Page 36 of Artificial Moon

Not as much hot sex as you might think. Do you see the size of him? And the size of me?

We let it go, and soon, I’m sitting on one of Andrew’s obnoxiously expensive leather couches, rubbing my bandaged shoulder for the hundredth time. The pain is dulling, though my body isn’t quite healing at its normal, accelerated rate.

Damn silver.

Across from me, Kingsley lounges in a chair, looking restless, though his golden eyes are as sharp as ever. Allison stands near the window, arms crossed, her expression unreadable as she stares out at the Irvine cityscape. And then there’s Andrew, pacing near the coffee table, looking both annoyed and intrigued at the fact that his penthouse had been taken over by the FBI.

Lindsey Aeon, the lead agent, stands in the center of the room, wearing an immaculately tailored black suit. Her dark eyes scan each of us, but her attention keeps flicking back to me. I’ve already noticed her lack of an aura. She’s obviously immortal, but she doesn’t scream ‘vampire’ and certainly doesn’t look like a werewolf, unless she’s a new wolf. Even female weres are bigger than your average gal—much, much bigger, in fact. I suspect she might know what I am, though few would guess an ‘energy vampire.’ Still, she’s sniffed something out in me. Though I don’t sport an aura, nor does Kingsley, my kids and Allison do. Wait, hold on. I don’t think Anthony does anymore, not since his serious angel training kicked in. The thing is, I have to really focus on them to see their auras—something about them being blood-related to me. But if I really give them a good stare down, I can see their auras. And... nope, Anthony most definitely does not have an aura anymore, though I can see Tammy’s clear as day, at present.

“We need to talk about what happened in San Clemente,” Lindsey is saying to no one in particular, though her eyes do flick over to me and Kingsley. She pulls out a tablet computer and sets it on the glass table. A 4-D, holographic display appears above it, displaying security footage from inside the nuclear plant.

Whoa, fancy.

“Norm didn’t just attempt to send a false alarm,” she is saying. “He was inside the plant’s restricted network for at least eight minutes before the two of youappeared, Ms. Moon and Mr. Fulcrum.”

I exchange a glance with Kingsley. Eight minutes is a long time for an AI with Norm’s capabilities. Also, did their security footage catch us appearing, say, out of thin air? We had, in fact, appeared just inside the fenced perimeter.

“What did he do?” I ask, watching the grainy footage. The image shows Norm plugging a sleek, black device into one of the plant’s servers.

Lindsey taps the screen, zooming in. “We’re still analyzing the extent of his infiltration, but we know he gained access to a portion of their security protocols. He didn’t have enough time to override any critical systems, thanks to your timely intervention, but he was attempting to copy classified infrastructure blueprints.”

Allison turns away from the window, frowning. “Blueprints of what?”

“The plant’s control mechanisms,” Lindsey replies. “He was trying to learn how to manipulate nuclear plant security remotely. If he’d succeeded, he could have made himself invisible to the nuclear facility’s defenses. Worse, he might have been able to stage an actual meltdown with the right access codes.”

I lean forward, ignoring the dull throb in my shoulder. “We stopped him from gaining full access, but he still walked away withsomething?”

Lindsey nods. “That’s what concerns us.”

Andrew exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair. “So, what now? You guys track him down and stop him?”

Lindsey glances at me before answering. “We’re aware that Norm isn’t just an escaped AI. He’s embedded inside a human host, making him harder to isolate. And, unlike a normal rogue program, we can’t just hit ‘delete’ and call it a day. That’s why we need your help, Samantha Moon.”

I arch a brow. “Myhelp?”

Lindsey doesn’t blink. “You’re the best chance we have of stopping him. You’re faster, stronger, and capable of tracking him in ways we can’t.”

I smirk. Nice to know the FBI thinks I’m a better tracker than an entire federal agency.

Allison glances at me, frowning.Sam, do they know what you are?

I’m thinking so.

I glance at Andrew and scan his memories.

The FBI had to know what happened, how I was able to stop Norm. Apparently, they saw me get shot, saw Kingsley shift. They know what we are. Apparently, Agent Aeon didn’t seem very surprised. He thinks the agent is a vampire.

“Agent Aeon,” I say. “Can we speak in private?”

She nods at the other agents. “Be back in a minute,” she tells them.

When we’re down the hallway and out of earshot, I say, “It appears you know what I am, but what, exactly, are you?”

“I’m immortal,” she says, shrugging. “I drank from the Fountain of Youth. Actually, I fell into the Fountain of Youth, but yeah, I ended up drinking from it, even if only just a little.”

“Very cool, and very weird. Side effects?”

“I don’t age, I heal super-fast. I’m stronger than most and faster than ever.”

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