Fury snarled.

Darkness looked at his hands. “She’d been told the test was over, the program closing down, and that they were going to kill me. Darwin Havings had promised she could watch me die and she’d come to see it. She voiced her disappointment over not witnessing our brothers’ deaths.”

He looked up then. “Darwin Havings entered the tent and told her she was fired. He wasn’t going to allow her to sell the information about what she’d been a part of and he’d never trust a whore to keep her word. He looked at me and said she was one woman I shouldn’t mind killing. They left her alone with me.”

“You killed her.” Fury’s tone was soft.

Darkness didn’t flinch. “I did. She pulled a knife and came at me. I could have disabled her without death. I didn’t. She attempted to stab me in the heart but I was faster. It was over in seconds. They trained us to kill with efficiency. I made it painless and fast.”

“She deserved to suffer,” Fury whispered.

Darkness nodded in agreement. “I cared about her though. Even then, after learning what she’d done. I had trusted her, had made that fatal error. I cost our brothers their lives.” He got to his feet. “I’m sorry.” He spun, heading to the door.

He tried to open it but Fury’s hand darted out to press against it. He turned and looked into his eyes, the male standing inches away. “Do you want to fight? I won’t hit you back. I deserve a beating at the very least.”

Fury surprised him when the male grabbed him and jerked him against his body. He thought he might go for his throat but the male just kept his arms around him. It sank in that he was hugging him. He hesitantly lifted his hands but didn’t know what to do or where to put them. Males didn’t hug other males. At least never where he was concerned.

“You’re my brother,” Fury stated. “I don’t want to hit you and I don’t want to cause you any more pain. You’ve carried this burden far too long. No more. Let it go.”

He relaxed. “I can’t.”

“I wish I’d been there with you.”

“I’m glad you weren’t.”

“Hug me back.”

He still hesitated.

Fury slowly released him and stepped back a foot. “You can’t make me hate you and I sure as hell don’t hold what happened against you. To trust another isn’t a crime. The blame was on that female. You’re a better male than I because I would have made her suffer. Do you understand?”

“You wouldn’t harm a female.”

Fury leaned closer, staring deeply into his eyes. “I would have in that case. You were kinder than I would have been. You have no idea the murderous thoughts in my mind when Ellie wiped that blood from her kit on my hands while I lay there helpless on that floor. It’s a good thing I was paralyzed. I told you I kidnapped her to do harm. I wasn’t ready to kill at that point but the payback would have been hell if my attraction for her hadn’t prevented it. Galina got our brothers killed for a stupid test result and money.” His breathing increased. “You were more merciful, Darkness. Trust me.”

“I even failed you there then. I should have taken a more vicious revenge for our brothers.”

Fury gripped his arm. “Don’t say that ever again. I’m just stating that you think you should be punished for your actions but I don’t see it that way. You never let them or me down. You did your best to keep them alive and survive. Their deaths are on those humans. There was no way for all of you to walk out of there alive from what you’ve told me. The test was doomed to fail if they believed our wills could be broken to the point of no return.”

“I don’t think I should be punished but there’s no room for forgiveness or redemption either. Parts of me died with our brothers and that female.”

“You’ve saved lives, Darkness. Focus on that. You just helped us locate a Gift. We rescued her today.”

“Her condition?” He hadn’t heard that news.

“She is surprisingly well.” Fury grimaced. “The humans seemed to treat her as if she were a pet.”

“No sexual abuse?”

“Not that we’re aware of but the reports are still coming in. We don’t like to go at them full-force with our questions when they arrive. Medical has done a workup, though, and she’s very healthy. There are no outward signs of abuse or scars to indicate anything severe in the past.”

“Good.”

“There’s one problem we didn’t expect.”

“What is that?”

Fury hesitated. “She wasn’t pleased to see other Species. There was some trauma in her past involving a male. We have no details yet but let’s just say Jaded set her off. She hissed at him and was terrified.”

“That’s not good.”

“No. A human had to be assigned to stay with her. It was at her request.”

“Trisha?”

Fury hesitated. “It’s one of the male task force members.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Nor do we but we want her to remain calm while she settles in at Homeland. We need to earn her trust. She feels more secure in his presence and that’s the important part.”

“Were the humans who were holding her caught?”

“Not yet. They were out of the country. We have the humans who were assigned to guard her and keep her prisoner.”