No. He had to be lying. Her hands began to tremble and bile rose in her throat. Was it possible? Had she already been wiped once?
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “Leonard Perkins had a change of heart and decided he didn’t like being the bad guy anymore. That the money wasn’t worth it. After he gave you that jump drive and got you involved, again, I knew he had to die.”
Oh God. She didn’t want to believe him, but it was becoming harder not to. It all made too much sense. Why Leo had come to her with the jump drive. It sounded like he’d been involved initially with the ferals’ imprisonment, then had changed his mind. Hoping she’d be able to get her father’s help.
Shit.
“I kept hoping you’d die naturally,” Rafferty said, almost conversationally. “I sent that feral wolf after you, and then fucking Warrick just had to go and kill it.”
“I didn’t remember. Why are you telling me this now? Just to wipe me again?”
“Because I can’t take the chance that someday it’ll all come back to you.”
“And how is that different if you wipe me now?” she argued. “Isn’t there chance I could still remember all this someday?”
He was quiet for too long, and Sienna realized maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to point that out.
Oh God. He’d already killed once tonight, how hard would it be to do it again?
When he pulled off the highway, she knew she was in trouble. More trouble than she had been in a minute ago.
“Actually, a memory wipe wouldn’t be so bad,” she muttered, trying the handle again, hoping she’d been wrong about the child lock and that the door might open this time.
No such luck.
“You’re right, Sienna. A memory wipe probably won’t be enough.” Rafferty sighed and shook his head. “I guess it is your night to die.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
She was awake. Angry. And frustrated.
Warrick stilled from where he knelt beside Grace, the feral female agent. His palm rested against her forehead as he checked her temperature. But the emotions he was channeling weren’t from the shifter he touched. They were from Sienna.
Ever since he’d marked her, he’d started to sense her emotions and had been gaining the ability to read her—no matter the distance. The ability had only increased since the poisoned dart had shot her yesterday.
She was at home still, with Quinton, and she must’ve woken. He could feel her anger. Her pain.
Damn, he should go back and be with her. He hadn’t expected her to wake from the tranquilizer this early. But then, they probably hadn’t given her enough. They seemed to keep underestimating how much of the shifter gene was in her system.
“It’s done.”
Warrick glanced up in surprise as Kevin entered the room. He pushed aside his mental connection with Sienna, knowing her anger at Quinton was something best dealt with alone.
“You found the antidote? Already?”
For the past hour Kevin had been working on finding a way to help the shifters. Warrick hadn’t for a moment let himself hope for a cure in less than a few days. But then he should’ve, because Kevin wasn’t your average scientist.
“I’ll admit it was more difficult than I originally thought,” the older man admitted, and glanced at the glass vile full of a clear liquid in his hand. “Took far longer than I expected, and I can see why Sienna struggled. The ferals will be given the antidote in the next half hour by one of my assistants. After that, it shouldn’t be long.”
“You’re a brilliant man.” Relief slid through Warrick and he stood from the shifter to move toward Kevin. “How are you holding up?”
Kevin gave a slight smile, but there was exhaustion in his eyes. And a heavy sadness that reflected in his every step.
“As well as can be expected, I suppose.” He shook his head, looking a little lost. “All these years, I suspected something wasn’t right.”
“How so?”
“Our marriage was not a happy one. I always assumed I was the problem. Never being home—working too many hours at the lab. Keeping too many secrets from her about the shifters and my life with them. And we never had that chemistry so many people seem to believe in. I never believed in it. Never felt it was needed. We’d always been compatible and good friends. This is as much my fault…”
“You couldn’t have known,” Warrick said quietly, his gut clenching with sympathy.
“I should’ve. We’ve memory wiped enough people, maybe I should’ve picked up on the signs.”
“There are no signs.”
“Aren’t there?” Kevin challenged. He let out a resigned sigh. “It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I have a chance to speak with Sienna. She needs me.”