“We should find a room where we can do the testing,” Paige said to Lucas.

A look passed between them.

He got to his feet. “I’ll do that now.”

He left and Paige motioned me over to the sofa. I sat beside her.

“So,” she said. “How are you holding up?”

I tried to say I was fine, but the words wouldn’t come. Finally, all I could do was shake my head.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I nodded. I told her everything, starting from the moment Jesse Aanes walked into my office and offered me the case in Columbus. I told her everything that had happened since then, even the parts she already knew, because this was different, now she was here, finally here, and she could put her arms around me and I could let it all spill out. And I could cry. I could let myself cry, which I did, until there was nothing left and I fell asleep with my head on her lap.

Paige woke me up a while later. Hope was ready to visit Jaz, and I had to go down to watch. Although there was an observation room adjoining Jaz’s cell, they were using a secret video link instead, so he’d think he was alone with Hope.

I had to use a special set of elevators that led to the secured basement. I was on my way to them when a voice called, “Savannah,” and I nearly tripped over myself stopping.

Adam stepped from the archive room.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself.” I struggled to keep my tone light. “I heard you’re eyeball deep in research. How’s it going?”

“Okay.” He lowered his voice. “Are you okay? I mean, I know you didn’t get hurt, but . . . are you okay?”

“Just kidnapped again. I’m used to it by now.”

His eyes clouded with concern and he stood there, undecided. He knew it hadn’t been as easy for me as I pretended, and he wanted to say something, do something.

I could use this. Let my armor crack, maybe even fake a little more residual anxiety than I felt, and he’d put his anger aside to be there for me.

“I’m okay,” I said. “I had my moments on the inside, but I’m out now, with lots else to focus on. I’m ready for work. Speaking of which, if you need any help, I’m around.”

He nodded, glanced over his shoulder and lifted a finger to someone, then turned to me. “Okay. I just wanted to . . . say hi. I should get back to work. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Sure. I’m around, like I said. Maybe we can—”

He was already gone. The door swung shut behind him and I was left standing there, staring at it. When I turned, I saw Clay in another doorway, further down, watching me.

I took a step toward him. He went back inside and shut the door. I paused, then took a deep breath and continued toward the elevator.

twenty-three

Jasper Haig was reading in bed when the guards escorted Hope in. His “cell” looked like a fantasy college dorm, complete with an Xbox, Wii, laptop, and high-def TV. Of course the computer wasn’t hooked up to an external network and even his e-book reader couldn’t download anything from the outside world, but it didn’t look like the kind of accommodations you’d expect for the man who’d killed two of Benicio’s sons.

Karl was right. Any need for revenge Benicio felt was superseded by his need to uncover whatever evolutionary and supernatural secrets were locked in Jaz’s DNA.

The problem was that studying Jaz’s physical makeup wasn’t enough. They had to study his transformations, and discover what triggers allowed him to reshape his features. That couldn’t be done without his consent. So for four years Jaz and his captors had been locked in this weird relationship of control and reward, and Jaz lived like the proverbial canary in the gilded cage, getting everything except the two things he wanted most. Freedom and Hope.

Why was Jaz obsessed with Hope? What makes the heart latch onto one person and refuse to let go? I wish I knew.

In Hope, Jaz thought he’d found his perfect partner, someone who loved chaos as much as he did. They’d met when Benicio had asked Hope to infiltrate a Miami gang of supernaturals. Jaz and his brother, Jason—known as Sonny—had seemed like just two ordinary members. They’d befriended her, and Jaz fell for her, and I think maybe Hope fell a little in return, until Karl came back into her life, and swept aside all the competition. And then she’d discovered what Jaz really was. A murderous psychopath.

It had been three years since they’d seen each other, yet when that door opened, Jaz’s grin was so big and so bright that Hope faltered in her tracks. I couldn’t blame her. It was a heart-stopper of a smile, and Jaz was a gorgeous guy, with black curls and deep green eyes.

Jaz started to scramble off the bed.

One of the guards lifted his hand. “You know the routine, Jasper. Stand on the other side of the bed and place your hands behind your back.”

Hope laid her fingers on the guard’s arm. “That won’t be necessary.”

“We’re under orders—”

“Call Mr. Cortez. I’m sure he’ll agree.”

He did, and Benicio did, and Karl said nothing, namely because they’d already hashed this one out. Now they were only playing their parts.

When the guards left, Hope walked to a chair. She’d dressed in a flowing peasant shirt with a strategically draped scarf, trying to hide her pregnancy.

“He isn’t fooled,” I murmured.

“I know,” Benicio said.

The way he watched her, his gaze intent, told me Jaz would notice any change in her, however slight.

“It doesn’t seem to be bothering him,” I said.

“It won’t,” Karl said, his gaze glued to Jaz with the same intensity. “A child would simply be a minor obstacle to him. One easily overcome.”

Easily gotten rid of, he meant, and when I looked back at Jaz, I knew Karl was right. I understood why he wanted him dead. Yes, Karl feared for his child’s life and, yes, he feared losing Hope, but more than that he knew that if Jaz ever got Hope, he’d finally realize he’d never have her, not the way he wanted. If he couldn’t have her, no one else would. He’d take away everything she loved, and when she didn’t love him instead, he’d kill her.

“How much longer until you have what you need from him?” I asked Benicio.

“Soon.”