Page 22 of Haunted Prey

“No.”

He shrugged. “Everyone has a different way of handling it. You're not the only one who refuses. Dom won’t touch anything. But he doesn’t get the symptoms as bad as you and me.” He looked over to the passage Cassidy had gone down and turnedback to me. “Cassidy has a hard time too,” he whispered. “She wouldn’t want you knowing it. She’s got bad health anxiety ever since…” He gestured to his eye. “Obsessive compulsive, sometimes dissociates...”

“Don’t we all,” I said.

“But she’s better at hiding it than the rest of us, I think. Except for the temper.”

I tilted my head. “And what about Micheal?”

Leslie snorted. “That guy is barely one of us. Mr. Golden Boy. No, he doesn’t take what I take. He just pops xannies when no one is looking.”

For a brief moment, jealousy wormed its way into my heart. A lot of us were suffering in our own ways, but I still felt like I got the shit end of the stick. Leslie had the same issues as me and he was somehow able to overcome his fear. I tried to, but I’d done it for Eve, not myself. Before her, I had refused to even try.

Loser, Nina whispered.

Fucking garbage.

My hands itched to find a knife again when Micheal stepped out of the hallway a moment later. He wore a dark suit, looking like a lawyer. He saw me and dipped his head.

“You’re looking better for only getting shot a few days ago,” he said.

“I’m a quick healer,” I responded flatly.

He nodded, then looked at Dom and Leslie. “Let’s get started. Where are the others?”

Leslie turned his head and whistled toward the joining rooms down the other passage. “Andrea, Cassidy, Micheal's here,” he called.

“Don’t whistle at me like I’m a dog, Lez, or I’ll kick your stupid ass!” Cassidy yelled back.

“They’re coming,” Leslie said to Micheal.

We put down our game and moved over to Dom’s station. I took a seat on one of the tables close by, while Dom took his seat at the computer, Micheal stood over him and Leslie leaned against a table opposite. The girls came in not long after and sat beside each other on the couch.

“First, I just want to congratulate you all on your hard work with this,” Micheal said. “It’s been a long road, I know, but we're finally seeing an end.”

“Get on with it, Micheal,” Cassidy groaned.

Micheal smiled and winked at her before turning to the monitors. “We know Martel was responsible for the experiments. There were clients funding these experiments. We’d narrowed it down to a select few until we found one company connecting them all.

One we now know not only funded but also oversaw these experiments, which they called Project Redbird. After Cassidy’s and my investigations, we discovered they’re conducting new experiments—similar to what we went through—but this time under a different, unknown name. The company that funded it all was once called Merkov Industries. It started as a biotech company, working in tech, military applications, pharmaceuticals, and neurology. Now, it operates as Kennedy & Co after a bastard son took over."

On the largest screen, a grainy image appeared: a man with gray eyes and dark hair, dressed in a sharp suit. He was caught mid-action, getting into his car with what appeared to be a bodyguard—a photo clearly taken in secret.

“This man,” Micheal continued, “is Tyler Kennedy, the son of Mr. Merkov. Merkov himself hasn’t been seen in years, disappearing from the spotlight after his son took over.”

“How do you know he’s doing experiments again?” I asked.

Micheal gestured to Cassidy. “We’ve been monitoring his company ever since we learned they were tied to Martel. Wesearched for any studies they may be conducting. Their most recent is on pregnant women. Specifically those with no families and either trafficked or from the streets. We don’t know what exactly they are doing but Cassidy managed to find a report on one woman named Tonya who came from one of their facilities and died not long after. Based on Andrea’s assessment of the medical report, the symptoms the mother had were not unlike our own. Her child was also deformed…” He looked to Cassidy. “Specifically with the eyes.”

She glared at him with. “Pieces of shit,” she muttered.

“Funny they can’t seem to fix that symptom,” Leslie said.

“It’s the chemicals used,” Andrea explained. “It's a huge factor in the enhancement of the brain function and the natural hormones made. But it tends to affect the eyes and they couldn’t figure out why.”

“They failed to get their little experiment to work on kids, so they moved to pregnant woman,” I said absently, glaring at the man on the screen.

“The enhancement process needs to take place at the earliest development stage,” Andrea said. “For better results.”

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