“Jayden! Just tell me what it is, please.”
“Harpy.” Jayden turned his book around so that Adrian could see the drawing on the page. It wasn’t exactly comforting, since the drawing showed a bird with a woman’s face. “They’re not really like that, you know, but they are more birds than women. I’m not sure how it will work with Troy, though. He seems pretty human to me, but then I haven’t seen him naked so I wouldn’t know. Do you know if maybe he grew feathers or something? I sure hope he doesn’t get a beak, because that would make it hard to find a man. Who would want to kiss a beak? And what about blow jobs?”
Adrian tuned Jayden out as he read the text that went with the drawing. He wasn’t sure of how many characteristics Troy had taken from the harpy DNA in his body, but he was sure that the man hadn’t grown any bird-like features, at least not in his human form. He had examined him enough times to know that, and he didn’t think he would, so the only possibility that remained was that Troy could somehow shift. Now that they knew what they were dealing with, they could prepare for whatever happened, even if Adrian didn’t think Troy would hurt anyone. He might have a paranormal side now, but he was still Troy.
“Okay, Jayden, thank you so much,” Adrian interrupted. The man had a tendency to talk and talk until someone stopped him. “Can I ask you not to talk about this with anyone? I want to talk with Troy and see if we’re really talking about a harpy before everyone finds out.”
“Of course.” Jayden turned back to his book, still muttering to himself, and Adrian went in search of Joshua. He had the itch to just go in the lab and check what he’d just found out, but he knew that if he did that he would be there for hours, and he wanted to see his mate first.
Adrian found Joshua quietly talking with Denver in the upstairs living room. His man smiled to him as soon as he saw him and opened his arms to welcome Adrian in them. “Finished for today, angel?”
Adrian took a deep breath and let Joshua’s scent wash through him. “Not exactly. I think we may have found what Troy was altered with, so I’m going to go back to the lab if it’s okay with you. I just wanted to say hi.”
Joshua kissed the top of Adrian’s head. “I knew you could do it, angel. Are you going to tell us what’s happening with Troy?”
“I want to check with him first. I can just tell you that this isn’t something I’ve ever seen before. I’ve always worked with animal and shifter DNA, but what those other guys used on Troy is another paranormal’s DNA. I don’t know what or even if something is going to be different than when I became a shifter. I can just tell you that we’re not talking about animals here.”
“Okay, then. You go talk with Troy and do your thing. I have to go talk with John anyway, then we have to plan the raids against the labs that are still working.”
Adrian so didn’t like the fact that his mate was going to go on the raids against the company, but there wasn’t much he could do. Besides, if he could go with them and help, he would. They needed to help these people. He just didn’t have to like having Joshua at risk.
* * * *
Joshua watched as Adrian walked away, impressed as always that his mate was so smart. He had managed to do what no one had been able to do in months, and Joshua hoped he really could help Troy. Sure, the man was changed for life, but Adrian could help him accept what he now was. Being a shifter wasn’t that bad, but Joshua could understand it was something difficult to adapt to when one had been human all his life.
Denver cleared his throat beside him, getting Joshua’s attention back. “Right. John.”
“I know you asked Dominic to liberate the man.” Denver’s voice wasn’t judgmental, just a bit curious.
“Yeah. He’s not bad or anything, and I don’t think he deserves to stay locked in the cell for the rest of his life. He’s human, so he still has what? Fifty years? He should be able to enjoy them. He didn’t kill anyone or even hurt Jamie, and even if what he did was wrong, everyone makes mistakes.”
Denver held up his hands to show Joshua he didn’t mean anything bad. “I was just asking. I think you’re right, anyway. Come on, let’s go have a chat with him.”
The cabin John had been in since he had arrived at the mansion was deep in the woods, far enough from the house that the kids would be safe. Dominic had never moved John to the metal and cement jail he had had built a little while ago, so he was still in the home-style jail, and it made Joshua feel slightly better.
He unlocked the door and pushed it open, not surprised when he found John reading on the couch. It wasn’t like he had a lot of other options.
John’s head snapped up when he heard them come in. “Oh, hey, Josh.”
“Hi. You still okay, alone in here?”
John put his book down. “Sure. Just keep my stock of coffee full and the books coming and I’m in heaven.” Joshua knew that wasn’t exactly true, but there was nothing he could do for the man until September. At least he had good news to share with him, but it would have to wait until he asked about Gabriel.
“I have good news for you, but I wanted to ask you something before.”
“Sure. Shoot.”
“I’m looking for a man. His name is Gabriel Landreth, and he disappeared from New York about two years ago. We know the company has him, and we’ve reduced the possible labs down to three, but we can’t be sure which one he’s in.”
“And you thought I could help you. I don’t know, Josh.” John passed his hand in his auburn hair. “I want to help you, but I’ve been out of the loop for a year. I don’t know what I can do, to be honest.”
“Maybe you can contact someone in the company? I wouldn’t ask you to betray them, but it’s my mate’s brother we’re talking about.”
