Up From the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel by Jeaniene Frost Read Free Book Online

happened was almost moot by comparison.
    “I am so sorry.”
    The words vibrated from the depth of my emotion. Bones took my hand, his grip conveying both strength and comfort, but I felt neither beneath the crushing weight of my culpability. No apology could fix this, and everyone here knew it.
    That’s why my next words weren’t to beg forgiveness and why I also held my tears at bay. Considering what they’d done before, they would only be salt in the wound now. Instead, I dug my fangs into my lower lip, glad at the pain that led to an instant trickle of blood.
    “You said not just humans, Don, so what else did Madigan do his genetic experimentations on?”
    Tyler’s look of surprise coincided with his thinking, You are one COLD bitch. He didn’t realize that all I had left was saving my friends, and Don had proven that he wouldn’t willingly give up the information.
    “What else?” The noise Don made was more agonized bark than laugh. “Anything. Everything.”
    I held my uncle’s stare as I spoke the next words. “I command you not to leave until I’m finished with my questions. Understood?”
    His head jerked in the affirmative. My next stare was directed at Marie. She stood, and a flick of her fingers later, the Remnants left Don, to surround her like a writhing, ethereal halo.
    “By everything do you mean ghouls?” she asked my uncle in a silky voice.
    Don didn’t reply. Bones glanced at me. I gritted my teeth, bit my lip again, and repeated the question.
    “Probably.”
    “How are you not sure?” From me this time.
    Don leaned forward, hugging his arms over his torso as though trying to shield himself from the Remnants who were no longer there.
    “When we worked together, we were only able to retrieve bodies, but those dried-up husks were useless for Madigan’s purposes. None of our operatives were capable of bringing back a live specimen . . . until Cat.”
    My guilt took a backseat to that information. Bones’s expression tightened, and I didn’t need a mirror to know my own face must’ve hardened into equally flinty planes.
    “You and Madigan were still working together when you brought me on.” A statement, not a question. Don answered it anyway.
    “We didn’t think you’d stay, so while we had you, we tried to learn as much as we could about your species duality—”
    “Oh, I remember,” I cut him off. “You did blood work on me every week, plus I had more MRIs, X-rays, CT scans, cell scrapings, and needle biopsies than I could count.”
    Don looked away, his outline wavering for a moment.
    “Hey.” I snapped my fangs into my lip, bloodying it. “No leaving, I am so not done. Tell me more about these genetic experiments.”
    Don glanced back at me, his mouth thinning into a slit.
    “They were Madigan’s doing. Once he had captive vampires and ghouls to work on, his scope broadened, but he hit a dead end trying to combine the genetic codes. Human cells could handle incorporation with one species or the other, but not both . . . until you. As a half-breed, your cells were the only ones compatible with vampire and ghoul DNA. Madigan was convinced that mapping and duplicating your genetic code could create a safer, synthetic version of both the vampire and ghoul viruses in order to turn regular soldiers into superweapons. I didn’t believe him, but then he synthesized Brams–”
    “Wait. Brams came from vampire blood, not mine,” I interrupted.
    Don said nothing, yet with the shame washing over his expression, he didn’t need to speak.
    “You lying, manipulative sod,” Bones snarled, striding over to him. “If you were solid, I’d beat the treachery out of you though that would take all of my considerable strength.”
    Don ran a hand through his gray hair, looking as tired as I’d ever seen him.
    “Madigan tried making Brams first with vampire, then ghoul blood, but it failed. Full alteration from human to undead changed the genetic code too much for him to