Page 85 of Act of Brotherhood
Auberi stopped snarling and watched the woman.
She nudged Malik.
Malik wiped his brow. “Auberi, you’re aware the enemy has samples from you, from when you were held captive by them. Lots of different ones, right?”
Auberi inclined his head. “Yes. What does that have to do with anything?”
Malik was quiet a moment. He handed Edee the tablet. “Your teammate Searc is mated to a woman named Jessie, right?”
“Yes.” Auberi appeared to be as confused as Garth.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Jessie part of the Asia Project? She was made when they used her father’s sperm to impregnate a woman, and then they tweaked the child in utero, right?”
Auberi nodded—and then backed up so fast that he stumbled. “No!”
Boomer caught him, righting him.
Duke grunted. “Are you fucking telling us that Auberi is this girl’s father? Yeah, right.”
Edee motioned to the tablet near Duke. “The proof is there. James verified it. Auberi is her father. And apparently, Landros is related to her in some fashion as well. He might very well really be her uncle. If so, it’s on her mother’s side. Would he be able to sense that on her?”
“Yes,” said Duke. “He’s old and powerful. He’s more than just a vamp but no one really talks about that. So, yeah, I’d say he’d be powerful enough to pick up on the fact she was related to him. It might not be something we can sense, but I’m thinking he could.”
Malik cleared his throat. “Shit. Seth told me once that Landros had a sister. That she died giving birth to a child the same night he was sired. Seth also said Landros had been his sister’s only family and that he’d given the child away—a girl I think—terrified he’d somehow hurt it since he was newly turned. That means…”
“His bloodline continued throughout the centuries. And we all know Landros was something more than human before becoming a vampire. We just don’t know what,” added Duke. “All of this means it’s entirely possibly whoever Nicolette’s mother was, was in fact blood relation to Landros, even if distant.”
Edee stilled. “Who is Seth?”
“He’s high up in the Shadow Agent Division,” said Striker. “He’s older than Tut even and is also Egyptian.”
Malik nodded. “He was one of the founders of the Crimson Ops Division.”
Striker looked pained. “I cannae imagine what he must have felt having to give away his sister’s child, especially if he’d been close to her.”
Malik nodded. “From what Seth told me, his sister was his entire world. He’d basically raised her by himself. Being sired was a huge blow, but losing his sister nearly did him in. Auberi is the only one of us here who knows what it’s like to suddenly wake up one day with a demon inside you. That can’t be easy.”
“It’s not,” said Auberi, staring at the floor. “Centuries ago, Landros and myself happened upon a little girl while we were in Greece. He’d been a vampire a long time by then. When he saw the child, he froze and he said one name.”
Malik let out a long breath. “Let me guess…Nicolette?”
Auberi nodded. “When the little girl turned to look at us, she smiled and Landros compelled her to hurry home to her parents, for the night was full of dangers. He then looked me dead in the eyes and told me she reminded him greatly of someone he’d loved and lost.”
“Anyone want to put bets on his dead sister being named Nicolette?” asked Malik, sounding less than thrilled by the news.
Auberi looked pained. “I have no child. I cannot be a father to anyone.”
“Well, let me see if this situation is as fucked up as it seems.” Duke lifted the tablet and turned it around more than once. “The damn screen keeps flipping around.”
Rurik went to the man and assisted, but it took more than one try. Neither man was very tech savvy. He pointed to the tablet. “Now look.”
Duke did, and he gasped. He whipped around and looked at Auberi. “Congratulations, it’s a girl. She’s totally yours. In fact, there is like zero room for error on these results.”
“No,” whispered Auberi, staggering back more until he fell into a seat and stared down at the floor. “Landros would have told me. He wouldn’t have kept something as huge as that from me. It’s so rare for a vampire to have a child that it’s something that is cherished, not hidden away.”
Malik went to the man and bent. He put his hand on Auberi’s shoulder. “Old friend, Landros has known you far longer than I’ve known you. I’m guessing he knew you wouldn’t have been open to hearing the truth. You’re barely able to wrap your mind around it now.”
Auberi reached for a tablet and flipped through the report. He cursed, looking directly at Garth. “He’s known the truth of it since the lab incident. The one where we found the children twenty years ago.”
