Chapter 11

Eli drummed his fingers on the table, watching the monitor. Preston sat beside him as they watched the dark figure move between the trees, staying mostly out of range of their cameras.

"They know where our cameras are—or most of them."

"Unless they want us to see them." Eli leaned closer to the monitor, trying to pick up detail he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"We should send someone to investigate."

Eli stood and stretched. "I'll go. Who is in the area?"

"Jim."

"Perfect. Is Sax in the other building?" He should know all of this, but he had been distracted recently.

"Yep." Preston suddenly grinned. "Manu is pissed at me again."

"Is he ever not pissed at you?"

Preston chuckled. "Nope, and I like him that way."

"Seriously? How have you not killed each other yet?"

"Some relationships are all rainbows and sunshine, and others are turbulent, like the waves in a storm. I like being messy and chaotic. Keeps Manu on his toes."

"And you." Eli watched the monitor, hoping to see more movement.

"And me…plus the makeup sex is ass-pounding hot."

Eli blinked. "Thanks for the visual."

"Nothing you haven't seen. We didn't have much chance of privacy on missions."

"True, but I still don't need to know about you and Manu fucking like rabbits." Eli grabbed his coat and headed to the door. "Get Sax to let Jim know I'm heading his way and where we spotted movement."

Eli got in one of the security trucks and drove out to where Jim was located. Twenty minutes later, he reached the pull-off and left the truck, jogging through the woods to where he could scent Jim was waiting.

"Eli."

"Noticed anything?"

"No, and no scents either, though on the good side, the woods are alive, so it isn't one of those creatures."

"Let's track whoever it is and introduce ourselves."

Jim grinned, and Eli moved forward, careful to make no unnecessary sounds. Even if it was the middle of the day, he didn't want to alert whoever it was to their presence. After five minutes, Eli found tracks and crouched next to them, tracing the direction they went. He pointed, and Jim nodded, stepping past him and following the trail.

Eli, a step behind, made sure to check their back so no one could creep up on them. Jim would pause, then move on. It wasn't long before they heard the sounds of someone ahead, and Jim stopped. Eli stepped next to him, and they both looked at each other.

It became clear the person wasn't hiding their movements. Eli could hear every footstep they made and the person—a man—even grumbled. Eli shook his head and moved closer until he saw the man ahead. In army gear, carrying a large bag, the man mumbled again.

"Anything we can help you with?"

The man jumped, spun around, and dropped his bag. When he saw Eli, he swallowed hard. "Elliot Young."

"The one and only." He wasn't surprised this man knew his name. He had a feeling he knew where this person had come from.

"They're coming for you."

That wasn't news to Eli, but at least he had confirmation now. "Nothing I hadn't already guessed. Want to tell me when?"

"They're waiting to catch you alone."

"Who are you?" Jim asked, circling the man, his eyes in constant motion, checking the surrounding area.

"Gregoire Johnson."

Jim glanced at him, then back to the trees. "And why are you here?"

The man paused, then looked Eli in the eye. "Because I'm the man who created those creatures."

The team hadall come in as soon as the call about the scientist had gone out. He was presently in one of the rooms, waiting to be questioned. Eli stood, watching him through the glass, noting the slumped posture. The man rubbed a hand over his face and looked down at the table.

"You wanna see this?" Eli glanced over his shoulder to Jim, who stood at the door.

With a final glance through the glass, Eli left the room and followed Jim to the main room at the end of the corridor. Manu and Albie were inside, searching the contents of the man's bag. Albie looked pale, but at least he was sitting.

"You shouldn't be here."

Albie shrugged one shoulder. "Billy's already kicked my ass, but we don't have enough people. Don't worry, I'm not overdoing it, and Teal Dubois, along with Euan, are coming to cover a couple of patrols for us."

"Finally." Eli ran a hand over his head. He knew Salutem was having the same issue they had, but he felt better knowing a couple of their team could help them until they had more staff. "What's in the bag?"

Jim pulled out a glass cylindrical container; Eli had seen those in labs, holding specimens. His stomach rolled when he saw what it contained. An embryo of something. It resembled an embryo of a wolf and cat and something else he couldn't name. Some other animal.

"What is it?" Albie nudged the container, and they watched the embryo move in the clear fluid.

"Please don't do that," Manu hissed, pulling his lips back. "It's disgusting."

"Anything else?"

"Papers, USB sticks, lab tests and results. Names and places and locations." Manu looked at Eli. "I had a quick scan of the information and… I think this is it. I think this is everything."

Eli grabbed the papers and searched through them. Lists of locations, more than they had in their possession. Each location had a set of coordinates and a number next to it. "Name of location, where it is, and the number of prisoners." The papers shook in Eli's hand. "Fuck." He pulled his phone out of his coat pocket, almost dropping it in his haste. "Fuck."

He knew who he had to call. "Deac."

"Are you calling me to save me from this mountain of paperwork?" Eli heard the laughter in his voice.

"No, but you do want to see this."

"What is it?"

"We have a visitor. Told us he's a scientist while we were transporting him. And he came bearing gifts."

He heard the quick indrawn breath. "What gifts?"

