Page 83 of After the Fall

In the corner of the room, Harper sat stunned with Fiona and Savannah. Her shoulders were red from where I’d had my hands only moments before.

“Harper.” I rushed to her.

“Stay away.” Fiona held up her hand. “Deal with them first.”

Jax gripped each of the Carders in his hands. “Should I do to them what they were trying to get you to do to her?” There was a sparkle in his eye. “I’d love to snap—”

“No,” I barked. “They don’t deserve an easy death. Tie them up.”

Joe helped Jax and me tie up the masterminds of the hybrid army.

“Where are all the others? The hybrids that they were keeping in here?” I asked.

Gunfire and explosions rocked the building. “I brought backup.” Jax winked.

The door opened and I rushed to put myself between whoever was coming through that door and Harper. Fiona may have taken on a protector role, but that didn’t stop my primal urge to do whatever it took to keep the woman I loved safe.

But it wasn’t a hybrid – I could identify their smell now. And it wasn’t one of the South Americans, or one of my crew – I knew our smells intimately. Whoever was coming through the door smelled crisp, like freshly fallen snow. And female.

Everyone in the room, including Fiona, gasped as a beautiful woman with long, white hair stepped into the room. Her eyes were the color of glacier water, and her lashes long and furry like an arctic fox’s pelt. She must have been almost seven feet tall and was pale as a ghost. And she seemed to be smiling at Jax.

Jax cleared his throat. “This is Ekaterina, but I call her Kat.” Was Jax blushing? His cheeks were growing redder by the second as he introduced the mysterious woman. “As soon as we got your message, Kat rallied her community, and we came tohelp. We outnumber them now. It won’t be long before we round up all the science freaks.”

I nodded firmly. “No killing, though. Just tie them up until we can properly deal with them. It’s not their fault they were following shitty orders.”

The news was good. The hybrid threat had been mitigated and Seattle was safe. But I was still in shock by the creature that stood in front of me. I’d never seen one in real life. “You’re a…”

“Yeti,” Joe whispered in awe, finishing my sentence.

“Fiancée.” A wry smile spread across Jax’s face as he strode across the room, dropping the Yeti woman into a dramatic kiss.

She giggled, and when he brought her back to a standing position, held up her hand. “It’s nice to meet you all. Jax has told me all about you. Especially this one.” She smiled at Harper.

The group of stunned humans and Fiona all raised their hands and waved in response.

“Now, what are we going to do with these pieces of trash?” I nudged the bound Carders with my foot. They had finally stopped struggling against the ties, seemingly accepting of their fate.

“I’ve got just the thing for them.” Joe opened a pill bottle and handed it to me. “This should do the trick.”

FORTY-THREE

HARPER

The pills took effect quickly.After losing my own memories, it was uncomfortable seeing the forgetting serum in action. But anything was better than two more dead bodies.

In less than a minute, the Carders went from furious and frustrated, to disoriented and clueless. They peered around the room with doe-like eyes, cowering in their binds.

“W-where am I?” Michelle stuttered, frowning at her husband. “W-who are you?” She looked down at her hands, bound by thick rope. “Is that anage spot?”She crinkled her nose in disgust.

“I-I’m not sure where we are. This isn’t my dorm room,” Maximus muttered. He strained against the ties, but pulled back when he saw Wyatt and Jax. “W-what do you want from us?” he mumbled, his voice shaking. “If it’s money you’re after, I’m sure my p-parents will pay. They’re very wealthy, as I’m sure you must know.”

“I had Tim formulate the pills to take them back to the earliest intel we have of Maximus’ experimentations,” Wyatt said. “They think they’re in their first year of college.”

Jax frowned. “Are we going to release them back into Seattle?”

“Of course not. There’d be too many questions. I’ll have my secretary draft a PR statement celebrating Grandview’s takeover of Carder Corporation and all its subsidiaries. I think these two will really enjoy their new positions as…” Wyatt rubbed his chin thoughtfully, the thick, grizzled hairs moving against his thumb. “Janitors. In our mines.” A sly smile spread from cheek to cheek.

Laughter bubbled up within me. The Carders had caused anguish for so many that I felt zero empathy for them. For a woman as vain as Michelle Carder, I couldn’t think of a worse punishment than wearing soot-covered overalls day in and day out.

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