Chapter 29
tweNty-nine
IT WAS MORNING, AND I was alone in the bed. I stretched, finding the limits of my range of motion. I went through the prescribed exercises, swearing under my breath the entire time. That done, I stepped into the hall, my movement arrested by furious whispering.
It sounded like a full-blown fight was happening in the living room—only at such a low volume I couldn't make out any words.
In a repeat of the scene the day before, I stepped out to complete silence. All six of the wyrfangs stood in a rough circle in the middle of the room.
Quin spun and punched one of his brothers in the arm. Hard.
"You woke her up!" He was still whisper-shouting.
The brother backed away, hands raised in supplication.
"No, he didn't." I couldn't keep the smile from my voice. "I woke up on my own."
The assaulted wyrfang threw his hands in the air in a 'see?' gesture.
Quin punched him again.
I sighed. "Quit punching your brother. I'm fine."
He pushed through the small crowd to my side.
"You should be resting."
I ignored him. "What are we discussing?"
Kragen answered. "The plan to capture Justin Beringer."
"Capture?" I looked up at Quin. I thought he intended to kill the man.
He nodded. "You said you wanted to confront him. We'll make that happen. When you're satisfied, we'll take over."
"Oh." I did say I wanted to confront him, didn't I? "Do I have to stay? When you take over, I mean."
"Only if you want to."
I nodded. Did I want to watch them kill—again?
I didn't see much of Quin killing creepy neighbor.
It was late. I was in shock. There was a monster in my room.
Along with Quin. I tried to examine my feelings scientifically.
"Justin gave the order for Hector to torture me, then calmly walked away.
It would be poetic justice if I did the same. "
All six of them nodded. Kragen said, "Then that's exactly how it will happen."
"When?" I wasn't sure I was up to it yet.
"When you're ready." Quin assured me.
I sank into him, my right side against his chest.
"In the meantime," Cavi said, "we'll help find current addresses for all the women listed in the file."
Roul, the largest 'fang, and the one Quin had used as a punching bag, added, "Along with tracking down everyone on your list."
He pointed to the paper holding the list of names of those who knew the truth and did nothing.
It wasn't as long as I expected. I guess when you're running illegal trials, it pays to keep the circle of knowledge small.
Mostly upper management, a few who acted as support staff.
The bare minimum number of people it took to run the experiment.
"I'll complete the list, but I don't expect to find many more names."
Kragen nodded. "BioSynth operated with a skeleton crew to keep leaks to a minimum. I suspect Novagen was similar." His finger ran down the list. "We'll start with the lowest ranking and make our way up. Give Justin a bit of time to reflect on what he's done."
Roul grunted. "And what's coming for him."
I refused to feel sorry for those people. They could have said something. They didn't. They deserved whatever the 'fangs did to them.
Was my sense of justice skewed? Had my morals shifted since I'd met them? Did it matter? I was with them now. Physically and emotionally. They saved me. Cared for me. More than anyone in my life ever had.
Yep. I was all in.
IT TOOK TWO DAYS to finish the list, and like Santa, I checked it twice. I knew they would permanently erase every name on there. Making sure I didn't miss anyone, or mistakenly put someone on that shouldn't be, was important.
Then I handed it to Roul.
Every day my mobility improved. Phoenix checked on me once more, declaring her job done.
Mine had just begun.
I stared at the computer screen. The open file held a list of names, numbers, and current addresses.
Each one a woman from 55B. Along with finding and draining Justin's bank accounts, Bacon and Bull went through the participants file and located each woman.
They had kept the clinical language used to identify them in the trial documents.
I didn't look ahead. I couldn't. I focused on one name at a time.
Marisol Vega. Age thirty-two. No dependents. Barista and bartender. Outcome: indeterminate. Released from trial.
Alive. Employed. Mundane. My chest ached.
I held the phone to my ear as it rang.
"Hello?"
She sounded wary and tired.
"Hi," I said. I had to clear my throat before I could continue. "My name is Haven. This is going to sound strange, but I think we were part of the same clinical trial."
The silence stretched long enough for me to check that the call hadn't dropped.
"What trial?"
"A flu vaccine. The company was Novagen. They offered extra compensation because it involved genetic screening."
She huffed out a laugh. "I remember."
I swallowed. "I recently learned it wasn't what they told us. It wasn't a flu vaccine."
"So they lied?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"You doing a class action suit or something?"
