Chapter 32
thiRty-tWo
MY brOTHERS WERE SCRUTINIZING the woods outside the window like the trees might move. I caught Drym's eye as he glanced back and he grinned. Thurl nodded, the simple gesture conveying approval and welcome. Even Roul looked less murderous than usual.
Haven's blush grew darker as Nanna dragged her away from me. My Haven. I started toward them, but Kragen's hand on my arm stopped me.
"Let them welcome her to the club."
"They're embarrassing her."
His muzzle dipped. "She'll survive."
I grumbled but stayed where I was. They swept up Haven in hugs and questions and excited chatter. I waited until she turned toward me, still blushing but with a radiant smile. I knew she'd never had this—a family, people who cared and celebrated her.
We would make sure she had everything she'd missed. I'd make sure she knew she was loved. Kendal would have her watching Seductflix movies with the other ladies by the end of the week.
When the excitement waned a bit, Nanna clapped her hands and passed around the plate of cookies that signaled the start of the meal. The table groaned under the weight of the food she'd made, and as soon as she sat in her usual space next to Roul, we piled our plates high.
Haven ended up between Kendal and Jade, still fielding questions. My brothers and I sat across from them, our backs to the wall. We always knew where the exits were. We always had an escape route.
When our bellies were full and only scraps remained on the serving dishes, Kragen leaned forward and got everyone's attention.
"We have updates on the list of those who knew."
Haven's attention sharpened. Her demeanor shifted from happiness to complete focus.
"The lower-ranking staff have been dealt with."
"Three research assistants, two administrative staff and one security guard." Roul itemized with his usual lack of emotion.
Haven didn't flinch. "That leaves the four highest-ranking. Dr. Anna Cole, head of genetic research. Dr. Louis Hughes, the representative from BioSynth—a wyrfang project scientist. The financial officer, Preston Higgins, and Justin Beringer."
"Dr. Cole is at a conference in Seattle," Kragen said. "She'll be giving a keynote speech tomorrow night. Very public, but she'll be vulnerable when she's back in her hotel room."
Haven nodded. "Dr. Hughes?"
"Whereabouts unknown." Kragen winced. "We have been unsuccessful in our attempts to locate BioSynth's current location. We believe he's returned to wherever that is."
Haven frowned. I leaned toward her. "Don't worry. We'll find them. They can't hide forever."
She turned back to Kragen. "Preston Higgins?"
"At Novagen. Which was locked down after they discovered Hector's corpse."
"Good." I watched Haven's chest rise and fall as she took a breath. "They know something is coming for them."
"They don't know what," Kragen said. "We staged the deaths of the lower staff to look like accidents. A car wreck, a robbery gone wrong—nothing that looks like a coordinated attack."
"Justin knows." Haven's voice was certain. "He knows it has to do with me."
Kragen's head tilted. "You're certain?"
She nodded. "Hector led me to him. He said he wanted to speak as professionals," she snorted. "He wanted to know if I'd met one of you. I said no, of course. He said that was too bad and offered to let me go if I led them to you."
Five others echoed my growl.
"And you said?" Kragen asked.
"I told him he was delusional. I was still trying to convince him I didn't know what he was talking about."
"That's when he left?"
"That's when he told Hector to get creative."
Silence that promised violence fell over the room. My fierce, brave little moth.
"He dies slowly." Roul's statement was matter-of-fact.
For once, I agreed with my most unstable brother.
"Haven gets what she wants first. He looks her in the eye. He understands who brought him down."
"And then?" Kragen asked.
I met Haven's gaze. I saw her resolve, her anger, her certainty.
"Then he's all yours." A flicker of emotion crossed her face—grim satisfaction.
She'd changed since I'd found her.
The woman who fainted at the sight of me was gone. In her place was someone forged by fire—still soft, still kind, but with a honed edge that wasn't there before.
Novagen had tried to break her. BioSynth had tried to use her. Justin Beringer had tried to kill her.
They had only made her stronger.
"You're staring," Drym muttered.
"I'm always staring."
"It's weird."
"It's devotion."
He snorted but didn't argue. His own eyes kept drifting to Kendal, who was deep in conversation with Jade. I understood the compulsion. When your mate was in sight, looking away felt impossible.
Haven turned and caught my gaze. A small smile curved her lips—private, meant only for me.
