Free Knight-in-Arms - Ultimatum: (BWWM Interracial Paranormal Billionaire Shifter Romance Part Four [Final]) by Athena Dore Page B

predicament”.
     
    Rochelle fought back her tears.
     
    “It isn’t a ‘little predicament’”, she retorted, “He’s dying. And we don’t know why”.
     
    “Berudellum” said Tobias.
     
    “I’m sorry?”
     
    “Berudellum”, repeated Tobias, “I’m sure he takes beast-suppressing drugs?”
     
    “Yes”.
     
    “Well, Berudellum was the unsuccessful precursor. Instead of suppressing the beast, it suppressed everything – immune system, cardiovascular system, brain function and so on, resulting in death. We tip the blades of our knives with it now for a more deadly blow”.
     
    “W-well, can’t you help him?”
     
    Tobias put down the pen. He ran his hand idly along the smooth, glossy edge of the desk.
     
    “I can” he said, looking back at her.
     
    Putting his hands in his pockets, he walked towards her. He stopped directly in front of her.
     
    “But I want to know, Miss Phillips, if I help him…”
     
    He went very close to her, leaned forward and said quietly into her ear:
     
    “What will you do for me ?”
     
    He paused there, waiting for an answer. Somehow, his closeness to her chilled her blood. She swallowed, nervously.
     
    “Anything” she said. At her sides, her hands clenched into fists.
     
    “Anything?”
     
    “Anything”.
     
    “You might want to think about that carefully, Miss Phillips”.
     
    Knowing him, he’d ask her to do something impossible, awful or morally corrupt. But she’d do it to save Xavier. Anything for Xavier.
     
    “I’ve made my decision”.
     
    “Good”.
     
    He drew away from her. Rochelle felt trapped and afraid, like she’d sold her soul to the devil.
     
    “What do I have to do?”
     
    He smiled. It was a broad, open smile but at the same time, it was empty. She couldn’t detect any emotion there, couldn’t read what it was he was trying to convey.
     
    “We have a reach out programme for young human women pregnant with shifter babies” he began, “Picture these girls, Miss Phillips, alone, confused and afraid. Perhaps they are no longer with the father, perhaps they’ve run away from home, perhaps they don’t even know their baby isn’t human. Some of them are still mere teenagers.
     
    “We reach out to them.  We provide food, shelter, specialised medical care, a sense of community. These girls don’t have to be alone, Miss Phillips; they don’t have to be afraid, no, not with the Order”.
     
    It sounded so charitable, Rochelle almost wanted to believe him. But knowing him, knowing the Order, there was a catch; there had to be.
     
    “Some girls are fearful or sceptical of the Order at first. We understand this; it is a vulnerable time for them. They just need a little encouragement. Perhaps from someone like you”.
     
    “Me?”
     
    And here was the kiss of Judas – seemingly benign but in reality, a hidden dagger. He wanted her to encourage these vulnerable girls to join the Order.  She wasn’t sure what would happen. Once in the Order, they could persuade the girls to give up their babies, or forcibly take the babies and kill the mothers, or experiment on the babies… Rochelle’s imagination ran wild with horrors.
     
    “We have a girl – seventeen years old”, continued Tobias, “Her boyfriend… let’s just say he left her”.
     
    Rochelle had the feeling the boyfriend had been killed. It gave her goose bumps to hear how casually he talked about it.
     
    “She’s been on the run ever since and she’ll be due in a few months. If you bring her to us, we’ll save Xavier”.
     
    She looked back at him, a feeling of foreboding creeping over her.
     
    “What are you going to do to her?”
     
    Tobias smiled.
     
    “You’re a curious one” he said, “But you should know, Miss Phillips, that curiosity killed the cat”.
     
    “I’m not a cat”.
     
    “True” he remarked, “But I often find the principle still applies”.
     
    Rochelle felt the sting of a threat in his words. Her deal was