Heart of a Lion by Lacey Thorn

Chapter Eighteen

Any softness Quinn had felt toward Tony after seeing all the baby gear he’d purchased for her and Emery was gone after five minutes in his presence. The man was a cocky, arrogant prick. The only thing keeping her from taking off his head was the presence of Mitch, Jess, and Abby.

“Enough!” She slammed her hand on the table, interrupting his bullshit explanation to Jess’ latest question. “I have no doubt you’d be happy to talk to Jess if I wasn’t here. Why would you do that to me? Why keep things from me that I need to know? That I have a right to know!”

“Don’t even think it,” he snarled.

She couldn’t blame him. Her expression probably conveyed exactly what she was thinking. Which was that he was similar to his uncle who’d liked to keep her in the dark, as well. Though Talbot had used it to manipulate her, and Tony only seemed to piss her off.

“Then stop making me think it,” she snapped back. “Gideon already told me the ovary that was removed wasn’t mine. I know Talbot screwed with my insides. I know the things happening to me aren’t normal. I need to know if there’s more around the corner for me or if this is as bad as it’s going to get. Don’t leave me in the dark. I can’t be there anymore. I refuse to stay there.”

Mitch stepped up behind her, wrapping her up in his embrace and tugging her back to rest against his broad chest. She loved the man. Couldn’t deny her emotions for him anymore. He’d started winning her over from the first moment they’d met and continued every moment of every day since. He gave her what she needed even when she wanted more. He gave her what her body and heart could handle. He loved her, in a thousand ways both big and small. They hadn’t made love. Not yet. But he was as deep inside her as he would ever be. He filled her heart and soul. Making love would happen when the time was right, but there was no rush. No pressure to seal the deal in order to cement their relationship. It was already rock solid.

“While Mr. Broody is pretending to decide what to share—”

“Jess.” Tony’s voice carried a warning that the other woman ignored.

“I’ve made a booster shot for you based off the bloodwork that’s been taken while you were here. Have to admit, it’s very interesting.”

“Don’t start that again,” Quinn warned, not wanting another day of hearing Jess say the word interesting over and over again.

Jess grinned shamelessly then sobered up as she continued talking.

“It’s an appropriate word when it comes to you. I do have a question, though. Were you given an infusion of Lander’s blood at all while you were with Talbot?”

“I don’t know,” Quinn admitted. “Talbot never said one way or the other. With the sheer number of things he did to me, times I awoke to find myself tied down and him and others working on me… Anything could and did happen.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t believe they did, which is why Talbot was telling you he was ready to terminate the pregnancy before you left. I think he knew your body wouldn’t last much longer. That he’d lose you both. Which makes me question what the true purpose of the experiment was,” Abby admitted.

“She’s not a fucking experiment!” Mitch retorted.

“She was to him,” Jess countered. “That’s what matters for this conversation. Bear with us. The changes he made inside you prior to implanting a shifter embryo in your womb make me believe he was testing a theory.”

“You think he was trying to create a viable womb to produce shifter babies without needing transfusions or using an actual shifter female whose body might reject a foreign embryo.” Tony looked equal parts appalled and interested.

“Wait!” Quinn pounced on Tony’s comment. “Are you really saying Emery isn’t mine? That there was some truth to the ugly accusations you spewed earlier?”

“No,” Abby answered. “Emery is your biological child. His father is a lion shifter, though without access to Lander’s DNA, we can’t confirm his paternity.”

And it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Talbot to tell her it was Lander’s then use another shifter’s sperm to inseminate her egg. It would be one more mindfuck in the scheme of all that he’d done to her so far. Still, it was something to have confirmation that Emery was hers. Not that it would have mattered to her one way or the other if his DNA proclaimed him not to be her biological child. She’d carried him, loved him, and done everything in her power to protect him. That wouldn’t change, no matter what.

“Why did Tony state otherwise?” Quinn demanded.

