Page 65 of Awakened Gifts
“They have three men in custody that need to be interrogated. They might be harmless or they could be scouts. My men picked them up just ten miles from here.”
Mom rolls her shoulders back as her confidence resumes. Jase is damn good.
“I’d love to interrogate them. Just let me get a shower and fresh clothes. If they know anything, I can swear to you they’ll talk.”
Jase nods, and Uncle Brazen kisses Mom before she walks back toward the compound. Surprisingly, he stays.
“That should buy you some time,” Jase whispers in my ear, making sure the sound doesn’t carry any farther.
“They weren’t really picked up?” I ask.
“Nomads,” he mouths when Uncle Brazen walks closer to us.
It won’t take Mom too long to realize they’re worthless. Her shower will take longer than the interrogations. And I have no idea how to stall for more time. We’ll just have to find a way to work in secrecy. I also have to find a way to shake Uncle Brazen so that I can fill in the others.
“You should probably go with Mom. We’ll work on the trail. Maybe their facility could at least lead us somewhere,” I tell him. Again, it’s not a lie, so I hope for the best.
When I look up, I see the challenge in his eyes that doesn’t promise me the best results.
“You’re definitely Hale’s daughter. He always could make your mother believe anything he said when he was trying to protect her. He was the only one who could do that. But considering I observed his masterful technique for centuries, I know all the signs of a good lie when I see one.”
Apparently Alice isn’t the only one I keep underestimating.
“What’s going on?” Simone prompts, her eyes narrowing in confusion. Apparently Uncle Brazen is the only one who has caught on.
I look at Jase, hoping to get some insight.
“He’s practically figured it out already,” he says. “Might as well clue him in. If anyone wants your mother to keep breathing, it’s sure as hell him.”
Uncle Brazen’s deep breath tells me he really does fear the worst, and we’ve just essentially confirmed it.
“That hybrid could have killed Mom numerous times. He played with her. It was all an act. They didn’t give a damn about me, because they came for her. For her blood.”
“Her blood?” Simone asks, still confused. “Why would they seek her blood when yours is so much stronger?”
“Because Araya can do something Aria can’t,” Jase answers, scrubbing his face in frustration.
“She can do many things Aria can’t, so you need to elaborate and clue us all in before I lose my fucking mind,” Rex growls.
I can actually feel his impatience. This empathic thing is growing stronger, and it’s actually a little irritating.
“I couldn’t figure out why they were after her when it’s my blood they want, but everyone knows Mom controls her savage. And they know she draws it forth any time she’s in a big fight.”
“And that has meaning because?” Kellan prompts.
“Oh fuck,” Simone hisses, and Uncle Brazen curses.
“Someone needs to explain it to those of us who can’t understand your cryptic wording.” Rex glares at me expectantly and admittedly a little pissed.
“Araya’s blood is what they needed, and they couldn’t actually kill her because the blood would have been worthless if they had. Even as a savage, her body is still weakened by enough electrical voltage. It took a long time for someone to craft a weapon with enough electricity to take her down while savage, but now it seems like every-fucking-body has that technology,” Uncle Brazen says, taking a deep calming breath.
When Rex starts to berate us for still not giving the full explanation, Jase cuts him off and finishes.
“They want to control their savages. Aria can’t do that. They know that for sure, considering the standoff between she and Alice. But Araya can, and since she’s Aria’s mother, the blood will fuse together easily and complete the genetic code, giving them unyielding power over their savages and their gifts. If I had to guess, they built this code off of Alice’s blood to begin with, which is why she hasn’t attacked either Araya or Aria before now. She needed to wait until the code was almost complete, otherwise, she might have never gotten what she needed.”
“I should have seen it sooner,” Simone groans. “To create something this complex, the blood has to fuse seamlessly together to create a solid, genetically altering formula. Three generations of powerful beings… the options are limitless.”
Kellan drops to his knees, studying the ground for clues just as I did. “So they’re playing mad scientist like Ty did? Creating a new species of hybrid?”