True
Page 66
“True, please,” Jeanie pleaded. “It doesn’t matter.”
He whipped his head down, his eyes wide. “It does. How can you say that?”
Tears filled her eyes as she rose to her feet. She rapidly blinked to clear her vision. Her legs wobbled but her knees didn’t buckle. She couldn’t look at anyone but him, feeling embarrassed and horrified at the same time.
“I told you that I’m pretty sure I would have known if anyone had done something to me, okay?”
“You can’t know for sure if your body was used but they do. They’d only give you the drug to use in a breeding experiment. They would need a male—these males—and I want to know who mounted you.”
More tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, still staring at him. “If there is one thing we all know in this room, it’s that Drackwood was a nightmare for us all.” Her voice broke and she had to swallow before continuing. “I don’t want to know, True. I care about everyone in this room and it would be easier to think it was similar to the situation I experienced when Polanitis came after me—everyone had to agree to do what he wanted. I made a deal with that devil to save you, True. I never regretted it and I can live with it because you’re standing right in front of me. The bottom line is that I’m alive too. Maybe things went down that I don’t remember but it doesn’t matter. We survived and that’s what counts.”
“It matters.” True’s eyes seemed suspiciously wet as he rapidly blinked and reached out to grip her shoulder with gentle fingers.
“Maybe they did it to save me. If it even happened.” She forced herself to look at the faces around the table as she struggled to pull herself together. She rested her hand over True’s. Just touching him helped her find strength. “It doesn’t matter. I’d forgive someone if they were given an unfathomable choice and we all agree that I’d have been killed if they’d drugged up someone else while I was injected with that shit. We’re here to talk about Agent Brice and try to figure out how to find the son of a bitch.” It got easier to breathe as she calmed, instead focusing on the anger she felt over being used to extort money from the NSO. “Let’s deal with that.”
“I never touched you,” one of the males stated.
She looked at him, seeing sincerity in his dark-green gaze. “Let’s drop it.”
“I didn’t either.” Another male cleared his throat, giving True a wary look. “But I would have agreed to take her to my mat if given a choice between killing her and making sure she’d survive.”
Jeanie winced, glancing up at True to see his reaction. He appeared unusually pale and still angry. His chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out.
“Anyone, just speak now if Polanitis offered you Jeanie. I won’t seek retribution.”
Silence reigned and Jeanie closed her eyes, relief so overwhelming she nearly choked up again. She was pretty sure no one had sexually molested her but she was certain someone would confess if there was anything to tell.
True squeezed her shoulder before pulling his hand away. She let him go but he quickly wrapped his fingers around hers instead, keeping hold of her hand as he righted his chair with the other one and sat. She opened her eyes as he motioned with his head for her to take her seat too. She gratefully collapsed into the chair.
“Tell us about this agent,” Query urged. “Give us a detailed description. We have access to the out world’s databases. We can try to find him through DMV records. Did he drive a car? Did he have an accent that might indicate what state he lived in? We can pull all the photos that match his description for you to look at, until we find the right face.”
The tension in the room seemed to dissipate. “He is a Caucasian male in his mid-to-late fifties. Approximately five foot eight with a heavy build. He wore glasses, had light-brown eyes, I think, since the lenses were tinted, and he had a mole on his face.” She pointed to her cheek to show them where it was located. “He was balding on the top of his head. His hair was brown with a lot of gray. He drove a rental car to our meetings. They had stickers on them so it was easy to figure that out but he used different companies.”
“Heavy as in muscular?”
She glanced at Flirt. He’d pulled out his phone to text the information she gave or take notes. “No, he was out of shape and kind of huffed if he moved too fast.”
“Huffed?” Luna leaned in closer. “Was it an animalistic sound? Perhaps he’s a Species. A few of us could pass for full human.”
“He’s not New Species.” Jeanie smiled, amused. “He was a marshmallow. I should have said he panted because he got out of breath easily when he walked fast and broke out in a sweat. It didn’t help that he wore dress shirts. He had the whole business-suit look going on, regardless of the weather.” She glanced at the men in the room. “You guys couldn’t get that out of shape even if you really tried. He is also much older. He was born way before Mercile started their experiments. Agent Brice is definitely human.”
“He’d have to be fully human from the description you gave. Mercile killed flawed children with no Species traits.”
“A few of us could pass though,” Luna protested. “I’ve met two who appeared human but they weren’t that old. They were rescued from the place Darkness came from.”
