Page 35 of Running on Empty

“No,” I said instead, eyes narrowing. “Who are you?”

“I’m Riley Taylor, head of the genetics department at Crowe Corp.” She rattled off her name and position with practised ease, then seemed to see me for the first time. “I don’t think we’ve met—?”

“Nope. I’m Stevie. Stevie Turner.”

“And you’re an… omega.” There was something cool and clinical about her gaze then, though not necessarily unkind. She blinked. “Youromega, Ash? Congrat—”

“Not his omega.” It was then I realised how this looked, me perched on his lap like this. I looked around for another chair, but didn’t find one, so I shrugged it off. “His neighbour.”

“Stevie…” That small smile, that wistful look told me everything I needed to know. She knew exactly who I was. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much…” A mumbled aside from someone in the room with her stopped her mid-sentence and she flushed. “So, I’m working with your… neighbours on a project—”

“Rush.” I bit the word off. “You rang to ask him about Rush.”

“I call it C-790,” she said, rubbing at her forehead. “But yes, Rush.”

“I can tell you about that, probably better than anyone in this whole complex,” I said, controlling my voice so that it contained only the slightest of wavers. “What do you need to know?”

“You…” She gasped slightly then went pale, every spot of colour draining out of her face. There were more rumbly sounds from the masculine voices in the background, and then a big hand reached across and took hers. I expected her to toss it off, because her eyes were wide and staring, her breath coming in too fast, but instead she clung to that hand like it was a life preserver, the only thing that would get her through this. “You took Rush?”

“I was given Rush before I even knew what it was,” I corrected. “I still don’t really know.”

“Well, it’s—”

“Andyoumade it.” I couldn’t keep the accusation out of my voice. “You made the drug they gave me.”

“Yes, I—”

“You made a drug that turned me from a girl who was out for a fun night into…” My eyes slid to what I could see of the files beyond the video call window, the thumbnails showing bodies, so many bodies in various states of debauchery. I pushed myself to continue. “…into a set of receptive omega holes they could do what they liked with.”

“I’m sorry…”

Her voice broke on that, this very pretty lady with the big title. She blinked too rapidly, and I realised what that meant, along with the shine in her eyes, as tears formed, then one fell free.

“It seems so bloody obvious now, that someone would take the drug and misuse it, but…” She wiped her tears away roughly, more voices growing louder in the background, but she silenced them with a sharp shake of her head. “It’s the opposite of what I intended. I wanted to help beta women conceive. There are some who’ve found alpha mates and they want to have babies. That’s it. I overestimated our internal security and underestimated how fucking shitty human beings can be, shifter or otherwise.” Her hands went to her temples, massaging them for a moment before her focus snapped back to me. “I just need you to know how sorry—”

“Don’t apologise.” I could’ve snapped at her. I wanted to, but something in me softened my tone. “Don’t. You didn’t tell them what to do with me. You wouldn’t have approved of what they did.”

“God, no,” she said, staring into the camera. “Never.”

“So what can we do about it?” I asked. I leaned forward, setting my elbows on the desk, and Ash’s hands slapped down on my hips, reminding me of who was with me in the room. “Ash thinks he has enough evidence to put these guys away, but that doesn’t stop the manufacture and transmission of this drug, just changes who’s in charge of it. What can be done to make sure some other fuckers don’t pull this shit with someone else?” I shook my head. “Lots of someone elses.”

“We’re working on a compound that will negate the effects of the drug,” she said. “Turn it from something that induces a heat to harmless components of the compound that remain inactive in the body and then they’re just excreted through urine. And we’re trying to develop a device that people can use to inconspicuously test their drinks and food, detect if they’re being drugged. Then there’s the rehabilitation of those that’ve been on it for some time.”

She glanced at me then, her eyes searching.

“Your energy levels have been lower than normal? Nauseous?” I nodded. “Well, that gets far worse for people who’ve been taking it long term. It was always supposed to be just a temporary thing, something to help induce super ovulation, like wolf shifters naturally do and then trigger a heat to take advantage of that.”

“So I could be pregnant?” My hand slapped down on my already unhappy stomach, partially reassured by the flat shape of it.

“Not unless you were about to go into heat anyway,” Riley said. “We give our clients additional drugs to induce ovulation.”

When Ash’s hand slid around, coming to rest over mine it was both a surprise and a comfort. Maybe a comfort because it was a surprise. He rubbed that big palm over the back of my hand and then leaned forward.

“We’ve identified those that we think are core to the manufacture and distribution of the drug. You won’t like the information,” Ash told her.

“Who?”

Riley looked like a woman preparing for another blow.

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