Full Moon Rising

I frowned. “Sounds like they don’t really care if their creations live all that long.”

“Maybe just long enough to complete a task.” His expression was grim when it met mine. “A vampire’s body degenerates pretty quickly once he’s dead. Can you think of a better killing machine than one designed to get in, do its job, then self-destruct before any evidence can be pulled from it?”

“It’s not something I actually want to think about.” I watched a willy wagtail flit across the backs of the nearby cows. “How come Gautier has been allowed to stay with the Directorate? Especially after his clones started appearing everywhere?”

“We think Gautier is working with someone in the Directorate—someone other than Alan Brown. Until we can ferret that person out, Gautier stays. It’s better to have an enemy where you can watch him.”

“You’re not exactly watching him now.”

“Director Hunter is.”

“Ah.” I closed my eyes, listening to the wind keening through the nearby gums. The storm that had hit Melbourne earlier that afternoon was on its way. “As a guardian, Gautier has to undergo regular health checks. I’m gathering nothing out of the ordinary has ever been found?”

“No. And Jack’s told you about his history—or lack thereof.”

“Yeah. Bit by little bit.”

Rhoan gri

“So he’s already said.”

The man in question came out of the trees as I spoke

“Riley,” he said, a smile touching his lips but his eyes all seriousness. “We need to talk if you can give me a moment.”

I glanced at Rhoan, who shrugged at my unasked question. I pushed to my feet, and said, “Sure.”

Jack followed the path back into the trees and I trailed him. We walked down to the dam and stood on the edge, watching dragonflies buzz the water

“What’s up?” I said, after a moment

“Something you may not like.” He looked at me, green eyes hard with anger. “You remember the blood sample I took?”

My stomach dropped. “Yes.”

“We got some interesting results back.”

I briefly closed my eyes, not sure I really wanted to hear this. “So, I was drugged?”

“Yes. There was N529, a fast-knockout drug designed for use on nonhumans, and one which is not due to come onto the market until next month. The other was ARC1-23.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“It’s a drug that’s still on the experimental list because of the serious side effects it appears to have on some nonhumans.” He hesitated. “It seems someone is trying to get you pregnant.”

Chapter 11

For several seconds I didn’t react, simply stared at him. Then anger surged and I clenched my fists, wishing I had something—someone—to hit. “I’m going to kill the bastard.”

Actually, killing him was too quick. Maybe I’d settle for ripping his fucking balls off

“I gather you know who’s behind it?”

I nodded and began to pace. “One of my regular mates was talking about me having his child recently.”

“But you didn’t consent to take this drug?”

I snorted. “Hardly. If I ever do take the risk of having kids, it’ll be with someone I love, not with someone I just fuck.”

“Have you still got the chip in your arm?”

“Shit.” I ran my fingers up my arm, and found the small lump under my skin. Relief slithered. Thank God

“We need to do more tests,” Jack continued, obviously reading my relief correctly

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because the quantities of ARC1-23 in the blood sample suggest you’ve been given this drug over a couple of months, and, as I said, it’s known to have some serious side effects.”

I pushed my hair away from my face and began to pace again. The anger surging through my body wouldn’t allow me to remain still. “What kind of side effects are we talking about?”

“It seems the drug can mutate once in the body, altering not only its own chemistry but the chemistry of the host.”

“That… that…”

Jack nodded, as if in understanding. “The drug had passed all lab trials, so they decided to run a series of tests on some volunteers who were having trouble conceiving, using a mix of humans, shifters, and werewolves. Of the fifty who were in the first trial, ten were unaffected. Thirty became pregnant, and had normal gestations and births, with neither the parent nor the child showing any adverse reactions to the drug. The remaining ten, however, began to transmute in one way or another.”

With the way my luck had been ru

“Studies undertaken suggest it might have something to do with the fact that the ten who changed rather than getting pregnant were all of mixed heritage.”

His expression was grim and somewhat speculative. I didn’t have to read his thoughts to know he was thinking about my mixed heritage. I felt like screaming. Jesus, as if I didn’t already have enough weirdness in my life

“So where did they find so many crossbreeds?” Breeding between nonhuman races—especially other shifters and werewolves—was extremely rare. Though we were sexually compatible, something in our genetics made it next to impossible for one breed of shifter to impregnate another naturally

“They advertised throughout Australia. Natural crossbreeding may be rare, but it does happen.”

“How long was it before the side effects became apparent?”

“The trial was conducted over a year. It was six months before the side effects started to show. Up until then, everything had been proceeding exactly as expected.”

So I had months to wait before I’d know one way or another. I kicked some stones out from under my foot, watching them splash into the water. Dragonflies buzzed the ripples, their wings jewel-like in evening light. “And how is the drug taken?”

“Via injection, once a month.”

I closed my eyes. Talon had been giving me the injections for at least two months, then. Why else had I been blacking out after drinking his “fine” champagne? “I knew he was single-minded when it came to getting his own way, but I never thought he’d go this damn far.”

“I gather we’re talking about Talon Lasalle?”

I squinted up at Jack. “How did you know?”

“Had him investigated.” His sudden smile was wry. “You may think of yourself as little more than a paper pusher, but the truth is, you work in a sensitive area and know more about the workings of the place than most of the directors. The Directorate has many enemies, and the information you and the other liaisons hold could be extremely useful to those intent on our destruction.” He shrugged. “So I know exactly who all my people spend time with.”

“You investigate everyone we come in contact with?”

He snorted softly. “Hardly. We haven’t the manpower. Just those who feature prominently in your life. The only reason Liander is involved in this mission is because I know all there is to know about him—and his exemplary record in the military. He’d make a good addition to the new team I want to set up.”

“You’d have as much hope co

“He’s not as stubborn as you.”

I ignored the gibe. “So what did your reports say about Misha and Talon?”

“Talon is a very successful entrepreneur with fingers in all sorts of pies—and many of those companies have fingers in other pies, not all of which we’ve tracked down yet. He’s ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants but has never stepped beyond the law—as far as we know.”

“Until it came to wanting a kid,” I muttered. “What about Misha?”

“Misha’s even more difficult to pin down. He’s very successful, but as yet we’re not exactly sure how.”