Page 79 of Act of Passion

Malik tensed. “Will hedie?”

“I’m working on something to try to counter it. I wanted to ask your permission to speak with Brooke about drawing more blood from her. She has healing abilities that I’ve never seen before. I think I can use her gift to help him.” James took the syringe from Malik and put it back in his pocket. “And Malik, you should know that I fully believe that dose of suppression drug they gave him was created for Brooke. I think they had every intention of temporarily stopping her in order to subdue her and take her. Knowing them, they realized it was all going sideways, and when they came up against Gram, they panicked and used it onhim.”

Malik’s stomach tightened. “They have a weaponized drug that can hurtBrooke?”

“Yes. It’s not a surprise. They held her for eight months. They had free access to test on her. Stands to reason they’ve spent the four plus years since working on something to stop her.” James put his hand on Malik’s shoulder. “She’s a blending of more than one type of Fae and something else. Something that took me totally bysurprise.”

“What?”

“I’ve run the tests three times and even sent them over to the I-Ops for them to analyze. They came back with the same results,” said James. “We have a match on her ancestry. I was able to prove with nearly one hundred percent certainty that her father is one ofus.”

“Who?” heasked.

“Abasi,” said James before taking a deepbreath.

Malik hadn’t heard the name in almost three decades. Abasi had been a fellow Egyptian like himself, and was nearly as old as Malik. The man had also been from a line of cat-shifters. He had been of noble blood and had been instrumental in the creation of PSI. He, along with others like him, had wanted to make a difference for the better. And he’d walked the walk for centuries before going off the grid without anywarning.

James spoke. “I know you were close to Abasi for a long time. And I know you took it hard when he up and vanished. We all laughed that he was living it up in some exotic location, probably bedding endless women. Guess he was having a daughter instead. Your mate to be exact. We should reach out and try to find him. I think he’d want to know she’s safenow.”

Malik stared in at Brooke. He remembered her telling him of her father and how he’d read books about ancient Egypt to her. He also remembered what she’d told him about how she’d ended up living with her maternal grandmother. “Abasi isdead.”

James shook his head. “I’m sorry. He was a great guy. There’s something else I want to talk to youabout.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” heasked.

“Probably not,” he said, glancing in at Brooke andGram.

“Just say it.” Malik tensed, readying himself for whatever would be thrown athim.

“She has small amounts of vampire and cat-shifter in her. But most of her make up is Fae. From what I’ve been able to match up from my database, the Fae line she’s from is one that feeds off sexual energy. Basically, the Fae cousins to thesuccubus.”

“Gram told me asmuch.”

James swallowed hard. “Malik, I need you to think about what I’m saying to you. I think being with you, and being claimed by you, sort of flipped her supernatural switch. It unlocked what she had in her. Her Fae side. If I had to guess I’d say she had some sort of failsafe there, to keep supernaturals from finding her and from knowing she’s more thanhuman.”

“Okay.Yes.”

James grunted. “I’m telling you that you turned on her supernatural side—the side The Corporation wanted. And she was pregnant with your child. A child who had to be a huge drain on her system even with the testing and manipulations they were doing on her to increase her healingabilities.”

Malik still wasn’tfollowing.

James put his hands up. “Nevermind.”

“Tellme.”

“Tut, who do you think fed that side of her from the second she delivered thatbaby?”

“Gram did,” said Brooke, standing at the doorway to the room. “He took me from the horrid place and when he did, I couldn’t even stand. My body was spending so much time and effort keeping Bethany safe within me that it couldn’t heal me any longer. Gram smelled me, and knew I was of the same line of Fae as him—not related or anything, but that the odds I’d heal like his kind do would be high. Since he’s also a wolf-shifter, he could smell everything they’d pumped into mysystem.”

Malikstiffened.

“I was so weak that Bethany was at risk,” she said, looking away. “Edee was nearly catatonic. Armand never left her side. Gram never left mine. And Cody was with us, worried for Edee and me. We’d formed an unbreakable friendship with him. And he protected us as best he could inthere.”

She put her hand out to Malik and he went to her at once, drawing her into arms. “Malik, Gram and I didn’t instantly fall into bed together. In fact, we both went out of our way to avoid it. I’m not saying this to hurt you. I need you to understand why it came to be.” She took a big breath and put her head to his shoulder. “Gram understood fully what I needed—sexual energy. I kept getting weaker and weaker. He was taking me to this underground clinic that he said could be trusted fully. I went intolabor.”

Malik kissed hertemple.

“Edee was with us. She’d not spoken a word in the month that we’d been free. It’s not my place to tell you what she lived through, but I will say that it changed her. It took her spark. She’s slowly getting itback.”

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