Blood's Shadow: The Lycanthropy Files, Book 3 Read Online Free

came through.
    “I was already up. Had the oddest feeling something was wrong.”
    Lonna opened her mouth but covered it with her left hand to stifle a sob.
    “Bad news,” Max said and covered Lonna’s other hand with his own. “Otis has been killed.”
    “Killed? Are you sure?” Noises came through the phone as though he rearranged its positioning against his ear.
    “Well, yes,” said Max. “He was quite dead.”
    “At the Institute? Could it have been an accident?”
    “Yes, here, and no, that’s not possible. Look, I don’t want to give you the horrid details over the phone, but Gabriel McCord, the Council Investigator, is here, and we need some information from you.”
    “Gabriel.” Iain’s tone was cool, as it always was when he dealt with me. I was working undercover for the Council when I’d assisted him with his research, and he hadn’t taken the revelation well when I finally came clean.
    “Iain,” I said, trying to keep the impatience from my voice. He’d always treated me as an intellectual inferior, so it was as pleasant for me to talk to him as it obviously was for him to hear from me. “Look, I apologize for having to interrogate you when you’ve just found out about your colleague. Would you like me to call you later?”
    “Why? He’s going to be just as dead then. Ask your questions.”
    “Iain,” Lonna said, “I know this is a shock…”
    “It’s fine,” I told her. “What had you sent to Doctor LeConte, Iain? I understand it was all on paper.”
    “Yes, because you’ve done such a fine job of dragging the Council into the twenty-first century. I’d mailed him the first six applications for the Experimental Adjustment and Reversal Program along with the blood samples and other material data.”
    “Was there anything unusual about any of them?”
    “It depends on your definition of ‘unusual’. They’re all Americans who were infected with CLS by vaccines and who experienced the full change. Four males and two females, all of Scandinavian or Celtic descent.”
    “Has anyone on your team there been threatened?” I asked.
    “I’ll check with Joanie and Leo, but not as far as I know.”
    “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll be in touch if I need anything else. Oh, could you send an encrypted file with the information to the team here? We’re still looking for the blood samples.”
    “Yes, it will take a few hours to get it all encrypted and uploaded, but I’ll get right on it.”
    He rang off, and we all sat and looked at each other. The dead man may as well have been in the room with us, we were so somber. I was the only Scot, but the others easily matched our stereotypical grimness.
    I stood. “Thank you for lunch, especially under the circumstances. I’ll let you know what the Council says with regard to proceeding.”
    “Otis wouldn’t have wanted us to stop,” Selene said. “He would’ve told us to keep going without him. It’s important to the mission that we do.”
    Her Southern US heritage had become evident in her vowels, likely an effect of the rum.
    “I will do my best to make sure you can proceed soon.”
    “I’ll see you out,” Max said.
    Selene wobbled to her feet and said, “I’ll take him. I need to get something out of my car.”
    “Are you sure you’re okay to do that?” Lonna asked. “You’ve just had a strong drink on an empty stomach.”
    Selene looked at me, her eyes imploring, and I interjected, “I’ll watch her and ensure she gets back into the building safely.”
    “Thank you,” she said once we’d left the room and were out of earshot down the hall. “I just need a few minutes to breathe and be alone.”
    “Shall I leave you, then?”
    She looked up at me through her lashes, where tiny crystal-like tears clung and gave her an exotic, fairy-like appearance. “No. God knows I shouldn’t, but I feel comfortable with you.” She sighed as if she wound up to say more, but she shook her head.
    “You can tell me whatever you