John shook his head. “I really don’t care about betraying the company, you know that. I’m just not sure what I can do after a year. They probably all think you guys killed me. The company hammers it in us that shifters are not human and are bloodthirsty.”
“I just want you to try, please. I don’t know how else I can find the man, short of going to the three labs and raiding them, which we’re planning to do anyway. I just want to get to the one Gabriel’s in first, and they’re not that close to Whitedell. I have to choose which one to start with.”
“Okay. Where are these labs?”
“Alliance, Cody and Craig.”
“Okay, so not too far. I’m going to have to use your phone.”
Denver growled a bit but he handed John the phone. “Don’t try to betray us, because you won’t like the outcome.”
“Aww, Denver, I thought you knew me by now. I couldn’t care less about the company. I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to help—never mind.” Joshua suspected that John had been about to talk about the orphanage and the money he gave to it. John didn’t know it, but Joshua had taken over his payments to the structure when he had found out where the man’s money went. Sure, he had missed some, but the important thing was that they got the money regularly now.
He watched as John punched in a number and waited for the person on the other side to answer. They wouldn’t be able to track the phone, so it was safe, but he still gestured to John to keep the phone call short. The man rolled his eyes and mouthed, I know, I know.
“Hello, Gareth. Remember me?”
“What the fuck? John?” Joshua had no problems hearing the other part of the conversation with his enhanced hearing.
“Yup.”
“You son of a bitch, I thought you were dead! Where the fuck are you?”
“Let’s just say I took a sabbatical from the company.”
“Yeah, I wish I could do that too.”
John gave Joshua a glance, and he just knew the man was going to create even more problems for them. As if they didn’t have enough of those already. “I could help you do that. Maybe you could join me where I am now.”
Denver growled, but John ignored him, which was impressive. Everyone was afraid of the
big tiger shifter except for his mate Jeremy and their son Adam. The man might have mellowed since he had mated Jeremy, but he was still plenty scary.
“And where is it you’re at?”
“I’m with shifters. I’ve been living with them for the past year.” He was making it sound like he was actually living with them instead of being a prisoner.
“Shifters, huh? I take it they’re not as bad as the company wants us to think?”
“Quite the contrary, man. I’d say the company is more bloodthirsty than the majority of them. They just want to live their lives in peace.”
“Okay, so what do you need from me? I don’t think you called after a year just to chat.”
John explained what he needed from his friend and Joshua couldn’t help but think that Dominic wasn’t going to be a happy man when he found out he had practically gained another of the company’s guards in his pride. The place was becoming a sort of haven for those who didn’t have a home anymore, be they humans, shifters or enemies. Well, John wasn’t exactly an enemy, not anymore, but still.
“I can try to help. I’m going to see if I can find anything in the database and call some friends. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Now, about what you were saying about having a safe place for me...”
Joshua gestured for the phone and John handed it to him. “I’m Joshua, one of the shifters John lives with. I’m not saying no to helping you, but I’m going to have to ask my boss first.”
“Sure, I can understand that. I’ll help you even if he says no, but I really want to get out of this. What the company is making me do isn’t what I signed up for when I started.”
Okay, so now Joshua had to go and talk with Dominic, and he knew the man wasn’t going to like this. He just hoped he wouldn’t kill Joshua for making promises he shouldn’t have, but then he hadn’t really promised anything, right?
He left Denver with John and the phone and found the lion in his office. He quickly explained the situation and waited for the explosion, but it never came.
“We could use more help from the inside,” Dominic said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m just not sure we can trust these men.”
“You can trust John. He’s been here for nearly a year and I know him.”
“Okay.” Dominic phased out and Joshua knew it was the sign that he was mind talking with Ani. “We’ll take him in, but he’s going to have to stay in the cabin with John for a while. I’ll talk with them before deciding if I can trust them with the pride’s safety. If I find out I can’t, we’ll have to make something up.”
Joshua nodded. He knew this was the most he would obtain, and he was actually surprised he had gotten this much. Another Alpha wouldn’t have wanted what they viewed as enemies in their home, but Dominic was ready to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now they just had to wait for Gareth to call them back.
* * * *
Adrian found Troy in his room. He knew that was where the man usually hid from the rest of the pride, but he wasn’t sure why. Was he afraid of shifters? He didn’t think so, but then Troy had been human and he hadn’t known about shifters before getting kidnapped from his home by the company.
“I think I found out what they coupled you with.”
The emotions in Troy’s eyes went from relief to fear. “What...what is it?”
“I’d like you to come down in the infirmary. I know I’m asking a lot from you, but I’d like for you to try to shift once I tell you what I found out.” Adrian held up a hand and stopped Troy from talking. He knew the man was going to refuse, so he had planned ahead. “I asked Soren, Bryce and Ward to meet us there so that if there are any problems they can contain you, but I have to tell you that I don’t think there will be. You’re still you, Troy. If you don’t attack anyone now that you’re in human form, I don’t think you will in your other form. I do think that shifting will help you come to terms with your inner paranormal creature, though, and it might make it easier for you to accept it.”
