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“It wasn’t easy,” she said. Concern for her well-being, and that of our baby, tugged at my heart as we entered our bedroom. “I think a nap might be good. I’ve been so tired lately.”
The doctor had told us that was perfectly normal. “Sleep if you need to. I’ll be right upstairs if you need me for anything at all.”
“I’ll be fine.” She gave me a tired smile, then went up on tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “But let me know if there's anything I can do to help after you talk to Lucas.”
“Of course,” I said, watching as she climbed into bed. Once she was settled, I shut the door and climbed the stairs to the third floor. I’d already texted Lucas to meet me as soon as he could. With a heavy sigh, I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.
“Hey, Evan," Lucas answered after a few rings. “I’m nearly there, but you can give me the rundown over the phone in the meantime. What's going on?”
“Lucas, we have new information, and it makes our situation with Tomas even more urgent than I thought,” I said. “He has vials of Mariah's blood, and I’m coming to believe it's the key to making more serum. That’s why he wanted her in the first place.”
He cursed. “I’ll be there in less than five.”
Minutes later, Lucas arrived in my office, the shock clear on his face when I told him what else Mariah revealed about her blood.
“How is that possible?”
“I’m not sure, but if it’s true, someone else must know about it.” My eyes landed on Sebastian's old book of contacts amidst the clutter on his desk—my desk now.
Once I grabbed the book and put it between Lucas and I, a pang of sadness struck me. Coming to terms with his death was something I still dealt with every single day—the guilt that I hadn’t been able to save him, the rage when I thought about how I’d only just gotten my father back, only to lose him all over again. Sebastian had been the strongest man I’d ever known. His presence, his wisdom, and his guidance were all sorely missed.
“Dad had connections all over the world,” Lucas said while he scanned the names and numbers written in our father's script. “There must be someone we can trust.”
“Agreed, but who would we reach out to about something like this?” I traced my fingers over the names. “We need to choose carefully. We can’t trust just anyone, and we can't afford any mistakes.”
Not when the stakes were so high. Time was not on our side, and every moment that passed brought Tomas one step closer to achieving his twisted goals.
As we worked through the afternoon, carefully making our way through the names in Sebastian's worn leather-bound book, I started to lose hope. Who could we truly trust with this? Tomas had a way of getting his hands on people and corrupting them. We needed allies more than ever—people who could help us in our fight.
“Here,” Lucas said, pointing to another name that caught his attention. “This one looks promising. Matthew Hensley. He’s an FBI agent.”
“An agent? Can we trust someone like that?” So far, we’d kept things mostly under the radar of the human world, and if there were people out there who carried dormant shifter DNA… well, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there yet with anyone outside my family.
“Sebastian trusted him enough to put him in this book,” Lucas said. “I remember hearing the name. He's dealt with paranormal cases before, with shifters, so he's familiar with our kind.”
I hesitated, not wanting to jump the gun, but did we really have any other options to go on?
“Okay,” I said, reaching for the phone. “We'll give him a try. But we won’t mention Mariah’s family DNA to him, and we need to…”
I froze, a sudden awareness washing over me.
“Evan?” Lucas eyed me warily, but a moment later, he sensed it too. “Someone’s here.”
“Not just anyone.” I recognized the signature of the dragon shifter, and the familiar presence of a man who’d become like a brother. Relief flooded through me, momentarily pushing aside my worries about Tomas, the serum, and everything else I had on my plate as I flashed Lucas a grin.
“Jax is home.”
Chapter 4
Mariah
My eyes glazed over as I tried to focus on the book I was supposed to be using for my research paper. Ever since I’d found out I was pregnant, my ability to focus had waned. My mind raced, my body felt off, and I couldn’t keep my attention on my studies for longer than five minutes at a time.
But more than that, I couldn’t stop thinking about the doctor’s appointment. He thought my blood was still of use to Tomas, which meant Tomas wasn’t done with me. Not that this was a surprise, but to have it confirmed by a medical professional made it feel more real.
How was I supposed to pretend everything was okay when my life was complete chaos? And then there was the likely fact that my father’s family line consisted of shifters. It was one shock after another: I should be used to it by now, but each one only added to the weight I was already carrying.
I leaned back in my office chair and sighed, rubbing my eyes, when a sudden awareness prickled at the back of my neck. My eyes flew open as I sat up straight.
