Page 10 of Act of Brotherhood
Gram glanced around as he continued to hold a baby. “I’ve seen a lot in my years. This is…it’s…horrendous.”
The rest of the men nodded.
Garth cleared his throat. “I’ve seen something just like this before.”
The men in the room looked at him.
“Germany. Nazi time. I was present when one of the breeding facilities was discovered.”
They all flinched at his words.
Hans gripped the crib nearest him. It was then Garth noticed the man had not touched any of the children. He too seemed stuck in place.
Auberi looked up. “When the Nazis held me, it was not pleasant, but it was not like this. There were no children in the facility I was in. Just adults. All supernatural.” He continued to doctor child after child efficiently as if he were on the battlefield dealing with wounded soldiers in need of fast care. “I don’t know what all was done to these children. What I do know is, they aren’t human.”
Taking another deep breath, Garth caught it then. The underlying scent of varying supernatural types on the children. When he realized the mix of supernaturals was coming fromeachof them, not just as a whole, he faced Auberi. “They are blends of more than one type of supernatural?”
“My head says no. The rest of my senses say yes,” returned the vampire. “I can run additional tests on them at a later date. And before anyone asks, the tests will not harm them in any way. I’m not a monster. Each time I took the Hippocratic Oath, I meant it.”
The little girl in Landros’s arms stared at Auberi. Garth noticed the vampire watching her from the corner of his eyes as well.
A little girl with matted brown hair came running out of the back with Daniel Townsend, the vampire who headed the team Auberi was part of, running behind her, looking exasperated. The British vampire was usually even-keeled and rarely looked riled. Right now, it looked as if he’d gone ten rounds with a heavyweight champion. Garth strongly suspected the champion in this scenario was the little girl. There was a certain light in her huge green eyes that said she was mischievous. The fact that she was giggling and checking behind her really drove home that Garth was onto something.
She came to a grinding halt and Daniel nearly fell over her. He somehow managed to avoid colliding with her, instead stumbling past her and into an exam table. He stood, did his best to straighten his black shirt, and then cast Garth a look that said he was close to pulling out a white flag of surrender.
Garth nearly laughed.
“She has a lot of energy,” said Daniel, nodding his head in the direction of the little girl with green eyes.
“So I see,” returned Garth.
The little girl blinked up at Landros and the other child. For a moment, she merely stood there, staring at Landros. Her tiny expression hardened for a fraction of a second before a large smile broke over her face. She then pivoted, bolting back in the direction she’d come from.
“Bloody hell,” whispered Daniel as he ran off behind her.
“Townsend will need a nap after this. That one is full of piss and vinegar,” said Gram with a huff. “That’s guid. Means she’s managed to stay strong during this all. That one is a warrior. Mark my words.”
Landros stared off in the direction the child had gone. “She was worried about this one. While none of the children are easy to read mentally, that little one all but threw her thoughts at me. She wanted me to know she and the one with me now are close. And that if I permitted harm to come to her friend, she would hold me responsible.”
Garth snorted—and then stopped when he realized Landros wasn’t kidding. “You’re serious?”
Landros nodded. “Quite.”
“You were just mentally threatened by someone who is like knee high,” added Garth, finding the act amusing.
“I believe the threat was not empty. Can you sense it in the air? Fae magik?” asked Landros.
The operatives each paused in what they were doing.
Gram scrunched his face before a smile burst over him. “Aye, it’s there. Faint but still.”
The girl in Landros’s arms coughed and closed her eyes. Was she sick? Had she been given too much of whatever poison they’d been pushing?
Auberi finished up with another child, but this time the man had the audacity to lift the thing out to Garth. “Take this little one to Blaise. He’s underfed and needs to be cleaned, but he’ll be fine.”
Garth stared at the boy who was around the age of three. Unless the child came with a manual, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. How did one pick up a child without hurting them? They were so small. “I don’t know what to do with a kid.”
Children were not something Garth was used to dealing with. In all his time, he’d never had any of his own—for that, he’d need to be mated—nor had he been around many. He made a point to avoid them.