I'm okay, it seemed to say.
I know, I answered silently. I waggled my ears. I just like looking at you.
Her smile widened before she turned back to Kragen.
"Your mate is surprisingly bloodthirsty," Cavi observed from my other side. He sounded impressed. "I expected more hesitation about killing them."
"She understands it's what needs to be done."
"She understands that we're monsters," Cavi corrected. "And accepts it."
In all our years in captivity, few humans had looked at us without fear. More had disappeared once they witnessed the violence we could unleash. The lack of remorse when it was done. I could count on one hand those who stayed.
Haven had watched me tear a man's throat out. She'd seen my brothers drip with Hector's blood. She'd heard Roul promise slow death to everyone who'd hurt her.
And she hadn't flinched.
"She's not afraid of us," I said quietly.
Cavi was silent for a moment. "That's either very brave or very foolish."
"It's trust." I watched Haven listen to Kragen outline the next phase of the plan, her expression focused and intent. "She trusts us to channel the violence outward. To protect rather than harm."
"Do we deserve that trust?"
The question caught me off guard. Cavi was our medic, our moral center such as it was. He was the one who questioned everything. But that felt more personal than his usual philosophical musings.
"We've never hurt an innocent," I said carefully.
"We've done things that would horrify her."
"And she knows that." I turned to face him. "She knows what we are. What purpose they made us for. She chose us anyway."
His blue eyes met mine, searching. "You really believe that?"
"I believe in her." It was the truest thing I'd ever said. "Whatever doubts I have about myself, about us, about what we deserve—she makes them quiet. She looks at me like I'm worth loving." My voice roughened. "After everything, she still looks at me like that."
Cavi was quiet for a long moment. Then slowly, he nodded.
"Guard that," he said finally. "Guard her. What you have is precious. Don't take it for granted."
"I won't."
Haven chose that moment to glance back at us. Her eyebrows rose slightly.
Everything okay?
I loved that our relationship had reached ‘speaking in looks across rooms’ status.
Everything is perfect.
Her smile softened, and she turned back to the planning.
Cavi watched the exchange with something like wistfulness. "I hope we all find what you've found."
"You will." I clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll find her. Or she'll find you."
"You sound very certain."
"The fates gave me Haven." I looked at her—my fierce, brave, perfect mate. "I have to believe they will do the same for you."
ZEUS WAS HAPPY TO lend us Superhuman Security's private plane. We'd helped him with a few of his trickier assignments, and would again. It was good to have regular reasons to stretch our claws, so to speak.
Haven convinced me to let her come along. I still didn't think it was a good idea, but I couldn't deny her request.
Kragen, Drym, and Thurl sat in the back, engaged in a constant low conversation about security protocols and backup plans as they poured over blueprints of the conference site.
Cavi had his nose in a medical textbook, muttering about wound care and regeneration rates. He'd been working with Argus, Jackal Division's doctor, to get up to speed on Society healthcare.
Roul sat at the front, always our first line of defense.
I was curled around Haven, crowding her next to the window. "You're quiet," I whispered beneath the drone of the aircraft.
"Thinking," she replied.
"About?"
She didn't turn from staring out the window. "How different this is from anything I imagined my life would be."
"Good different, or bad different?"
She turned then, smiling up at me. "Just different." She leaned on my shoulder. "I spent most of my life trying to fit in. Trying to be normal. Trying to make myself small enough to escape notice. To not be trouble. To be allowed to stay."
My arm tightened around her.
"And now I'm on the path to confront high-ranking officers of a pharmaceutical company with a team of genetically engineered monsters at my back."
I could feel her cheeks press against me as she smiled.
"I feel like I finally belong. Like this is where I was meant to be. Like I'm strong."
"You have always been strong, little moth."
"I didn't feel strong."
"I knew you were."
"Get a room." Roul grumbled.
"We're on a plane." I chuckled in the face of his annoyance.
"Then stop being disgusting on the plane," his tone flat.
I knew he was hurting. I made three of us that had our mates. His had chosen to stay behind. There was nothing I could do to ease his pain, except maybe try not to be so obvious about how happy and in love I was in his presence.
"We're twenty minutes out." Kragen's voice held an edge.
The mood on the plane sharpened. We went into mission mode. Focused. Deadly.
It was time to do what we'd been built to do.