“I didn’t state anything,” Tony corrected. “I suggested. At the time, I wasn’t aware of how much your blood had changed while you were held.”

“How much did it change?” Mitch asked.

“Enough that she needs transfusions even though she’s no longer pregnant,” Jess stated. “Enough that I’ve created a booster for her in hopes that it will keep her at a steady level.”

“What does that mean?” Quinn had no idea how to interpret what Jess was saying.

“Think of it as your body having a deficiency. One that, if left unchecked, can cause major fluctuations that lead to fainting, seizures, and a variety of other issues. By introducing a steady dose of the drug needed for stabilization, we can stop those fluctuations,” Abby explained.

“My needed drug is lion’s blood? How is that a thing?”

Tony sighed and ran his hand through is hair before tilting his head back and pinching his nose.

“Spit it out,” Mitch ordered.

“Because on the inside, you’re more shifter than human now.”

Tony’s words brought silence to the room as they all seemed to take them in. She noted neither Abby or Jess showed any surprise, but she felt the shock in Mitch that echoed her own.

“What did he do?” Quinn finally asked, filling the silence.

“As you’re fond of saying, anything he wanted,” Tony replied. “You had both ovaries replaced with that of a shifter female. You also have her liver and one of her kidneys. He replaced your adrenal glands with hers.”

Both ovaries? That explained his question of whether Emery was hers or not. Her ovaries? A kidney and her liver? Adrenal glands? What the hell! Then the way Tony stared at her alerted her to more. He was holding something back.

“What else?” Her question was soft, almost tentative as fear ate at her. What else had Talbot done to her?

Tony shared a veiled look with both Jess and Abby, and she knew he was struggling with what to say or maybe how to say it. So she turned to Abby and Jess also.

“Tell me.”

“You’ve had a heart transplant,” Abby offered, keeping her voice as quiet as Quinn’s.

“I…” She shook her head, pushing away from Mitch and pacing across the room. Wrapping her arms around herself, she held tight, as if her strength could hold her together.

“Is it hers also?”

“Yes,” Jess offered.

Quinn felt something inside her stir again, and it almost took her to her knees. Had the woman been awake and aware of what was happening when they’d harvested her organs and given them to Quinn? Probably. Talbot took pleasure in the awareness of his victims.

“I have no idea who she was.”

The confession tore her open. She had parts of another woman inside her and had no idea who the other woman even had been.

“She was a lion shifter,” Tony told her.

“A lion shifter,” Quinn repeated.

It made sense. Lander had been a lion. Her son was a lion. Of course, Talbot had wanted to make her womb as compatible as possible to carry her son. It also made things click in place.

“It’s her organs that require the lion’s blood.”

“Those are your organs now,” Tony corrected. “But yes. We believe that’s why you need the infusions of lion’s blood. It could also be why he created a second cord leading from the developing baby back to you. You fed the baby and in turn, the baby fed you back enough to keep you going.”

“Then you gave me the transfusions.”

God, they’d given her both alpha blood as well as primal blood.

“It appears the mix of Tah and Daniel’s blood kickstarted something inside of you. The claws, the glow of your eyes, the growls. Then I gave you a dose of primal liger blood, as well,” Jess admitted.

“Are you trying to tell me that Talbot has made me a shifter?” Quinn couldn’t keep the incredulity from her voice.

“No.” Abby sliced her hand through the air. “I refuse to believe Talbot has that capability.”

“But he started something,” Jess added.

“Fuck me.” Tony shook his head, angry color suffusing his cheeks.

“I started it. You finished it,” Mitch said as if he were repeating something he’d heard.

Tony nodded. “Those were Talbot’s words. He said that to me when I threatened to cut you open. He told me it was too late. He’d started it, and we’d finished it.”

Quinn ignored the threat Talbot had responded to. At this point, she knew Tony would say and do whatever it took to get what he wanted. As much as he rubbed her the wrong way at times, she wouldn’t fault him.

“We’d like to do further testing…”

Jess trailed off as Quinn shook her head.

