“Where did you go to college?”
“In Anchorage. I wrote this paper my senior year about a two-year study I’d done on GMO foods. I was interested in swapping genetics from one species to another, but more than that, I wanted to study the long term effects on the engineered food sources for human consumption. I landed this job right after graduation—a dream job—and I met a boy. Jonathan. He said all the right things, was so caring, and we worked together, so even with our hectic schedules, there was always time for us. My passion was in food, but his passion was in suppressing certain genetic traits in animals. He said he couldn’t wrap his head around certain things, though, not like I could, so he asked for my help on his experiments more and more, and eventually, I began to become interested as well. I thought we were suppressing violent tendencies in certain animals, but we were actually doing much more than that. Or I was. Jonathan was sitting back, letting me slowly take over. But eventually, I grew bored and wanted to continue on my original path. I was a food nerd, through and through.” She let off a nervous laugh. Licking her lips, she said, “Jonathan lied about who, and what, he was our entire relationship. Not many shifters can Turn a human.”
Tobias lifted her knuckles to his lips and let them linger there, then said, “From what I understand, not many of them survive.”
Yes, that. She hadn’t survived by much. “It takes a long time.”
“What do you mean?”
God, she was glad he was turned away from her. She wouldn’t be able to talk about this if he was looking at her face. “I mean, it takes a lot of bites over a long period of time.”
“How long?”
“He held me in a big cage in the lab for two weeks. I kept waiting for everyone to come to work and save me, but no one ever did. Just Jonathan. He bit me on the arms, and now I don’t like to wear T-shirts, even when it’s hot out. He marked me with a giant reminder of his betrayal.”
“Why did he do it?” Tobias’s voice sounded strained now, angry.
“He was hired to. He told me everything one night, right before my first Change. I was so sick, and he kept talking, and none of his words made sense until later. He hadn’t ever loved me. Hadn’t really even liked me, but he was being paid a lot of money to be the perfect boyfriend and to guide me to my ‘potential.’ That’s what he called it. He said that Turning me would redirect my focus where it needed to be.”
“Jesus.”
“Ooh, no. Jesus had nothing to do with what happened in that lab. My first Change was the most excruciating experience of my life. And all the while, Jonathan watched me with this proud smile, like I was some kind of miracle. Some kind of success. An experiment gone right. Only I hadn’t Turned right. I’d lived, sure, but I didn’t have any control. My animal was made unwillingly, and she was angry, frightened, and she never settled. And…” Fuck, she would not cry. Blinking hard, she said, “I couldn’t Change back.”
“How long did your first Change last?”
“More than a month.”
Tobias rolled over and hugged her tight to his chest.
Her voice came out a shaky squeak when she found the words to continue. “Jonathan shoved me in a big canvas sack and tied the top, then smuggled me from the lab to this back road where a truck was waiting with this giant dog cage in the back. And through the wire cage was where I saw the man who’d hired Jonathan. I’d talked to him on the phone before because he owned the lab and had an interest in what I was studying. I recognized his voice. I knew who he was. They talked about how I wasn’t a success after all, but a failed experiment because I couldn’t control my animal. They talked about killing me humanely, but the man who hired Jonathan decided against it. He said he had a place to keep me where I could continue my work, safely away from everyone. By the time I Changed back into my human skin, I’d been shipped to Perl.”
“Who hired him?”
Vera wiped a runaway tear on the blanket beneath them and whispered, “Clayton Reed.”
Tobias went rigid against her, as if he’d been electrified.
“I know you and your brothers work as his enforcers, but he has his hands in more than you know.”
Tobias lurched upward and escaped her embrace. Running his hands through his hair, he stared at her, chest heaving. “Clayton Reed had you Turned? He wouldn’t. He protects humans.”
“Most humans.”
“No, Vera. You’re mistaken. It wasn’t him.”
She sat up, pulling the comforter more firmly over her to hide how vulnerable she felt after sharing that with him. With anyone. “He owned the laboratory, Tobias.”
“No.”
“He’s the one who put all the misfits on Perl. He’s the one who sends us food and supplies so we can survive there because we’re his pets. His experiments. He wanted the McCalls fixed.”