Author: J.D. Tyler

"Snoop?" Jaxon suggested helpfully.

Her cheeks flushed. "Well, I had to get a report he'd forgotten to hand to me in his hurry to leave, and when I retrieved it from his desk, I bumped his computer mouse. Naturally, he'd forgotten to log out and shut down for the day and the screen saver went away."

"Naturally." Nick's lips twitched.

"The computer hadn't gone to sleep yet, so the screen and all the icons were right there. He had a document running, minimized at the bottom of the screen and I clicked on it. I know, I know," she said, the blush deepening. "It was wrong of me and I could've been fired."

Nick steepled his fingers and watched her thoughtfully. "You should've been and if it were me, unless you had a reason that was a matter of life and death, you would've been. But considering what came later, getting fired was the least of your concerns."

"I did a stupid thing," she admitted. "But the section I was able to read on the document was alarming. It wasn't text, like written narrative, but was several pages of formulas. Lines and lines of letters and numbers, arranged and rearranged, like notes on any number of experiments on test subjects."

Nick frowned. "Like the doctor was recording what worked and what didn't? Trial and error, and what he or they tried next?"

"Exactly. It took me a minute to realize the patterns that kept repeating on the page were genetic codes and DNA strands. And this is the part that's going to sound off the wall . . . Some of the codes, or more accurately the strands, weren't human."

Jaxon exchanged a telling glance with Nick before he spoke up. "Not so off the wall, from where we're sitting. Our DNA isn't exactly human anymore, either."

She blinked at him. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right. Anyway, as I scanned the document, I had trouble believing what I was seeing. If I was interpreting correctly, it seemed that the lines represented genes being spliced and DNA being forced to mutate." Leaning forward, she warmed excitedly to her topic. "From the very top of the page, each line appeared to represent a strand of traits, the code and DNA mutated in some small way from the strand before it."

"Hang on." Nick's brows drew together as he tried to follow. "You're saying these lines represented progressive change . . ."

Like Nick, Jaxon struggled to assimilate what she was getting at. Hell, he was a soldier, not a scientist.

"Yes-recorded progression of a single individual from human to something else. That's what was on the page in black and white. From the data, I inferred that a series of tests must've been performed on the individual to get those results."

Nick's voice was low and troubled. "To what end? What are they attempting to force the human DNA to mutate into? And why?"

"That's what I was hoping to find out when I took tissue samples from the lab last night." Opening the purse on her lap, she reached in, dug around, and brought out several small containers. She sat them on Nick's desk and they eyed the contents.

Nick and Jaxon each picked up one and carefully turned it this way and that. A piece of tissue-it appeared to be flesh and a bit of muscle-floated in clear fluid in the one Jax held. A label stuck to the side declared the vial as belonging to "Subject 0013." It also had a string of letters and numbers underneath and was dated almost two weeks ago.

"Freaky," Jax commented in distaste, setting the thing on his boss's desk. Nick put them in a row and studied the labels.

"Three of these are from Subject zero-zero-one-three. The other five are from different subjects." He looked at Kira. "Was there any rhyme or reason to what you took?"

"Zero-zero-one-three was the label at the top of the document I saw on Dr. Bowman's computer. I grabbed what I could see of those, then some others. I was in a hurry. I had a loose plan to take them to a geneticist friend of mine in Los Angeles and see what he could learn." Her shoulders hunched. "Evidently I didn't plan ahead very well."

"I think you might've ended up in the right place all the same," Nick said, raising a brow. "Were you able to print a copy of the document from Bowman's computer?"

"No. I heard someone in the outer office and had to get out of there. I minimized the document the way I found it, and was never able to go back."

"Pity. Would've been interesting to have our scientists interpret it. These should help, though." The older man gestured to the containers. "I'll get these to our lab. Would you be agreeable to assisting down there, if they meet you and decide they'd like to take you on? After I conduct a thorough background check and you pass, of course."

"Hmm. I don't know, but . . . Where else do I have to go and what are my other options?"

"Nowhere and zip," Jaxon put in, not giving Nick time to come up with anything. He pointedly ignored the man, who was trying to hide a knowing smile. "We can't let you leave for the time being, and at least here you'd get to do the lab work you're familiar with, only better. How many people can say they study shifters and other beings?"

"True." Kira brightened, looking excited. "You know, I think I'd like that very much. I'm willing to give it a try, and I know I'll pass your check. I have a clean record with plenty of commendations, up until I ran across something I shouldn't have. And for what it's worth, I have a gut feeling something very wrong is going on at NewLife. I just can't prove it-yet."

A mixture of relief and worry swamped Jaxon. He was glad she'd agreed to stay, but he didn't want her anywhere near whatever Chappell and his scientists were doing. Nick's next words echoed his thoughts.

"Good. But you'll keep the sleuthing to our labs and if any action needs to be taken against NewLife, including more investigating, the Alpha Pack team will handle it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." She shuddered. "Believe me. I don't want to go anywhere near there again if I don't have to."

