“Nolan, I’m fine,” Grace said, putting a hand on his shoulder, then gently shoving him back. “Jared saved my life. He’s also my boyfriend.” Although boyfriend seemed like a pretty inadequate term for their situation. He was her lover—once—and soon to be mate. At least, she hoped. She threw a bashful look to Jared, hoping he didn’t mind, but he was watching her father carefully, like he expected the Senator to pull a gun at any moment.
Which, if she was honest, was a possibility.
Nolan had a dazed look on his face. Kylie had recovered and hurried up to them. “Jesus Christ, Grace, why are you covered in blood?”
Grace looked away from her best friend’s pained expression and stared hard at her father, who had backed away two steps, looking like he wanted to run. Coward. “I was tortured at the hands of a man working for the government with the blessing of my father,” she declared, throwing the words at her father like knives.
He had the decency to flinch under the assault. But he didn’t say anything.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Nolan was looking back and forth rapidly between her and her father.
Grace turned to face Nolan and Kylie. “My father already knows this, but it’s time you did. I’ve been keeping a secret from you for a long time.” She took a breath. “I’m a shifter.”
If the shock of her in a blood-soaked shirt sent a tremor through the office, being a shifter was a 10.0 on the Richter scale. Kylie’s face was blank with surprise–she stood motionless, staring at Grace with an almost comical expression on her face. Nolan looked slightly disgusted at first, but that was quickly chased away by a dawning understanding.
His gaze flitted back to her father. “Your father knew?” She could hear the trace of bitterness, and she couldn’t blame him—after all, she had kept the secret from him even though they had supposedly dated. Nearly had sex. Had worked together intimately for years.
“He only found out today,” Grace said, returning her steady drilling glare to her father. “And once he knew I wasn’t his biological daughter, he packed me off into a secret program. One he had authorized to torment shifters, perform medical experiments on them, and develop serums for a shifter-based super soldier.”
“Holy fuck—” Nolan whispered.
“Those are damn lies!” her father said, finally coming to life. “I don’t know what you thought you saw—”
Grace thrust her hands into the air, one hard drive in each, ribbon wires dangling down her arms. “It’s not just what I saw, Daddy.” The venom from hours of torture leaked into her voice. “It’s not just the blade that cut me, time and again. Or the cage I was stuffed in. I have all the evidence I need, right here—the reams of digital data that will make your secret program not so secret anymore.” Her chest was heaving. Jared’s warm hand landed at the small of her back, and that affirming touch bolstered her. She kept her glare trained on her father across the room.
The Senator scowled at the hard drives in her hands. “I don’t know what the hell those are—”
“Agent Smith is dead.” Grace let those words hang in the air.
Her father’s face opened with shock. He looked to Jared, then back to her, and Grace could see a light sheen of sweat break out on his forehead. He shuffled to the side like he was going to make a run for it.
“I don’t think so.” Jared stepped to block her father’s path to the front door.
The Senator held back, frozen in some kind of indecision in the middle of the office.
“Who the hell is Agent Smith?” Nolan asked, his voice pitched up and panicky.
“He’s the man who did this to me.” Grace let her hands drop and rotated her arms so the myriad of white lines that crisscrossed them were obvious to Kylie and Nolan.
Both blinked in horror.
Nolan edged forward and took one of her hands, gently, staring at her arm. He looked up. “Oh my God, Grace. Are you all right?” His voice was soft. She could feel the sudden weight of his concern—the concern of a friend, not a jealous lover.
“I’m fine, thanks to Jared,” she said with a small smile. “He saved my life. But that’s not what’s important now. What’s important is doing the right thing.” She held Nolan’s gaze.
He frowned a little. “I’m not sure what you mean.” But it was gentle—he wanted her to explain.
She straightened. “I will tell you exactly what I mean.” She glared at her father again. “I’m going to tell the world I’m a shifter. In fact, along with that news, I’ll also announce that I’m running for Congress.”