AMIDST THE CATS' CRADLE - 17

C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E N - - - - J O R D A N

Jordan kept a strict check on everything that was happening in the room as it was taut with emotion. He stood watch like an incensed gargoyle with his arms crossed over his chest. Gwen was sitting on the ledge, glancing between Mitch, Jordan, and the infants with concern, undoubtedly feeling horrible for the med technicians. Although clearly uncomfortable with the situation, Mitch was still there for support as Jordan knew he would be. He was lying back in a chair.

"Be careful," Jordan warned the young redhead as she inserted a needle into Duncan's arm to obtain a blood sample. "You can't afford to miss the vein."

The last sentence came off as more of a threat than he intended, a small growl in his tone, but he noticed a grin on Gwen's lips at the sound of it.

As long as the mother is pleased, he thought with a terrible sense of joy, unable to take his gaze away from the bright lady.

After their long chats the day before, as well as the hours of fucking, she was absolutely beaming today, much more at peace with the world. It had certainly done everyone good, but now was not the time to linger on those very joyful memories. Instead, they had to concentrate on the work at hand, ensuring that none of these lab monkeys touched his children in any manner that may damage them.

Doctor Bishop tsked under his breath, "Jordan, you really need to calm down."

He was a tall, serious-looking man wearing gray pants and a white button-up and wearing horn-rimmed spectacles. Jordan knew him as a sincere and cautious guy, a lynx shifter from what he'd heard, and while he would have placed his own life in his hands, his children were a different story.

"I simply don't want the kids to get hurt," he said, a sigh in his voice.

"Those youngsters are strong, Jordan. I don't believe a lot of things could hurt them," Bishop chuckled as he measured Dawson and Duncan's weight and height.

He briefly showed Jordan the sheet, and Jordan had to cock his brow at the rate they were developing. Looking at them, it was evident, but hard statistics had always spoken to him and made things clearer.

"However, the point remains," Jordan replied, shifting a little to see another tech taking a hair sample from Dawson. "Do you want to tell me what you've discovered, Doc? Anything unusual, the chemical makeup of their blood? What is the source of this? ”

Bishop pursed his lips slightly, nodding at the tech holding up the blood samples in lieu of asking whether he could go run them. The aging man stepped closer to the table holding his laptop, flicking it open and browsing around until coming upon the file he was looking for. Jordan walked over as Bishop beckoned him, pointing at the screen as he slowly scrolled past a lengthy medical text.

“I have it written up and I can send it to you. But the best I can tell is that it’s very similar to what The Arctics were doing to those soldiers in Haygrove. It appears they’ve found some compound or a collection of compounds that strengthens muscle tone, reflexes, and alertness in general in adults, but it comes with certain side-effects.”

“Like anger management, deformity, insanity?” Mitch asked dryly, obviously remembering the hulking beast back in Detroit that had taken most of Squad Six to gun down.

“Exactly,” Bishop replied, looking sheepish for a moment before his professional façade fell neatly back in place. “But in infants, or in this case children who have always had this in their blood thanks to their mother being exposed to it, they react differently. It seems like it binds itself to the very act of growing up, speeding it up, sort of. But every time we have them in here, we see less and less of it in their blood.

“And it’s not entirely the same as what we saw with the soldiers. With them, it was imperative that we remove it from their active bloodstream through a series of blood transfusions and washing their blood, but so far we haven’t noticed any adverse effects with Duncan and Dawson.”

“That’s good news though, right?” Mitch queried.

But Jordan caught the sliver of worry on Bishop’s face, causing him to frown. Something was most definitely not all good in this scene.

“You want to expand on that ‘so far,’ Bishop?”

Again, Jordan saw that slight pursing of the lips and the furrowing of the man’s brow which could mean nothing good.

“I think we should talk alone, Jordan.”

That certainly got everyone worried. Gwen’s pretty blue eyes went wide with alarm and Mitch threw himself out of the chair, nostrils flaring.

