a shadow of a doubt.
One of us would not be leaving alive.
“Such heavy thoughts, daughter,” he called out, pretending to frown before his face split into a disturbing grin.
I stayed silent. I had nothing to say to this monster. This was another distraction technique, another attempt to get a rise out of one of us. Just like the way he’d made us all wait. It was just another stupid power play.
“Oh, got me all figured out now, do you?” His mind-reading ability was something we guarded against carefully. Lucian had been successfully avoiding it for years, but it didn’t matter anymore. I didn’t care what he knew. The games, the planning and plotting, the chasing and running—it was all over now. We had no secret twists to throw at him. We’d deliberately gone into this without a concrete plan. We were betting on our Bond connection and our ability to work well together under pressure, hoping beyond hope it would be enough.
“So sorry to keep you waiting. My last meeting ran late.” He walked forward confidently, unperturbed by the death stares and the several guns pointed at him. He was arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid, and I never expected him to waltz into this alone and unprotected. He had his own entourage.
Several heavily armed people walked ahead and behind him, guns raised. Zara’s mom was keeping close to his left side, hardly able to keep her eyes off his profile, and the short, stocky woman from Thailand, Gina, was with them too. I recognized her immediately—I didn’t think I’d forget anything from that day as long as I lived.
Rick’s mother, who’d had the ability to render people unconscious, was dead—killed by her own son—and his father had been captured and was still imprisoned by Melior Group. Gina, the other Variant from that day, had a shielding ability. She may not have been able to shield as far or as well without her Vital, but I had no doubt she was keeping Davis covered.
A few other people I didn’t recognize trailed behind Davis as well.
We were at an impasse. Both sides had guns pointed; both sides were protected by formidable Variants. I didn’t think he gave a shit about his people, but I didn’t want any more of mine to die. Everyone was on alert, tense, silent.
He stopped just feet away from Alec and Ethan. I could imagine the looks they were giving him, but I kept my face neutral, my breathing calm and even.
“You wanted me here.” He spread his arms wide. “I’m here. What now?”
The smile didn’t falter, the little gleam in his eye suggesting he had something up his sleeve. That was his advantage—we had no idea what he had planned, while he could read all our minds.
But we had something he didn’t have too—we had me.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” he growled, his amused mask slipping for the first time. “I see even a hint of illumination on your perfect skin, and my men will fire. Your telekinetic may be able to stop bullets, but can he stop them all at once?”
Without needing to hear the order, his goons pointed their weapons at my Variants—more than a dozen guns, trained directly at the people I loved most in the world. I thought Josh could stop them, but I wasn’t entirely sure. Those were automatic weapons. I had no doubt he would keep me protected, but could he keep the others safe too? For how long?
Davis gave a satisfied nod and smoothed the front of his shirt. “Good. Now, let’s negotiate.”
“Negotiate?” Tyler spoke for us all. “You have nothing we want, and there isn’t a person in this room willing to bend to your will.”
“Everyone wants something, and I promise you, I can make it happen. Money? Fame? Power? Everyone has a price.”
“And what is it you expect in return?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it. For once in my entire existence, I wanted to look at this despicable man and hear him speak the truth.
He cocked his head to the side, watching me for a few moments. Then, for some reason, he decided to give me what I wanted.
“I want you, Evelyn.” He folded his hands. “I think we all know why. I’ve gone as far as I can with my research and engineering team, and they can’t figure out how to keep the donor Variant alive. I need to study you to fix it.” He held his hand up,