always happy to offer positions to extraordinary Variants and Vitals. You would be an asset. But I’d like to extend an additional, rather unique offer to you also. We all know you’re more than an exceptional Vital. Despite your Variants’ refusal to discuss the matter, which I completely understand”—he held a hand out to Tyler, giving him a conciliatory look—“I think we’ve all seen the footage of the unfortunate incident at the senator’s residence in Manhattan. The glowing.”
I narrowed my eyes and wrapped my arms around my chest before I could stop myself. I had no idea what the glowing meant, and I didn’t like being confronted with it.
“What is this about?” Tyler asked.
Victor kept his keen gaze on me. “I’m offering you the opportunity to figure out what it is. How it works, what it can do, what the limitations and dangers are.” My eyebrows rose as he continued. “I would like to offer you access to some of our top researchers and scientists, a safe environment in which to test your particular . . . situation.”
“Why was I not consulted on this? Or even informed of it?” A hint of frustration leaked into Tyler’s clipped tone. No one else at the table spoke, but they watched the two men verbally sparring with ravenous eyes.
“I didn’t have approval to make the offer until earlier this morning. There was nothing to inform you of. And to be quite frank, I wanted to bring this directly to Evelyn. I know you’ve shut down offers of a similar nature from Bradford Hills Institute.”
Bradford Hills Institute had made offers like this?
My immediate reaction was to get pissed off at Tyler. How dare he make such a decision for me? Did the others know too? But I made a conscious effort to keep the irritation from showing on my face. After the initial knee-jerk reaction, I realized exactly why Tyler hadn’t entertained the idea. We knew I could use my glowing to kill a Variant—draw the Light right out of them—but the rest of the world didn’t. I had enough of a target on my back without exposing me, us, to more suspicion from powerful people.
Tyler looked at me out of the corner of his eye, but this time, I spoke first. “The reasons why we turned down the offer from Bradford Hills Institute are between my Bond and me.” I placed my hand lightly on Tyler’s forearm, surprised at how calm my voice sounded. “But since you took time out of your day to make this offer to me personally, I’m happy to consider it.”
I smiled politely, pushing as much Light to Tyler as I could before removing my hand. Hopefully the extra boost would help him figure out what Victor’s angle was, but I also hoped he’d use it to see what I was about to do. We needed help figuring this glowing shit out; Victor Flint had the resources—I just needed to make sure we got as much out of this as possible.
Clasping my hands together, I leaned on my elbows. Tyler moved in the same instant, settling back in his chair and placing a comforting hand low on my back.
He was sending everyone at the table, including me, a clear message—I was taking the lead now.
Victor didn’t miss a thing. His calculating gaze flicked between us, and he tilted his head, an amused smile briefly passing over his features.
“Excellent.” He leaned forward too, mirroring my position. “A team of researchers would be at your disposal. Ideally, we would have you come in two to three times per week for a few hours. They’ll run tests to see if we can identify any anomalies in your blood, your DNA, and your physiology, then they’ll observe and measure you in the glowing state both alone and with one or several of your Bonded Variants present so they can observe the transfer. We will leave no stone unturned until we know all modern science can discover about your situation.”
I didn’t like how he kept referring to it as a “situation,” as if it had happened by accident and wasn’t permanent. This was part of who I was. Yes, it could be dangerous, but it was pretty fucking extraordinary too. Even so, I was glad to see how hard he was trying to sell me on his offer. “Thank you for not beating around the bush. I’ll offer you the same courtesy. I’d like to know what’s in this for you?”