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“You like it.” It was a statement, and a smug one at that.

I faced my new boss and put my palms over my heart. “It’s incredible.”

His smile lit his eyes until they glowed. “I’m glad. Let me show you your office space.”

Julian led the way toward a door off to the side, and I realized with some shock that the elevator had completely disappeared. He stopped, seeing my expression, and chuckled. “It will appear when needed.”

Following through the door, I found an office almost as large as the lab. A long glass desk sat in front of a picture window that looked out across the beach and the tarmac, now dotted with sleek black jets and a few cars. The forcefield that surrounded the secret island base glimmered in the sunshine, acting like a prism and flashing rainbows sporadically through the air.

“I trust this will be suitable?” Julian asked, hands clasped behind his back.

“Absolutely,” I said, plopping into the ergonomic ivory desk chair and spinning around. The seat seemed to adjust to my body perfectly, and I didn’t doubt it had actually done so.

Catching the edge of the desk, I stopped myself and looked up at Julian. “Now tell me about the case.”

“If you’re sure you won’t have another panic attack,” Julian said.

“I’m much better now, thank you. Talk.”

“So, I will assume you’ve heard of GoDKiller,” he said pacing the width of the room as I tracked him with my eyes.

I nodded.

“It’s troubling to say the least. A new drug that can instantly kill the strongest supe. The balance of power could easily shift, throwing us into a period of instability not unlike the Battle of Tunguska in 1909.”

The battle had been short lived but devastating, according to the history books. The land had never recovered, and hundreds died in the battle. Every young supe learned at an early age about the danger of upsetting the magical balance of the world. I swallowed hard.

“Not to mention,” Julian continued, “those who believe vampires and shifters to be monsters could gain access to lethal means to see them destroyed.”

It was impossible not to notice he’d used the term “them” even though he was one.

“We believe whoever created the weapon has limited quantities of it or we’d have already seen it used far more. If that’s true, then we still have a chance to bring a halt to the catastrophe before it’s unstoppable.”

“Julian,” I interrupted, feeling ill. “Please sit down. You’re making me nervous.”

He dropped into one of the seats on the other side of my desk but remained straight-backed and perched on the edge. I didn’t know if he was always that uptight or if it was the strain of the case. The case that I’d inadvertently created.

The urge to faceplant on my desk was strong.

“The problem is,” Julian continued, oblivious to my mounting guilt, “the four casualties thus far are connected as enemies of a specific group. But all of our intel shows no connection to anyone capable of creating something of this magnitude.”

“Which means what?” I asked, barely above a whisper.

Julian spread his arms open in a shrug. “Which means they stole it or forced someone to do this against their will. Either way, we need to locate this person so we can get to the bottom of it and destroy whatever the source is.”

“Destroy?” My voice cracked. It was a good thing I was sitting. “As in kill them?”

“No,” Julian said, brows furrowed as though puzzled I’d come to that conclusion. “Destroy the weapon and any trace of it. Preferably, we will imprison the perpetrators, not kill them, but that’s up to the tribunal.”

I licked my lips. “So you want me to…”

“Examine the remains of the victims. It’s the only clue we have, other than the House of Mordock. Hopefully, there’ll be traces left behind that you can isolate so we can track down the creator.”

“Mordock?” I asked, coming out of my stupor for a moment. “As in the Vampire Mafia family?” That’s who White Hair worked for? Shit.

“Don’t worry,” Julian said with a smile, “I don’t expect you to go in the field or deal with anyone off this island. That’s my job. Besides, you are under our protection now, so running around partaking in dangerous situations is not an option.”

But I needed it to be if I was going to try and save Lydia.