Page 257 of Golden Eagle

And there it was, suddenly, boiling out from the right side of the intersection, bright purple, thick and noxious.

A moment later, smoke filled the mouth of the hallway on the left.

Were they trying to drive them back the way they’d come? Or lure them forward?

It didn’t much matter, Nikita decided: they had to go forward.

“Keep going!” he barked, and Sasha took off.

Nik sucked in a breath, heard the others do the same, and they charged forward through the thickening wall of purple smoke.

~*~

“I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand, Detective.”

“Try me.”

Fowler sighed. “Very well. The thing you must understand, if you can, is that all of this” – he gestured to the air around himself – “this building, this city, this nation, this civilization, is far more fragile even than the most pessimistic think. They think it will be a nuclear war, or our slowly-roasting climate, or an outbreak of a disease that will end the world. But none of them, save us few who know of him, understand that it will be a creature of legend that rises, sweeps his hand across the world like someone clearing a chessboard, and rebuilds civilization in his image. What is murder, what is any small, mortal sin, in the face of a total restructuring of life as we know it?”

“Bit dramatic.”

“Detective Baskin,” he said, tone suggesting she was stupid. “I joined the Ingraham Institute to further medical science, just as everyone did, but–”

“Sorry, but I’m not buying one line of your bullshit. Why did you kill those men? They’d all come to try and join your clinical trial. How was that getting in the way of thenew world order, or whatever the fuck?”

His nostrils flared, a brief show of irritation. “I don’t think that–”

“I asked,” Trina said, firmly, her internal tremors getting stronger, more hectic. She was losing control of this moment. They were buying time for the crew at the Institute, but she wanted that confession; she needed it, damn it, to condemn the whole organization in the eyes of the public. “And I expect an answer, Dr. Fowler.”

He laughed again, but it was a forced sound, threaded with anger. His eyes, when he tilted his head so she could glimpse them through his lenses, flashed with nothing less than hatred. “Look at you: sitting there, human, unremarkable, and stupid, calling the others ‘pack’ like you’re a part of it. Like you’re a wolf, or a vampire, or a mage – like the one you stole from us.” Each word brought a fresh layer of nastiness to his voice. He was getting too angry, losing control – andthatlooked like it angered him more. He hadn’t planned on getting so worked up. Had wanted to play Dr. Evil and not the overwrought, twisted, petty man that he was. “You’re asking me questions? Questions about damaged mortal losers no one knows anything about? Here’s my question: what happened to LC-7? What have you done with my project?”

Before she could say anything – deliver a cutting insult, or keep her cool, or say that she was pretty sureLC-7had a crush on Alexei Romanov, Mia leaned forward, and her soft, clear voice sliced through the moment like a knife.

“Dr. Fowler, I think my father, Dr. Talbot, would very much like to know why you’ve been killing former trial applicants.”

Stunned silence followed.

Trina’s pulse froze, a moment, and then kicked into a higher gear, one that left her a little faint.My father, Dr. Talbot?

Betrayalwas too delicate a word for the sensation that curled up tight like a fist in her belly. She traded a glance with Jamie, and saw he felt the exact same way.

When Val had arrived, he’d mentioned that Mia had been sick, that he’d turned her to cure her, and something about having visited with her through dream-walking. But they’d all been so stunned by Val’s presence, so overwhelmed by the sheer Val-ness of him, that none of them had stopped to really question the origins of his mate. Of all of them, she and Lanny detectives, Nikita still the suspicious former Chekist, Alexei slow to warm, and Jamie nervous as a cat…andnoneof them had questioned Mia’s presence.

And she was apparently Dr. Talbot’s daughter.

She’d been in their homes, at their tables, in their meetings. Was here right now, inches away, when her father had been the one to take Sasha from them.

The only consolation was that Dr. Fowler looked just as shocked, his mouth actually agape. He closed it with a click of teeth, and cleared his throat. “Dr. Talbot? Dr.EdwinTalbot? He’s your father?”

“Yes.” Mia’s voice quavered on the word, a fast slip, and then went smooth again. “I’m Mia Talbot, his only daughter. He wanted to use his experimental drugs on me, but I chose a more permanent solution.” With her head angled toward the doctor, Trina could just see that she opened her mouth: showing the doctor her fangs.

Dr. Fowler recoiled a fraction; it looked like an involuntary movement, unlike the for-show spectacle he’d been putting on so far. “So you did,” he said.

“There isn’t much my father and I agree on,” Mia continued. “What he’s done is cruel and unreasonable, I don’t care how miraculous his cures turn out to be. But last I checked, he hasn’t resorted to outright murder. And, last I also checked, he’s the head of this whole little Ingraham Institute scheme. What will he do if he finds out what you’ve been doing here in New York?”

Dr. Fowler considered her a long moment. A flush started around the collar of his shirt, and moved up his neck. But when he spoke, his voice was tightly controlled. “Alright, you want to know? Is this some corporate espionage? He sends his vampire daughter to pry into my methods? Fine, I’ll tell you.

“Youfather, Ms. Talbot” – he said it like a curse – “has been withholding his research.Yearshe’s had Prince Valerian locked in his dungeon, but do you think he shared one drop of his blood with our facility here? No, no, that would have been too helpful.

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