Full Moon Rising

I frowned. “He owns Rollins Enterprises.”

Jack nodded. “Which has suffered five years of substantial losses, yet Misha’s personal fortune keeps getting larger.”

“Undoubtedly thanks to good investments.” Like the South Bank apartment complex

“Damn good. Only, as yet, we can’t locate all of them.”

I stared at him for a moment, not sure what to think. “You think Misha’s a crook?”

“I honestly don’t know, because both the gold and silver packs are notoriously tight when it comes to giving out information about pack members and money. I do know he’s covered his tracks very well, and my instincts suggest he’s up to something. While I doubt that something involves the Directorate, I am sure it involves you in some way.”

I rubbed a hand across my eyes. The day that had started out so well was becoming positively shitty. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before now?”

“Because I haven’t any evidence that he is up to something. My instincts could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. Misha and I were going to have a heart-to-heart when he got back. If I didn’t get answers that satisfied me—and Jack—he was struck off my list, right alongside Talon

And to think only a couple of days ago I’d been blissfully happy with them both

“So how did Talon get hold of ARC1-23 if it’s not on the market?”

“It’s his company doing the fertility research.”

Fingers in every pie, as Jack had said. “He doesn’t know I’m part vampire. He probably thought it was safe to give to me.”

“That doesn’t excuse what he’s done.”

“No.” I paused, trying to calm another rush of anger. “So what happens now?”

He considered me for a moment. “He’ll be charged, of course.”

As long as I got to him first, I didn’t care what they did to the bastard. “I hear a ‘but’ after that.”

He nodded. “The military badly wants to explore the possibilities of this drug, and Talon is the key to their getting their hands on it.”

Meaning, of course, they weren’t about to let anything happen to him until they did. “I’m gathering it’s no longer being marketed as a possible fertility drug?”

“It’s undergoing a larger trial, and test applicants are being carefully screened. After all, it worked for a good percentage of the test group.”

I took another deep breath, then asked the one question I’d avoided. “So what, exactly, does it do?”

“It appears to enhance certain abilities. Six of the ten were either human-werewolf crosses or human-shifter. All became able to take on any shape.”

Relief slithered through me. Taking on any shape was pretty cool when compared to some of the scenarios I’d been imagining. “That doesn’t sound too bad a skill to have.”

Jack snorted softly. “Yeah, only if they changed too often, they discovered they couldn’t change back to human form. Their body chemistry had altered so much the cells no longer remembered true form, and they got stuck in animal form.”

Which wasn’t a good thing. Death would surely be better than never being able to regain humanity. “And the remaining four?”

“Were shifter and werewolf crosses, and all four had psychic skills. Three of the four were unaware of the fact. These skills were all enhanced to the point where they became dangerous. I believe all four have now been transferred to one of the military programs.”

I glared at him. “Don’t try putting me in any military program.”

He gave me a toothy smile I didn’t trust one bit. “Darlin’, you’re mine. If you go anywhere, it’ll be into the guardian program.”

“That ain’t going to happen, either.”

“You may not have a choice. If that drug does affect you, it’s either us or the military until we discover the full breadth of the changes.”

Then it was the Directorate. But that didn’t mean I was entering the system without a fight. If Jack wanted me as a guardian, he was going to have to drag me there kicking and screaming

“So what happens now?”

“The drug doesn’t appear to have had any ill effects yet, but even so, we’ll begin regular blood tests and cell scans. We’ll also begin regular psi tests, in case alterations start showing there.”

“I’m telepathic—you know that.”

He nodded. “Entry tests also indicated latent skills in clairvoyance.”

“Which is not exactly a skill the military can give a damn about.”

“On the contrary, clairvoyance provides an excellent means of information gathering.”

“Yeah, but as you said, it’s latent. As in, not active and not used.”

“Granted. But your telepathy skill isn’t. Given it can be used for both information gathering and as a weapon, it definitely is a desirable skill as far as they are concerned. You already rate high—this drug could very well put you off the scale.”

I didn’t want to be off the scale. Didn’t want to use my skills for anything more than defense. But I had a vague feeling Talon had taken all choice away from me. I kicked another stone into the dam and imagined it was the head of a certain golden wolf sinking under the murky brown water

Jack squeezed my shoulder gently. “You could be one of the lucky ones. It might have no effect at all.”

My smile was grim. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

He hesitated. “No. But right now, there’s nothing we can do about it. Time will provide our answers. Meanwhile, we have a clone factory to hunt down.”

I turned and followed him down the path. “Did you know a company named Konane apparently owns Moneisha?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “No. How do you?”

“Misha told me.”

“Interesting. Wonder how he knows—and why he told you.”

“Because I asked him.”

“Maybe you should ask him a few other things—like whether he knows anything about the clones or the crossbreeds.”

“I can if you want.”

“Might be worth a try. In the meantime, I’ll get a search done on Konane.”

“You don’t think the crossbreeds are coming out of the same factory as the clones?”

“No, and the evidence that Qui

Rhoan was no longer sitting out in front of the cabin when we arrived. But given the delicious smell of roasting meat that hung on the air, he was probably inside harassing Liander to hurry up and serve the meal

“I’ll never get tired of that smell,” Jack said, taking a deep breath. “Which is why I live above a restaurant.”

I opened the door for him and waved him on through. “I always thought the smell of food turned a vampire’s stomach.”

Jack shook his head. “Hollywood myth. You of all people should know better than to believe something like that.”

“Hey, some myths sound very reasonable.”

“Sounding reasonable doesn’t make them so.”

He moved over to the table and I looked around for Qui

“Hey, pretty lady,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close. “Guess what?”

“What?” I said, my voice little more than a husky whisper. God, he felt so good pressed up against me that my hormones were begging me to drop him to the ground and shag him senseless

“Rhoan and I drew straws. We won the bed tonight.”

I linked my hands behind his neck and kissed his chin. “Meaning we’re under the stars tomorrow?”

“Afraid so. But the weathermen say it’ll be fine.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’ve had scout training. I’ll make us a shelter.”

His grin was decidedly wicked. “Shame you didn’t bring the uniform along. Wouldn’t mind seeing you in that.”