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He muttered something, but even my zombie ears couldn’t pick it up over the snick and shwuush of alligator claws and tails. I doubted it was, “Nice to see you, Angel.”
I got them into their pen without incident and told them again how wonderful they were—and promised they wouldn’t have to live cooped up forever. They raised their voices in eerie warbly growls that penetrated to my bones. I joined their song for a brief moment then returned to the lab, pretending not to notice the smears of blood the gators had left behind.
“Where’s Kristi?” Pierce snapped the instant I stepped through the door.
“Dead,” I replied, which earned me the attention of everyone in the room. I went on to explain how I confronted Kristi on the roof and then made sure the extraction team couldn’t rescue her—by taking her over the edge with a flying leap.
I hesitated to tell the part about Kang since Rachel and Portia didn’t know about the mature zombie ability to take on a new form. But, fuck it. The FBI agents knew, and Rachel was utterly loyal to the Tribe. And Portia . . . well, I had a feeling Dr. Nikas wouldn’t be keeping secrets from her.
“But we still have a Kristi Charish.” I took a deep breath and related how Kang ate her brain and took on her form, and how Billy said he would manage the whole Kristi-Kristi situation.
“Billy Upton?” Pierce said, eyes narrowing. “He’s one of Kristi’s people.”
“Actually he’s one of Sorsha’s—”
“Jesus, Angel. You left that mess with the FBI?”
Though I wanted to yell at him, I calmly folded my arms over my chest. “Yes. Would you like to know why?”
“I would.”
I kept my expression and tone super chill. “Because it was the right choice. Because Agent Aberdeen works with a special task force and already knows all about us. Because we need help—their help—to pull off the whole Kang-Kristi con and keep a lid on our secrets.”
Pierce glowered for another few seconds then shook his head. “All right. I probably would’ve done the same in your shoes.”
I resisted the urge to feign a heart attack at his decision to agree with me, and instead simply offered a cool nod. “But what sucks hard is that Kristi didn’t have anything about the cure in her briefcase.”
Pierce sighed. “I’m so sorry, Angel.”
I blinked to keep back tears. Everything had been so chaotic I hadn’t had time to really let it hit me. We had no cure, and Nick and the others were going to die.
“There’s something else,” I said, chest tight and aching. “Kyle is dead.”
Pierce sobered. “What happened?”
I told him about Kristi and her new anti-zombie serum that turned zombies into mindless slaves, and how Kyle had pushed me out of the way and taken the hit.
Dr. Nikas disengaged from Portia, went to the whiteboard and wrote and erased, wrote and erased.
I told Pierce how I thought a combat mod might slow it down, and how Kyle had said no. That he was ready. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I didn’t try to stop them. I hadn’t cried yet for Kyle, and he deserved my grief.
Finally, I told Pierce about the promise I’d made last year in New York, and then told him how I shot Kyle.
Shock amplified my grief when Pierce stepped forward and put his arms around me.
“You did the right thing,” he murmured. “I was wrong to have Kyle turned against his will. Ari told me. Brian told me. I knew it in my heart. But despite what I did to him, Kyle was a faithful soldier, never giving less than his all. You were right to make the promise and to keep it.”
Over by the whiteboard, Dr. Nikas said, “Reg, pull up th
e analysis of protein gel sample two, again.” Then after a moment, “Angel, forgive me.”
I looked up and wiped my eyes. “What is it?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you.” He had a dry erase marker in his hand and a blue ink smudge on his nose and cheek. “But this is important. I am on the verge of a breakthrough.”
“You are?” I shoved away from Pierce. “What can I do?”
“Jacques sent the analysis of the protein packet gel that killed the patient at the gym. It had tranq components.”