He whipped his head down, his eyes wide. “It does. How can you say that?”
Tears filled her eyes as she rose to her feet. She rapidly blinked to clear her vision. Her legs wobbled but her knees didn’t buckle. She couldn’t look at anyone but him, feeling embarrassed and horrified at the same time.
“I told you that I’m pretty sure I would have known if anyone had done something to me, okay?”
“You can’t know for sure if your body was used but they do. They’d only give you the drug to use in a breeding experiment. They would need a male—these males—and I want to know who mounted you.”
More tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, still staring at him. “If there is one thing we all know in this room, it’s that Drackwood was a nightmare for us all.” Her voice broke and she had to swallow before continuing. “I don’t want to know, True. I care about everyone in this room and it would be easier to think it was similar to the situation I experienced when Polanitis came after me—everyone had to agree to do what he wanted. I made a deal with that devil to save you, True. I never regretted it and I can live with it because you’re standing right in front of me. The bottom line is that I’m alive too. Maybe things went down that I don’t remember but it doesn’t matter. We survived and that’s what counts.”
“It matters.” True’s eyes seemed suspiciously wet as he rapidly blinked and reached out to grip her shoulder with gentle fingers.
“Maybe they did it to save me. If it even happened.” She forced herself to look at the faces around the table as she struggled to pull herself together. She rested her hand over True’s. Just touching him helped her find strength. “It doesn’t matter. I’d forgive someone if they were given an unfathomable choice and we all agree that I’d have been killed if they’d drugged up someone else while I was injected with that shit. We’re here to talk about Agent Brice and try to figure out how to find the son of a bitch.” It got easier to breathe as she calmed, instead focusing on the anger she felt over being used to extort money from the NSO. “Let’s deal with that.”
“I never touched you,” one of the males stated.
She looked at him, seeing sincerity in his dark-green gaze. “Let’s drop it.”
“I didn’t either.” Another male cleared his throat, giving True a wary look. “But I would have agreed to take her to my mat if given a choice between killing her and making sure she’d survive.”
Jeanie winced, glancing up at True to see his reaction. He appeared unusually pale and still angry. His chest expanded as he sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out.
“Anyone, just speak now if Polanitis offered you Jeanie. I won’t seek retribution.”
Silence reigned and Jeanie closed her eyes, relief so overwhelming she nearly choked up again. She was pretty sure no one had sexually molested her but she was certain someone would confess if there was anything to tell.
True squeezed her shoulder before pulling his hand away. She let him go but he quickly wrapped his fingers around hers instead, keeping hold of her hand as he righted his chair with the other one and sat. She opened her eyes as he motioned with his head for her to take her seat too. She gratefully collapsed into the chair.
“Tell us about this agent,” Query urged. “Give us a detailed description. We have access to the out world’s databases. We can try to find him through DMV records. Did he drive a car? Did he have an accent that might indicate what state he lived in? We can pull all the photos that match his description for you to look at, until we find the right face.”
The tension in the room seemed to dissipate. “He is a Caucasian male in his mid-to-late fifties. Approximately five foot eight with a heavy build. He wore glasses, had light-brown eyes, I think, since the lenses were tinted, and he had a mole on his face.” She pointed to her cheek to show them where it was located. “He was balding on the top of his head. His hair was brown with a lot of gray. He drove a rental car to our meetings. They had stickers on them so it was easy to figure that out but he used different companies.”
“Heavy as in muscular?”
She glanced at Flirt. He’d pulled out his phone to text the information she gave or take notes. “No, he was out of shape and kind of huffed if he moved too fast.”
“Huffed?” Luna leaned in closer. “Was it an animalistic sound? Perhaps he’s a Species. A few of us could pass for full human.”
“He’s not New Species.” Jeanie smiled, amused. “He was a marshmallow. I should have said he panted because he got out of breath easily when he walked fast and broke out in a sweat. It didn’t help that he wore dress shirts. He had the whole business-suit look going on, regardless of the weather.” She glanced at the men in the room. “You guys couldn’t get that out of shape even if you really tried. He is also much older. He was born way before Mercile started their experiments. Agent Brice is definitely human.”
“He’d have to be fully human from the description you gave. Mercile killed flawed children with no Species traits.”
“A few of us could pass though,” Luna protested. “I’ve met two who appeared human but they weren’t that old. They were rescued from the place Darkness came from.”
