Page 50 of Their Defiant Mate

“Were you scanning too?” she asked Kyle. “Did you see anything helpful?”

Kyle shook his head. “Just longer flashes of what we’ve seen before. They’re in some sort of cave. I couldn’t see where the cave was or how to get down there, but the emotions I sensed substantiated what Elias said. It felt like they were waiting for something, dreading whatever that something was, but it hadn’t happened yet.”

“That’s wonderful, but Juan can’t hold them off forever,” Tara stressed. “We have to find that cave before it’s too late.”

“We know.” Kyle sounded slightly impatient, so he paused to smooth out his tone. “Our best chance of finding him is to use Juan as a conduit.”

Her brow furrowed and her tone grew sharp. “Just follow the tracker signal to wherever the hell he is. This doesn’t need to be complicated.”

Isaac moved forward and put his hands on her shoulders. “We know you’re worried about your friends, but you’re starting to take it out on us.”

She took a deep breath then sighed. “I’m sorry. Please, explain how you’re going to find Juan.”

“The tracker signal is simply a telepathic anchor,” Kyle resumed. “In a perfect world, we would simply follow the signal to wherever he is. However, an underground location complicates everything. The signal would likely lead us to the groundabovewhere he is without revealing how to get down there.”

“I didn’t think of that,” she admitted. “So, what’s the alternative?”

Kyle moved closer, his expression softening. He was clearly trying to put her at ease. “One of the reasons we’re Shadow Team One is because we can network with the senses of others. It takes all three of us, but we should be able to see through Juan’s eyes, to hear what he says, and even hear some of his thoughts. If we’re patient, Juan will show us how he’s getting in and out of the underground.”

“But that could take days, maybe weeks,” she objected. “I’m sure you can’t keep the connection active all the time, so you’d have to keep checking until you’re lucky enough to do it while he’s walking down there or walking out.” She threw up her hands and shook her head. “This is a horrible idea.”

“Do you have a better one?” Isaac snapped. He was exhausted and hungry and the last thing he needed was one of Tara’s tantrums. “We are doing everything possible to find this elusive cave, and we will continue to do so. Your fits of temper are not helping anyone.”

She glared at him, but said nothing.

“It might take a while,” Kyle agreed. “But the strategy could work. It’s the best chance we’ve got right now.”

“That’s not comforting,” she muttered. “Can I go back to our cabin? I’m surrounded by enemies.”

She motioned to the displays of Elias and Babcock, but Isaac was pretty sure he was included in her statement. “Go ahead and escort her,” he told Kyle. “I’m going to take another shot at Babcock and then I’ll join you at home.”

Isaac walked them to the stairs and was about to question Babcock when the door at the top of the stairwell opened again. Zion descended, his movements surprisingly agile considering his size. “Any progress?”

“Maybe.” He explained what had transpired and what they intended to try. “Unfortunately, we need Jon for this and he’s up at the raptor village.”

“Summon him back,” Zion advised. “This is more important.”

“I will.”

“What about Babcock?” Zion nodded toward the door to the left of the security booth.

“He just glares or laughs. He honestly thinks his knowledge will protect him. With the wolves he would have been right. But we don’t need him to reproduce, so I’m about ready to go digging.”

“Do it. Malik looked over his notes and analyzed the injections. Obviously, Malik’s understanding of genetics is not equal to Babcock’s, but his medical background is sufficient to say that we want nothing to do with any of it. Babcock might have toldthe wolves that he was helping them reproduce, but the formula was triggering a full metamorphosis.”

“He was trying to create a female shapeshifter?” Isaac had seen the result in Elias’ mind. This didn’t really surprise him. Of the sixteen female hybrids, only two of them could shift. He’d always presumed the Griffin Project was simply more interested in creating male shapeshifters than female. Apparently, there was more to the anomaly than he knew.

“Malik says that unleashing the ability in females is the only thing that makes sense,” Zion concluded. “Take what you can from his mind and then end him. We’ve wasted resources on that bastard long enough.”

“Understood.” Isaac just stood there for a moment after Zion left. He’d been waiting for this order since they found out that Babcock was still alive. There was no doubt that the amoral piece of shit deserved to die. He was responsible for the altered existence of every hybrid on this planet. And worse, Babcock had learned nothing from the downfall of Nuevo Biotech. The first opportunity he got, he was right back to his old tricks, engineering DNA and costing unsuspecting victims their lives. The suffering ended tonight, but before it did Isaac needed to collect every scrap of pertinent information from Babcock’s mind.

Determination restored, Isaac walked over to the left cell block and the guard pulled open the door. Babcock occupied the center cell. The other two were empty. He was lying on his back, arm bent under his head, but he sat up as soon as Isaac entered.

“About damn time,” Babcock muttered. “You would do better to move me to appropriate accommodations and treat me with therespect I deserve. Starving me isn’t going to get you what you want.”

“And what is it you think I want?” Isaac returned. Babcock’s arrogance made what Isaac had to do that much easier.

Babcock narrowed his eyes and pushed to his feet. “I know more about the hybrids on this planet than anyone else. I should. I created you. I know all the secrets locked away in your genetics. Longevity, procreation,boundaries, I can control them all.”

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