Troy looked like he still wanted to refuse, but in the end he nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.”
They silently walked to the infirmary and entered one of the side rooms Dominic had had designated for Adrian’s use. The guys weren’t there yet, so Adrian took some blood from Troy and sat down to talk to him while it was being processed. “I talked with Jayden, and the things you told me coupled with what I found in your blood made us think that the scientists spliced your DNA with harpy’s DNA.”
“Harpy? Wait, aren’t all harpies women?”
“Yes. I did find XX DNA in you, Troy.”
The man looked positively terrified, although Adrian didn’t know if it was because of the harpy part or the woman one. “You mean I’m half woman?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m not actually sure what it means for you, Troy. For now your body doesn’t seem to have changed, but I wasn’t looking for those kind of changes, so I can’t be sure. I want you to have some more blood work and other exams.”
“Shit, Adrian. What the hell is going to happen to me?”
“I don’t think you’re going to become a woman, Troy, but you might experience some changes, I just can’t know what. We’re not talking about hormones like some take when they want have a sex change, but about DNA, and it’s not even human, so I don’t know, really.” Adrian wished he could do more, but he couldn’t, and he hated feeling helpless like he did now, damn it!
He didn’t like the slightly crazed look in Troy’s eyes, but he couldn’t do anything more than what he was already doing. Just then the guys knocked and came in, so he made a mental note to talk to Jared about Troy’s possible problems in dealing with this. Maybe he knew about some shifter psychologist who could help the man.
“Are you ready, Troy?”
The man chuckled, but it was a dark sound. “Not really, but let’s do this.”
“You know the deal. Just concentrate and focus on what you can feel inside you.”
Adrian had already told Soren, Ward and Bryce what Troy could possibly shift into, so they wouldn’t be surprised even if he did shift into something female. He just hoped it wouldn’t be the case. Troy took his clothes off and Adrian locked his gaze on the man’s face.
The air shimmered lightly around Troy, and Adrian’s eyes widened when he saw the man shift. He wasn’t shrinking like he had expected. Instead, he was getting bigger, and the wings sprouting from his back were huge. His eyes were closed so he didn’t see himself change.
Troy stood there even when he was done shifting, his eyes still closed as he waited for them to say something. He was impressive, and definitely not a woman.
Troy had gone from the six foot three of his human form to seven foot something in his shifted one, probably seven two or three. Two huge wings, proportioned to the rest of his body, had appeared from his back, and their span was so big that they barely fit into the room. Troy’s skin was still pale, and the bronze coloring of the wings made a beautiful contrast with it and the freckles that dotted it.
It wasn’t only the wings, though. Where Troy had had nails, he now had big, black claws, and talons had grown both on his wrists and on the back of his legs. Those, too, were black.
“Troy?” Adrian hoped the man was really in there, especially when Troy opened his mouth and he saw the impressive canines that had grown in the place of his blunt human ones.
“Doc?” The voice was still the same, thank god. It was still Troy. “Am I a woman? Do I have breasts?”
Bryce snorted, then started to laugh, and just like that the tension was broken. “Dude, breasts would’ve looked so bad on you. I’m grateful you didn’t grow any.”
Troy tentatively opened his eyes and Adrian sucked in a breath. His eyes were pure black. There were no pupils, just black, and it was eerie as hell. “Do you want to look at yourself in a mirror?”
“I...maybe later.” Troy looked down his b
ody and frowned. “Okay, not a woman, but I do have stuff I didn’t have before.”
“Umm, yeah. The wings on your back are a huge indication of that,” Bryce said, and Troy moved to try to see them.
“I have wings?”
“Yes, and they’re beautiful,” Adrian said.
“It’s going to take a while to get used to them.” Well, at least Troy didn’t seem too disturbed by his shifted form. It wasn’t bad, really. Adrian found it quite appealing, actually. Troy exuded a sense of power and a raw sexuality in this form, and it explained why his muscles had grown even in his normal human form. His body had had to change to be able to support the shift and the wings.
“Do you think you can try to shift back?” Adrian asked.
Troy closed his eyes again and a few moments later he was himself again. He hurried to put his clothes back on, then sat heavily back on the chair he had been in before.
“How are you feeling?”
“More...grounded. The creature, the harpy, is not as mad as it was before. I guess coming out calmed her—it—whatever.”
“I want you to tell me if you have those mood swings again, and I think you should shift every day for a while, if anything else to get used to your shifted form. You’re going to have to learn to move around with those wings, and I guess you can probably learn to fly.”
Troy nodded. “It’s going to take a while to get used to this, so I’ll think about the flying thing later.”
“You know, I actually like being a squirrel, and I think that once you accept that you now have another entity in you, it’ll become easier to deal with everything.”
“But you’re not half woman, Adrian.”
Adrian winced. Yeah, there still was that problem. Then he had to find a solution to help Adan. God, problems really were never ending. He hoped Joshua had had more luck with whatever it was he had to ask John.
Adrian [Whitedell Pride: 8] Page 10