Page 43 of Twisted Desire

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After successfully wiping the memories of The Experiment members in the hallway, I heal them and send them on their way to a life without any knowledge of or belief in the fae race—exactly how it’s supposed to be, how our people are kept safe from psychos like The Experiment.

Nikolai meets us back at the car with Robyn walking beside him. Her eyes are hazy, and she moves with slow, robotic moments as if she’s sleepwalking. Nik’s got complete control of this lady. Hopefully, that means we’ll get enough information from her to make this mission worthwhile.

“You sure we got them all?” I ask Nikolai once the others are secured in the car.

“Yes. Ready to shut this place down?”

I shoot him a look, and he grins, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Zippo.

“Light ’em up, kitten,” he says. “There are more than enough chemicals in that building to burn it to the ground. Plus, I took the liberty of smashing a bunch of vials all over the place on our way out.”

I take the lighter then lean into the car and grab the container of lighter fluid from the trunk. “A little something to spark the flames,” I muse and head back along the road to the building.

I make quick work of smashing the front window with my elbow, dumping the fluid inside, and flicking the lighter open. Without a moment of hesitation, I drop it onto the floor and smile as a flare of fire billows toward the ceiling.

Jogging back to the car, I grin at Nikolai as glass shatters in the distance.

The four of us head back to North Bay and get on the next flight out to rejoin our group near Fairlane. Nikolai and I took the newly human girl home where her fae parents were devastated to see her that way but more relieved their daughter was alive. They promised to take care of her, so we left them to it. There was nothing more we could do for her.

Walking into a hotel room, the first thing I see is Allison, lying on the couch with a deep gash across her forehead, clearly not healing at the speed we’re used to. It must’ve been inflicted by an iron knife.

“You need to feed,” Nik tells her after she explains how she got it during their shutdown of Fairlane.

Oliver stares at her. “Thank you. That’s what I told her, but she won’t.”

I raise a brow at him. “You offered yourself?” I ask as if I didn’t do the same to heal that fae-turned-human girl back at Adelaide.

He crosses his arms. “Duh.”

Monica comes into the room with a first aid kit and gets to work stitching Allison up. “Who are they?” she asks, looking at Aaron and The Experiment woman, Robyn.

I laugh, but it’s devoid of anything close to humor. “Yeah,” I say, “I’m not touching this one. All you, Sterling.”

Nikolai glances at me with a sigh. “This woman is the only Experiment member with her memories still intact from Adelaide. She has information about The Experiment’s headquarters. Apparently, it’s in Vancouver.”

“That’s good,” Oliver comments, glancing toward Aaron. “What about him?”

Allison gasps then winces, squinting her eyes shut. “Holy shit.”

Nikolai looks at her. “Take it easy.”

She opens her eyes to stare at Aaron, who shrinks back under the scrutiny. Allison knows—she has to. Maybe Aurora told her... but that would mean Nikolai told Aurora about his son.

Or, duh, they look alike. Now that we’re not surrounded by gunfire and danger, I can see it clear as day. The sharp bone structure of his face, his eyes and hair color. Stick the two of them side by side and there’s no denying they’re related.

Aaron looks as though he’s about to be sick. Evidently, he’s not too comfortable with a room full of fae—and Oliver—staring at him.

“Aaron,” Nikolai says, “is my son. He was born half fae, taken by The Experiment, and had the fae part of his DNA stripped away. All this time, I thought he was dead, but he wasn’t.” His voice is low, vulnerable, and the guarded expression on his face shows he’s still not sure how to deal with his son being alive. The anger from before seems to have dissipated for now, but he looks exhausted from it. I can’t imagine how he must be feeling. I have the urge to comfort him, but I’m not sure how in a room full of people.

“Heavy,” Oliver mumbles.

“Great. Everything is out in the open. Can we get back on track? You should hit up a feeding unit,” I suggest to Allison. “You look like shit.”

“I’m not exactly feeling up to leaving the hotel,” she says, “or moving in general for that matter.”

Nikolai chuckles. “Order room service.”

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