“That doesn’t really answer my question,” Father said. “Which makes me think their identities will end up being an issue of some type.”

Father was reading the situation correctly and had ignored the subsonic mood modulators that vampire Tatiana had woven into her speech. Additional processing resources came online as Omega directed even more attention to the Earth-based conversation while simultaneously tracking the now-turning woolly rhino variants as they came about to make another run at the combat drone.

“How are they able to view my cloaked drone, do you suppose, Father?” Omega asked, attempting a distracting verbal query, although only assigning a thirty-two percent probability of success.

“Nice try, Omega, which tells me you too are aware of these researchers’ identities and are trying to get me off topic. Your elves are using some type of crystalline veiling lenses by the way, probably magic-based. Now, we were talking about researchers. Wait… Omega said my centriole count was the highest catalogued. Exactly just when was my blood sampled for such a study? I don’t remember ever giving any samples,” Father said. Heart rate, blood pressure measurement, and facial skin temperature reading indicated he was getting emotional. “Wait… I gave samples once… to Caeco, for lab work, back in school. But she destroyed them. Or supposedly destroyed them. You hired the Jensens?”

Chapter 44

“Ah, yes, Declan. We hired Dr. Jensen, provided her with a fully equipped laboratory, and turned her loose to follow her own interests. She was fascinated by LV, V-squared, and the inherent, apparently hereditary powers of witches,” Chris said, shifting around in his seat to engage the visibly upset witch.

“Caeco? Your old girlfriend?” Stacia asked, tone deceptively mild.

“Her mother is one of the most gifted genetic researchers on the planet and yes, Caeco does assist her when her FBI schedule permits,” Tanya said.

“And she still has my blood? After she swore she would destroy it?” Declan asked, voice going cold.

“No. She has photographs of the microscope slides she made of your blood. They are quite detailed and show excellent cellular level detail, but she does not have any, I repeat, any of your physical blood,” Tanya said.

Declan stared at her, face rigid, then after a moment, he glanced at Chris, who nodded.

“She never told me she had photos,” he said, tone slightly less frosty than previously.

“She kept them from her research, being very careful not to label them as being yours,” Tanya said, watching him carefully. Everyone in the room was watching him carefully.

He looked at her, then Chris, glanced at Lydia, then turned to Stacia, who met his gaze with one of her own. They didn’t say anything but after a moment, he turned back. “Dr. Jensen always scared me a little. Stares at me like she wants to dissect me.”