Page 15 of Between Imminent Fates

Shutting the heavy metal door behind them, Jax watched as Key gave the dog more belly rubs than he usually had patience for. With one final, loving pat, she looked up.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter Five

Key

Her words hung betweenthem briefly as he motioned toward the suede couch in the dimly-lit living room beside them. “Let’s sit down.”

Key didn’t take exception to his slightly strained tone. He’d invited her into his home after finding out that she was something unique—and she was grateful for it. Despite the fact that he’d unintentionally caused her pain, she had no reason to mistrust him. Without the disc, he wouldn’t have the upper hand—and judging by the short conversation they’d already had, that meant he had stepped out on a limb, too.

“Before we begin,” she started, “I want you to know that I’d never hurt you, Jax. It took trust on your part to give me that device, and I won’t break it.”

A jerky nod. “I appreciate that, and the fact that you were willing to come here, but frankly, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Perhaps you can start with how you found out about us.”

“I heard about all of this four days ago, at work. I had just started in my new position, and—”

When his words were cut off, she searched his face for a reason. His jaw was clenched, and his hands were fisted in his jeans. For a moment, he simply remained quiet. Then, he turned to her, solemn.

“I need your word that you won’t use this against me, Key,” he warned. “I’ll be breaking confidentiality by telling you what I know, what I’ve seen, and if it gets out that I was the one blowing the whistle, my life is over.”

“You have my word.”

Tension seemed to dissolve from his shoulders. “When I started my new position under Colonel Barlowe, we drove to a facility outside city limits. Wolves—or so I thought—were held in silver-lined kennels, and Barlowe proceeded to throw us into the deep end. He revealed that werewolves, vampires, and Raeths were real, and gave us our directive.”

“Which was?”

“The werewolves in the kennels would be released against a population of Raeths. It was our job to handle the administrative tasks while Barlowe continued their mission—subjecting people to rabid bites to forcibly infect them, before throwing them into cages.”

Key’s nausea rose so swiftly that she clasped a hand over her mouth. The flashes of it in her visions had a different weight to them when coming from a firsthand account.

“Those people were terrified, Key. I had to watch as a man was bitten and thrown into a cage like garbage.” Jax scrubbed a hand down his face. “I’ve sat there, every day this week, listening to people beg for mercy and wolves howling beside them. I’ve been trying to figure out how to help them.

“I don’t know what to do,” he continued. “I have no idea who to contact, and even if I did—werewolves? No one would believe me.”

She took a deep breath. “Ibelieve you, Jax. What you’ve seen is connected to a terrorist group who’ve named themselves theCitizens of the Light.We’ve been fighting against them for the better part of the last decade, and they’ve killed many of our people.

“I’m a Raeth,” she revealed. “There are thousands upon thousands of us worldwide. When we discovered what theCitizenswere planning, we joined together. Now, we’re simply trying to stay alive and keep the secret of our existence from being exposed.”

A growl built in the back of Jax’s throat. “What they’re doing: it’s wrong. They’ve peddled this propaganda that says all of you are somehow villains, but I don’t buy it. Even if you were, Barlowe and Rayn are destroying human lives for their goal of eliminating you. They have to be stopped.”

Startling, Key asked, “You’ve met Rayn?”

“Yes, why?”

Almost desperately, she wrapped her arms around him and inhaled the leather and spice scent of him. Ever since he’d given her his windbreaker, she had found it oddly soothing to wear it.

“Jax.” Her words were muffled against his shirt, but nothing felt more right than when she was in his arms. “Rayn is dangerous, and any moment you’re around him could be your last. If he suspects you oppose their agenda, it’s over. He’ll put you in one of those cages, and you’ll never see the light of day again.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s a Raeth who’s turned against his own kind,” she said. “He and Torrin Scayde—the true leader of theCitizens—have been orchestrating our downfall for years.”

“Torrin Scayde, the editor in chief of theTimes?”

She nodded.

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