Page 20 of Act of Brotherhood
As far as Garth knew, Auberi was also in the dark on the whereabouts of the children involved in what was later termed the Asia Project. The facility they’d uncovered back then hadn’t been the only one. Each had housed children of varying ages. They’d all had one thing in common. They’d had their DNA manipulated while still within their mothers’ wombs to suit the scientists’ twisted desires. They’d been hodgepodged together from varying strands of DNA, spliced and genetically manipulated to be far more than merely supernaturals. They were each blends of more than one thing.
And if intel was right, there were hundreds, even thousands of these children who had been experimented on. No one was sure how many in total, or how many had survived the testing. What theydidknow was that PSI had turned over a rock twenty-plus years ago and the roaches beneath it had scattered to the winds, hiding their creations away and going deeper underground. Proof that they’d never stopped their wicked ways had recently come to light.
All of it only served to remind Garth of the little girl who had stopped breathing on the table long ago. Who had looked at him with hopeless eyes, making a ringing the likes of which he had never heard again sound in his head. The little girl who had needed his help. The little girl he’d failed by losing control of his beast.
Each day, new information came to light about the enemy, who now had a name—The Corporation. Their fingers were in everything. In every government around the world. They could be traced back to the Nazi regime and earlier, all throughout history. They’d been a puppet master for centuries, and seemed to have limitless resources and assholes willing to serve their cause.
Hell, they even had traitors in PSI who the men were trying to ferret out.
With each grain of knowledge, Garth inwardly hoped something would come up about the little girl. A list had come to light not long ago and Garth had scoured over it, searching for any links to that particular lab, but he’d found none.
That was saying something.
It was like that lab and experiment never took place.
But it had.
He’d been witness to it.
Since the first list had turned up, two new techs had come into the PSI family fold. Each were mates of PSI operatives. Laney, who was mated to James Hagen, was one. The other was a relatively new addition who had only just started work today, Brooke—who was mated to Garth’s good friend Malik Nasser. Garth had pulled Laney aside earlier in the day and asked her to look into the children from the experiment twenty years ago as discreetly as possible.
No sense alerting the guys in charge at this point. Besides, Garth wasn’t sure they could all be trusted.
Laney was good at what she did, and from what he’d been told about Brooke, she was as well. Maybe the two women would have better luck than the techs he’d worked with before.
The thought that they might be successful, only to find out the child had not made it, weighed on him. It shouldn’t bother him as much as it did. After all, he’d fought in countless wars in his twelve hundred years. He’d been exposed to so much death that he should have been indifferent to it. He wasn’t. He didn’tfeardeath. For him, there would be no greater honor than to die in battle. His people had always believed doing so would grant them access to Valhalla.
He didn’t fear dying.
His fear ran more along the lines of those he cared for dying. It happened way more than he wanted to admit. Case in point, a man he considered family was currently clinging to life in the hospital bed because he’d been hurt protecting an innocent child from the very people Garth’s brother had aligned himself with.
Unable to swallow the harsh reality that had been thrust upon him recently, Garth closed his eyes and did something he’d not done in centuries. He prayed to the gods for guidance, asking Odin to show him the way. To help with the dark road he had ahead. One that would leave brother standing against brother.
Absently, Garth reached out and touched Gram’s hand. There was very little of the man that wasn’t covered in severe burns. He was showing no signs of healing. If anything, he looked worse than he had when they’d rushed him in. Gram had given his all in order to keep a fellow operative’s daughter safe. While he’d succeeded in protecting Malik’s daughter, he’d suffered greatly.
So much so that Garth wasn’t sure his friend would pull through.
He’d lost too many people he’d been close to in his thousand-plus years. And he knew that would never end. Death was part of life despite how much he hated it.
Auberi entered the hospital room. At the sight of Garth, he curled his lip. Tension filled the air.
Auberi said nothing as he went to Gram and began checking him over. From the vamp’s expression, things with Gram were not improving.
Garth didn’t need medical training to know as much. It was fairly obvious.
“Why isn’t he healing?” asked Garth, a certain gruffness to his voice because of Auberi’s presence. Time had done nothing to lessen their dislike of one another.
Auberi didn’t bother looking at him as he replied. It was no secret the vampire thought himself above most in life. “A syringe was recovered from the scene of the explosion. We just finished running tests on its contents. We suspect it has something to do with why his natural healing abilities haven’t kicked in. James is working on something to counteract it with the use of Brooke’s blood. He thinks she might be the key to helping Gram.”
A growl broke free from Garth. The enemy had already sunk low enough to try to harm a child, so he shouldn’t have been shocked by their actions. Yet he was. He was not only shocked, he was outraged. He wanted blood.
Auberi nodded. “It infuriates me as well. Gram is a good man, despite his friendship with you and the fact my best friend can’t stand him. Correction, Malik couldn’t stand the guy before he saved his wife and kid.”
Garth glared at the vampire. Auberi and Malikwerebest friends. Though, Garth couldn’t understand what Malik saw in the man.
Dr. James Hagen entered the room and lifted a brow at the sight of the two men near Gram’s bedside. “Am I going to need to separate the two of you—again?”
James had taken over heading up the medical affairs of Division B upon his return to the fold not long ago. Prior to that, he’d been on what the Ops liked to term an extended leave. One that had lasted a decade.
