Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,59

I think that descriptor more accurately pertained to Medusa,” Eveline returned, “along with narcissistic psychopath. But this enemy is different.”

“Based on what I know from the Cove, she’s been experimenting with different species and Kinds for a very long time. If we put aside Medusa for a moment and consider that this enemy is the real mastermind behind everything that’s happened, then you could argue that she used Medusa—to form the base for the Hydra.”

“She is using…others’ genetic material as well,” Rain added, flicking a quick glance at Tal. “If I think about it, Wan’er started a number of clinics years ago in Boston, then New York City, and who knows where else. Those could have been fronts for experimentation on humans. We know that the Genesis serum came from Tal. And recently, we learned that Evergreen is a match for Erebu.”

Eveline nodded.

“She’s creating hybrids between Kinds, many of them failures, but some successes as well. Ramses suspects that the rise in number of Rogue vampires lately is manufactured. As in, these vampires were made, and not in the old-fashioned way of turning, which has built-in limitations.”

“You mean, they are the result of experiments?” Gabriel’s eyes flared with comprehension.

“Artificial man-made creations,” Eveline confirmed. “That’s what Ava believes, anyway.”

“We had the same hypothesis before, remember?” Rain said. “But we were never able to discover how that was possible.”

“Ava is trying to get enough samples to prove it,” Eveline related, “but that necessitates bringing back Rogues alive versus killing them outright, which is not as easy to do as one might think. The Chosen have tried, but all the vampires they’ve captured have turned to dust before they could collect any usable samples.”

“But I digress,” Eveline came back to where she started. “What I wanted to point out is that Wan’er, or whoever she really is, seems to be artificially replicating what the gods of old did with magic—she’s creating life.”

“She has a god complex,” Seth deduced.

“More than that,” Eveline said.

“I think she wants to become a god.”

*** *** *** ***

Sophia was getting rather attached to caves.

Such utilitarian rock formations—great for shelter from the elements, as a hideout from potential threats, and quite luxurious when there’s close access to water as well as dry kindling for a cozy fire.

Her history with caves, underground enclosures, caverns and such had been quite eventful. She was practically a connoisseur. She should start a travel tour for five-star cavern stays.

Her first experience kind of ruined her for all others—during her trip to China when she was ten years-old, newly dubbed Queen of the Pure Ones. Chaperoned by Ayelet and Valerius, their task was to recruit the race’s most powerful healer, Rain, into the Royal Zodiac.

Rain’s society of Pure and human healers, all women, inhabited a web of underground facilities beneath the famous West Lake in Hangzhou. The enclosures were outfitted with both ancient and modern luxuries, nostalgic and convenient. Magical.

Such an experience was hard to beat, especially given Sophia’s next, less voluntary stay.

The second time, she was abducted several years ago by the Creature (or Erebu under Medusa’s orders). She’d been taken to a maze of abandoned underground tunnels outside of Boston. Creepy, like catacombs. She was kept in a gilded cage, taunted but not harmed. She didn’t remember much else; she’d been drugged out during the Elite’s counter-attack and rescue. And when she finally gained consciousness, Dalair was gone.

That experience was decidedly unmagical, given that they’d lost two Elite warriors and the Pure Ones’ Scribe in the final battles.

The third time, Dalair himself had abducted her. Taken her right out of the Shield from under everyone’s noses.

He took her to a hidden location in the Catskills. She was kept there for many days, perhaps even weeks. She’d lost track of time. Then, he helped her escape (or so she thought), and she succumbed to their need for each other under a secluded rock overhang much like the one at the entrance of the cave she huddled within now.

Which brought her to her present circumstances: holed up for the night in this cozy cave whose entrance was hidden by the liquid shield of a waterfall, waiting for Dalair to return from whatever he was doing outside.

It didn’t occur to Sophia to run for it while Dalair left her and Benji alone for the time being.

First, because the little boy was tuckered out, sleeping like the dead in a huddled ball in a small nook toward the back of the cave behind a row of rocks that