Surrendering(89)

They also had some minor success with the other professors conducting sleep studies around the country, with the exception of two, who were inconveniently missing. Looked like Xavier was starting to clean up loose ends.

Elle and the detective were currently sifting through the many files and computer records they gathered from the other five universities. While they were able to get their hands on more information, unfortunately none of the remaining five professors had any more information than Professor Bailey when it came to the whereabouts of Xavier.

He was like a fucking ghost.

Standing beside his bed—their bed—he watched his Kate sleep. She was so beautiful, so perfect for him. He still reeled with the depth of emotion he felt for her in just a short period of time. He found himself daydreaming of what it would be like to watch her belly grow ripe with his child. She would be sexy as hell, all round and swollen. He’d always dreamed of finding his Moira, yes, but he’d never dreamed about having a child, a family. Not until he met her.

He pictured a little boy, with raven hair and emerald eyes, running his meme ragged. Climbing trees, bringing insects into the house, constantly dirty. He pictured that same young boy growing into a warrior, a lord someday, finding his Moira and having a family of his own.

It surprised him to feel sadness at something that would never—could never—be. Because of her vampire DNA, she wouldn’t be able to carry a child. Probably why Xavier discarded her. If she was barren, she was useless to his experiments. But why not kill her instead? Why find an adoptive family to raise her? How did Xavier not know she was his daughter when Kate was dreamwalking? And he was certain Xavier didn’t know and that made no sense at all to him.

Unless…click.

The puzzle pieces instantly fell into place. Xavier didn’t know because…she wasn’t supposed to be alive.

“Ren, urgent meeting in fifteen. My office. Bring the detective and make sure Big D is either there or available by phone.”

“On it.”

He gently woke Kate and told her he’d figured out something very important. She quickly dressed and they made their way to his office. The other lords had headed home, as it was not a smart idea to be gone from your Regent for any length of time, but they had left behind several of their best men to help with the efforts. He’d loop them in after this meeting.

He’d debated the idea on revealing Kate’s parentage, but if his theory held water, it was critical to what Xavier was doing.

When everyone was gathered, he began.

“I think I’ve figured out something important, but let me start at the beginning, because not all of you know that Kate is Xavier’s daughter.”

You could hear a pin drop, everyone, except Ren, clearly stunned. Kate sat next to Dev, a protective hand on her shoulder as he stood, addressing the group. He’d purposely put her in his chair behind his desk. He would kill anyone who tried to harm her.

“She didn’t know until just yesterday and she’s not working for Xavier. He wants her dead as much as he does us. Which brings me to the purpose of this meeting.

“I couldn’t understand why, if she was Xavier’s daughter, would he just not kill her? But I think that’s exactly what he intended to do; only I think he sent someone else to do his dirty work. Someone he trusted, who unbeknownst to him, went behind his back and let her live.” He gazed at Kate with sympathy before continuing.

“I’m sorry, love, but we need to talk to your parents. We have to find out how they came to adopt you. We have to find this person, as it may be another lead to finding Xavier.”

He didn’t wait for her consent before continuing.

“Doc, I’ve also been thinking about these young women getting pregnant and how so many of them could possibly be. We’re thinking about this wrong. We all know that a human female cannot get pregnant from a vampire unless she is his Moira and they’ve bonded. And we all know how difficult finding your Moira is, so how is it that so many females Kate saw were pregnant? It’s just not possible they have all bonded, which means they’re doing something else to impregnate them. And we need to find out what.

“Xavier must have some sort of research scientist or a team working for him to find ways to impregnate a human female without bonding. Obviously we cannot let this type of experimentation continue, at least not in this heinous fashion, but this mission has become even more critical. Not only do we need to rescue the girls and destroy Xavier, but we also need these scientists alive. And we need their records to determine if there are other female vampires out there who were also supposed to be discarded.”