LAILAH
NINE
Icould see why Mr. Lacy wanted us to have a guide, because there is no way we would have found this specific lab tucked away.
It was even in a separate wing with retinal scanners off the main lab section.
Since we are in the Elementi database, we didn’t need to add our information and just needed the lab security cards to get in, but again—only if we found it.
“As you can see, this is the lab set aside to work on any and all Elementi-specific needs. We have been able to recreate the serum and combine it with the demon venom to see what the reaction will be,” Lewis explained, stepping over to a counter that had a large screen hanging on the wall.
He typed in the passcode, and information sprang onto the screen. If I had any clue as to what it said, I might have had more of a reaction, but as it stood, we all waited silently. Hudson stepped forward, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the information.
Hudson turned sharply on Lewis. “Are you sure? Can it be reversed?”
“No, it is permanent.”
“Um, anyone care to share with the rest of the group what we should be freaking out about?” Parker interjected.
They both looked back at us with grim looks on their faces. “This serum with the added venom turns them into the perfect host for a mid-level demon, but because they don’t need to fight the host, they don’t deteriorate the same way,” Lewis answered.
“You can’t tell that from computer scenarios,” Micah snapped. “This is all speculation—right?”
Lewis grabbed a remote and clicked the center button, and the sound of something being pulled back whirred behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a man strapped to a table, writhing and spitting as he yelled. The glass must have been soundproof, because I couldn’t hear a thing.
“Okay, a demon-possessed man behind curtain number one is something I would have expected from Jay’s dad, not yours, Hudson,” Parker stage whispered.
Registering what Parker just said, I gasped. “That man is possessed by a demon?”
“Yes, mademoiselle, we have a sacred circle around him to keep him from exiting the body, so he is trapped at the moment. There is nothing to fear from it,” Lewis informed me, misunderstanding my shock.
Anger spiked as I connected a few things. Marching up to Lewis, I got right in his face.
“Did you give him the serum and then let him get possessed before it was stolen, or did you summon a demon and trap him in that poor man’s body so you could study it?” I demanded.
Lewis looked at me without batting an eye.
“Both, I guess you could say. He was one of our human test subjects, the only one to have been given the serum before it was taken. Once the serum was taken, we then suggested he read an incantation as a test to see how his recall skills were doing. It so happened that he managed to summon a demon and was possessed by it.”
“You are part of the Elementi. How could you have done that? It’s wrong.” I yelled.
“That is where you are wrong. I am not part of the Elementi, just hired by them. We are not bound by the same rules as the inducted Elementi. They need us to work in the gray areas. If we do not, then we are left at a disadvantage when fighting the demons,” Lewis said to me, his face reserved and eyes dull.
I took a few steps back and scoffed. “You can’t even see how wrong this really is anymore, can you?”
Glancing at the others, I saw the same look of disgust on their faces. I let out a breath, relieved to know they didn’t agree with what was happening here.
“Open the room. I want to talk to the man-demon-thing,” I ordered, my hands clenched into fists.
“Mademoiselle, even if you remove the demon from the man now, he will be incredibly susceptible to having it happen again. His brain pattern has been imprinted with the demon venom, making him a beacon to any roving spirit,” Lewis challenged.
Jay stepped up next to me, glaring down at the man. “That is what you meant by permanent.”
“Yes. We also don’t know how much of the real him is left. Having a demon dwelling in you is sure to speed up the transformation.”
“This is nuts,” Brayden shouted as he started to pace the floor, running his hands through his hair.
“I did not want to show you for this reason, but your father insisted that I did,” grumbled Lewis. “You are all too young to see that this type of work is needed to keep us all safe.”
“Enough,” Hudson snapped, shocking us all. “Take us to a place that we can have a secure video call with the Elementi HQ at Ryevick.”
“Very well.” Lewis nodded and ushered us out of the room.
“Please tell me you didn’t know about this, Beth,” I said to the screen after we explained everything we knew thus far.
Beth looked like she hadn’t been able to sleep the last few days. Her usually sleek bob was disheveled, as was the button-down shirt she was wearing. Beth was always particular about a clean and orderly appearance.
“I won’t lie to you, Lailah. Did I know about this exact situation—no.
Did I know that some of our more dubious work was handed out to contract workers—yes.
It is hard to keep every step pure while trying to find a way to deal with demons, I’m afraid.
Now, if this matter had been brought to my attention, or if I had even known it was being considered, I would have shut it down completely.
” Beth sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I need you all to keep in mind that your parents left us out of the loop on this completely; we didn’t know anything about it until you did. ”
“What can we do on our end to help?” Brayden asked, steering the conversation to a safer topic.
Beth looked down at her desk, looking around for something.
“So, it looks like we narrowed down the pool of people who were in the building to five hundred and fifty. The tricky part is that with the holiday, not all of these people have been back since. I need you all to find out if they’ve really just left or if they are taking time off.
