Joe.
And she wasn't entirely sure whether he meant her good or ill. There was something almost…gloating in his aura. As if he'd waited for this moment for a very long time.
She took a shuddering breath and released it slowly. Her best option now was retreat. She'd be stupid to confront Blaine alone. There were two men ahead and the invisible King still floated about somewhere. However much she wanted answers, however much she might want to grab King for shooting Wetherton, she wasn't a fool. She was one against three, and while she might be an enhanced human, just like them, she was the only one who didn't have full knowledge of her powers.
She retreated a step, but she stopped when something cold and hard pressed against her spine.
"I can't allow you to do that." King's voice was so soft that she doubted the men ahead would even hear. "Move into the side street, please. No sudden moves."
For all of a second she thought about spinning and knocking the weapon from his hand. Or maybe even twisting sharply to shoot him dead. But the latter had already proven impossible, and she had a sneaking suspicion he'd react faster than she ever could.
So she walked on, her arms by her side and the laser still secure in one hand. She doubted he'd forgotten its presence, and the fact that he let her keep it either meant he had no fear of it, or that she'd be dead long before she could ever press the trigger.
Neither thought was a pleasant one, so she concentrated instead on the road ahead, trying to pinpoint the men who still hid in the shadows.
Blaine moved out of them once she'd entered the street, stopping in the middle of the road, his expression pleased, almost amused.
"Last place I expected to find you, General," she said, stopping several feet away from him. King didn't object, and a covert glance over her shoulder uncovered why. He was no longer behind her. She scanned the immediate area, but couldn't spot him. Nor could she smell him. But then, the soft breeze could have been blowing his scent away from her. She was sure he hadn't gone far.
Still, it was odd that he was here with Blaine. She'd been under the impression that he was Lloyd's assistant and psychic eyes, not Blaine's.
"Maybe so," Blaine said, voice all oily satisfaction, "but I must say it is extremely pleasing to see you, number 849."
The number rang distant bells, and she had a sudden memory of a room filled with clear plastic cribs, each one not only possessing a wriggling, crying baby but a black card clipped to the front that carried a number and visual details. Hundreds of babies born to the cold sterility of a lab, many of whom were destined to die long before conscious thought or fear formed.
An odd mix of anger and apprehension shot through her, but she raised an eyebrow, trying for a calm she didn't feel inside. "849? Sorry, General, but I have a name, not a number."
He raised an eyebrow, his expression still one of condescending amusement. "Maybe now, but not when you were in Hopeworth, my dear."
She knew it was useless to argue. He was too certain about her. Maybe he'd uncovered hidden files in Hopeworth.
Maybe that brief moment between them in Wetherton's office had given him information that he'd been able to use. Either way, it didn't matter. She was never going to admit the truth.
Not to him, anyway. "I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree. I've never been near Hopeworth."
"Forgetfulness is not surprising, given the horrible events of that night, but you are military in birth and in design and we both know it. And I have every intention of returning you to your birthplace and birthright." He paused, and then said, "Tonight."
So he thought Penumbra's destruction was an accident?
That she'd escaped by chance rather than design? How could he? How could anyone in the military be breeding what they were breeding and have no true idea just what their creations were really capable of?
She took a step back, and this time King didn't stop her.
"Sorry, General, but I'm not who you think I am, and there is no way in hell I'm going anywhere with you." She raised the laser, letting him see it for the first time. "Move and I'll shoot."
His sudden laugh sent a chill skittering over her skin. There was nothing sane in that cold sound. "You would never hit me with the laser, child. I am faster than the wind, and lighter than shadow. You can't kill a shadow, don't you know that? Didn't your precious nanny teach you anything?"
She blew out a breath. What was the point of going on with the pretence that she didn't know what he was talking about? All he had to do was get her back to Hopeworth and the truth would be revealed. She wasn't a creature of natural selection, but rather finely honed lab techniques. What she was better off concentrating on now was a means to escape this man and Hopeworth.
"My nanny taught me lots about humanity, General, and for that I owe her more than I can ever repay." She paused.
"Why did you want Mary Elliott dead?"
"I wanted her knowledge, but the mere fact that you came to see her was enough to satisfy my uncertainties." He gave her a cold smile. "And in the end, you walked into my trap much easier than I ever dreamed possible. King, get the laser from her."
She tensed, waiting for some sound, some sensation, some feeling that King was obeying his master's orders.
But King didn't answer. Blaine frowned. "King? Did you hear me?"