Page 47 of Heartless

“You alright?”

“Yes. It’s just been a rough night,” I muttered, then cringed, flicking the visor closed on my flushed cheeks. But Cyril just leaned over and popped the glove compartment. I was half-prepared for the classic gun pull, but all he unearthed was a travel wash bag.

“There are wipes in there, and some moisturizer.” He cast me a sideways look as he got busy driving. “Mouthwash, too.”

I swallowed hard. Because that had to be a subtle way of telling me I had blood on my teeth.

Or venison breath.

Either way…

“Thanks.” As he navigated his way through the dense forest, I used everything in the bag, including the mouthwash and breath mints, and even spent a while putting the little comb through its paces. I wasn’t sure if all the knots were from the mating wind or the night in Trey’s bed, but decided that was a mystery I’d take to my grave.

When I looked up next, we were pulling off the road into a clump of trees. There was just enough room for the SUV to fit, and I looked at Cyril in surprise. Not only was he scratching up his expensive paint job, but from my amateur navigation, I was pretty sure we were nowhere near the Clan Caves.

He was staring out the windshield at a wire fence about twenty feet in front of us, and the squat gray building that rose out of the thick forest like a ghost. An industrial truck was parked at the side, but I couldn’t see any signs of life. I knew I’d never been here before, but something about it was disturbingly familiar.

“What is this place?” My hand was reaching for the door before the question was all the way out.

“Don’t move,” he said quietly. “And definitely don’t get out of the truck.”

I gripped the armrest, but he’d buzzed down the window, and a gust of wind blew inside, putting me even more on edge. It was smoky, with an antiseptic bite, but to me it stank of fear and pain, and I looked at Cyril in alarm. “Why are we here?”

“It’s a pack lab.” His hand came down on my shoulder, making me rear back against my seat. “It’s okay. We’re not going in. I should have given you some warning. I forgot you’ve already seen a place like this.”

“N-Not exactly. But it smells the same,” I gasped.

“It’s okay,” he said again, frowning now and buzzing up the window. “I just wanted you to see. This facility belongs to wolves who work for your grandfather. They hide it out here, because the work they do would get the place burned to the ground.”

I somehow managed to find my voice, although it was barely a whisper. “Experiments?”

“Yes. Your grandfather isn’t like your Clan Alpha. He’s Old Pack. An old bloodline. That’s ruthless twice over, and he’s not a male who gives up on an idea, once it gets into his head.”

“What idea?”

Cyril studied me for a long moment, those eerie eyes somber. “Legacy. Purity. Leaving something behind that’s as perfect as you could make it.” His gaze swung back to the facility, stark and silent behind its metal fence. “In another male, that could be something special. But Jonathan never could look past his own prejudices.”

“I don’t understand…”

“You need to stay away from him. Let the Long Night pass you by. Find somewhere safe, and hunker down where he can’t find you.” That sounded a lot like the Clan Caves and I was already nodding, but he suddenly tugged on the edge of my sweater, pulling the neck down until he’d exposed Trey’s bite. He grunted. “These boys, they have power, and they think they know how to protect a mate, but they’re no match for Jonathan. If he sinks his teeth into something, he doesn’t let it go until he’s done with it.”

I jerked my head away. “That’s not what you think it is. But I got the message. I’ll keep away from him.”

He nodded, his shoulders relaxing a little, like I’d given him some kind of reassurance. But his warning did the exact opposite for me. The talk of experiments, of the descriptions of my grandfather’s ruthlessness, put a painful knot in my belly. But why did he have to show me the lab to drive the point home? Couldn’t he have just come out and said this during the proof of life at the academy?

Reed’s dad was of the opinion Cyril had left my grandfather, and after this little pep talk, I had to assume the same. He’d kept his warnings vague, but there was an edge in his voice when he talked about him that sounded personal. Liam, for all his gruffness, was completely loyal to Jasper. Did that mean Cyril was really working for my grandmother, like Reed’s dad believed?

“Why did you give me the bracelet?”

He’d pulled out of the little knot of trees and we were back on the road, but he looked at me now, and there was a softness in his eyes. “You’re not wearing it.”

“No.” I tugged on the sleeve of my borrowed sweater. “But it’s safe. I just don’t understand why you gave it to me. It’s got my mom’s name engraved on it. It says it’s from my grandmother. But it just seems odd, the way you gave it to me, and now you bringing me out here…” I bit hard on my lip. “She didn’t want to see me? Maybe give it to me herself?”

I had about a million questions I wanted to ask him, but I hadn’t expected that one to slip off my tongue. It sounded raw, an old hurt I didn’t know I’d been harboring. There hadn’t really been time to process the fact my grandmother was even alive, let alone thinking of me. But why wasn’t she here? If her mate was so dangerous, why didn’t she come and warn me in person?

“Iris chose it specially. Allie left a lot of her things behind when she went after your father. That one, well… I don’t think she left it on purpose.”

I sucked in a breath. It was so strange hearing this man talk about my mom, for him to call her Allie, in a voice rough with affection. Another dozen questions flashed through my mind, but he was suddenly knuckling the wheel, his jaw set in a sharp line. “And as to visiting with your grandmother, things are difficult right now, with the Long Night Moon on the horizon. It’s best if we wait until the new year. Keep things as they are until then.”

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