“I think it would be best if you told all of us,” Jordan said, watching Gwen rush to the boys, now playing happily with a couple of stuffed toys the techs had left them as they skittered out.

Bishop stroked his chin for a moment, looking none too pleased with the situation, but as his weary eyes met Jordan’s, Jordan silently implored him to tell him what he knew. His heart was already beating hard in his chest, worry constricting it. With a sigh, Bishop fell into the chair, looking up at the frazzled parents.

“All right. What I think is happening is that because the boys are not subjected to the chemical anymore and they only have what is in their blood, they will at one point ‘run out’ of it.”

“But isn’t that a good thing?” Gwen asked. “They would be… normal?”

Bishop shook his head.

“They’ll never be like other kids. Their bodies have formed a dependence on this compound. I think that with careful dosing, the simplest thing to ensure them a calm and happy life would be shots of the compound whenever they ‘run out’ on their own. The problem is, they’re growing now, so the body gobbles up whatever resources they have. It’ll happen all through adolescence, or whenever they reach their full height. After that, as adults, I believe they wouldn’t need anything additional at all. They’d simply be… stronger. Bigger. Faster. Better than us.”

Jordan looked at his happy twin boys, playing some kind of game with the stuffed bears, and his heart just about broke thinking that their future might not be cloudless.

“And what do you think will happen if they don’t get any additional doses of this… chemical?”

“We call if PX-45. I think what will happen, and soon, is that their body will start breaking down the tissue already formed to get at the stores of the compound.”

“You’re saying their bodies will start breaking down?” Gwen asked, pure horror on her face now.

Bishop hesitated for a moment, sharing a look with Jordan, and Jordan knew he meant exactly that. His gut felt like it had been loaded up with stones and his throat went dry as parchment, his tongue feeling like it would never utter another word again.

“I fear that may happen, yes.”

“So can’t we inject more of this stuff? Like, we got some from Detroit, didn’t we? The techie we held up there… he must know how to make this shit!” Mitch said, obviously aggravated, walking over to Gwen and putting his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to soothe her.

It didn’t do much good, seeing as Mitch himself was practically shaking with rage and worry.

“The powder we got from Detroit was close, yes, but not the same. The Arctics have improved on it and we don’t quite know how,” Bishop said, sounding apologetic.

“I hope you’re at least fucking trying,” Mitch snarled, his eyes flashing gold.

Jordan’s own cougar roared at that, an Alpha’s first instincts being to protect his mate and his young, but Jordan quelled that anger and tried to channel his rational mind instead. He couldn’t lose his cool. Not now. Not when it could mean losing his boys!

“So we need to get more,” Jordan said simply. “Right now.”

“Hey, let’s not be hasty here. Nothing has to happen. Perhaps I’m wrong. It could just be that they run out of the compound and the body weans itself off of it. Children are surprisingly resilient. Especially your two.”

Jordan gave the man a hard, pointed look, the beast in him struggling to burst free.

“You really think that’s what’s going to happen?” he asked, keeping his voice cool and calm.

“It could,” Bishop said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes, looking far less than convincing.

“I’m not buying it,” Mitch said with all the hurt and determination to fix things.

When the same redheaded med tech arrived at the door a moment later, looking meek and crestfallen, Jordan knew that the worst had already begun. Bishop looked up and their eyes met with the tech and right then and there, Jordan knew that he had entered the fight of his lifetime. And this time, he couldn’t afford to lose.

“Come on,” he said to Mitch and Gwen, walking over and picking up Dawson. “We need to go.”

He was walking toward the door already when Mitch caught up with him, carrying Duncan.

“Where are we going?” Gwen asked, running after him.

“We’re going to fix this. Now.”

So help him, Jordan would make things right or die trying. If there was one thing he was not willing to do, it was to watch his boys suffer. No matter that he hadn’t been there the whole time to see them grow, he already loved them with all his heart. Nothing would stop him. Nothing should dare.