down slightly to be at eye level with her. “You wanted proof. I’m offering you proof …”
Shrugging, I watch the turmoil on her face before she finally snaps, “I want to check on my cousin. She’s in second grade, and her school isn’t far from here or the Mosfellsbær Golf Club’s course—”
I nod as I cut her off again. “How about we stop there? Will seeing her make you feel better?”
Lilibeth’s eyes narrow. “Yes …”
“Alright then. So, Alisha will take the car, and we’ll go check on your cousin. I can let my superiors know what’s happening here, and then we’ll meet up with Alisha and your car.”
She looks totally confused, and I don’t blame her. She has no idea what she’s agreeing to, but I can’t wait to show her my personal dimension. She doesn’t realize it, but she’s exposed leverage that I can exploit.
Clearly, her cousin is important to her. As I walk around the small apartment, making sure we haven’t missed anything that could be considered a lead, I think about this new information.
When I sense she’s right behind me, I ask, “How old is your cousin?”
“Seven.” She says as Alisha walks over with her hand out, wiggling her fingers at Lilibeth.
“Keys?” I gesture to Alisha, who’s still waiting patiently for Lilibeth.
“Oh, right.” Digging into her pocket, she draws out the small fob. “And you think we’ll be able to catch up to where she is later?”
“For sure.” I maintain eye contact with her to let her know how serious I am.
Alisha’s already leaving, throwing over her shoulder, “I’ll keep you updated and send out this immediate information to the squad.”
Perfect. She knows as well as I do that I don’t plan to stop and let Payak know. She can do that instantly, although I could send him some pictures before we go. Pulling out my cellphone and opening the camera, I snap a closeup of Brad Nixon. He’s still rocking against his restraints mindlessly, his gaping mouth spitting drool and residual blood.
“Why’s he cutting himself like that?” I look at where she’s staring and see cuts forming around his wrists and ankles at the restraints, and I shrug.
“They don’t seem to register pain the way we do. I mean … technically, their brain activity is limited, and their hearts are no longer pumping blood. See at the cut? There’s little blood?”
Swallowing hard, Lilibeth nods before taking a step back and looking away. I quickly send my picture to Payak, knowing she’s worried about being here with them. Payak will send someone who’s briefed on the situation to collect them right away, but it’d be wise to confirm this is actually Brad Nixon. The male who started it all after he attacked his ex-girlfriend Amy when she came back to gather her belongings from their shared apartment. Amy had been abducted and transported to Teleplay to be used as Wen food along with three other men. That’s where Mavin found her and mated with her.
Almost immediately, my phone pings back a response.
That’s him!
Perfect. Quickly, I send the coordinates and let them know we’re following up on one other place where we know more could have been exposed. Payak and the others won’t want to wait too long to collect them because the transitioned have been known to sacrifice their limbs in order to escape restraints. In fact, us being here makes that even more likely because they register us as a potential food source, which drives them to get loose.
“Ready?” Looking behind me, I see Lilibeth crouched over the most damaged female still restrained in the kitchen.
When the young woman twitches, Lilibeth falls back on her butt, scrambling to get farther away. “Good idea. You don’t want to be too close. When she comes around, she’ll be lunging at anything edible.”
Lilibeth scoots to her knees, straightening up slowly and keeping a wary eye on the woman on the floor. I’ve reached her side immediately. I don’t want her to fear them. She needs to have a healthy respect, but I won’t let anything happen to her.
When I saw Brad Nixon going after her while I was restraining the smaller woman, a shot of fear overtook me. She’s still frail and susceptible to their contact. Until I can convince her to consider looking at me as a potential mate, she won’t be safe.
Once we’re mated, having shared blood and phased together, she’ll be as invincible as Sinth are. Just thinking about thrusting inside her body and burying my