Page 120 of Shrouded in the Dark
“If that’s the argument,” Jasper pulled out his phone. “Any one of us could do that.”
I frowned at him. I didn’t like that thought at all. Judging by his smirk, I think that was the point, that they felt the same way. I sighed, defeated.
“So, then, what do we do? Wyn isn’t going on his own.” I pointed at him. “And you knew that would be the response before you even said anything.”
Wyn offered me an apologetic wince. “I know, but I can’t just abandon Felicity. She’s still not a full-fledged Venandi.” He reached behind him and rubbed his neck. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have backup nearby. If something does occur, I can get her out of there with force. I’d just rather not have that happen.”
It had to be hard for Wyn. He’d been between the fighting groups for so long. I’d glimpsed his hardened expressions when he didn’t think anyone was paying attention. He’d had so much responsibility thrust upon him and he was still so young.
“So, we’ll all go with you.” I glanced at the guys. “Yeah?”
“Now wait just a second.” Mom was still standing with a glare on her face. “You all can’t just go to this place! Even I know that’s dangerous and stupid.” My eyes widened as she turned her glare on me. “I didn’t raise you to be stupid.”
“Your mother has a point.” Gary rubbed his temples. “I think we need to split up. Getting more information on what’s happening is important and getting Wyn’s cousin, but I need to meet with the leaders of the resistance. I think it’s time we come out of the clockwork and present ourselves if the Fae engage. This could turn bloody very quickly and innocent humans and supernaturals will get caught in the middle.”
“As much as I don’t like it, it makes sense.” Seth moved behind me. “We made a promise not to split up this family, but I don’t want to leave Becca without protection if we split up.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “Protection?”
His lips were pressed together. “If this is leading up to an all scale war with the Fae, it’s going to get dangerous. What they lack in numbers, they more than make up for in power. There are some Fae that control the elements. Can you imagine what could happen if they let loose their power?”
“Gary, who is in the resistance?” Jasper stretched his arms above his head, cracking his neck. “You say you work from the shadows, you have to have some powerful allies of your own, right?”
“Yes, I’d like to know this as well.” Seth leaned back, making me tip back a little. “We’d always heard rumors of you guys, but never knew there was actually a resistance until you confirmed it.”
Gary looked around the room with a frown on his face. He took a minute to himself before he answered.
“I guess it’s only fair since you’re smack dab in the middle of all of this.” He closed his laptop. “Alright. I’ll tell you.”
Cody moved so that he laid his head in my lap. I stroked his hair almost automatically now.
“Several years before I met Ginny, I had started to dislike all the Venandi stood for. It felt like mindless slaughter at points. My last straw was when a group was sent out to destroy a family of wolf shifters. They weren’t part of a larger pack, more like the family you have now, just with kids.”
Cody stiffened underneath my hand and Jasper clasped Cody’s hand with his. Seth even let out a low growl from behind me.
Gary nodded at them, as if he understood. “When the order was given to kill the kids, I knew that we were in the wrong. It was a massacre thanks to a surprise attack with overwhelming numbers. I went in with the soldiers, even though I was a scientist. The family had been in the middle of dinner. It wasn’t until we were clearing out the bodies that I noticed that they’d killed six shifters, but the place settings had seven plates.” He looked at Cody, who began to shake. “A young boy was hiding in the front closet that I checked out. I left him there with a warning to not make a sound and I threw the extra plate in the trash without anyone noticing.”
Cody’s body curled. He wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face in them. I moved forward to hug him, offering soft reassurances as our other mates surrounded us. Silent sobs with soft hiccups came from him. Seth moved me back after a few minutes and took Cody into his arms, sitting back so he could rock with him. Cody moved his face into the crook of his neck as Seth began to hum a soft tune that the other guys started to join in. Wyn came to my side and held my hand as we watched. Jasper rubbed Cody’s back as Axel leaned over them engulfing both Seth and Cody in a large hug. I wasn’t sure what I could do.
That had been Cody’s family. Gary had been there. Grief shot through me. The horrors that Cody must have gone through.
“Becca?” Cody shifted from Seth’s embrace, looking at me with haunted eyes. “Please?”
I was moving without thought as he held out his arms. He pulled me into him and his tears fell onto my chest as I stroked his hair.
“I love you, Cody. That will never change. We all love you. We’re going to protect you.” My whispers in his ear were for only him, but I knew the others could hear it.
It took a little bit, but he relaxed and stopped crying with all of us around him.
This explained so much.
“After that night, I started secretly sabotaging little things. They were mostly just inconveniences to them, but if it helped save another life somehow, I was determined to do it.” Gary continued after Cody uncurled from Seth’s lap but still held onto me. “That’s when I met Wyn and discovered we felt the same way.”
Wyn nodded. “It wasn’t long after that they started the experiments with shifters they captured. A few weeks before the experiment that would have me become a hybrid, we were approached by someone outside of the compound.”
Gary ran his hands through his hair as he slumped forward. “He was with the resistance. I still have no idea how they figured out about what I’d been doing, but they knew. He was one of the leaders. The resistance consists of mostly humans, ex-Venandi’s who were reported as killed in action, and some other species. This guy was a vampire. First one that I had met.” He shook his head. “It’s not a big group, but we’ve grown over the years.”
Mom passed him a bottle of water, making him take a sip before he continued. He gave her a gentle smile.
