Smoke and Mirrors Part 21

"Right." Sloane snuggled closer, their legs intertwined. "So what's with Guns N' Roses in the middle of the night?"

Dex turned in Sloane's arms so they were face to face, his voice quiet. "So TIN doesn't hear us."

Sloane was wide awake then. "What is it?"

"I think it's pretty obvious they weren't accidents."

Sloane frowned, puzzled. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"I set up an algorithm on Themis to do a search. A list of Therians and Humans who are marked. The list of Therians who'd marked Therians in New York City wasn't all that long, but I didn't expect it to be, but the list of Humans marked by Therians was even shorter."

Sloane went pensive. "Makes sense. What did you find?"

Dex took a deep, steady breath. "Everyone on the list of Humans marked by Therians is dead."

"Wait, all of them?" Sloane stared at him.

"They all died in either accidents or in prison after being arrested for the murder of their Human mates."

Sloane's eyes widened. "Dylan. Something in my gut told me something wasn't right with how he died."

"Yeah. Of course that's just Humans who sought medical treatment after being marked. There's no telling how many more Humans there are in the city who've been marked and didn't go to the hospital."

"Like you," Sloane replied softly.

"Like me."

"It makes me wonder if any additional tests were run on those Humans, and if they also came back inconclusive."

Dex nodded somberly. "I'm willing to bet they did. Alicia Reynolds had been marked by her Therian husband. She suffered seizures, her tests were inconclusive, and then she was killed. Dylan was charged for her murder and ends up killing himself."

"He was on suicide watch," Sloane said thoughtfully, stroking Dex's arm. "But I'm following you."

"So why am I still alive? Why are you still alive? I doubt it's because TIN's been keeping such a good watch on us. I think it's because I never went to the hospital."

Sloane stilled. "You think someone's been killing them off?"

"And using the hospital records to do it. It would explain why they haven't come after us."

"What about Wolf?"

"That was about my mom and the file. He never mentioned anything about my being marked, and there's no way he wouldn't have known."

Sloane sat up. "You said Wolf told you he'd been instructed to kill you after retrieving the information."

Dex followed Sloane, sitting up. He planted a kiss on Sloane's bare shoulder, needing to touch him. Always. "True. But if it was because I was marked, wouldn't they have made another attempt to kill us? Maybe Wolf didn't tell them."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Sparks said the guy was one of their best. That he was the job. You know how these spooks are. Maybe it wasn't in his contract, so once the contract was void, he had no reason to tell his employer anything. Wolf didn't strike me as the kind of guy who gave intel out for free, especially if they f.u.c.ked with him. It would explain why no one's tried to kill us."

"Yet," Sloane said with a sigh. "So what's our next move?"

Dex thought about everything he'd learned so far. Too many connecting factors to ignore.

"Maybe my mom's file and these deaths are connected after all. If these couples were murdered, it could be because of whatever my mom was collecting evidence on. The deaths started around the same time."

Sloane rubbed his hands over his face. He kept his voice low. "Okay, let's say you're right. Why are they after the file now, after all this time? Not having it hasn't stopped them from killing these couples."

"True. But remember these are just couples who went to the hospital. What if the file contains more names?" It suddenly struck him. "s.h.i.+t. The list. The one Shultzon mentioned. It lists all the First Gens from the First Gen Research Facility, the ones with anomalies. I bet if we ran those names through Themis, not only will we get hits for Therians who marked their Human mates and are now dead, but we'll get hits on other Therians with Human mates, ones who may have possibly bonded and not visited a hospital or doctor."

Sloane's expression grew anxious. "What if we're wrong about them being killed? What if these anomalies we carry in our blood makes us kill our mates? What if we somehow f.u.c.k up our mates and then go feral and kill them?"

Dex cupped Sloane's face. "Stop. That's not what's happening here, okay? There has to be more to it. Without that file, we got nothing but theories." He released Sloane and ran a hand through his hair. Thinking. "My mom was smart. She knew the danger she was facing by collecting that information. She would have made sure the file and the list were secure. Who knows how many agencies were after that information, yet everyone came up empty, even my dad. You heard him. Before the funeral, my parents' house and his were broken into and ransacked. I bet whoever was after the information then is after it now, and for some reason, they believe I have it."

