Page 62 of Born Chaos

I even find a file on Rick, Sebastian’s bodyguard, who was stalking me, who I made leave the city. What he was looking for in Rick, I can’t tell. Everything looks perfectly normal.

The filing cabinet is now half-empty, and as I pull the next file out, I see a piece of paper lying on the bottom of it.

And everything in me chills as I read the words. My hands shake as I grab it and lay it down on the countertop.

It’s in Sebastian’s handwriting, just like every note in these files.

No gifted. No vampires. No threat to Juliet.

My heart stops in my chest. All my blood stops flowing. Every muscle in my body turns to concrete.

No gifted.

No vampires.

No threat to Juliet.

My stomach lurches, and I lunge for the nearest sink. I dry heave into it, trying desperately to suck in any oxygen.

No. Not real. Not possible. No way.

He wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t.

But as I turn back around and stare at that filing cabinet, I have to consider it. My entire body shakes as I walk back to it, and pull out the files that have been stuffed all the way to the back. With a steadying breath, I lay them on the tabletop, and open one that has the simple label of G.

It’s a profile of Sigrid’s DNA. It was drawn from a hair sample. Hair is easy to acquire from someone without them knowing. You casually pluck a fallen one from someone’s shoulder, and discreetly slip it into your pocket. Easy. Done.

And this is fascinating. I’ve never looked at the actual DNA from a gifted or a vampire. But Sigrid’s is very different from a normal human’s. There are extra markers, labels I’ve never heard of before.

I look at the date all this was done. Nearly two months ago. Right about the time Archer King killed a bunch of Roman’s soldiers, and I nearly was liquified from the inside out.

It’s not just Sigrid’s DNA that Sebastian analyzed though. It was also Evelyn’s and Tatianna’s. And while they’re similar to Sigrid’s, there are differences. Which makes sense considering they all have different gifts.

I open another folder labeled V.

Sebastian analyzed his own DNA. His profile is the one on top. And where the DNA of a gifted was wild, it’snothingcompared to that of a vampire.

There is eight times more data here than there should be. And only a small bit of it looks human.

I wish I could remember it better. Mason and Elena told me the origin story of where vampires came from. Something about a king and a curse, and his wife. But this is… animal. Predator. And it’s literally mixed right in with my DNA.

There’s also a profile for Roman, and several other vampires I don’t know. Unlike the gifted, there are no variations among the vampires. They all look the same.

I pull out the next folder, and everything in me sinks.

Pneumonia. At least 105. Lack of oxygen. Leads to carbon dioxide buildup.

Increased levels. Five new patients.

My hands start shaking and within seconds, they’re trembling so hard, I can’t read Sebastian’s notes anymore.

No.

No.

But as I digest the information, a cold breath whispers down the back of my neck,yes.

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