Page 14 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

"Who is in charge of the operation?" Toven pressed.

"Hocken," Noxmore said, the name coming out in a breathy rasp. "It was his idea, and our illustrious leader let him run with it."

Hocken was one of Navuh's adopted sons, and his portrait hung in the gallery in the office building along with those of his brothers, for no other purpose than for every clan member to get acquainted with the faces of their enemies.

The fact that these two knew so much about the operation's history and its originator was surprising. Usually, the Brotherhood compartmentalized its secrets, like various heads of the same Hydra, ensuring that no single underling knew too much. Navuh believed in ruling through division and in never allowing any of his real or adopted sons to gain too much power. By constantly moving them around and reshuffling their duties,he prevented them from building a following or consolidating influence. It was a smart approach, but it had its drawbacks. In the Brotherhood, the left hand often had no idea what the right hand was doing.

Kian leaned toward Toven, his entire body radiating with barely suppressed rage. "I need a list of all the politicians and influencers they're extorting. I also need the names, locations, and contact information of other cells. We'll start with the ones located in the United States, and after we clean house here, we'll move on to Europe."

"That's somewhat ambitious, Kian," Toven said quietly.

"We'll make it a priority." Kian crossed his arms over his chest. "I hate to admit it, but Navuh is a fucking genius. We have to stop him before it's too late, and saving the kids he's ruining for his agenda is just the cherry on top. If we do nothing and let this continue, Navuh will win, and we will find ourselves in another Dark Age, perhaps for good this time."

The admission hung in the air, and for a moment, no one spoke. The only sounds were the thrum of ventilation, the faint hum of overhead lights, and the muffled breathing of everyone present.

They'd come here expecting to chip away at Navuh's forces, to corner some of his lesser agents and discover a few tidbits of intelligence. Instead, they'd unearthed a grand-scale operation, a malignant web of influence that entwined itself into the highest echelons of power. And worst of all, it involved harming children in unimaginably vile ways.

Rage and disgust mingled in Max's gut, and his only solace was the knowledge that Kian was about to unleash the full power of the clan on this twisted web of evil.

8

ROB

Rob found Gertrude in the clinic, looking bored as she usually was during her shifts when no one was there. Her face lit up when she saw him, or rather the steaming cups of coffee in the cardboard tray and paper bag in his hands.

"Just in time." She lifted on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I was getting hungry." She plucked one of the cups from the tray and relieved him of the paper bag.

He followed her and sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting area. "I don't know why you are required to be present at the clinic at all. If anyone needs help, they can call or text you, and you can meet them here."

"We tried that." She removed the lid and took a careful sip from the coffee. "What ended up happening was people showed up at the house instead of going to the clinic. Hildegard and I decided that it was best to just divide shifts between the two of us and spend them at the clinic."

Rob pulled the pastries from the bag and handed Gertrude her favorite chocolate croissant. "You could have just putan announcement on the clan's bulletin board that it was unacceptable, or hung a sign on your front door directing patients to the clinic."

She chuckled. "You forget that most of us are related, and people feel entitled to barge into your home because they tore a ligament in the gym or someone got hurt during a mission. I would never turn them away. Besides, I can read or watch podcasts here the same way I would do at home. The only difference is that I wear scrubs at work."

He leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You look very sexy in them."

Gertrude rolled her eyes. "You think that I look sexy no matter what I'm wearing."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No." Her smile softened. "It's amazing. I feel so fortunate to have been gifted with such a wonderful mate."

"Same here." Rob put his coffee down on the side table and, in one swift move, lifted Gertrude onto his lap. "I love this new immortal strength."

"So do I." She looked at him from under her long lashes. "You are getting stronger by the day."

He glanced at the door and then back at his mate. "What say you that we lock the door and duck into one of the treatment rooms?"

Gertrude lifted the cup and pastry she was holding. "I love the idea, but I wouldn't dare. You'll have to be patient, my love, and wait for me to be done with my shift."

That wasn't what he'd wanted to hear, but he'd expected that. Gertrude was dedicated to her work, and she wouldn't lock the door when it was supposed to be open.

Luckily for him, William was very flexible about work hours, and as long as what he assigned was done, he didn't care about the when and where. Although he'd warned Rob about that changing dramatically when a project was deemed urgent. People in William's lab worked around the clock to complete urgent assignments, and these occurred frequently.

"Bummer." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Bridget came to talk to Margo and me at the café earlier."

"I know. I was waiting for you to bring that up."

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