"What about TIN?" Sloane ran his fingers through Dex's hair, soothing. It felt so d.a.m.ned good.

"You mean our absentee fairy G.o.d-Therians?" Dex let out an indelicate snort. "What about them?"

"You know they're hiding something from us."

Dex closed his eyes, giving himself over to Sloane's sweet ministrations. "They're not hiding something, Sloane. They're hiding everything. Sparks knows a h.e.l.l of a lot more than she's letting on. I mean, I know they need to live up to that whole 'we don't exist' image, but we know they exist. We're the ones in the middle of this. The least they can do is answer our questions."

"So why are we still listening to her?"

Dex opened his eyes and met Sloane's. His partner's amber eyes burned with anger. Sloane wasn't afraid to let his feelings on TIN be known.

"Because we need her. We need TIN. Let's face it. They may be a bunch of a.s.sholes, but they have resources we don't."

Sloane scoffed at that. "Yeah, because they've been so forthcoming and willing." He ran a thumb over Dex's cheek, his anger melting into heartache. "TIN let you get kidnapped, Dex. They let Wolf into our home. Why didn't they use those resources then? Why didn't they stop Wolf? Even if the guy was the best operative TIN ever had, are you telling me they couldn't have stopped him if they wanted to?"

"You think they've been working their own angle?"

"You don't?"

Dex sighed. "You're right." They'd seen TIN's operatives at work. h.e.l.l, they'd been trained by TIN. It was because of that training that Dex had been able to defend himself against Wolf.

"So what then?"

Dex lay back down, and Sloane followed him. They huddled close together. "I think we need to see this through."

Sloane grimaced. "That's what Sparks said."

"I can only a.s.sume she said it for a reason. Neither of us trusts TIN, but there's a reason they're letting this play out. Despite showing up when it's convenient for them, they're there. They showed up when I had my seizure. Whatever's going on is as important to them as it is to us, so I think for now, we should play along."

Sloane let out a heavy sigh. He stroked Dex's arm, and nodded. "Okay. We'll play their game. For now."

Despite his worries, Dex was happy. Right now at this moment, in Sloane's arms, everything was perfect. "This weekend, I'm gonna get Dad, Ash, and Cael down here to help us go through the boxes in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

Sloane's eyebrows shot up. "The bas.e.m.e.nt?"

"I haven't gone through that stuff since I moved it all out of Tony's house when I started college. Some of it I haven't seen since I was a kid. Who knows what's in there. Anyway-" Dex kissed Sloane's jaw and closed his eyes. "-it's just a few boxes."

IT WASN'T just a few boxes.

"I may have underestimated the number of boxes down here." Dex cringed at the dozens upon dozens of cardboard boxes in various sizes stacked from the carpeted floor to the ceiling. They were in pristine condition, with all the stacks up on plinths in case a pipe burst. He kept the temperature controlled and the bas.e.m.e.nt aired out to keep the boxes from growing mildew. He also came down every week and dusted. Inside these boxes was his childhood, both with his biological and adopted family.

"Holy s.h.i.+t." Ash gaped at the sea of boxes. "You're a pack rat!"

Dex wrinkled his nose. "Hey, this isn't all mine. Some of it's Sloane's."

Sloane very smartly covered his laugh with a cough. Most likely because Dex was well aware that Sloane had a total of three boxes that were stacked neatly in one corner.

"This is going to take days to go through," Ash said as he walked through the maze of boxes. "Are they in any kind of order?"

"Um, no," Dex admitted.

"What the h.e.l.l? You're always so freaking a.n.a.l about organization. How does sorting this s.h.i.+t out not make sense? You-"

Cael elbowed Ash in the ribs. Hard.

"Ow, what?" Ash murmured, rubbing his side.

Dex shrugged as he turned away. "Most of this stuff is from my childhood. Some stuff belonged to my parents. I haven't opened these boxes since they were packed years ago."

"Oh." Ash cleared his throat. "Sorry."

Dex took a deep breath as he turned back to the others. "Can you guys, um, be careful with this stuff?"

