Page 69 of Held By a Monster

“We have no records of creatures such as yours. Please tell us how you came to be.”

Zeus already told the full council how we were made, but I would also want to hear it straight from us.

Kragen nodded and shifted from his position at the end of the line to next to me. Roul and Thurl moved to give him room.

“A man named Robert Willis directed a laboratory whose scientists created us from werewolf and dragon DNA.”

“For what purpose?”

That question came from the mer representative.

“Death.”

Roul’s voice rolled over the room, but the silence didn’t last. The council members murmured at each other. The only one not surprised was the fae. He didn’t lean into his fellow representatives. He stared at us, a cocky smile still on his lips.

Without Kendal to protect, I would have killed him already.

Kragen elaborated on Roul’s answer. “The humans saw us as an elite fighting force. They were going to use us to carry out missions they deemed impossible for human soldiers.”

I watched in my peripheral vision as his eyes swung to the far right end of the table.

“The council had a different purpose in mind.”

All eyes snapped to us. Ikram stood. “What are you saying? We had no knowledge of this laboratory. We do not condone genetic engineering.”

“Most of you, perhaps, but at least one of you knew what was happening. Not only knew that we were being created and trained, held captive and tortured, but authorized and encouraged it.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “You have proof of this?”

“Yes.”

“Who do you accuse of such a crime?” Ikram leaned over the table, his palms braced against the wood, his anger apparent.

“Nindrol Zinvaris.”

As a one, the council members’ heads swung toward the fae. The smirk never left his face.

“Is this true?”

I could see Ikram’s muscles bunching under his suit coat. Red scales rolled from beneath the skin of his neck before disappearing.

The fae turned to face the dragon. “Yes. I knew what Willis was doing.”

The merman shoved away from the table, distancing himself from Nindrol with a look of disgust on his features.

“It is against Society!”

The dragon’s roar made me wince. Kragen’s clear voice entered the space that followed.

“We were designed, not to go against all of Society, but one species in particular.”

The smile dropped from the fae’s face and he went a shade paler as our eyes caught Ikram’s.

The dragon slowly turned his head to face Nindrol, the scales beneath his skin crashing like waves against rock. The fae’s chair slid across the floor as he stood.

“The humans sought a supernatural solution to their trickier military problems. I authorized their experiments for that alone!”

The flash of red along Ikram’s neck continued. He never took his eyes from Nindrol as he asked us, “Do you have proof of these accusations as well?”

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