Lee
“What are you talking about?” My voice is a whisper. Why would she bring this up now? Is she playing me? Or is she trying to tell me there’s still something between us, some sort of unfinished business?
“I just...”
“Boss,” Marta is at the door again. This time, she’s not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. “I’m not trying to pester you, but damn. Let’s go.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” I say to Nicole, who just nods. She looks like I just kicked her, or hurt her, but I can’t focus on that. I head into the office where Marta and Jeremy are gathered around one of the computers. They’ve got something set up on the overhead screen, and when I get closer, I see that it’s a chart detailing both Lucky and Providential.
“What is this?” Nicole whispers, walking inside. She looks around the room. It’s dark, dimly lit, and, as promised, full of computers.
“This is where the magic happens,” Marta tells her proudly.
“And this,” Jeremy points to the screen. “Is undeniable proof that Providential and Lucky are the same company.”
“The same company?” Nicole steps up. “But...”
“It’s true. They’ve not only performed scientific experiments on dragons and other shifters, but they’ve manufactured illnesses, along with the ‘cures’ for those diseases. One company infects people. The other sells them the cure. It’s genius.”
“But why?”
“Why does anyone do anything?” Marta shrugs. “Someone doesn’t like shifters. That’s for damn sure.”
“We still don’t know a lot about the infrastructure of either organization,” Jeremy points out. “Despite our research, the reality is that these organizations are very tight-lipped. Th
ey’re closed off to the public eye, and for good reason.”
“Well, yeah,” Nicole says. “If people knew what they were up to, it would be a lot harder to make money, wouldn’t it?” She shakes her head.
“Stop,” I tell her.
“What?” She looks up at me, blinking her eyes innocently. Marta and Jeremy just look at us, questioningly.
“Don’t act like this is your fault somehow.”
“But I-“
“Couldn’t have stopped any of this from happening. No offense, Nicole, but you’re just one person.”
“Yeah, well sometimes all it takes is one person, Lee.”
Marta’s mouth forms a little “o” and Jeremy’s eyes are wide now. They both act like they’ve never seen me put in my place before. They should probably meet my mother. They wouldn’t know what the hell to do. What Nicole is doing? This is nothing. She and I have fought well and we’ve fought hard. This is just a little hiccup. We’ll get it figured out.
“You’re right,” I tell her. “But in this case, we’re talking about a group of people who are essentially poachers. One person can usually make a huge difference. Absolutely. But not today, and not you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She bristles.
“Dude, just chill,” Jeremy jumps in, but he closes his mouth when Nicole’s eyes seem to shoot invisible daggers at him.
“I think what Lee is trying to say,” Marta offers carefully. “Is that there’s a lot we don’t know about these people. I mean, we planned for months how we’d eventually take down their little buildings in the woods, but then we found out that their organization is even larger than this.”
“Have you already told Clan Thunderstorm?” I ask Jeremy. “About what we’ve found?” Thunderstorm is another dragon-shifter clan in the forest. While Fablestone dragons are strong and quick, Thunderstorm dragons are the tech giants of the shifter world. They’re known for having a device for anything, and we often help each other out.
“Not yet,” Jeremy turns back to his computer. “Wanted to talk with you more about what you want to do in order to infiltrate one or both of these offices. Dragon-X is pending widespread use, boss. Check this out.” He pushes a button and a commercial comes on the screen.
“What the hell is this?” Nicole steps forward, but her voice is barely a whisper as we watch. It’s no secret that dragons exist. Humans have known about shifters for a good long time, but this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen something directly marketed to shifters the way this is being pushed, and part of me thinks – knows – there is some sort of hidden agenda.
You don’t infect people and then offer a cure.