They all nodded, and Dex thanked them. Sloane pulled him to one side, turning him away from the others. This was harder than he'd thought it would be, and they hadn't even started.

"You don't have to," Sloane said quietly, holding him close. "We can do this."

Dex took another deep, steady breath and let it out slowly through his mouth. "No, I need to. It's time. Besides, it's all my stuff, so I'm the most familiar with it."

"Okay, but if at any point you want to stop or it gets to be too much, you just tell me, yeah?"

Dex nodded. "Thanks."

"So how do we want to do this?" Tony asked. He turned to Ash. "This is your department."

Ash walked around the room, a.s.sessing the boxes, their sizes, positions. He started moving some stuff around, arranging boxes by size, moving them closer to the stairs and to one side so the majority of the stuff was now at the front.

"We can take boxes from this side here, check them in our own section, and when we're done inspecting, seal them up again, label them, and move them to the far end of the bas.e.m.e.nt."

Dex agreed. "Sounds like a plan." He handed out the permanent markers he'd brought down, along with tape and box cutters. Taking a deep, steady breath, Dex grabbed the first box. It was big but barely weighed anything. Man, he wished he'd at least stuck a year on these things. Then again, he kept telling himself he'd get around to it and never did. Everyone else grabbed their boxes and snagged themselves a spot to get comfortable in.

Some of these boxes had been packed by Tony back when Dex's parents had died. Dex had no idea what he'd find. Putting on his big-boy pants, he cut open the first box and grinned. He discreetly looked up, waited until Cael had his back turned, and then swiped the furry blue stuffed toy from the box. Sloane arched an eyebrow at him but didn't say a word as Dex snuck up on Cael.

"Grr!"

Dex plopped the toy on Cael's shoulder. His brother took one look at it and squealed, jumping so high he almost landed in Ash's lap. Dex doubled over laughing.

"You s.h.i.+t!" Cael growled, glaring at him.

Dex could barely breathe. The indignant expression on Cael's flushed face was priceless.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" Ash asked, eyeing the blue stuffed toy in Dex's hands.

"My Pet Monster," Dex replied when he was able to form coherent sentences again. "Dad got it for Cael one year, for Christmas, I think it was. Cael took one look at it and burst into tears. You should have seen him. He was so adorable, with his little chubby cheeks, shrieking his little face off." Dex went to pinch Cael's cheek and had his hand slapped away, making Dex laugh. "When he was in his cheetah Therian form, he'd chirp furiously, batting at it with his claws. He hated this thing."

"Still do," Cael muttered. He turned to his dad, looking unimpressed. "I mean, really, Dad. That thing is-to quote Dex-fugly."

Tony shrugged. "It's a monster. It's supposed to be. Besides, the lady at the toy store said it was very popular among boys your age."

"Well, not all boys like monsters," Cael muttered as he went about opening his box.

Dex chuckled and returned to his own box. It was filled with stuffed animals. "True." He reached into the box and pulled out another stuffed toy, this one cute and cuddly. "Remember this guy?"

Ash eyed the stuffed toy warily. What exactly was he expecting the fluffy doll to do?

"Is that a lion or a bee?"

Dex wriggled his eyebrows. "Both."

"So... how would that work?" Ash c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "That's not physically possible. Besides, bees hatch from eggs. Are they suggesting a lion impregnated a bee? Or vice versa?"

Dex stared at him. "Are you really trying to biologically explain a child's toy? From the eighties. We're talking about an era with babies born in cabbage patches and where people thought wearing spandex out in public was a good idea."

"I'm just saying, it's not possible."

"Neither is a cross-dressing rabbit, but you don't see me trying to debunk a legend."

"First of all, that bee-lion-"

"b.u.mblelion," Dex corrected, trying his hardest to keep a straight face.

"What?"

"His name's b.u.mblelion."

"Of course it is, and you're a dweeb. As I was saying, first of all, Lionbee is not a legend. Nowhere near in the same league as Bugs Bunny."

Ash watched cartoons? Who'da thunk it?

"Second of all, if you're going to create a children's toy, then you should be prepared to answer questions regarding its origins."

Dex shook his head. "You have no imagination."