AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But why the Vaults?” It was another alpha-specific thing I’d honed in on in my Arkology textbooks. The Cimmerian Vaults had a whole chapter. It was a logistical nightmare keeping the alphas contained and safe. “Why would the people running the experiments want to deal with containment?”
“All the alphas that were taken ended up registered as dead. Not uncommon in a place like that. It was untraceable.”
I nodded, mind racing a million miles a minute. “And… typically alphas like that are stronger, right?”
“Their auras?” Decebal asked.
“Yes,” I said. “The auras of the alphas who end up there are typically at least twice as strong as the average.”
“And you think that might be why they wanted alphas like that for the experiments?”
“If they were doing experiments on alphas specifically, I would assume auras would play a part in it.”
“We just assumed they used the Vaults because no one would look into missing alphas,” Dusk said. “And if we’d be less likely to rat on them if we were insane to start with.”
“But…” Decebal was rubbing his face. “It’s not like there aren’t other ways to get ahold of alphas. Probablyeasierways. The New Oxford Trafficking ring is no stranger to alpha trafficking… I just… never thought about it like that.”
“So… they didn’t just need alphas,” Dusk said. “They might have been looking for alphas with particularly strong auras.”
“Does that… change anything?” Ransom asked. I noticed he’d vanished from the bond, and his jaw was clenched. I reached out and took his hand, I wasn’t sure what he’d think ofthat. But he squeezed it, rich, green eyes finding mine. I swear he settled a little.
“You know where you came from? Before, I mean?” I asked. “Before the Vaults, even. They might have your history.”
“Yeah,” Dusk said. “Decebal found our files.”
I straightened. They had those answers? A little flicker of warmth lit in my chest. That was something I’d never had.
“We don’t want it,” Dusk added. “Not until all of this is over.”
“You don’t?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine that. Not looking when the answers were right there.
“But all of this. It’s not…” Dusk took a breath. “It’s only half of it.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“We both came to the academy for the same reason.”
I frowned, shrinking against Umbra at the look on Dusk’s face.
“The Lincoln pack.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. It took a while for me to find my voice. “My mates?”
“This part is rough, Gem,” Dusk said. “If you’re not ready?—”
“I need to know.”
I knew they were monsters. With every movement or shift, my body ached: evidence of that very fact, but all of that paled next to what he was telling me.
Dusk tugged the bottom folder from the stack and handed it to me. “This is new to Ransom, too. We found out later. There’s a video, but you don’t need to see it. It’s transcribed.”
I opened the file, and ice crept up my spine as I read, horror scratching at the corners of my mind.
The last piece of the puzzle.
TWENTY-FIVE
DUSK
