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Given she was a cave lion shifter, one of the largest of the prehistoric big cats, she was fairly sure her DNA would emerge the victor, but at what cost to Mason? That was the downside. Turning Mason would allow her undamaged DNA to take over and heal him; only he would be a cave lion for the remainder of his life. There would be no way to change him back. Transitions were irreversible.
Normally male shifters bit or had some kind of ceremony in which they claimed their mate and if they weren’t of the same type, began the transition. She had no idea if she, as a female, could bite Mason to trigger the transition. The other thing was that the bite from her cave lion would be savage and noticeable.
She arrived home, parked her SUV, and went up to her flat. She shook her head. There were other issues to consider if she tried to inflict a claiming bite on Mason. For one thing, she doubted he’d even allow it, much less welcome it. At the threat of a superior predator, his snow leopard would make itself known. And would he lose his twin link with Carson?
The last thing they wanted to do was provide any additional proof to NLGP that there were shifters in the world. They might know there were shifters, but she and Mason didn’t need for them to know they had a snow leopard and a cave lion in their midst.
And cloning, or worse yet, trying to create a new species? The resulting creatures would be, at best, mutants or genetic freaks. Besides, while the clones might not be sterile, thus far they had higher degrees of infertility, and it was rare for a breeding to be successful. Emery felt confident that any clone or hybrid created wouldn’t produce viable breeders.
Once inside her loft, Emery locked herself in and then turned on a recording of the great cellist Yo-Yo Ma. She found the cello to be soothing to her frazzled nerves. She pulled off her work clothes and felt a need to take a shower. The magnitude of the evil she now believed NLGP was up to was bone-chilling and made her feel dirty that she’d ever had a hand in helping them with anything.
Once she was clean, she pulled on her favorite chunky cable-knit sweater that was several sizes too big and hung down almost to her knees. There was something about a fire and running around barefoot in her old comfy sweater that made most bad things fade into nothing. NLGP wasn’t nothing, but at least she felt cleaner and more relaxed.
As she began to chop vegetables for an omelet, she began putting together a plan and a timeline. She’d felt Mason’s concern for her safety, and while she didn’t dismiss it, it wasn’t her first consideration. The first thing she needed to do was turn Mason so his cave lion could take over and begin to heal him. While that was happening, she would need to ferret out just exactly what NLGP was up to and how to stop them. Doing that covertly would be difficult, but she had to find a way.
That night her dream was far more intense than it had ever been. She’d seen Mason in his shifted form, and he’d seen her. She’d worried that the elegant snow leopard might find her sturdy, less graceful and much larger body to be a major turn off, but that hadn’t seemed to be the case. He’d brought her down and pinned her with little trouble and then made love to her in a primal, savage way that had left her with feelings that remained with her throughout the day.
* * *
Terry, the security guard, met her at the door and showed her to her new office. He grinned as he saw her new Keurig in her arms as she entered the building.
“I got the rest of your stuff moved down to your new office. I think it’s really nice that you left your old coffee maker for the team.”
“Kam said they might split the team up. If they do, grab the Keurig for you and the rest of the guys.”
He showed her to a secure area behind large, thick metal doors. It was a small foyer that housed four small elevators.
“These are the only ones that go down to the lower level.”
He ushered her in and showed her how to use her key card, thumbprint and retinal scan to access the areas of the building to which only a select group had access. Once on Lower Level Three, he showed her to her office. She had expected a small, dark, and dismal office with no natural light. When Terry flipped on the light, she realized how wrong she was.
The office was large and comfortable, and she even had a private area with a toilet and sink. But the big surprise was the enormous wall of glass that took up the entire back wall. She knew they were underground, but what lay before her made her question that.
“How?” she said, looking at a beaming Terry.
“They created artificial sunlight so they could grow plants.”
She walked up to the window and gazed out. They had created a fairly good-sized atrium filled with rich, green, and blooming plants. A stream trickled along the floor. She felt as though she knew what Alice had felt when she’d first seen Wonderland. It was amazing and breathtaking.
“Being on this ground floor is best. This window right here is actually a door. If you unlock it, it slides out of the way and you can go for a walk in the garden. There’s a couple of benches and a nice little pavilion. Only those of you on this floor have access.”
She smiled, but then her scientist kicked in. “If they can make artificial sunlight that can give life to these plants, why isn’t NLGP sharing that technology with the world? It would make solar power a viable option for people that don’t live in areas where they’d normally get enough sun.”
“I’ve often wondered that, but you learn pretty quick around here not to ask a lot of questions.”
“That makes no sense. The very essence of scientific inquiry is asking questions and trying to find the answers.” She silenced herself, knowing that Terry was correct. NLGP was not a place where you asked questions. “As always, Terry, thanks for your assistance.”
“Like I said, if you’re ever in trouble, you call on me.”
“Do you think I’m in danger, Terry?”
“It’s not my place to say, but yes, I do. There’s a lot of nasty shit that goes on down here. I’ve even heard that they found Dr. Payne and brought him back more dead than alive.”
She nodded subtly but said nothing. He nodded to her and said, “Well, I’d best be getting back upstairs, but you call if you need anything.”
As usual, Emery was first in her office. She spent part of the morning getting set up and then realized Kam had sent her a lot of new information, including Mason’s medical records. She was no physician, but even she could see he’d been close to death when he arrived at Reykjavik. She looked through the medications noted and realized one of the chemicals being used to sedate him would also inhibit both his ability to shift and to heal himself. Emery wondered if NLGP knew or understood shifter physiology. Mason was a shifter—were they aware of that? What were they trying to accomplish?
She spent the rest of her day wrapping up the work she had done on Carson’s team, combing through Mason’s medical records and reading the files Kam had sent her. She had already formulated an answer for Kam if she asked why she’d spent so long on Mason’s medical records. After all, she needed to know the full extent of his injuries and the progress he’d made thus far before she could even begin to suggest what gene therapies would have the most efficacy.
