Chapter 48
Aiden held Jamie against his side, tucked securely under his right arm as Jamie relayed what they’d seen in Terris’s mind. Aiden stroked his mate’s shoulder more to calm himself down rather than to soothe a seemingly unaffected Jamie. His mind wandered as he thought about how to make his father suffer for what he’d done.
“Maybe it’s because you’re mates,” Mac said.
Aiden jolted to attention. “What’s because we’re mates?” He leaned forward, still holding Jamie close.
Jamie chuckled. “So, you are listening? I thought you zoned out.”
“I plead the fifth.”
“Well, I think the fact that you were transported into Terris’s mind with Jamie is because you two are mates,” Mac said.
“What do you mean? I was just trying to boost his powers.”
“Yeah, but I’ve done that before, and I never was brought into anyone’s mind. I just kind of access my power and transfer it to Jamie. I don’t experience what he does. None of the Guardians have.”
He looked at his mate. “That’s never happened with anyone else?”
Jamie shook his head. “Never.”
“Either it’s because you’re a phoenix or you’re his mate,” Mac said.
Aiden grunted. “Maybe we can use it to our advantage.”
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked.
Ring, ring, ring!
Mac pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket and held up the display. “It’s Heath. I’ll be right back.” She jumped up off the sofa and walked to the other end of the basement to get some privacy.
Aiden pulled Jamie onto his lap and wrapped both arms around him.
Jamie laughed. “What’re you doing?”
“Cuddling you.” He rubbed his cheek against the side of Jamie’s head and felt his mate relax into his arms. “It’s been a day. We both deserve this.”
“I’m not complaining,” Jamie said silently. He rested his head against Aiden’s neck.
“Good.”
“What do you think Heath found?”
“With our luck, nothing good.”
A few minutes later, Aiden heard Mac’s light footsteps approach. “Guys, I have news.” She gestured to Terris with a nod of her head. “Anything change?”
“No. He hasn’t moved. He seems comfortable, though,” Jamie said.
She nodded and then took a seat in the chair. “This news. Well, it’s not good.”
The two men shared a look. Jamie then climbed down off his lap and sat back in his original spot. Aiden immediately grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.
“How not good?” Aiden asked.
Before she could answer, Jamie asked, “Should we call the other Guardians and get them to meet us here?”
Aiden noticed Mac’s pained expression. This was going to be bad. Keep it together for Jamie. Keep it together for Jamie.
“Heath was going to arrange for us to meet with him tomorrow. He was going to tell you himself, but I asked if I could,” she said.
“OK,” Jamie said hesitantly. “So, what did he find?”
“Stay calm for mate,” his phoenix said.
“Terris was telling the truth about the lab’s location. Heath told me it was hard to get inside. They needed to use explosives. Then, they had to climb down the emergency access stairs to get in. They didn’t want to risk using the elevator.”
“What do you mean climb down?” Aiden asked.
“The lab is, or was, underground. It wasn’t some temporary manufactured lab. This was a well-constructed building.”
“Was there anyone there?” Jamie asked. “Workers or patients?”
Aiden’s chest burned. He linked his fingers through Jamie’s. “Victims,” Aiden said. “They weren’t patients. They were victims.”
Mac shook her head. “No one was there. It looks like it was abandoned some time ago. All the lab equipment was stripped, but they left cabinets, desks, chairs.”
“I assume they took all their notes and samples with them,” Aiden said.
“They haven’t found anything yet, but there’s a lot to go over. It’s a big lab. There’re quite a few floors. Heath said Jasper put in a call to Boston and asked for more SCB field agents.”
“How do they know this building was the lab that Terris described?” Jamie asked. “Could it be some other lab, like a commercial lab or some government or military facility?”
“Leo described the layout to Heath, and it fits so far. It’s still too early to say definitively, though.” Mac squirmed in her chair.
She was hiding something.
Jamie pressed against his side. “She’s afraid to tell us something,” Jamie said silently to him.
“What?” Aiden asked. “What don’t you want to tell us?”
She ran her hand over her mouth and sighed. “Cages. He said they found rooms filled with cages. Lots of them. Big enough for humans and large shifters.”
Aiden felt Jamie’s hand tremble.
“What else?” Aiden asked.
“Operating suites. Several of them. There wasn’t any equipment aside from lights left in the rooms, but there were connections for oxygen tanks. There were surgical cabinets, some tools, and surgical trays.”
“What else?” Jamie croaked.
“Heath thinks there was a morgue. There weren’t any bodies, but there was a large cold room. There were empty body bags left in this room. There was also an incinerator room attached to the cold room. It wasn’t working, but Jasper said it was the kind of device that crematoriums have.”
“Oh, God,” Jamie murmured.
Aiden studied Mac’s face. She wasn’t through yet. He could sense she still had more to say.
“Mac?” Aiden asked.
“The cages. There were blood stains on the floors of the cages. Jasper’s lab techs are already collecting evidence. They’ll run samples through the database of missing people, shifter and humans, to see if there are any matches.”
Aiden ran his hand up and down Jamie’s right arm as he held him against his own body. Aiden felt Jamie’s body tense as he fought against the shaking he couldn’t seem to control. Aiden wished he knew what to do to help him.
“Can we go home?” Jamie asked in a quiet voice. “Or do we have to stay here ’til Heath comes back?”
Aiden saw how upset he was. He needed some care right now. “Of course, we can go home,” Aiden said. He stood up, pulling Jamie to his feet. “Mac’ll let the others know where we’ll be. Right, Mac?”
Mac nodded. “Go on and get some rest.”