a man in a navy-blue suit broke off his conversation with Karen and came toward us.
“Miss Maynard.” Victor Flint flashed me a grin, all teeth, and shook my hand.
“Mr. Flint.” I smiled politely, and he turned to my Variants.
“You must be Mr. Paul.” He shook Ethan’s hand, then Josh’s. “And Mr. Mason. Pleasure to meet you both, and I am deeply sorry you won’t be joining Melior Group in any capacity other than as test subjects. But a deal is a deal.”
He flashed me that grin again.
“You were watching,” Josh stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Ethan wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. Either they didn’t trust him or they were picking up on my unease.
“I caught the tail end of the session, yes. I must say, I was very pleased by what I saw. We’re learning so much already. I have every confidence we’ll be able to give you some clarity about your condition, Miss Maynard.”
“I certainly hope so.” I resisted the urge to cross my arms—I didn’t want to appear rude or standoffish—and settled for clasping my hands.
“Oh, I know so.” He laughed deep in his chest. “And the process is shedding light on things I didn’t even expect, like the events in Thailand. You’ve just solved a problem that’s been plaguing the investigators for months.”
“Oh?” I raised my brows but didn’t say any more. Sometimes the best way to get people to talk was to just be quiet. But Victor didn’t seem at all reluctant to share information.
“Yes, the fire in the parking garage. We determined early on that Davis remotely detonated several explosions as he made his escape.” I remembered the booms, the ground shaking. “But those were primarily on the other side of the facility, where the labs and files were. He was destroying evidence, or trying to—we still managed to recover a good deal. Anyway, those explosions resulted in fires, which spread quickly to other areas, including the holding cells where they were keeping most of the Vitals. But they did not spread as far as the garage, where I believe you were . . .” He looked pointedly at Josh and held his hands above his head, miming the way Josh had kept the ceiling from collapsing on us.
Josh nodded and Victor kept speaking. “There really was no discernable reason for that part of the structure to have caught fire. We couldn’t work it out. Until today. It seems Mr. Paul’s fire ability transferred to Mr. Mason through you, Miss Maynard, just like what happened here today.”
I blinked. Of course, it made sense for one of the head honchos of Melior Group to be across the major points in the investigation, but I didn’t think he was looking into such minute details.
His assessment seemed accurate. I’d suspected the same thing when I saw Ethan’s ability manifest at Josh’s command, but I’d been waiting until we were somewhere private to raise it with them.
Josh appeared unfazed, his posture still relaxed, his curious eyes studying the middle-aged man in front of us. Ethan, on the other hand, was suddenly breathing more rapidly, his arm tightening around my shoulders.
“But I see this isn’t entirely shocking news to you.” Victor kept the smile plastered on his face, but his eyes narrowed. Before any of us could respond, he pulled something out of his pocket.
“In other news, your clearance has been approved and finalized. These passes will give you access to all parts of the building that your clearance level is permitted to enter. Not that you’ll need to access other areas, but it will make coming and going to these sessions easier. Pleasure meeting you, gentlemen. Goodbye.”
He handed the plastic passes to us, turned on his heel, and disappeared down a corridor.
Ethan backed away from me until his broad back hit a wall. He slid to the floor, threading his hands through his hair.
Josh and I exchanged a worried look and crouched down next to him.
“Baby?” I scratched the back of his neck, my other hand going to his knee. Josh placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“It wasn’t me,” Ethan whispered into his lap. “It wasn’t me, you guys. I didn’t burn them.”
He took a massive, shuddering breath and looked up to the ceiling, relief palpable in every fiber of his being. Ethan had been convinced it was his fault the fires had started. That it was his fault all those people had been burned, even killed. Tyler had explained the investigators’ findings, but