"No," I answered quickly. "I'm not suing, and I'm not asking you to do anything. I just wanted to let you know." She didn't hang up.
"What did you learn?"
I glanced across the room. Quin stood with his back to me, pretending not to listen while absolutely listening. His back rigid. His ears flicked back and forth.
"They altered our DNA." I didn't sugarcoat it. "Not in a way that would show up if any of us did genealogical testing or anything. They altered compatibility markers. Behavioral responses. Emotional bonding tendencies."
"Compatibility with what?"
I knew this question was coming, and I still hesitated. "With someone else. Something else."
I heard her shaky inhale. "That's not funny."
"No, it isn't."
Silence stretched again and I knew she was processing. Probably deciding whether to believe me or not.
Marisol's breath hitched, then broke. "I'm not crazy."
I closed my eyes. "No, you aren't."
"I thought I was losing my mind," Marisol said.
"I couldn't tell anyone because who would believe me?
I had a sense that I was waiting for someone.
Like I missed someone I'd never met." She laughed, a short, bitter sound.
"I went to therapy. She diagnosed me with anxiety. Then gave me meds that made it worse."
"Did anything specific happen that sent you to therapy?"
"Nightmares." Marisol paused. "No, not nightmares. Dreams. I only started thinking of them as nightmares when the therapist said they were." A sharp inhale. "I had a recurring dream about teeth. Big ones. Not human. There were eyes in the dark, watching me." Her voice cracked. "I stopped sleeping."
"You're not crazy. You didn't do anything wrong."
"How do I make it stop?"
My throat closed and I swallowed hard. The tears came anyway. "I'm not sure we can."
"Then what happens now?"
"I'm working on something to mitigate the effects of what they did." At least, I would be after that call. "I'll let you know if I'm successful. I just wanted you to know the truth. And to tell you that the people who did this are being dealt with."
"So they can't hurt anyone else?"
"That's right. Never again." My voice conveyed my certainty.
Marisol was quiet again. After a long moment, she said, "Thank you. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this, but thank you for telling me. At least I know I'm not broken."
"No, you're not." I heard her inhale and it seemed steadier. Lighter. I might have been hearing what I wanted, but it helped me feel lighter too. "If you ever want to talk, feel free to call. You have my number now."
The call ended after her soft, "Okay."
I set the phone down and Quin was there, his big hands framing my face. He rubbed my cheeks, swiping tears away. No one had ever tended to my feelings like they were something worth handling carefully. Quin did it without thought.
"She survived."
I nodded. "Yes, but it hasn't been easy for her."
"Why don't you take a break? I can get you something to drink. A snack..."
I shook my head. There were so many more names on the list. I needed to keep going.
Leah Clark. Age twenty-seven. No dependents. Outcome: non-viable. Destabilized and presented an unacceptable risk to assets and program. Removed from trial.
There was no contact information. I sucked a breath through my teeth as it sank in. They'd killed her. She didn't tolerate whatever they did to her DNA, and they killed her. How many more were like her?
One name at a time. The survivors deserved to know.
My stomach dropped through the floor as I read the next name on the list. Alice Caldwell was a quiet young woman who loved to bake. My coworker at the Denver Novagen location, before they moved me to Damruck. I was almost afraid to read past her name.
Age twenty-two. No dependents. Outcome: viable. Released from trial.
Viable but released?
Quin paced behind me as the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Alice? It's Haven."
"Haven? Oh my gosh, it's so nice to hear from you! How is Damruck?"
"It's um... okay. I'm actually calling about a trial."
"Oh, I don't work for Novagen anymore."
My entire body relaxed. "I am so glad to hear that."
"You are? I don't understand."
"Alice, they conducted a trial. On us."
The silence that followed was heavy.
"Oh."
I rushed to add, "I don't work for them anymore, either. I found the trial documents. I'm reaching out to everyone listed as a participant."
She laughed, short and bitter. "It was the flu shots, right?"
"Yes. How did you...?"
"I confronted them about it. The 'vaccines' were the only vector that made sense. They told me I was imagining things then cut me off completely when I met him."
"Him?" I looked at Quin. The wyrfangs were accounted for. None of the others had sudden, mysterious mates.
"They tried to tell me it was a stress response. That I was seeing things. That the hallucinations would fade."
I heard a scraping sound in the background.
"Haven, do you know about Society?"