Page 244 of The Curse Trilogy

“How?”

“They most likely found a way to fuse her unique and complex blood structure with the virus to create this whole new breed. We think they hit a road block when it came to the savage, and that’s why they took her five years ago. Having seen their devolved and unfinished version of their savage further proves that theory,” Clay interjects. “That’s why they went after her specifically. We think they took the other hybrids to figure out how to draw out the savage. They were just trial runs educating them on the real thing, but Araya’s savage is so much different than all of ours.

“She’s never gone phase three, and God help us all if she ever does. In order for them to fully complete the process, they need phase one, two, and three. Another thing, Araya only went savage for the first time a few years before they took her. It’s the longest a savage has ever laid dormant, and we still haven’t figured it out, though I have a theory,” Clay continues.

“What’s the theory?”

“I think Nicholas was trying to keep her safe. Something about Araya’s birth could explain so much about her. I think he gave her a metablocker. If taken at infancy, it could subdue a large portion of her strength as well as conceal her scent. It could subdue her for several hundred years. It could explain why she lacked control over her telekinesis until after the kidnapping. She goes savage almost regularly now, and that’s been a very recent shift. I think the metablocker has finally started working its way out of her system for good, leaving her stronger each time it gets closer to being completely gone.”

“Why hasn’t she ever gone phase three?” Brazen murmurs while trying to digest the overwhelming heaps of information.

“Because we only go phase three when we’ve been painted into a corner we can’t escape from. If you get injured while in phase one, you go phase two. If you get injured or if someone you care about is injured by the hands of your attacker, you go phase three. Araya is too powerful in phase two to be touched - as you saw during the fight outside Metropolis. She went full blown phase two, and she could have destroyed everyone there within a blink. Her savage in phase two is the reason we created a level eight hybrid. Imagine what would happen if she ever reached phase three.”

“Fuck,” Brazen grumbles while running his hands through his hair. “So you think they’re trying to provoke all three? Isn’t that suicide? If she goes phase three, she’ll kill them all, and then that son of a bitch can just bring her down, right?” Brazen snarls while glaring at Hale.

Hale narrows his eyes at him as his jaw clenches, but Clay rests his hand on his shoulder before he says or does something stupid.

“We don’t know if Hale would be strong enough to bring her down from phase three,” Clay sighs out.

“In phase three, Hale’s body goes invincible… most of ours do actually. Araya owns that invincibility in her sane state of mind. We call it a gift, but it’s merely an over evolved state for her. When Hale is invincible, Araya can’t inject him. It’s happened before, and he took her with him while disappearing for several days until he came down on his own. She remained in control because of his desire for her, so she was able to steer him away from any populated areas. If it hadn’t been for her, he would have done far worse. Araya, however, can’t be controlled once she hits phase two even. To be honest, it’s hit or miss on whether or not Hale has any influence on her at all in phase one. But anytime she’s in two, he has to let her be the one in sole control, and he just allows her to run the show while subtly making suggestions until he gets the chance to inject her. On occasion, he can do a sneak attack. If she were to go phase three and be invincible, he wouldn’t be able to inject her, and he wouldn’t be able to do with her the way she can do with him.”

Brazen’s hands steeple in front of his face as he silently continues to process, and I shiver inside the drafty shaft as my nerves begin rattling around inside of me. They’re terrified of me right now. They’re terrified I’ll go phase three now that my savage has started appearing quite often. I’m sure Brazen also hates hearing about my strong connection with Hale. I’m not too crazy about it either. He told me he cheated on me just because he thought I was too fragile for this. Knowing this is nothing new. It hurt a hell of a lot worse to hear him tell me he left me to fuck another girl.

“So when did you find out these men were still alive?” Brazen asks through a strained tone.

“Two months after Araya came home from the kidnapping. I had a source who was tapped in on the crime chains all over, and he called me with information. From there, it was one lead after another until I dead ended about three years later. It’s been quiet for a while, and I thought I had made a dent until my source called me the night of Araya’s party this last time. They found out about him though. He was found strung up and whipped to death outside a bar… the bar I was caught fighting at. I went there to meet him in secrecy.”

“That’s why you were missing all the time? You were fucking chasing after her captors? Fuck. Why didn’t you tell me?” Brazen snaps.

“Because I knew you would want to help. Araya needs someone to be here for her, and you can’t do her the way I did. I had no idea the toll it was taking on her until we reconciled. She basically said I had made her life a nightmare by lying and disappearing all the time during our last two years together. I couldn’t just let them hang around out there either. When I caught onto a new lead, I had to make her hate me so she would stay away.”

Brazen’s jaw tenses all the more, and then he stares at the wall in blank confusion as to what to do.

“I’m not leaving her, Hale.”

“Then you can’t help me. I don’t want you to help me. I want you to stay with her as bad as I fucking hate the thought of it. I can do this on my own, and when I’m done, you and I can have that talk about my becoming a threat,” Hale releases with a sizzling promise.

Brazen’s eyes narrow, and then he moves to the edge of his seat.

“I’m not going to not do anything. I’ll just tell her I’m on detail. I’m sure Commander Jude can transfer all my normal tasks to someone else so that I can focus on keeping her safe.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Hale growls. “I left her devastated all the damn time because she knew I was lying. She suffered because I was selfish. You can’t put her through the same damn thing.”

More tears spring free, and I cover my mouth to hide my sobs. Brazen is just as willing to lie to me as Hale was. They’re both stupid sons of bitches.

“I can find a medium. I’ll help when I can, and I’ll be with her when she needs me. I’m not losing her, and I can’t just give her up. You can start including me in on all your leads,” he growls back, and then the door to the room opens as Grayson runs in with a panicked look.

Angelica trails behind him, and her eyes dart to the elevator doors that are cracked. She looks away quickly, and I know she just realized I’m in here.

Fuck.

“What the fuck are you doing down here?” Brazen blares. “You’re supposed to be with Araya.”

“She’s not there. I don’t think she ever was. I heard a noise, so I got up to investigate. Angelica opened the door to your room, and it was empty. I came down here hoping Hale was still here,” Grayson puffs out.

“Fuck,” Brazen growls before slapping a table, and Hale’s eyes find the cracked elevator doors as well.

“She’s here,” he sighs out in a pained tone.