TherianPromise (10 page)

“Do you always talk to the computers?”

Carly gasped and spun around in her chair. First General
Milliner and now Roberto risking personal appearances? Something about the
situation was definitely escalating.

“It’s been an odd night.” Pushing to her feet, she
straightened her skirt and offered him her hand. “Were you expected? No one warned
me.”

“Warned? I mean you no harm. I assure you.” He pressed her
hand between his, holding it far longer than necessary. “The detour was a
last-minute decision. As with yours, my night has been rather odd.”

He was taller than she’d realized. Videoconferencing could
be misleading. But his eyes were just as dark and his features even more
appealing. He wore gray dress pants and a white shirt, yet he’d folded back the
sleeves, partially revealing a tattoo on his forearm. His thick brown hair
brushed his shoulders and the diamond stud shimmering on his earlobe gave him a
rakish air. She’d called him “the pirate” until she’d learned his name and she
suspected the nickname would amuse him.

“What can I show you or are you here to see someone else?”

He moved his hand to her shoulder as he said, “Relax,
cara
,
this is not a surprise inspection.”

“I’m sorry. Osric has been particularly challenging today.”

“Thus the reason for the parting shot?”

She smiled, ignoring the irrational urge to wrap her arms
around him and press her face into the warmth of his throat. “Exactly.”

His hand slid to her elbow, an unmistakable caress. “James
and Tias are waiting for our call. We presumed it was important. You’re not
usually so persistent.”

James? She pressed her lips together and started across the
room. She’d heard Milliner called general so often she’d begun to think that
was his first name. “I’m honestly not sure how important it is. I’ll let you
three decide.”

His hand moved to the small of her back as they walked down
the hall. The warmth of his fingers sank into her skin, the gentle pressure far
more arousing than it was meant to be. Why was she so…aware of him? She sure as
hell wasn’t sex-starved. Osric had made sure of that. But Osric treated her
like a blowup doll. He played with her when he was in the mood and walked away
without a second thought.

And Roberto would be any different? Who was she kidding? If
she encouraged the interest in his dark eyes, the most she could hope for was a
few minutes of pleasure. She’d already compromised her self-respect to increase
her standing with the backers. She was not going to do it again!

The quandary was ironic. In college she’d craved male
attention, longed to participate in the sexual escapades transpiring all around
her. Instead, her intelligence and ambition kept men at bay. Now her
intelligence and ambition led her to a situation where she was sequestered with
a group of men, vastly improving her sexual appeal.

Refocusing her mind on the present, she led Roberto to the
conference room and he ushered her inside. They sat on opposite sides of the
large oval table and angled their chairs toward the massive video screen.
Roberto used his cell to notify the others that they’d arrived. Carly had no
idea how they remotely activated the projector, but there were no controls in
the conference room. Or if there were controls, Carly had no idea how to access
them.

The video screen came alive, dividing into six neat
segments. Tias, a striking Asian woman in her late forties or early fifties came
online first. General Milliner’s image appeared a few seconds later.

“What have you learned?” Tias prompted.

Carly thought the question was meant for her, but Roberto
answered. “The entire convoy is lost. That wily bitch knew exactly were to
strike and how to hurt us. This will set us back weeks, perhaps months.”

“We don’t know that it was Nehema.” General Milliner was a
little too quick to defend the “wily bitch” and the other two backers glared
their impatience at him. “The three I took from her belong to a powerful tiger
clan. This could be—”

“If anyone associated with the girl’s clan knew enough about
our operation to strike the supply convoy, the complex itself would be under
attack. Therians don’t waste time with subtleties.” Tias managed to command
attention without raising her voice or changing her expression. “This was
Nehema and we all know it.”

“Were you aware that the girls are related to Osric?”
Everyone looked at Milliner, confirming Ava’s suspicion that he had acted
alone.

“I knew it was a possibility,” he muttered. “The Therians
have closed ranks. It’s going to be harder and harder to get our hands on test
subjects. Greater risks will have to be taken. You might as well get used to
it.”

