Manipulating Mikey (First Wave Book 8) by Mikayla Lane

out
there,” Blade said, unsure what the chances were of Koda surviving the kind of
injuries he must have sustained in the blast for weeks alone in the forest.
    Grai roared in rage before he broke
the door off the hinges as he left the room quickly followed by David and
Blade.
    Mikey turned to make sure that
Lauren was all right and saw the shock on her face as she stared at the door.
    “Is he always like that?” Mikey
asked teasingly, hoping to ease her concern.
    Lauren shook her head to clear it
and mustered a smile for the soldier brave enough to go through a reaping
without even knowing what it entailed. She grabbed her comm and began scanning
his brain to make sure Blade didn’t harm him.
    “It’s his brother that is missing.
If he’s still in that forest and badly injured, he’s in terrible danger and it
will kill Grai to think that he’s wasted all this time looking for him in the
labs when he was out there all along,” Lauren explained, hoping he would
understand why Grai was so intense.
    Mikey winced at the thought that
the guy’s brother was out there alone and injured, waiting for someone to find
him. After spending a few weeks locked up by his own government, he could well
understand how horrible it must be for both of the brothers.
    “I’m sorry. It has to be hard on
him,” Mikey said, not sure what to say.
    “If anyone can find him, it’s Grai.
Now, what questions do you have?” Lauren asked, hoping to spend a little more
time with him.
    Mikey laughed and held his arms out
wide.
    “Everything. Where the hell are we?
You said Texas but how the hell do you hide the fleet of UFOs we passed out
there? What is a beast? What does it do? What is a hybrid? And is any of me
human? What is the other part of me?” Mikey stopped only when he ran out of
breath.
    Lauren laughed and held out her
hand to him. She waited until he took it before she led him out of the broken
door and into the large hangar that housed their ships.
    “Grai brought you into the medlab
closest to the ship. Come on, I’ll show you around,” Lauren said with a grin at
Mikey’s open mouthed stare.
    Grai had given her no instructions
regarding the young soldier, so she just assumed that they were going to let
him stay like any other hybrid they’d found over the years.
    Mikey nodded his head woodenly as
he looked around at all of the aircraft they passed before she drew him into an
elevator. They went up more than a few floors before the doors opened again. He
stepped out with her and was surprised to be in the sunshine. He drew a deep
breath and held out his one hand to the sky, unwilling to let go of her hand
with the other.
    “Been a while since you’ve seen
daylight, huh?” Lauren asked with a smile.
    Mikey closed his eyes and drew
another deep breath before he turned to grin at her.
    “They had me locked up since they
pulled me from the forest. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see daylight
again,” Mikey admitted as he looked around at the mountain they were on.
    They stood for a moment in silence
as Mikey enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine, but it wasn’t long before the
questions began running through his mind again.
    “We’re standing on top of the
hangar with the UFOs aren’t we?” he asked, knowing the answer.
    Lauren nodded her head and pulled
him towards the building on the other side of garden they emerged in.
    Mikey looked up and whistled when
he saw the name on the building.
    “Freedom Enterprises? Seriously?
Don’t they make . . . everything?” he asked, surprised that a company that big
would be involved with aliens.
    Or hybrids, or whatever hell I am, he
thought.
    “It may surprise you to know that
the company is wholly owned and operated by our people. I know the military
people probably tried to convince you that we’re terrible and out to destroy
humanity, but that isn’t the case,” Lauren said, feeling out his thoughts on
what she was saying.
    “Oh, the horror!” Mikey teased
before he