Free A Jaguars Touch by Lacey Thorn Page A

grown up in the same area as Thomas—that I knew him. They injected Thomas with fever, a new strain they’d been working on. Within minutes, he’d killed the three men with him and ripped my cage open to free me, as well.” He didn’t want to remember that time in his life. There were ghosts from then that still haunted him—bloodstains on his hands he’d never be able to wash off. He shoved the past back down. “We escaped and made it home.” Not exactly the story Thomas had told his family, but Gideon was telling the truth. It was more than time for it.
    “When did Thomas get the vials of fever?” the Professor asked.
    “Later, when he was captured again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t by the right group of hunters. So all he was able to get was the original strain of feral cat fever,” Gideon admitted.
    “Are you saying Thomas allowed himself to be captured?” Logan asked, and Gideon could see the other man was pissed.
    He understood why. Logan was Clara’s mate, and though the things Gideon, Thomas and Michael had done were needed, Clara had been hurt by them.
    “Easy,” Reno said and put his hand on Logan’s shoulder.
    The gesture reminded Gideon so much of Thomas and Michael. He could easily see himself and his best friends in Tah, Reno and Logan. Logan was so much like Clara’s father Michael that Gideon never questioned their mating. He wondered if she realized it, or if she’d lost Michael too soon to really know the man her father was. Reno was more like him while Tah was an unjaded version of Thomas. God, he hoped they made better choices than Gideon and his friends had.
    “I’m saying we did what we needed to,” Gideon finally said.
    “We? You and Thomas?” Abby asked, but Gideon looked away.
    “Michael was part of this, too, wasn’t he?” Logan demanded, surging to his feet. “So Clara lost her father, and her uncle’s missing? For what? Some vials?”
    “Clara’s lost a lot less than most,” Gideon all but roared. “Entire families have been wiped out.”
    “Ease up,” Tah ordered, and though his voice was leashed, Gideon could hear the authority in it. It gave him hope for the future.
    “You and Thomas were working with the fever, weren’t you?” the Professor interrupted, cutting through the tension with his question. “Dillon stole it, but he didn’t create it.”
    Gideon nodded. “We were trying to recreate some of the variations they’d managed to make with it, to see if we could study them.”
    “You were trying to find a way to make shifters immune to its effects?” Abby asked.
    “That’s always been the plan,” Gideon said. He prowled the room. “We were close, so close. Thomas did most of the work with the samples, mixing them and creating new strains. I managed the tests, compiled data and watched for anything that might come close to the results we were looking for. One day, Thomas was late. I went to grab one of the samples and realized there were a lot missing, more than should be.”
    “Dillon,” Murphy muttered.
    “Yes,” Gideon agreed. “I didn’t realize he was drugging Lydia.” He shook his head, letting the guilt hit him. “Honestly, I didn’t think much of her, at all. She wasn’t important to me, and for that, I’m sorry.”
    “What happened to Thomas?” Logan asked and Gideon was relieved they weren’t calling him out.
    “I don’t know,” Gideon said. “I really don’t. He was acting strange the last few times I was with him. I thought we’d been working too hard. We were close, or at least, it felt like we were getting close. I had to leave for a bit. I told him to take off, go for a run. He wasn’t there when I got back, and I could tell something was up.”
    “Did he plan to be captured again?” Tah asked.
    “No,” Gideon said. “But that doesn’t mean he didn’t find the opportunity and take it.”
    “Do you know what strain Dillon used on Lydia?” Abby asked.
    “I have my suspicions,” Gideon admitted. “ And