“The deed is done. There is no avoiding the ramifications.”
Tias dismissed his defensiveness and turned to Carly. “How are your reserves?”

Rather than give Tias false hope, she took a moment to
mentally inventory her supplies. “If I focus entirely on the new test subjects,
I might be able to stretch my current stock out for a week.”

Roberto sighed and shook his head. “Which means all of the
established programs come grinding to a halt.”

“We were unprepared this time,” Tias admitted. “It will not
happen again. I’ll reroute all established supply runs and shuffle vendors
wherever possible. We will not waste energy bemoaning our loss. We will move on
and learn from our mistakes.”

“And allow this aggression to go unanswered?” Milliner
looked as if he wanted to reach through the screen and shake her. “This was an
intentional provocation. I will not allow—”

“You got greedy!” Tias managed to look every bit as
intimidating as her male counterpart. “We are not going to waste time and
resources on your pride.”

Defiance blazed in Milliner’s gaze, but he said nothing
more.

“I agree that our goals are more important than teaching
Nehema her place,” Roberto began, “but these Abolitionists have become more
than an annoyance. If an opportunity presents itself, we should permanently
solve the problem.”

So Nehema was the leader of a group called the
Abolitionists? And this group knew about shapeshifters. How odd. How many other
groups of humans knew about the Therians? Maybe a better question was, are
there other quasi-human species mixed in with the unsuspecting population? She shivered
and released her tension with a deep breath.

After agreeing with Roberto’s compromise, Tias looked at
Carly and prompted, “You asked to speak with us.”

The fact that they’d discussed backer business in front of
her made her feel important, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe she was
one of them. She was a tool, and when her usefulness had ended, they would
dispose of her like any other tool.

“The guards discovered a couple of hikers, one male and one
female,” Carly began in a calm, clear tone.

“We were told.”

If they weren’t upset about the incident, she could just
imagine what they were told. “Who submitted the report and what did they tell
you?”

“Barns submitted the report,” Milliner told her. “We were
led to believe that the guards verified that the hikers were no one of
consequence and then drove them a safe distance from the complex. The hikers
believed they were rescued by two forest rangers.”

No wonder they’d recruited a spy. How long had Osric been
lying to them and how often did Barns help him falsify reports? “The truth is a
little less tidy, I’m afraid. The hikers were not released. They overpowered
the guards and took off in their Jeep.” She waited until shock registered on
their expressions but didn’t give them time to reply. “And that’s not the worst
of it. Osric thinks the female hiker was Ava Seymour and the male was Kyle
Lashton.”

“Ava has been desperately eluding capture to avoid coming
here.” Roberto drew her attention away from the screen. “Why would she venture
so near Osric’s stronghold?”

“That was my question as well.”

“And did he tell you?” Tias’ expression remained cautious,
but Carly heard hope in her soft tone.

She’d only been spying on Osric for a short time, but the
backers had hoped for better results. Well, she was about to prove her worth to
her demanding superiors. “Osric had no idea why Ava would intentionally put
herself in such a vulnerable position, but he’s pretty sure Kyle was attempting
to rescue his sister.”

“Osric is hiding his rival’s sister among the test subjects?”
Tias exchanged meaningful glances with her partners then muttered, “That sly
bastard.”

“He didn’t intend to tell me who she is, but—”

“It’s Devon.” Carly wasn’t surprised that Tias anticipated
the punch line. She was shrewdly intelligent and every bit as ruthless as the
men. “It explains his arrogance as well as his obsession with the girl.”

Devon was in her mid-twenties, hardly a girl, but Carly
didn’t correct her supervisor. “He was infuriated by the near disaster and
intended to interrogate Devon, to find out if she was somehow signaling her
brother.”

“Did he damage her?” Milliner scooted closer to his camera,
clearly upset by the possibility. “We’ve accomplished more with Devon than any
other test subject.”

“Yes sir, I’m aware. That’s why I’ve kept Devon sedated
until I could speak with you.”

“Then he hasn’t harmed her?”