"Locations, coordinates, numbers. I think this is it, Deac. I think we have all of them."

"I need to call Indy. Where is this scientist now?"

"In one of our interrogation rooms."

"Keep him there until we get there."

Eli put his phone on the table. "Deac is getting Indy."

"Which means we're going to need coffee." Albie stood, winced, then grunted as he moved. "Can't wait to be back to normal." He rubbed his chest.

"You almost died." Eli reminded him. "It's okay to take time to heal."

"I would be dead if I weren't mated to Serenity. Only the mate bond kept me alive. Now I heal almost as good as you do." Albie hobbled to the coffeepot. "I still remember the look of glee on its face as it tore into my chest. I want to see all those fuckers dead."

"They will be. This scientist will be able to tell us everything we need to know or we'll make him."

"Why did he leave them?" Eli growled, the sound vibrating through his chest. "We'll wait for Deac and Indy to question him, but I want to see the look on his face when he answers them."

"And his scent. We'll be able to tell if he is lying from his scent." Jim sat and stared at the embryo. "Maybe he can tell us what the fuck this is? It doesn't look like it formed properly." He pointed to the head. "It's the wrong shape, the brain is visible, and the face looks deformed too." He tapped the glass. "I think this is one that failed."

"Aborted or terminated?" Albie asked as he fixed coffee for everyone. "I've seen one of those things up close and personal, and I can tell you they look nothing like that. You can see where mistakes occurred as it was growing."

"Anyone know what the liquid is?" Manu asked, nudging the container, so the embryo moved.

"Formalin or formaldehyde," Albie answered. "Stops it from decomposing."

Eli went over and stared at the embryo and noticed what Jim and Albie had mentioned. The way the body was misshapen, the head seemingly wrong. The hands had partially formed, but where they weren't hands; they were paws or something like paws. It was hard to tell exactly what it was supposed to be, but Eli wasn't a scientist. He had no idea what it was meant to be.

They all sat staring at the embryo floating in the formalin. Albie made them all coffee, and Eli went through the notes as he kept an eye on the jar. It chilled him, staring at it, knowing there were probably jars filled with shifter embryos in labs around the country.

"That looks creepy as fuck." Eli looked up to see Deac standing in the doorway, eyes glued to the glass container.

"We think it's one of those creatures that didn't develop properly."

Deac went over and sat at the table, his eyes never leaving the container. "I'll admit it looks scary like that. I don't think I want to come across a living breathing one."

"Trust me, you don't," Albie muttered. "Unless you have excessive amounts of firepower."

"How long until Indy gets here, and who is coming with him?"

"Their inner circle and around thirty minutes. I brought the list of locations we've gathered so we can compare, but from what I can see, there is far more here than what we have."

"We'll know more when we question our scientist."

Deac grunted. "Please tell me he's firing on all cylinders."

"Seems to be. Able to tell us who he was and that he created those creatures." Eli tilted his head, staring at the embryo—or abomination—in the jar. "Coffee? Albie made it."

"Yeah, I think I need?—"

A huge explosion rocked the building, knocking them all off their seats. Eli jumped up and hit the alarm, the sound loud enough to hurt shifter ears. He knew the alarm activation would alert security, and backup would be sent. "Get the scientist and all this stuff to a safe location, Albie, and don't argue. You're in no condition to fight."

Albie nodded tersely, shoved everything into the bag, then shot down the hall. "Three creatures entering via the rear!" he shouted.

"Weapons," Deac snapped.

Jim ran out of the room, the men following, and shot into the room on the right, throwing the lockers open when he reached them. Eli grabbed two Glocks, a PN90 and spare magazines, then ran toward the rear of the building. He heard running behind him, and he stood in shock and awe at the three creatures advancing toward them.

"Shoot to kill," Deac ordered.

Eli took aim and fired, moving closer as gunfire erupted next to him. The bullets seemed to almost bounce off them, and he narrowed his eyes. They could be in trouble. He could hear shouting behind him but ignored it, concentrating on the three creatures shrugging the bullets off.

"The eyes!" Jim shouted. "Their only weakness."

Eli nodded, then corrected his aim, paused, breath held, then fired. The creature he aimed at shook his head, Eli's shot millimeters off its target. It grinned, or Eli thought it did, and continued to move toward them. The eyes were so fucking small, but he paused again and took aim, noticing the others were too.

"Indy's group is ten minutes out."

He didn't acknowledge the comment but carried on firing at the creature in front of the other two, and eventually, his persistence paid off. The bullet hit its intended target, the back of the creature's head exploding outward.

One down, two to go. The others stopped and waited, then backed away before turning and running out of the destroyed door. Eli carefully moved to the door and watched them disappear into a park. They loped across the grass, then into the woods and gone from sight. "Jim!"

"Here."

"Call security. Track those fuckers."

"On it."

Eli approached the dead one and crouched next to it. Deac did the same and grimaced. "Now we know how to take them out."

"Not for long." Eli looked up into Deac's eyes. "They genetically modified each one to become a better, harder version than the last. How long before this one defect, this one weakness, is removed?"