Page 85 of Tainted Gifts
I sit back, mulling over the others. "What about Captain Fricks, what's his story?"
She shakes her head, banishing that suspicion. "Captain Fricks was one of Uncle Hale's biggest fans. Fricks was put in prison after illegally biting a human. He was trying to change her, hoping for a miracle despite the fact she lacked the gene. He loved her and she was dying from cancer, so there was only one option in his eyes.
"Hale saved his life. He pardoned him from the two-hundred year sentence, and then he offered him a place in the United because Hale Banner knew the heart could make you do crazy things to save the one you love. Fricks worked his way up the ladder from there. Little by little, he earned the respect and trust of everyone. He's a good man that made a mistake a long time ago; not a traitor."
Another dead end.
"And Davis or Keltman?"
"Davis is a trusted advisor of Captain Fricks, but I've never really cared for him. He has a major stick up his ass, but I don't think he'd be a traitor. Dr. Keltman is a royal pain in the ass who is an arrogant prick, but he's served the United devotedly for centuries.
"He even helped my father with dispersing the cure for the full bloods. It's frustrating, but I can't think of any of them doing this."
I frown, not feeling any better about any of this.
"Who was the fifth?"
"Rex. He oversees all the ins and outs of the labs. He has since Dad appointed him years ago. Obviously that's out of the question."
Could Aria's brother be behind this?
"So the logs only showed which safe you were using, but not what you were using them for. Right?"
"Right."
"So out of those five, Rex is the only one who most likely knew you were messing with Aria's blood?"
She rolls her eyes, scoffing as though she's offended. "First of all, that's preposterous. You haven't been around to see how much Rex loves his sister, so I'll let it slide. Next time, I'll make you bleed in places you've never wanted to see blood."
Definitely glad I didn't meet her before Aria. I love this girl's vicious mouth.
"Okay," I chuckle out, holding my hands up in surrender. "I was just pointing out the one person out of those five who knew."
She checks over her shoulder once again, cracking me up with her excessive worry. "Jase is a full blood, but he can hear too good. He can see too good. He can fucking read minds. I know that's supposed to be nothing more than a level two power, but in all actuality, that sort of thing could be a level seven power if someone used all that information they found inside the minds of others for the wrong reason. What if there are others out there like him? What if it's not one of the four? I'm excluding Rex, for the record. What if someone else has an ability like Jase's or one similar to it?"
That's food for thought.
"What if it was Jase?" I counter, feeling like dirtying up the good commander's name.
She rolls her eyes, moving away from me a little as she stares out into the open land away from the city.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Your life would be so much easier if he was the bad guy instead of her hero. Aria's yours. Stop acting like she's not and she'll stay with you. He's not just going to hand her to you simply because you're her counter, and she's not going to fall into your arms either. You have to work for it."
She almost sounds bitter, confusing me with her glossy eyes.
"I've been working for it. He's just better at working her than I am. She adores him, and to her, I'm just a poorly timed counter. Most of the time I feel like some intrusive ailment instead of her counter. I've spent centuries trying to find that one person who would complete me, and now I learn she wants nothing to do with me most of the time. She won't even look at me without showing me her dread."
She offers me a sympathetic smile, and then she leans in, dusting a fallen leaf from my shoulder. Her touch is so soft, so delicate, as though she wants to be close to me but knows she shouldn't.
"She's just confused. Aria's emotions are her biggest weaknesses. They don't guide her correctly because she feels too much of everything. Give it some time. Like I said, she's yours."
She looks away, hiding her face from me as she stares absently into the distance.
"You okay?" I ask softly, wondering if maybe I can help her out with her troubles since she attempted to help me with mine.
"I'm fine. I should go back. I have a lot of work to do on my blood."
She sounds a little dramatic right now.