“No sir. Intimidation is lost on someone who’s unconscious.
He’s impatiently waiting for Devon to ‘metabolize the new formula’. I told him
it could take several more hours.”

“Excellent work.” Tias offered a rare smile. “I knew you
were perfect for this position.”

Carly refused to think about all of the positions she’d been
in since her stint as spy began. It had been a means to an end, nothing more.
“I can’t keep her sedated much longer. He’s already suspicious.”

“I’ll take her to another complex,” Roberto said.

There were other complexes? A sick feeling took root in the
pit of Carly’s stomach. The more she learned about this project, the less she
liked being part of it. “Osric will be furious and he’ll immediately suspect
me.”

“Which is why Barns is going to take the fall for you,”
Milliner supplied. “I can’t believe that scrawny bastard has been
double-crossing us.”

“Devon will need to be interrogated once she’s relocated,”
Tias reminded. “We need to know if what Osric fears is true.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Milliner volunteered, and Carly
shivered. Would being interrogated by the cold-eyed general be any better than
what Osric had in mind?

“There’s no need for you to exert yourself.” Roberto
grinned. “I’ll speak with her on the way to her new home.” Given a choice
between Osric, Milliner and Roberto, Carly would vote for the soft-spoken
Italian.

“Is there anything else we need to know?” Tias asked.

“That’s all I’ve been able to learn. For now.”

“Avoid him until he learns that Barns betrayed him then be
there to console him,” Milliner advised.

She liked the first part much better than the last, but she
nodded. “I understand.” Tias and Milliner blinked out, leaving her along with
Roberto. “I’ll prepare Devon for travel. Where are you taking her?”

Laughter made his dark eyes sparkle as he pushed back from
the table and stood. “No wonder Osric can’t resist you. You’re adorable.”

Osric didn’t think she was adorable, he thought she was weak
and convenient. And each time he took her, ambition devoured another part of
her soul. “If you take me with you, I’ll find out everything Devon knows.” She
tried to make the offer sound playful, but she wanted nothing more. She wanted
to go back to being a respected scientist who was largely ignored by men.

“You’re right where we need you. For now. Make sure Osric
has no reason to doubt you.”

She nodded, silently accepting her fate while inside she was
screaming.

* * * * *

“And all that time you had no idea where you were?” Jake
didn’t sound accusatory. He sounded concerned, so Ava tried to relax. Reviewing
the bizarre events hadn’t been fun, but he’d listened without interruption,
allowing her to move quickly through the sequence. She still had so many unanswered
questions and a nagging sense that the danger hadn’t passed. Who had dispatched
the guards? And most importantly, was Kyle going to be okay?

“The only thing we were worried about in the beginning was
whether or not we were being followed.” She pushed aside her empty plate,
amazed that she’d devoured the entire steak dinner. She’d thought she was too
anxious to eat. Despite his gruff exterior, Jake had managed to put her at
ease. “And once we were sure we were on our own, Kyle pointed the Jeep downhill
and we hoped for the best.”

“Not a bad strategy when you’re shooting from the hip.” Jake
fiddled with one of the forks laid out on his side of the table, obviously lost
in thought. “I presume you’ve never teleported before.”

“No…or yes. I’ve never teleported before.” Ava stirred the
ice in her water glass with her straw then took a sip. She still felt dazed, as
if she’d been relaying a chapter from someone else’s life. “Kyle thinks it was
a reflex, part of my survival instincts.”

“That makes sense, but it still seems really random and not
very helpful. Therian abilities, even in their infancy, tend to be more
accurate than that.”

Ron or Steve—the tall, stern-faced blond didn’t say a word,
so Ava wasn’t sure which one he was—walked into the restaurant and handed Jake
a plastic bag containing everything they’d recovered from the Jeep. Jake
thanked him, and the guy walked away without ever making eye contact with Ava.

“Is he always so friendly?”

Jake lounged in the booth across from her, obviously at home
in his domain. “He has other, more valuable skills.” He opened the bag and
looked inside. “Kyle’s phone should be in here. Do you still want to talk to
your sister?”