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that do to the natural hunters of this demon plague if the virus proliferates?
That's my second question. Shadow wolves are nearly extinct. Let a lab screw
up, Sasha, or some terrorist release a biohazard on a populace not caring
about the results, and what do you think will happen?"
"So what am I supposed to do? Sit around like some pawn and let them continue
to control my life?" Incredulous, she headed for the door.
"No. You're supposed to get to the root of this poison in our system, bring
all of the bastards down, and blow this operation up from the inside out.
You're supposed to work with every source, resource, and natural advantage you
have at your disposal. You're supposed to play them, like they played you,
gathering data, thwarting them without them knowing you did it, recording
their conversations like they did yours building an ironclad internal affairs
case, while fighting this scourge on the outside. You're supposed to let Max
work the outside while you work the inside, sharing resources and stopping
this shit from spreading. Something was creating infected werewolves in record
numbers on this side of the demon dimensions, as well as brokering the
technology we foolishly developed in a lab, and then all of a sudden it went
underground like it's waiting for something why, who, we don't know."
Xavier Holland talked with his hands, and all calm evaporated from him as his
pained gaze sought her forgiveness and understanding. "Sasha, you're supposed
to keep Woods and Fisher hidden and working to feed you leads. The brass
doesn't know they're not dead. Right now, for all intents and purposes,
they're ghosts."
"And I'm supposed to just keep on going like a machine, forget how my whole
life has been manipulated? Is that it? I'm supposed to be okay with all of
this?"
"No. You're not supposed to forget," he said, his voice becoming gentle.
"You're supposed to be outraged and hurt and angry, but not to be stupid and
give up, baby. No. That, you're not supposed to do. You're supposed to get
mad, but damn sure even. I'm an old man soon new scientists will take my
place& and they'll keep coming, updating the work, and screwing over lives
until you can core the apple."
Winded from his impassioned speech, he walked over to the door and flung it
open. "You can hate me for my part in this until the end of time. I can't
blame you. But if you give up on yourself and let them take you down easy,
that, above all things, would kill me, because I love you."
CHAPTER 10
She'd begun running to escape, running to clear her head, running to feel
clean, running to get the muck and mire of filthy politics and dirty deals off
her. Running to release Rod's soul from her heart, running to keep the sobs at
bay. No matter what, the man hadn't deserved to die like that. No matter what,
her parents shouldn't have been slaughtered by a botched experiment. No matter
what, Woods and Fisher shouldn't be stranded and exiled. No matter what, she
should never have been born.
Shadows chased her, taunted her, eluded her, until she found a lonely plateau
to sink down upon and sob. There was no lie in Doc's eyes, no fraud in his
tone. She understood why he'd done what he did& but, damn, who were these
people? What gave them the right? She cried so hard that she began to
dry-heave.
She lay in the snow, breathing hard, slowly calming, and closed her eyes. For
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a long while she allowed the passing clouds to blanket her with shadows,
thinking of all the laughs she had had with Rod and the guys over pitchers of
beer, playing video games, training& and more private moments that seemed so
far away now.
Childhood memories, good and bad, slipped through her mind, made hazy and
color-muted by time and selective memory.
Now the only thing that was real was any time spent with Holland. She wondered
how people like the general slept at night. What might she have been if she
were a regular kid, not just an experiment? What if she'd been raised in a
real family& But then again, what was that? A real family.
She thought about Woodsy and Fisher. Out there somewhere, alone. They had
watched the Butler they all knew die, had watched their own government blow
the whole squad away. She was all they had left and, damn it, they were still
a pack. She had to find her men. They were the only family, save Doc and
Hunter, that she had now.
Sasha sat up and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, face numb. Just as
importantly, she had to find out who was pulling the strings. She looked off
in the distance toward the mountains and thought of Max's proposal to join [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]