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"Exactly." I nod. "By the time I realized what was happening, the drug had gone south, and the virus had already been created. And then one of the test subjects escaped."

"Patient zero," she whispers.

"Yes… I shut down the program immediately, destroyed all the samples I could find. But Hammond had already secured the backing of the government. He took the research and continued elsewhere."

Dahlia sinks into a chair, "Leo's sister died from this virus. Onyx's cousin is dying right now. Hundreds, maybe thousands of shifters are suffering because of what you helped create."

"I know."

"And that's why you've been so desperate for a cure," she says. "It's not out of the goodness of your heart. You're just trying ease your guilty conscience."

I don't answer. What could I possibly say?

"You're a coward," she says softly. "You could have come forward. You could have told the world what Hammond did."

"And accomplish what?" I snap. "Get myself killed? Get thrown in prison? Hammond has the backing of the military and half the government. My word against his would have meant nothing."

"So instead, you hid behind your money and your power while people died."

"I tried to fix it!" I slam my fist on the desk. "Why do you think I sought you out? Why do you think I gave you unlimited funding,the best lab equipment money could buy? I've been trying to undo this, Dahlia."

"While keeping your hands clean," she counters. "While protecting your precious reputation."

"My reputation means nothing to me."

"Bullshit." She stands again and moves towards me. "Everything about you is calculated, Evan. Everything! And it makes me feel like you used me. Like I was a game to you."

"You're not a game, Dahlia. I am not using you. I swear."

She's close enough now that I can smell her scent, and it drives me crazy even as she's tearing me apart.

"You should have told me from the beginning," she says, her voice softer but no less angry.

"I know… I'm sorry." The words feel inadequate, but they're all I have.

"Sorry doesn't bring back the dead." Her eyes shine with unshed tears. "Sorry, doesn't save Mara or anyone else infected with your virus."

"It wasn't my…" I stop myself. "You're right. I share the blame."

"You're unbelievable." She gathers the files, clutching them to her chest.

"I have to protect myself," I argue. "Hammond would kill me if he knew I had these files."

"And that's supposed to make me sympathetic?" She backs toward the door. "You created a virus that's destroying lives, and your biggest concern is saving your own skin?"

"That's not fair."

"Fair?" She laughs, the sound sharp and humorless. "You want to talk about fair? Go tell that to the families of everyone who's died. Go tell Leo his sister's death was 'fair.'"

"Is that what this is about? Your new boyfriend?"

Her eyes narrow. "Fuck you, Evan."

"You nearly did,"

Color floods her cheeks. "That was before I knew what you really are."

"And what am I, exactly?"