Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

There was something cold and hard about his expression. I had the strangest feeling that this man, the man who had taken me so ruthlessly that night, was the real Misha. That the Misha I'd been allowed to see the previous twelve months was merely a means to an end. What that end was I had no idea, but had a bad feeling I'd better find out

I lowered my shields and reached out with my mind. I wasn't surprised to hit a wall around his thoughts - but it wasn't electronic. His shield was as natural as mine and just as strong

I took another drink of beer and tried to ignore the urge to leave. I had a job to do, and besides, the moon still burned through my blood

"It wasn't the chocolate that caught our interest," he said softly, "but the fact that Genoveve was supposedly built over the top of a military installation."

Would the plans in Alan Brown's office match the installation Genoveve was supposedly sitting on? Probably. "I've read about the World War II tunnels and arms caches they've uncovered in and around Melbourne, but never have I heard a whisper about anything bigger."

"No one knew about those tunnels until they were excavated. All the plans were supposedly destroyed after the war and most of the tunnels concreted up."

If the plans had been destroyed, how had Alan Brown gotten hold of them? And why hadn't he destroyed them? I finished my beer and pushed the bottle away. "So why would you think there's any truth to the rumor about what's under Genoveve?"

"Because I talked to the man who found an entrance. As did the man who owned Konane."

"So why does an old military installation hold such fascination to you and the owner of Konane?"

"Because the search for perfection sometimes takes roads the government does not approve of, and in such cases, it is best if the search is conducted in secret."

Oh God... Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

He smiled. "I am not involved in Genoveve or the research being done on nonhuman cloning."

"I only have your word on that, and right now, I'm not inclined to trust it."

"I swear on the life of my mother, I have told no lies here tonight."

No lies, but had he told the absolute truth? I had a feeling the answer was no. "So, you have absolutely nothing to do with cloning?"

Amusement momentarily danced in his eyes. "I am not involved, in any way, with the current cloning endeavors. If you want an honest opinion, I cannot see the sense in it. Until we fully understand all the intricacies of creation, cloning will always be an avenue of imperfect research."

"You cannot understand something if you do not research it."

"True. But right now, it is research that is simply throwing good money after bad. How many years has man being trying to clone himself? Where has it led? He can now create imperfect or sickly images of himself every fifty or so attempts."

"The body-part farming came out of the cloning research, and that in itself is very profitable."

He shrugged. "Only marginally. The government has a tight fist on marketing and research."

But the black market was booming, and the government was having little luck stopping it. "So what research were you planning to conduct under Genoveve, and why didn't you end up buying it?"

He smiled. "My companies, like many others, are seeking to unravel the secrets of a vampire's long life. There is a fortune to be made with such knowledge."

That was an understatement, given the human fixation with youth. "So, when you said Moneisha had been successful in pinpointing the cluster of genes that make a vampire a vampire, you were actually talking about your own research?"

"In part. I was trying to discover how much you suspected."

"Why?"

He studied me for a moment, then said, "Because I was told to."

I raised my eyebrows. I really couldn't see Misha bowing to the rule of another, but then, what did I really know about him? "Who by?"

He merely smiled. I changed direction again

"Have you succeeded in pinpointing the vampire genes?"

"In part."