Something flashed in Nick's eyes, there and gone so fast Jaxon might've imagined it. "That's the smart route, until we know what's going on. Now we need to discuss what you saw in Block R."

Her good mood fled, and she worked to keep her tone respectful though the anger. "Is that what you call the horrible place where you're keeping those pitiful creatures prisoner? Where some of them don't have food, water, or even clothing to keep them warm?"

"I understand how bad it must appear to an outsider, but as such you don't have the facts." Nick's tone was firm but patient as he explained. "Block R stands for 'Rescue and Rehabilitation.' All of the inhabitants there are getting the best care we're able to provide, given the considerable lack of knowledge and resources available to us. Complicating matters is how very dangerous many of these species are to humans, their confusion and fear, and our inability to communicate with them."

Jaxon added his take. "Not only that, our docs are stretched too thin just doing their normal jobs to give them the personal care they deserve."

Kira was not placated. "So why haven't you hired someone to fill that role? There's no excuse for the neglect I saw. You can't stick intelligent beings in cells and leave them frightened, unable to comprehend what's happening to them! It's wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to start! And then to terminate them when they become unmanageable-"

"Hey, wait a second," Nick interrupted with a scowl. "We've never 'terminated' any of the residents of Block R. Where did you get that idea?"

"From Aric. He said-"

"Well, there's our first problem-Aric opened his mouth." Jaxon rolled his eyes.

"He said that when the creatures can't be rehabilitated, they're killed," she continued, insistent. "Is that true or not?"

Jaxon felt a surge of annoyance. Trust Aric to spout shit out of context to get a reaction from the sensitive newbie.

Nick clarified. "We eliminate rogue creatures only when there's no other choice. But that's typically done on the spot wherever we're sent, and only when lives have been or are threatened. The only ones we bring back here regularly are those who haven't taken lives, but can't be released until we can send them home or they learn to cope in our world. The one exception is when we need to incarcerate a dangerous rogue because we need information, but he wouldn't be kept with the others."

"So . . . Block R isn't like death row?"

"No. Are some of our guests lethal? Yes. But we feel the ones there now can be reached, with time. Which brings me to your question before-I haven't hired anyone specifically to work with them because none of the candidates whose names have been sent to me by my commander have been quite right for the job. It's not like we can put an ad in the paper."

Kira went quiet for a few moments, then asked, "Would it be possible for me to combine my duties in the lab with taking care of them? I could work on gaining their trust."

Nick smiled, looking extremely pleased. "I have a feeling you'll be good for them. Spend today getting oriented around the compound and you can start tomorrow. Just be sure to take one of the team with you, for safety reasons, until you make some headway. Take Zander or Aric-"

"I'll go with her," Jaxon said gruffly. Like hell was Aric going to spend more time alone with her than necessary.

Kira nodded at him before addressing Nick again. "What about the pretty guy with the wings? Why is he locked up? He seemed so sad. He looked malnourished and cold, too."

The plea in her voice got to Jaxon. There was so much she didn't understand, and the woman had a big, soft heart that had already gotten her into trouble twice.

Nick sighed. "We call him Blue for obvious reasons, because we can't get him to tell us a name. He's never spoken, but we know he's highly intelligent. We captured him in Ireland after getting an emergency call a few weeks ago that something resembling an angel was running amok in a village, causing quite a stir. By the time we arrived, he'd gone into hiding, but we found him, thinking that bringing him in would be relatively easy compared to some of the weird stuff we've dealt with."

"He certainly appears harmless enough."

"Doesn't he? Well, that 'pretty angel' rendered half the team unconscious with a single wave of his hand. Fortunately, the other half used their Psy powers to subdue him before he could do more damage."

She frowned. "But he only knocked your men out, causing no permanent harm. Right?"

"Yes, and once we got him here, we thought he was calm enough for us to let him go. We wanted him to realize he had a safe haven here. Instead, he tried to bolt and put up quite a fight. Wasn't as easy the second time to subdue him. He's fought us ever since, and we had no choice but to lock him up for his own safety."

"What about food? Clothing and bedding?"

"He won't eat. He's become increasingly despondent and a few days ago things finally reached a breaking point."

"What do you mean?"

Jaxon said quietly, "He used the chain on his collar to try and hang himself."

"Oh my God!" she cried. "Poor thing. That's why there's nothing in his cell-so he can't use anything else to try it again."

"I'm afraid so," Nick confirmed. "His wrists are bound for that reason, but the silver mesh gloves prevent him from tossing spells at us. Or whatever he does."

Kira slumped back in her chair, clearly upset. "There must be a way to reach him."

"You're welcome to try. Just be careful."

"What type of being is he?"

Jaxon answered. "Best we can figure, given his physical characteristics, powers, and the fact that he was found in Ireland? Possibly Fae."