She was the cure.
Jon had actually been right. It’s me.
She might not be able to help Trace yet, but she could help Vaughn . . . soon. So very soon.
She just had to get the poison out first. Get the poison out, and then she’d have the cure they needed.
Hope grew inside her, and it felt so good. Incredible. No more lives lost to the primal virus. No. More.
The doors to the lab flew open.
She spun around, heart racing. “I’ve almost got—”
Eve was there, looking grim.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was watching the security monitors in the outer room. We’ve got company coming.”
Company? “The last phoenix? Is she already—”
“No, it’s not Sabine.”
Cassie knew Eve had become well acquainted with Sabine’s story, especially since Sabine had once come after Cain.
Those phoenixes . . . always trying to kill each other.
“It looks like it’s Charles,” Eve said, “but he isn’t coming back alone.”
Cassie headed for her own security monitors. Pulled up the feed.
There was Charles—she saw him climb from a black SUV. There was Charles and—
“Impossible,” she whispered.
That could not be Jon Abrams exiting the vehicle and coming to stand next to him.
She leaned closer.
The same blond hair. The same hard jaw. The same hawkish nose.
She was staring at a ghost. “He’s dead. I saw Jon Abrams die!”
“The guy doesn’t look dead to me,” Eve muttered.
“I shot him.” He’d fallen. He’d been dead, hadn’t he? It wasn’t like she could have mistaken a living man and a dead guy.
Jon shoved Charles toward the hidden entrance, except it wasn’t an entrance that was hidden any longer. Charles was walking the guy right up to the supposed-to-be-secret facility.
“Charles knows the code to get inside,” Cassie whispered. She counted at least ten armed men with Jon.
If those men got inside . . .
She slammed down the button for the alarm before Charles could reach the key pad. When the alarm was activated, the whole security system went into high alert.
Normal codes were ignored. I’m sorry, Charles. I can’t let them in.
She knew what Jon would do.
Her fingers frantically flew over the keyboard as she typed in her password, making damn sure that no one would be able to override the system. As long as the alarm mode was set, Jon wouldn’t get in.
But those inside also wouldn’t get out.
The doors banged again. “What the hell is happening?” Dante demanded.
Cassie glanced over her shoulder. Dante and Cain were both there, looking grim. Behind them, Jamie strained to see over their shoulders.
Fear was bright in his eyes.
“Cassie says a dead man is trying to break into the lab,” Eve told them, voice tight. “And that guy Charles led him here.”
“I don’t think Charles had much of a choice.” Cassie could see the side of his face now that he was closer to the security camera. It looked like he’d been . . .
Burned?
Her heart beat faster.
Dante rushed across the room. His shoulders brushed hers as he bent to stare at the screen. “That’s the bastard we left at the ranch.”
The bastard was up and walking around just fine.
She pushed a few more buttons on the keyboard. Another security feed popped up, and she saw that Charles was trying to input his code.
When the code didn’t work, there was no mistaking the look of terror on his face.
Then Charles glanced up. He would know where the small security camera was hidden. He stared right at that camera and mouthed, please.
“What happened to his face?” Jamie demanded. He’d crept up beside Dante. “Who is that guy with him?”
“Someone very dangerous,” Cassie said as she tried to keep her voice calm. “Jamie, will you go back to your room? Lock the door and stay there.”
His eyes widened. “Are they—vampires?” His main fear.
She knew that would always be his fear.
Cassie shook her head. “They’re the people who make the monsters.”
His eyes hardened. “Then they’re like you.”
The words hurt, but they were true. She nodded. “Yes.”
Dante growled. “Watch it, kid.”
She glanced at Dante. “Please, take Jamie to his room. Make sure he’s safe.”
He nodded, but still gave her a good glare as he ordered, “You stay here until I get back.”
Where was she going to go? Their main exit was currently blocked by a group of armed men.
Her gaze slid back to the security feed as Dante took Jamie away.
“Is there a way to get sound on that thing?” Cain asked.
She tapped the audio.
Heard nothing.
Then Jon’s gaze rose to the camera. He’d found it, too. “Hello, Cassie.”
Chill bumps rose on her arms. The audio was working just fine.
“That bastard sounds familiar to me,” Cain said as his gaze turned to Cassie. “Was he at Genesis?”
“Yes,” Cassie whispered. “Jon was a . . . successful experiment.” So they’d all claimed.
“Cassie, open the door and come out to me.” Jon’s voice was mild. And he kept smiling.
“He’s insane if he thinks you’re going out there,” Cain snapped.
Yes, he was insane. She could see that quite clearly.
“If you don’t come to me,” Jon continued in that same, almost relaxed, voice, “I’m afraid I’ll have to hurt your friend here, while you watch. You are watching, aren’t you, Cassie?”
She couldn’t look away. Her eyes were glued to the screen as—as flames flickered over Jon’s hand.
Flames?
“What the hell?” Cain was leaning over the screen. “Is he a dragon shifter?”
“No,” Cassie whispered. The flames were so close to Charles.
“He’s a phoenix?”
“No,” she said. At least, he hadn’t been. “He was human when he entered the Genesis Program. He was given a splice of shifter DNA, but he wasn’t a phoenix.”
“I’ll give him a little burn,” Jon said, “just to show you how serious I am.”
He put those flames against Charles’s right arm.
Charles screamed.
So did Cassie. Her hand slammed down onto the intercom. “Stop!”
The flames died away in an instant. “Ah, Cassie, I knew you were there.” Jon stared up at the camera. At her. “Now be a good girl . . . and let me the f**k in.”