Page 86 of Twisted Gift

“Why are you doing this?” she asks in a low voice.

I bark out a laugh. “That sounds familiar. What is it you said to me when I asked you that very question? Oh right,you should consider yourself lucky. And you should. You’ve hurt a lot of people here, Richelle, and instead of killing you, Tristan is giving you a chance to save yourself.”

Her shoulders shake, and she sniffles. “What do you want?”

“That’s better,” I comment.

“We need two things from you. Only two, and then you’ll be on your way.”

Her eyes narrow at him. “What two things?”

“First, you’re going to tell us everything you know about the other Experiment facilities.”

Her eyes go wide, and she shakes her head. “I won’t. They exist to protect humans from you monsters,” she seethes.

Tristan offers a dark chuckle. “You will,” he says in an easy tone. “You can do it willingly, or I can make you speak. It’s up to you. I’m giving you achoice, which is more than you gave Aurora.”

“There are too many operations around the world,” she says. “You’ll never find them all.”

“We’ve got a team of people upstairs that would beg to differ,” I say, crossing my arms.

Tristan nods. “Why don’t we start with the major ones? You must have a roster of locations somewhere.”

Richelle looks toward me. “Of course. In the building you destroyed.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t believe for a second that there was only a single copy of that list. I’m sure you have databases full of useful information, so why don’t you tell us about that,” I suggest in a harsh tone. I’m not in the mood for this to take longer than it needs to. Richelle is pushing her luck.

She says nothing.

“I’d start talking, doctor,” Tristan warns, “or this is going to get very unpleasant for you, very fast.” He steps closer to her, and she pulls against the restraints as if she’s trying to get away from him. “Start talking,” he repeats.

After several moments of silence, Tristan closes the rest of the distance between him and Richelle and grips her chin, forcing her to look at him. She struggles in his grasp, but it’s pointless. She’ll never be able to break free—not while he’s still fae.

“Where are the databases with the information on the other Experiment facilities?” His voice is a gentle, melodic caress. It tickles my mind, and he’s not even directing the question at me—that’s how powerful his mental manipulation is.

Richelle’s eyes are blank as she stares back at him. “A backup database is kept in my lab off-site so that in the event that the facility is compromised, our work is not lost.”

“Good,” Tristan murmurs. “What else is kept off-site?”

“Blood and DNA samples, old Experiment files, and the transition formula.”

“Excellent. Where is this lab?”

“In the basement of an abandoned warehouse on the other side of the city.”

“Does anyone else know about this place?”

“No. It’s top secret. Only one member from each facility knows the location of the off-site lab for that facility.”

Tristan lets go of his control on her mind and steps back. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Richelle whimpers, slumping back against the wall.

“You said there were two things,” she says. “What’s the second?”

The corner of Tristan’s mouth curls. “You might actually enjoy this part,” he tells her, pausing to give her a second to look confused before he says, “I want you to make me human.”

Her eyes go wide as she stares at him. “Y-you do?” She shakes her head, glancing at me before looking back at Tristan.

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