Evans, Gabrielle - From This Moment [The Moonlight Breed 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Ma by Gabrielle Evans (ebook reader with highlight function .TXT) 📗

caught  him—he had  an answer for his earlier question.  Falling for the  extraordinary man beneath him was easier than breathing.

60                        Gabrielle Evans

Chapter Seven

“Bridgemont checks out,” Blaise announced the next evening at  yet another meeting—another meeting that was vastly  less crowded, with only Blaise, Cole, Cian, and Demitrius gathered in the common

room.

“The place is mostly legit,” Cole elaborated. “It’s an institute for  teens and young adults with problems ranging from ADHD to chronic  depression. No underground labs that we could find and nothing more  maniacal than an infirmary.”

Cian was listening, but he was more interested in the “mostly  legit” part of that statement. “Why do I feel there’s more to this?”

“Funny you should ask.” Inching to the edge of the couch  cushions, Cole set his laptop on the coffee table and  tapped at the  keyboard. “It took a little work, but Jackson was able to get into their  secured files. While everything appears on the up-and-up at first  glance, once we dug a little deeper, we found some pretty interesting  facts.”

“Will ya be gettin’ to the point sometime tonight?” The  excitement in Cole’s voice and expression was certainly a good thing,  but Cian was tired of the roundabout way he was getting to the  delivery of his  information.

“Right,” Cole answered distractedly. “Sorry.” He clicked  something on the screen, waited for it to load, and spun the computer  around toward Cian. “Okay, so this is a list of incoming and outgoing  transfers made within the last six months.”

Names and photos of nine men and six women ranging in ages from eighteen to twenty-four  composed  the list displayed on the

From This Moment                       61

laptop. Stats, such as height, weight, and blood type accompanied  each name, along with numbers and letters that made no sense to  Cian. “What are these?”

“This column is outgoing transfers.” Cole pointed to the list of  names on the right. “Do you see where it says ‘D-212R’ under the  picture? We  think that means these patients have been recommended  for the D-212 program, the same drug The  Hive gave your mate and  his friends.”

Only three of the fifteen names were on that list. “What about the incoming?”

“Again, we can only theorize, but in this case, we think that ‘D212UR’ means that the subjects were unresponsive to the treatment.”

“So, they use these patients until they snap, and then they ship them off to this Bridgemont place,” Demitrius surmised.

Cian had been thinking exactly the same thing, though he probably would have chosen a few colorful adjectives to describe  “they.” The one thing that was perfectly clear to him was that they were in a world of trouble. The more he learned, the more he began to realize that this thing was far too big for them to fight alone. Hell, he didn’t even have a clue where to begin.

Did they cut it off at the legs? And exactly where was that? Or did they go right for the heart? Again, he had no idea where to aim his proverbial sword. Though he’d never had occasion to meet the vampire, he was beginning to view Cyrus Redway as some bizarre cross between a giant squid and a  Hydra. He had his tentacles in everything, even from the grave, and each time they cut off one head, ten more grew back—just like their problems.

“Can ya tell where they’re sendin’ these patients?”

Cole shook his head and huffed in clear disgruntlement. “It’s the same bullshit address on those contracts Xander swiped.”

“So, where does that leave us?” Cian already knew the answer. It left them right back at where they’d freaking started. It sent him right back to endangering his mate by taking Zavion to that cave and

62                        Gabrielle Evans

hoping the guy could retrace his footsteps to the lab.  Fuckin’ fantastic.

“Well, it’s actually not as bad as you think.” Cole jabbed a few  more keys before turning the screen back to Cian. “We were also able  to get into their financial records. There aren’t any charges for flights  or anything that would indicate they were traveling long distances  back and forth between Bridgemont and The Hive.”

“Maybe The Hive is paying for everything,” Demitrius argued. “It  would make more sense if they were the ones transporting these

patients back and forth.”

“True, but Bridgemont has also received large charitable  donations from  Redway Corporations.”

“Does that tell us anything we’re not already knowin’?” Cian  asked.

“If you two are going to be  so negative, why am I even here?”

“Well, if you’ll tell us anything that’s any goddamn use, maybe  we wouldn’t be so bloody negative,” Cian yelled.

“You just keep talking in fucking circles,” Demitrius agreed with  a growl to his tone. “Nothing you’ve said  is any help. Why do we  even have these ridiculous meetings?”

“We’re doing everything we can,” Blaise began in a placating  tone. Only Cian wasn’t having it.

“And it’s not your mate who’s dying, is it? What do ya have to  lose, Blaise Taylor? Not a fuckin’ thing!”

“We’ve wasted three days, three motherfucking days, where we  could have been doing something more than sitting on our asses and  waiting for you to tell us that you have absolutely squat!” His chest  heaved, his nostrils flared, and Demitrius looked mad enough to spit

fire as he loomed over the alpha.

“Back the fuck off,” Cole demanded, shoving at Demitrius’s chest  as he tried to insinuate himself between his mate and the pissed-off  shifter.

From This Moment                       63

“I’m doing the best I can, you ungrateful asshole,” Blaise shot

back, completely ignoring Cole. “No, Oscar and Zavion may not be

my mates, but I  do have mates. I know  exactly  what you’re feeling, so  don’t lecture me about what you’re going through.”

“If ya know so damn much, why aren’t we any closer to findin’  this  place?” Cian demanded, rising to his feet to stand toe-to-toe with  the wolf.

“It’s not that simple.”

“Well, make it that fucking simple,” Demitrius countered as his

upper lip curled over his teeth.

“All you’ve done is fiddle with that computer, and where has that  gotten us? We could have been out lookin’ for this place for a week  now, but no. We’ve been waitin’ on you. How is that okay, Blaise?”

“It’s the safest and