Page 35 of Veil of Shadows

“What?” I snapped as I whipped my head toward him.

He sighed. “Why is what she said important?”

His words focused me back onto the conversation and I settled my hand on top of his on my right knee. I squeezed softly, silently thanking him for the refocusing.

Then, I turned my attention back to Voss. “Delilah believed that Jacob had made a choice to save me by urging me onto the helicopter. Which also means, according to her moral code, that he also chose to sacrifice himself.”

I looked around the kitchen table at all three of them before I finally spat my theory.

“I think she believes that she’s saving people. I think Delilah truly believes that she’s giving these people that she turns some sort of a choice between a fleeting mortal existence and immortality. And I think that she’s telling people whatever they need to hear in order to get them to choose immortality.”

Dom was the first to speak. “But, why would she want them to choose immortality in the first place? Doesn’t anyone know what becoming a vampire does to them? The human nature that it removes? The life that is sucked away?”

Voss muttered beneath his breath. “People get desperate when they’re dying.”

I pointed at him again. “Yes, they do. And I think she exploits that.”

Dom waved his free hand in the air. “So, she’s… what? Giving dying people a choice? That doesn’t sound like her.”

I snickered softly. “It’s no different than military recruiting tactics.”

Ronyn straightened his back. “She’s got a point. Humans use the best of the military world to convince young ones to enlist, when the best of the military world is also the rarest.”

I nodded slowly as I looked over at Dom. “Given how important choices seem to be with her, I’m more inclined to think that’s what she’s doing. You say this vampire you guys… interrogated… said he wanted to?—”

“It,” Voss said flatly.

I pinned him with a look. “Just because you dehumanize them doesn’t mean I have to.”

“They’re not alive, so they’re certainly not human,” Voss spat.

I slowly stood from my seated position, feeling Dom and Ronyn’s hands fall away from my knees. “You’re a wolf, so you’re only half human. Does that mean I get to call you a good doggie?”

Voss growled as he slowly stood. “You better watch that mouth of yours.”

I saw his fists ball up at his sides and I tilted my head. “What? Going to use those advanced interrogation techniques on me now?”

“Come on, Bexley!” Voss bellowed.

I pinned him with a look. “You and I may not see eye to eye when it comes to how you treat vampires, but that doesn’t stop me from knowing in the pit of my fucking gut that she’s most likely giving these people a choice. And if Delilah’s as sneaky as the CIA trained all of us to be? Then, she’s giving people a choice between death and what they want to hear. Because you’re right, I don’t think many people would willingly choose the life of a vampire. Which means she has to be feeding them somethingmighty fucking good before they make the decision to gives their lives over to her.”

Dom stood to my left. “But, why would shewantthem to choose immortality in the first place? Forget what she’s telling them so that they agree. Why would she want them to agree? I mean, outside of the fact that if someone doesn’t agree to the transformation, it can go… wrong.”

I paused. “Wrong? How so?”

“Not important,” Voss interjected, “the point is, Dom’s got a good point. We have a theory for why, but it gets us no closer to her purpose.”

“Simple,” Ronyn said as he stood.

A grin slithered across my face. “I thought you’d figure it out first.”

“Figure what out first?” Dom asked.

I grinned wickedly at Voss. “Why does anyone in government do anything that they do nowadays?”

And when Voss didn’t respond, Ronyn’s voice filled the air all around us.

“To leave a legacy, that’s why.”

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