Free Scarlet by Jordan Summers Page A

gathered their food, and made their way to the door. Everyone else went back to eating.
     
    "I figured a tittle privacy was called for." he said. "Now please say that again. I couldn't possibly have heard you correctly."
     
    Red sighed. "Yes, you did. Your hearing is better than any wolf's."
     
    His face filled with genuine concern. "Tell me what happened. Leave nothing out."
     
    "We were watching a viewer announcement last week about the release of the new clone models. Two pictures popped up on the screen and Morgan went pale. As pale as you,'" she said, pointing at his face. "I asked him what was wrong and he didn't answer." Red swallowed hard to keep the lump in her throat from choking her.
     
    "Please continue." His dark eyes burned with unspoken emotion.
     
    "I asked him if he knew those clones and he said they were his wife and child. I didn't even know he was married." Red's voice cracked and Raphael reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
     
    "He was, but it was a lifetime ago."
     
    "So he said. Did you know them?" Red asked.
     
    Raphael hesitated, then met her gaze. "Not as well as I would've liked. They were killed shortly after I met them. I'm sure Morgan told you that he's much older than he appears."
     
    Red nodded. "Yes. he mentioned something about the war."
     
    "Yes, the originals, such as Morgan and me. have been around from the beginning. Being around that long is a blessing and a curse. If you're fortunate, you meet someone who will accept your differences. With that fortune comes pain, because you also get to bury those same people." His eyes grew distant as the memories crowded them. "Sarah was one of those people. Morgan met her during the war and they married. Joshua came shortly thereafter. They were killed eight years later in a bombing that obliterated the town they were living in. After their deaths, Morgan threw himself into fighting and never looked back."
     
    "Until now," Red said.
     
    "What did this broadcast say?" Raphael asked. "I do not understand why Morgan would leave at such a tenuous time."
     
    "It said the Santa Fe Cloning Lab would be taking pre-orders for the latest pleasure model and showed Sarah's picture. Then they flashed a picture of Joshua up on the screen. He's to be used as labor or an addition to the family. I can't imagine the grief seeing my dead child's face digitally broadcast all over the world would cause."
     
    "I understand why that got Morgan's attention. But I find it odd they'd both come up at the same time. Corporations through the years have purposely avoided familial blood when making clones. It could be an innocent mistake, but the chances of that occurring randomly are astronomical."
     
    "I was thinking the same—"
     
    "You bitch!"
     
    Red's head snapped around at the same time as Raphael's. A man stood in the doorway of the food dispensing station glaring at her. He wore an ill-fitting brown suit with an open-collar shirt. His dark hair was cut short, framing a weather-beaten face that appeared slightly bruised. His brown eyes burned with desperation. Everyone froze, waiting for someone to make a move.
     
    "Do you know that man?" Raphael asked, releasing her hand.
     
    Red examined him closely. "I've never seen him before in my life. Is he an Other?"
     
    Raphael inhaled. "It's difficult to tell with the food, but no, I don't think so. He's a pureblood."
     
    Red stood at the same time as Raphael. She shot him a glance.
     
    "What are you doing?" she asked.
     
    "Confronting him, of course," he said as if that were patently obvious.
     
    "It's all right." She motioned for him to sit. "I'll handle this. Remember, it's my job."
     
    He inclined his head and sat, newfound appreciation gleaming in his eyes. "As you wish."
     
    "Look at me," the man shouted and stepped forward. "You ruined my life when you left me. How could you, Gina?"
     
    Red flinched at the casual use of her name. "How could I what? Who are you?"
     
    "You've