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I glanced up to see the muscle in his jaw ticking as he stared at Jax. I could sense the tension radiating from him, as if it were taking everything in him to keep himself under control. I remembered what Sebastian told us about how Evan’s dragon was fiercely overprotective and possessive when it came to his mate. I could only imagine what must have been going through his head.
Jax looked between us, but he didn’t say anything as we made our way inside.
Abi was already bringing in a tray of refreshments when we settled in the living room, and I marveled at her composure. While she’d clearly been worried these past few days, she held it together much better than I did. I supposed this was par for the course being an alpha’s wife, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it.
Evan and I sat on one couch, while Jax, Sebastian and Abi took the opposite one. Tension hung thick in the air, with everyone looking on edge. But I badly needed answers.
“Please tell me,” I practically begged. “What happened?”
“All right.” Sebastian cleared his throat, and he sounded steady, despite the dark circles and the haunted look in his eyes. I gripped Evan’s hand, afraid of what he was about to reveal. “While we were at the warehouse, we discovered Tomas has been up to more than we realized.”
Jax cast his eyes to the floor, and I glanced at Evan. “What do you mean?”
Sebastian sighed. “One of the men we rescued was human—one of half a dozen Tomas was holding captive, but this one let us in on his secrets. Turns out, Tomas has been working on a serum.”
“A serum to turn humans into shifters,” Evan growled, his eyes flashing gold.
“Are you serious?” I said, hardly able to believe what I was hearing.
Evan nodded. “It wasn’t against their will. They knew what they were getting into. Well, sort of. Tomas offered them a lot of money to participate in his…experiments.”
“Is that even possible?” Abi said.
“Not yet,” Jax chimed in, rubbing his temple, a look of guilt on his face. “But with everything we've seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised if he's closer to success than we think.”
“This man,” Evan said, “the one who told us of this plan. He’d originally been kept somewhere else, not in cages like the humans we rescued.”
“Cages?” My stomach twisted. I clutched Evan's hand tightly, my knuckles turning white with the force of my grip.
Evan nodded. “There was a lab with cages. It’s where we found Porter. Anyway, this man witnessed others going in for testing, but none of them ever came out. It was obvious the test subjects died during the experiments. Eventually, the volunteers weren’t so willing. They decided they no longer wanted to participate, and that’s when Tomas locked them up.”
“You got them all out? They’re safe and sound?”
Evan looked at Sebastian, then Jax, pressing his lips together, and I shivered in cold dread. “All but the one who told us. We recorded his statement, but he died later in the night. Apparently, Tomas had gotten to him. When the serum fails…”
Sebastian picked up where Evan left off. “Tomas hasn’t perfected the serum yet. The human bodies aren’t able to process it, aren’t able to handle the transition. When that happens, they don’t make it.”
Evan squeezed my hand reassuringly, offering some semblance of comfort amidst the horror.
I glanced at Jax. “Did you know about this?”
Jax sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “I had no idea what was really going on until I was brought to the warehouse. But last week, I discovered some strange email exchanges between my father and a 'doctor' about a serum they were working on. Something about it didn’t sit right. None of our companies dabble in pharmaceuticals or skincare, so I kept digging to figure out what was going on. Apparently, Daddy dearest didn’t take well to that.”
I swallowed. “That’s why he took you?”
“Part of it. He also wanted to use me as leverage against you, and get retribution for my betrayal.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. “What about Porter? Is he okay?”
“Porter will be fine.” Evan squeezed my hand gently. “It turns out Tomas’s men got a tip that we were on our way. We don't know who from, but they tried to trash the lab before we got there and took off just before we arrived. They drugged Porter, hoping it’d kill him, but we found him in time.”
“Thank God,” I whispered, my eyes stinging with tears. “And Rosalind? Where is she now?”
Evan cleared his throat. “Sebastian and I got them both out of the hospital and to a private airstrip safely. They're on a private island now. Their flight records can't be found, so Tomas won't have any way of tracking them down.”
At least we had that going for us. As for Tomas’s sick experiments, I didn’t even know what to think, but Rosalind had gotten what she wanted, and so had we.
I sighed, some of the tension finally draining from my body. “At least we know they're safe for now.”
