys get here undetected?” I ask Shadow.
“It’s best you don’t know.”
I nod. “Fair enough.”
We say a quick goodbye.
Drake and I make our way back through the jungle in silence. The trip back feels shorter somehow, maybe because my mind is racing with everything I’ve just learned.
As Drake drives me back to my cabin, I stare out the window at the passing darkness and think about the vaccination vials lined up in neat rows in the clinic’s refrigerator. About all the shifters I’ve dragged in over the past months, forcing them to take something that is making our dragons feral.
When we reach my cabin, Drake parks but doesn’t kill the engine.
“You don’t have to do this, you know. I can find someone else. It’ll delay our plans, but I’ll do it.”
“No,” I say, opening the door. “You can’t. I’m the only one in the right position, with the right access. And besides…” I trail off, looking ahead of me.
“You have nothing to lose,” Drake finishes quietly.
I want to deny it, but we both know it’s true.
I look him in the eye.
“Get some rest,” Drake says. “We’ll be in touch soon.”
I nod and climb out of the truck, watching as he drives away into the night. Then I head inside my cabin, the weight of everything I’ve just learned on my shoulders.
I also feel alive. I have a purpose.