Miles couldn’t help but smile at his best friend. Tony had come a long way from when he wasn’t able to leave his bedroom after he’d been captured and tortured, and while he wasn’t the same Tony he’d been before, Miles didn’t mind. Being tortured, then killing the person who had tortured you, would do that to a person. Besides, Tony was happier than he’d ever been now that he’d met his mate. Miles wouldn’t have it any other way, and Tony wouldn’t, either.

Tony was shuffling through a pile of documents while Miles focused on his computer and the stuff he’d copied from Robert Langley’s computer. Langley had been part of the human government and responsible for the new labs that had been created in the past couple of years to experiment on shifters. Miles wanted to find how to get rid of all of them, without exception.

The problem was that he didn’t understand most of what he was reading. There was a lot of medical stuff, and what little he did understand made him shiver in horror. All of this was supposed to be over. Tony and Miles had both been in labs decades ago, but they’d been freed, and they’d been working so that it wouldn’t happen to anyone else. Now, it had, and Miles felt guilty.

He leaned against the back of the couch and looked at Tony, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed he shared with Sam. “I think we should talk to Rocco.”

“What did you find?”

“Nothing good. I don’t understand any of this medical stuff, but it’s enough for me to realize what they’re doing.” Miles’s mouth was dry. “They’re trying to create super soldiers.”

It wasn’t surprising. Humans always wanted more, and they didn’t care if they hurt other people to obtain it. That was exactly what they were doing. Before, they’d experimented on shifters and humans alike to see if they could change their DNA and turn them into things they weren’t. They’d succeeded. Some humans had become shifters, and some shifters had gained abilities, like Miles and Tony and the other assassins.

What was happening now was completely different. The humans weren’t poking around trying to understand what they could do and how far they could push. They already knew that. Now, they had a precise goal in mind, and they were working toward that.

“Super soldiers?” Tony asked. He sounded as horrified as Miles felt.

Miles sighed. “Take this guy. I can’t understand if he was human or shifter, but they tried to give him wings. From the notes, he couldn’t ever get rid of them, which means they were stuck on his back. And it’s not only that. They split his DNA with the DNA of several kinds of shifters, including a bear, a lion, and a wolf. I’m not quite sure what they were trying to do, and I don’t know if they knew, either. Whatever it was, it didn’t work, and there’s a note that the guy was terminated.”

Miles didn’t have to explain what that meant. Both he and Tony knew.

“We have to do something. We can’t allow humans to torture any more shifters, and we can’t allow them to create super soldiers. They’ll use them against us, whether those soldiers want it or not.” Tony’s voice was soft, but the horror was clear in his tone.

No matter how much Tony thought he was broken, he wasn’t. He was strong, and Miles was relieved to see he was doing better.

Better, but not healed. Even though Tony hadn’t talked to Miles about it, Miles was aware of the fact that Tony had PTSD. His room was next to the one Tony and Sam shared, and sometimes, during the night, he could hear the nightmares. He always had to resist the urge to come to Tony’s rescue. Tony wasn’t alone anymore. Before, it had been him and Miles against the world. Even though they were friends with all the assassins, they were especially close to each other, and they’d always been there for the other. Now, Tony had Sam.

Miles didn’t begrudge him for that. It was a good thing that Tony had met him, because Sam had been the first step in healing Tony. They were mates, and eventually, once all of this was over, they’d be happy together.

First, they had to deal with this, though.

Miles looked at his best friend. “You don’t have to do this if it’s too hard,” he murmured.

Tony glared. “Why would it be too hard?”

“Because of what happened to you. No one will blame you if you decide to take a step back.”

Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that what you think I should do?”

Miles had to be extremely careful how to answer that question. “I think you should do whatever you feel up to. I’m not trying to stop you from doing it if you think it’s the right thing to do. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Or rather, even more hurt than he’d already been.

Tony stared for a moment before his expression shifted, and he nodded. “I know you’re looking out for me, and I appreciate it. You don’t have to, though. I know what I’m doing, and I promise I won’t put you in danger because of my problems.”

Miles huffed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know it’s not, and I know what you meant. You’re afraid that my PTSD will ruin everything.”

Tony didn’t understand, did he? “I’m afraid that seeing whatever we’ll find when we go to those labs will throw you back into your memories. And it’s not just the torture.”

“It’s because I spent time in a lab. I was experimented on a like those people are being experimented on today.”