Dex chuckled. "Yeah, it would."
"I can't believe you're getting married! Does the team know?"
"Not yet. I'm guessing Sloane's probably telling Ash."
"Who else knows about, you know?" Cael worried his bottom lip, and Dex put a hand to his shoulder. "Seb, Hudson, and TIN. I'll tell the team, but no one else can know. Moros took that information with him to the grave." Dex didn't see the point in mentioning Moros's threat about a looming war between Humans and Therians, or the fact he hadn't been working alone in his quest to make certain Therians remain the "superior species." No sense in worrying his family until he knew more. Either way, the whole mess with Moros wasn't over. Dex could feel it. "Apparently, I'm the first."
"How do they know you're the first? The world is a pretty big place." Cael looked thoughtful. "There were a lot of names on Shultzon's list. All of them First Gen Therians containing anomalies in their blood, just like Sloane."
"Well I'm the first TIN knows of. Maybe there are more like me out there,
somewhere, but they're staying off the radar, because TIN hasn't found them. For now, what I am has to stay secret, for all our sakes." He stood and took a deep breath. Time for whammy number three. "Speaking of TIN, they made me and Sloane an offer, and we accepted. After the wedding, we'll be sworn in, and after the honeymoon, we start as TIN operatives."
Tony bolted upright, growling and cursing at the pain it caused.
"Dad!" Dex rushed over and helped ease him back against the inclined bed. "Jesus, Dad. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Me? Boy, are you out of your goddamn mind? No. Absolutely not." Tony sucked in a sharp breath, the vein on the side of his head looking like it was about to blow. "You are not working for those assholes."
"Dad--"
Tony's deep brown eyes burned with fury. "Who recruited you? I want the name of that son of a bitch."
No, you don't. "It doesn't matter who made the offer. It's done." Technically it would be done after Sparks spoke to the team. It was one of Dex's many conditions. The team would have to know and be okay with it. That was going to be fun.
"Like hell it is!"
"Dad, please. Calm down."
Tony put his hand on Dex's shoulder. "Son, you listen to me. They're not the THIRDS. They're about results. Nothing more."
"You think I don't know that?" More importantly, how did his dad know that? That question would have to wait. Right now Tony was too pissed off for Dex to get off topic. He knew his dad too well. Tony wasn't about to be sidetracked. "Come on, Dad. I'm not that naive."
"Damn it, Dex. You want to play games with TIN? Are you insane? It's dangerous."
"And what we do now isn't?"
"It's not the same, Dexter, and you know it."
Dex let out a sigh. "Why don't you tell me what's really upsetting you?" This wasn't just about TIN. His father was a rational man. Emotions rarely got the better of him. A small part was likely due to getting shot and the drugs pumped into him, but even then. This was Anthony Maddock. The man who'd taken on an entire city for the right to adopt a Therian baby.
"You want to know why I'm upset? Okay. Trouble finds you, Dex. Look at what's happened since you joined the THIRDS. Hell, it wasn't that much different in the HPF. Now you're going to be sent into a war zone where rules and laws don't mean shit. If something happens to you, your brother and I will be kept in the dark."
"You won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because that's one of our conditions. You think Sloane and I are going into this blindly? They want us. They want me. The only way they get me is if they agree to my terms."
"And they're just going to agree."
"Yes. They want the first Human-Therian hybrid on their side."
"So you're going to leave us?"
Shit. Dex turned to Cael, the hurt on his brother's face a punch to the gut. "It's not like that. We'll still be at the THIRDS, just in new roles. It won't change anything."
"Won't change anything?" Cael jumped to his feet, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "It changes everything, Dex! You won't be on Destructive Delta. Who's going to be our team leader? You'll disappear for days, weeks, maybe months on end, and we won't hear from you. If something happens to you, we won't know until you come home in a damn box!"