Page 102 of Land of Monsters

“You’re telling me thePrimulare Dr. Rapava’s old experiments?” Brexley exclaimed, her head shaking in rebuttal. “As in the man Istvan modeled everything after. The original test subjects?” She opened her arms. “How is that possible?”

“Weren’t they all destroyed when he was killed decades ago?” Warwick hitched off the sill, running his hand over his head.

“No.” Raven twitched around in my peripheral, antsy to get out of this room, her beast prowling the wall. The more anxiety I could feel pumping off her, the calmer I tried to be, letting her absorb my tranquility. “It was kept hush-hush, but some of them escaped.”

“And you know this how?” Warwick’s voice cut like a knife.

“Because Aunt Zoey is the seer some of them were created from when she worked for Rapava. He stole her eggs to produce these things. Zoey was the one who killed Rapava.”

The entire room stared at Raven.

“I’m sorry… what?” Brexley stared at Raven.

“Long story short, Aunt Zoey was one of his first lab experiments. A baby created in the laboratory. A generated seer. He wanted to create humans who could see through fae glamour and hunt them. She was manipulated and tricked, working for him until she discovered the truth. Then they hunted her. She became even more unique when she took on Uncle Ryker’s powers. So Rapava harvested her eggs and used them to create a superhuman-fae type.”

“Gods.” A pained expression traveled over Brexley.

“Not far off what Markos was trying to do.” Warwick moved next to his mate.

“Before I was born, there was a battle for Uncle Lars’s throne. These creatures were brought in to fight my family. It was found if they bred with women, it was easier than trying to recreate them in a lab. But only a few of the children made it, and almost all the women died. They realized they needed to use a lot of human women to dispose of, or Druid women.”

My lids closed, bile coming up my throat, realizing how important they thought Raven would be to them. She would survive, produce children from them and not die in childbirth, becoming the perfect birther of monsters. Except she wouldn’t end up conceiving their spawn and would be killed for it.

“ThePrimul, or whatever they call themselves, have been living unnoticed for almost thirty years?” Brexley flicked back her black hair. “How?”

“Think how long fae were hiding in plain sight.” I shrugged, listened to clients below entering the brothel, the night creeping in quickly.

“They are highly intelligent, adaptable, and almost impossible to kill,” Raven said.

“Same with Istvan’s experiments.” Brexley leaned back into Warwick, like she needed to feel him. “And now Sonya is making more,” she whispered. “I thought we destroyed it. Thought it was over. What was the point of all that loss and pain if Sonya is just going to do the same?”

“Even if the formula was destroyed, too many have survived to use as a baseline.” The images of all those people in the tubes, like Iacob, or being forced to mate, like Celeste, Viorica, and her cousin. I would not leave them there to die.

“Wait.” I paused, a thorn in my thoughts. “It wasn’t just human women down there they were mating with. They are using fae women too.” I peered at everyone in confusion. “Whywould they be using fae women if most are protected by a birth control potion”

The room went quiet, the question buffering through us all with no response.

“I don’t know.” Raven bit down on her lip. “Maybe they have the counter remedy or maybe their sperm is superstrength or something?”

“If it was, wouldn’t there be a lot more of them running around by now?” Brexley replied, falling further into Warwick, her hand going to her face. “I can’t go through this again.”

I felt guilty, knowing I wasn’t there for her after the battle. She and Warwick endured so much psychological damage, being subjected to Istvan’s sick experiments themselves, including those linking Caden and Warwick. Imagine having to take the life of a man who, at one time, had been a father figure to you. Brexley was the one to step up and kill him so Caden wouldn’t have to.

I was too busy with my own trauma to be there for her or any of them.

“Kovacs.” Warwick’s tone was deep and intimate, gaining her attention. He gripped her chin, turning her to look at him. “We’ll handle this. Just like we did last time.” Energy prickled around me like magic channeling between tree roots, the auras slinking against my skin. Their connection went beyond mates, forged in the bones of blood and death, cementing their souls together on another plane. Their spirits could talk and touch without them even being in the same place.

Being a nature fairy, I could always sense their connection throbbing the earth, their orgasms singing through the ether, but I had never felt it so acutely. It vibrated the threads between me and Raven, dancing along my cock.

A growl rumbled from Raven and I knew she could feel it too.

“Could you guys stop?” I gritted my teeth, adjusting myself.

“You really have room to talk?” Brexley gestured between us and then motioned out the window. “Thinking the twisted-up trees right outside aren’t a coincidence.”

“No.” I held my chin high, waiting for their disappointment or disapproval. Brex and Warwick were the first to know about us, and it felt like I was dragging a rake over Kek and Lukas’s graves. But the judgment didn’t come.

A smile hitched Brexley’s mouth as she peered between us. “Never thought I’d see the day.”You and me both. “So, mates, huh?” Her grin widened.

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