“No. No more testing. We’ve had enough.”

She understood the correctness of that statement when the thing inside her seemed to settle. She couldn’t say if it was a lion’s spirit or that of the shifter female herself. Maybe, it was a mix of both. It didn’t matter. All Quinn knew was that she could no longer deny it was a part of her. They, she corrected when she felt a surge of anger inside her. She wouldn’t rest until she discovered who the woman had been whose organs were now in Quinn’s body.

“We’ll find out who she was,” Mitch whispered as he hugged her close again.

As if she needed another reminder of how well he knew and understood her. She wrapped her arms around him and clung for a long moment, ignoring the murmur of voices around her. She’d made her choice. No more testing. No more poking and prodding and making her feel like the experiment Talbot had referred to her as. She was taking back her life.

“I’m going to speak to Talbot.” Quinn held her hand up before any of them could say a word. “Understand this. I’m not asking for your permission. I’m telling you. I’m going to speak with Talbot. You won’t stop me.”

Tony snorted. “He said that, as well. Repeated it over and over again like he was stuck on repeat.”

“She’ll come for me. You won’t stop her.” Once again, it was Mitch who shared what Talbot had said.

“He’s right,” Quinn warned them. “I am planning to come for him, and you won’t stop me. You can either be a part of it or step out of my way.”

“I’ll escort you to see him myself,” Tony offered. “You won’t be alone with him no matter what you want. That I won’t give in on.”

Quinn stared at him for a moment, reading the tension in his frame as if he expected her to argue.

“I don’t care if you’re there, Tony. I want Mitch with me.”

She thought for a moment then knew she wouldn’t shut out the woman who’d taken a risk in seeking her out and offering an alliance. No, that wasn’t correct. Amia had offered her friendship.

“And I’d like Amia to be there.”

“What?” Abby exclaimed, already shaking her head. “Reno won’t let her get anywhere near Talbot.” Then she stopped, pressing her lips together firmly and giving her head a shake. “And it’s not his choice. God, she’s been through enough at the hands of her father and hunters, in general. It makes me sick to think of her being close to Talbot. It will send Reno into a tailspin. But I know she went to see you, and I know you didn’t just pull her name out of thin air.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I wasn’t throwing words around when I said you weren’t alone. Not when you first arrived and not now. I’ll stand with you and Amia if this is what you both need to do.”

“Would you say that if Tah were awake?” Quinn asked, wondering if the other woman would stand against her mate if he put his foot down.

“Absolutely,” Abby answered with a grin. “You don’t really know me yet, Quinn, so I won’t hold that against you. I have my own mind, and though it appears my mate and I are always in sync with one another, we’d had our challenges. Besides, my husband is awake.”

“What?”

Quinn’s gaze flew around the room. Tony and Mitch were both surprised. Jess wasn’t. Then again, she remembered that Jess and Abby were best friends and had been long before they’d both met and mated with shifters.

“Tah and Gabriel woke up this morning. They’re already balking at staying abed and are probably taking full advantage of Abby and I being out of sight.”

“Definitely,” Abby agreed with Jess.

“What about your father?” Quinn asked Jess.

“He’s out of danger. He’s sleeping soundly, and I expect him to wake up any day.”

Quinn noted the quick look between Tony and Jess then Tony and Mitch. There was something there. Something she planned to get to the bottom of next time she and Mitch were alone.

“And Vic?” Quinn asked.

“She’s still in a coma,” Abby admitted. “There’s not much else we can do except wait.”

God, Quinn knew how hard that was. Hell, she was at the point where she wasn’t waiting any longer.

“Mind if I talk to Tony real quick?” Mitch asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“No, go ahead. I’d like to go see Amia anyway.”

“I’ll meet you back at Tony’s,” Mitch said, dropping a kiss on her lips.

“I’ll walk with you,” Abby offered. “We can stop by and see Tah first. He’s been asking for you.”

Quinn felt a shiver of dread go through her. What did the alpha need to say to her?