Page 80 of Veil of Shadows

Jacob waited until my attention was fully on him. He kept his promise. “When Delilah finally wrangled you back onto that chopper, she came for me. She wasn’t gonna leave me behind, Bex. We don’t leave people behind, remember?”

I blinked. “But she asked me to leave you behind.”

“Because she knew you’d get peppered just like me if you weren’t on that chopper. She knew that you were vulnerable, but she wasn’t. That’s why she had you abandon me. But she didn’t. She got to me before I bled out through my legs and Bex? I was scared out of my fucking mind.”

I continue to eat. “I can only imagine, Jacob.”

He shrugged. “So, when she skidded to a stop in front of me, she covered me with her body and that’s when she told me who she was. What she was doing. Told me I had options, believe it or not.”

There. I finally had an in. I reached for my chalice of water and took another long pull. “And, uh… exactly what are you guys doing, anyway?”

Honestly? I didn’t expect him to answer. After all, no one just gives up whatever dastardly plot is brewing behind closed doors with that bitch. However, when his smile grew, I knew I was in for a wild ride.

I just didn’t realize how wild until he started talking.

“In the middle of the desert under the cover of night, with all of those bullets whizzing by us, Delilah covered my body with her own and told me that she was picking and choosing the best and brightest to convert and place within positions of power in our government.”

My heart dropped to my toes. “So, she’s taking over the government?”

He barked with laughter. “Not everyone is out to destroy the world, Bex. That’s what Delilah showed me. It’s easy to fall prey to that concept when we’ve lived the lives we’ve had to live and we’ve done the things we’ve had to do in the name of our government. But, look at what happened on that op. Look at what happened to me and what you were forced to do because you’re only human? Think of everything we could accomplish personally, and as a country, if our agents like you and me weren’t vulnerable to the kinds of things humans are?”

Oh, boy.“I suppose that makes sense.”

He held out his hands to me. “See? I knew once you heard the explanation, you wouldn’t be so spun up. How’s the food?”

I ate until I was content, but I sure as hell didn’t eat until I was full. I needed my wits about me at all times, and being in a food coma didn’t exactly help that much.

“Ooooh, come now,” Jacob said in that beckoning little grunt of his. “I know you’ve got questions.”

I finished eating my plate of food and leaned back in the cushioned chair. “Plenty.”

He leaned back in his chair, too, and shrugged. “I’m an open book.”

I studied him. “Are you really?”

He didn’t hesitate as a smirk crossed his face. “I am, really. Pepper me all you want.”

My face fell. “That’s not fucking funny.”

He held his hands up in mock surrender before he shrugged. “It’s… a little funny.”

I pinned him with a look. “Burying you at your fucking funeral wasn’t funny.”

His face grew solemn. “I’m sorry, Bex. I… couldn’t.”

I had to close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before I asked my first question. “So, our boss is picking and choosing people to turn into vampires in order to place them in important governmental positions to… help more people?”

“It’s more selfish than that for her.”

Bingo.“How so?”

He shrugged. “She’s tired of burying agents when she knows she could help them be capable of more. And I don’t blame her.”

Oh.“How many has she put in government positions? Do you know?”

“I know that she’s wanting to put enough there to run entire teams of vampires through covert operations. You know, those suicide cases that no one in their right mind takes on? She believes that covert teams of vampires would be more than able to execute those plans without a hitch.”

“So, she’s weaponizing vampires.”

---