Formation

Chapter 5

"I didn't realise you and your brother still needed the...transfusions."

Wayland opened his eyes, turning his head to me. I could tell he was awake, even if he didn't want me to. Leaned back into the stained couch with his legs stretched out ahead of him, arms loosely crossed over his chest.

Dark amber brows lowered as he regarded me, "Warren doesn't need them," He surprised me by admitting, clearing his throat as he sat up, "And I only needed a couple more before it all went to shit, and my chemical balance was thrown off."

"Why did you come," I asked sitting at the other end of the couch. Keeping an eye trained on Theo, who slept heavily at the back of the room, "If you knew something like this could go wrong for you?"

Venom disappeared not long after stitching the passed-out Splice back together. She never actually said where she was going, but just vanished with her jacket. I knew better than to question her, and I didn't really care anyway.

It wasn't worth the hassle.

"Same reason as you," Wayland shrugged justly, eyes falling to the chain around my neck, "Damien saved my life too, you know? I was dying when he found me. When Warren signed us up for the programme, I figured nothing worse could happen."

Huh, I wondered if that was what this was about for him. Ripper saved Wayland's life, and maybe his way of thanking him was to help avenge him. Sometimes I found myself watching Wayland without meaning to.

There was something different about the way he held himself, compared to other Chimeras. They all seemed as human as can be, but Wayland seemed to cling to his humanity more than his brother. Definitely more than Venom too.

A soft kind of silence fell over us. Leaving nothing but the rhythmic sound of Theo's heartbeat to fill my ears. His scent kept changing into something I didn't recognise. Not entirely human, but not familiar like it was to me.

"We managed to track down some of Veronica's allies," Wayland broke the silence, and my head snapped towards him, "Or what ones are left. Do you have any idea what Ripper did before he died?"

My lips parted wordlessly, and I had to pause. Ripper never did directly say what it was he was unleashing, "Not really," I admitted, remember all the atmosphere that had filled the room that night, "But it was bad."

A slight scoff left Wayland as he inclined his head, "Ripper opened the doors to hell," He informed me, and curiosity burned through me, "That thing around your neck is basically Pandoras Box. He uploaded files filled with Veronica's crimes, and her associates she included in them."

"Crimes?" I repeated turning to him, eyes wide like a child as I stared at him, "Will she be arrested for them?"

Dark humour danced across his pale features, "More likely she'll be killed for them," He replied confidently, and then at my look, shrugged a shoulder, "I'm guessing the files were originally hers, and she kept them all probably as blackmail."

"She incriminated her allies," I breathed, suddenly realising how Ripper knew he'd be a dead-man. Because if it wasn't Veronica who pulled the trigger, it would have been someone else, "That's how he managed to sync all the files; he took them from Veronica."

"And uploaded them all online," Wayland whistled through his teeth, seemingly a little amused by it, "Now they're floating around the dark-web; encrypted and waiting to be unlocked. But I'm guessing most of them already have been, or she wouldn't be on the run."

Veronica was running. A sick sense of satisfaction swelled inside me. Now she knew how it felt to be the prey rather than the hunter. It would make it all the more worthwhile when I finally did get my claws into her, so I could tear her apart.