our wake. My man didn't say a word during the entire ride back. He wasn't depressed or beating himself up as I had expected he would. Something was troubling him, and I could see his wheels turning. I had to bite my tongue multiple times not to ask him what was going on in his head. But at a visceral level, I knew he needed this time to sort out his thoughts and therefore left him alone.
When we arrived at the base, Zain didn't go back to our quarters with me. He waited for Thomson to come out of his vehicle and immediately requested a talk in private. No sooner had Thomson said yes than my man was already heading towards the elevators. Tate and I stared at the two men with confusion.
So much for our kinky pre-Mist evening.
Chapter 17
Zain
I was fuming, angry with myself for not having seen it sooner. But I was just as furious with the Director that he, too, should have been so blind to what was so obvious. This entire time, I had wondered how Darryl had been so effective in avoiding capture. Reading through their files, it had been uncanny how he systematically found the most powerful newborns in the midst of crossing over, so that he could feed on them in their most vulnerable state. It had been far too convenient that every time he siphoned the victim, it always happened to be at a time where no agent was in close enough proximity to intervene in a timely fashion. And the time they would have been close enough, out of sheer luck there happened to be no cameras in the area that could have given them an early heads up.
There were too many coincidences to continue to deny the truth.
When the lift stopped on the second floor where the offices were located, I made a beeline for his. I didn't wait for Thomson to open the door, letting myself in before taking a seat in one of the two leather chairs in front of his desk. The Director eyed me warily, a frown marring his forehead.
“You wished to speak to me?” Thomson said while circling around his desk to take a seat.
“Darryl knows what is going on in this base,” I said matter-of-factly but in a slightly harsh tone. “You've been suspecting as much for a while now. And yet, you allowed my mate to leave this place without an escort and put her in harm's way.”
Thomson cringed and lowered his gaze, guilt washing over his features. However, I didn't give a shit about his guilt or any remorse he may feel.
“You are right. I had begun to suspect information was somehow being leaked to him,” Thomson said in a grim tone. “I trust every one of my agents and cannot believe for one minute they would do such a thing. Why? What could they possibly gain from it? Every single person in this project has been thoroughly vetted. And yet, despite my doubts, I actually launched an internal investigation to root out the traitor,” he added, running his fingers through his hair with a dejected expression. “We have found absolutely nothing.”
“And you won’t,” I said in a calm voice. Thomson recoiled, his blue eyes widening in confusion. “Tell me Director Thomson, what is your greatest fear?”
His frown deepened, and he looked at me in a way that said he didn't see what that had to do with anything.
“I bet that the thing that keeps you up at night is the fear that something will come out of the Mist, so powerful, so evil, so relentless, that it will decimate the population of the city you have sworn to protect, and that you’ll be helpless to eliminate it,” I said in a conversational tone. “I bet you have nightmares about the men and women you’ve grown to consider as family getting obliterated by a vile and unstoppable monster. And as the months and years go by, one by one, your greatest fears are coming to pass. Why do you think that is, Director Thomson?”
The blood drained from Thomson’s face, a horrified expression descending on his features.
“No,” he whispered, shaking his head in denial.
“Yes, Thomson. Yes. Darryl is your Nightmare,” I replied in a tone that brooked no argument. “Every night, you feed him vital information about this operation and the people within it.”
“THAT’S A LIE!!” Thomson shouted. He jumped to his feet, fury etched on his face. “I would never—”
“SIT DOWN!” I