state and unable to help Solo if something happens to him. He’s not stupid enough to allow that.”
“Solo?” X said, ignoring the other being. “Come on. Bid me.”
Solo didn’t mind losing X’s strength, not for something like this, but they had gone down this road before and X had only disappointed him. A best friend had never appeared. A good girl had never chosen him above all things. His adoptive parents had not risen from the dead. He had no more trust to offer.
“Solo?” X prompted.
But . . . maybe a good girl had finally chosen him. Vika had helped him despite the danger to herself. Such generosity was better than heat in a winter storm, light in a darkened cavern. Hope bloomed. “What will you do for her?” he demanded.
“Why are you even asking? You can’t escape if you’re weak. Therefore, you can’t risk anything that has the potential to make you weak.” Dr. E paced from one side of his left shoulder to the other. “Plus, when X fails, and he will, you’ll be upset and unable to function properly. If you can’t function properly, you can’t, what? Escape.”
And he wanted to escape more than anything. Right?
X remained focused on Solo. “I won’t know how to handle things until I reach her, but I will do something. All I need is your permission.”
“Don’t do this, Solo. Please.”
“X,” he whispered. “Do it.”
“No! Don’t be an idiot,” Dr. E said with a sharp shake of his head.
“What, exactly, do you want me to do?” X insisted, still ignoring Dr. E. “Be specific.”
How well he knew the importance of words. “I want you to—”
“No,” Dr. E interjected harshly. “Are you kidding me with this?”
“Save her,” Solo finished. “However necessary, whatever the cost to me, save her.”
“Consider it done.” A grinning X vanished.
“Idiot!” Dr. E shouted, stomping his foot. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Yes. He did. He’d turned to the only avenue available to him, trusting in a power greater than himself. And he couldn’t allow himself to worry about the outcome. Something he’d noticed over the years: worry always weakened X further, and strengthened Dr. E.
Solo glanced at the tiny man who so often fueled his rages, no longer surprised to find his skin devoid of color. “Go away.”
“You cannot . . . how dare you . . . Oh!” Dr. E vanished too.
“Hey, no fair, I smell food,” Criss said, drawing his attention to the cages.
Good. He couldn’t allow himself to think about Vika, and a distraction had just presented itself. “Your nose is working correctly. I have food.” Delivered by Vika.
When would that fact cease to shock him?
Criss stretched her arm through the bars and waved her fingers at him. “Share with me. I haven’t eaten in days.”
“That’s your own fault. You wasted what you were given.”
“For a good cause!”
Was that so?
He opened the bag. The corners of several of the biscuits had crumbled off, and the crisp bacon had broken into multiple pieces. His mouth watered and his stomach rumbled. “You want half?” he asked, taking a section of a biscuit and a quarter of a bacon slice and tossing them at her.
First rule of fishing: Use the proper bait.
She caught the pieces with surprising grace and, with a speed his gaze struggled to track, stuffed both portions into her mouth as if she feared someone would try and take them away from her. Her eyes closed as she savored the food, her skin brightening . . . radiating a pearls-in-sunlight sheen . . . making his eyes tear with its radiance.
When her eyelids popped open, her eyes were the same bright shade. “More,” she said in a deep, throaty voice.
“Why will you take food from me and not from Vika?”
“I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of watching me beg for every scrap.”
“She offers freely.”
A growl from Criss.
“Are you a fan of honey?” he asked.
“Honey? Give me!”
Caught you. “I will . . . after you vow never to harm Vika again.”
“Sure, sure. Now give me.”
“You will vow not to hurt her with words, food, rocks, or anything else, and I will give you half of the bag’s contents.”
Dr. E made another appearance. There was a fresh cut on his cheek, and his robe was torn. His shoulders were stooped, as though his head was too heavy to hold up. “Now you’re going too far. That food is yours. You need to keep your strength up.”