The HR department likes to keep their information locked away from us if it’s not related to Elementi issues. ”
“Five hundred and fifty isn’t that bad with the six of us working on it,” Brayden said, relaxing a little.
“Oh, that was just the lab techs. That number didn’t include everyone. The total is looking at around two thousand. Honestly, I thought it would be more since they have over seventy thousand people working for them,” Beth shared, not noticing the shock we were all in.
Hudson coughed, clearing his throat. “How exactly do you expect us to go through that many employee records?”
“Contact the HR department and they will be able to get you tablets with all the files on them. If Isabelle gives you a hard time, let me know. Chadwick Lacy and the Elementi own the company, not her, a thing she seems to be forgetting. As one of the major shareholders, we can request an employee audit without any suspicion, so there is no harm in giving you what you need. Good luck, and call if you need us to look into anyone further,” Beth said with a wave, and the call was cut off.
Parker groaned and flopped onto the table, ever the dramatic one. “Remind me that I never want to be a private eye. There is way too much paperwork.”
I smiled, rolling my eyes.
“On the plus side, we get to see Trouble lose her shit when we have to go talk to Sophie again,” Parker said, grinning at me.
“Excuse me, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I did not lose my shit,” I huffed.
“You keep telling yourself that, but I can already see you gearing up for another showdown. Here’s an idea—just plant one right on his lips if she gets too handsy. Better yet, sit on his lap, staking your claim so she can’t miss it,” Parker suggested, his eyes wide with excitement.
Micah stood and smacked Parker upside the head as he walked by. “Knock it off. She’s not you, all needy and shit.”
“Fuck off, man, I know that. I’m just saying she can feel free to claim any one of us in front of another person. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not interested in any other woman besides our Trouble,” Parker announced, rubbing the back of his head.
Hudson stood from the conference table we had been using. “I think this is a talk we all need to have, but now is not the right time to do that. At the moment, we need to tell my mother that she has to hand over thousands of employee files for us to work on for the next few days.”
We all cringed at that thought. If our encounter at breakfast was anything to go by, this wasn’t going to be pretty.
Already on the office side of the building, it didn’t take us long to find Sophie sitting at her desk.
Today she was wearing a blood-red wrap dress that had a plunging neckline and might as well have been painted on her body.
Her lip color matched the dress, and her thick, wavy hair waterfalled over her shoulder.
“Oh, Monsieur Hudson! I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Mademoiselle Dupont said you would be busy in the labs. Although I am very pleased you decided to seek me out,” Sophie said, turning in her chair to cross her legs, showing them off.
I thought I could keep my cool, trusting that Hudson wasn’t interested in some vapid diva, but the anger coursing through my veins would say otherwise.
“We are looking for Ms. Dupont, could you tell us where to find her?” Brayden asked, trying to pull her attention away from Hudson.
“Oui. She is in her office, but she is on an important call and cannot be disturbed. Is there anything I can help you with?” Sophie asked, letting her gaze wander over Brayden.
Okay, now she had gone too far. Brayden was mine. Walking out from behind Hudson and Brayden, I got right in Sophie’s face. Since she was sitting down, it brought us to about even so I could look her in the eye.
“Allow me to clear a few things up for you, Sophie. Do you see these highly attractive men behind me? I know you do, because you’ve been molesting them with your eyes since we met. They are off limits,” I all but growled.
Sophie blinked at me, looked around me at the guys, and then brought her attention back to me. “And who are you to declare such a statement?”
“I’m their motherfucking girlfriend, and wife to that one,” I announced, pointing at Brayden, whose eyes went wide with shock.
Parker was doing everything in his power not to burst out laughing, causing his face to turn bright red.
Micah just shook head at me, but I could see the humor shining in his sapphire eyes.
Jay, of course, didn’t look any different, other than to have a hint of a smirk on his face.
Hudson surprised me by taking my hand and threading our fingers together, bringing it up to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back of it.
Sophie gaped at me, speechless for the first time since we had met her. “Non! My, how very French of you, mademoiselle. I have to say, I am impressed that you can manage that amount of such men.”
Taking a deep, calming breath, seeing that she was going to back off, I relaxed. “Thank you. Now, we do need to speak with Hudson’s mother. Is there a time you can get us in? Also, we need some employee files. Can you gather them for us on a portable drive?”
“I would need to know what employees to pull, but I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Brayden stepped closer, putting his arm around my waist. “We need all the employees who worked on the nineteenth and twentieth and haven’t been back since.”
“Tu es serieuse? Do you know how many people that is? How exactly are you planning on going through all of them?” Sophie gasped.
“Well, our plan was that you could load them onto a portable drive or a tablet with access so we can work off-site and not disrupt things here,” Brayden explained.
“For this you will need to speak with Mademoiselle Dupont. I cannot do this without her approval. Give me a moment to reach out to her personal assistant and see what I can do,” Sophie said, picking up the phone and speaking rapid French to whoever was on the other line before she hung up again. “She will see you now.”