He swallowed down the sudden surge of wanting and cleared his throat. “So. Real bones, our DNA. What else do we need to make them buy this?”
Nina met his gaze. “Everything, down to your implants and the polymers and alloys they used to rebuild your hands. We can’t copy those exactly, but we don’t have to. The fire will do enough damage to cover our tracks.”
Dani grinned. “The last step is the best one. We vacuum-seal a gel matrix around the skeletons. The gel’s there to approximate flesh and organs. When they’re finished, they’ll look like ballistics dummies. Or giant gummy bears. It’s pretty gross, actually.”
“Charming,” Rafe drawled. “Good to know you’re even bloodthirsty about fake carnage, honeybun.”
“It’s a lot of work,” Nina said, “but we have almost everything we need. We just have to get it done.”
Knox frowned. “Almost?”
“I can get them here, but I can’t convince them you’re inside,” she explained. “Conall will have to handle that part.”
“Hmm.” Conall leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “They’ll scan for heat signatures, for sure. Check to see if there’s any TechCorps tech they can connect to. If they dragged Charlie into this, she could probably program a drone to pick up the signals from implants. She’d have to practically park the drone on top of the roof to do it, but if they’re that serious…”
“Let’s assume they’re that serious,” Knox said. “Can you counterfeit that?”
“Someone toss me one of those implants.”
Ava picked up a slim foil packet and slid it across the table. Conall swept it up and tipped the contents into his hand. “Okay, it’s the latest version. We all have this. If Luna will help me, I should be able to make this work.”
Luna moved from her spot in the corner to lean over his shoulder. “We can spoof the signals, but only at half strength. Make it seem like you tried to suppress the broadcast.”
“First things first.” Nina started handing out tablets. “Dani, you get started on scans. Maya, you handle DNA samples while Ava and I get the equipment up and running.”
Dani plucked the knife from Rafe’s hand. “Ready to strip down, Morales?”
“Always.” Rafe grinned. “You planning to cut my clothes off?”
“Stab me first,” Maya groaned.
People began to scatter, but Nina lingered by the table, staring at the schematics. “Not much of an end for Captain Garrett Knox, is it? Firebombed in a warehouse in West End.”
“I can imagine worse.” Knox couldn’t look away from the tiny intricate designs mapping out his reconstructed hands. “I should count myself lucky I only made them mad enough to kill me.”
“They get angrier than airstrikes?”
“They get meaner. Firebombed is better than locked in a cell, being tortured and experimented on.”
Nina slid her hand across the table, sympathy softening her gaze. But she stopped shy of touching him and pulled away, and Knox curled his fingers toward his palm to keep from reaching for her.
She cleared her throat. “It’s going to be a long few days. You might want to get some sleep now. You may not have another chance.”
“Nina?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
That seemed to startle her into movement, and she began to turn away. “I don’t want you to—”
“Not for this.” It was Knox’s turn to clear his throat. “For reminding me of who I used to be. It doesn’t have to matter to you, but it matters to me. You’ve made me want to fight again. Whatever happens, even if this is my last few days, this is how I want to go out. Believing.”
She exhaled slowly, softly, her gaze locked with his. “In people in general? Or in me?”
In people. In her. But mostly in himself.
Before he could say it out loud, Dani called Nina’s name from across the warehouse, breaking the spell.
“I have to go.” She retrieved one of the tablets from the table, then hesitated. “But maybe we can talk later.”
“Sure.” There was that hope again. A faint flutter in his gut. Fucking hell, he was too old to have nervous fucking butterflies in his stomach because a girl wanted to talk to him.
Getting firebombed might be a mercy at this point.
* * *
PROTECTORATE INTERNAL MEMO
Oversight of 66–615’s squad has been transferred to Tobias Richter. All Protectorate employees should defer and report to him on matters pertaining to the Silver Devils.
September 2085
* * *
THIRTY-ONE
The whole thing felt like a vigil.
Nina cupped her hands around the steaming mug in her hand and surveyed the warehouse’s