I kept my eyes on the TV as their hands and eyes searched my body for injuries, but they caught on pretty quickly. Ethan grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.
“. . . mixed news for you all today.” Davis flashed his perfect teeth at the cameras, displaying that charismatic smile that made me want to vomit. “Our team of scientists and engineers have been working tirelessly to bring you our latest technology, which I announced recently. As you all know, this will allow us to transfer an ability from a Variant and give it to any person with Variant DNA who happens to not have manifested one naturally. We have worked out the legal and financial side of the process, ensuring that the donating Variant is compensated adequately for their generous decision to part with their Light-given ability. All that’s left now is to make sure our technology, our machines, are perfectly optimized and safe for all parties involved. Safety is our number one priority.”
Ethan scoffed. “Please. Safety, my ass.”
Josh shushed him and turned the volume up even more. Davis launched into all the wonderful things his company was doing to ensure the safety of its customers—all the amazing things this would do for Variants around the world. The spiel was delivered with ease and practice, the touch of a marketing professional clear in the phrasing. He discussed how Variants who disliked their abilities would be able to rid themselves of an unwanted burden. How Variants with common abilities but no clear use for them would be able to make a substantial amount of money by giving them up.
As if his proposed system wasn’t rife with opportunities for exploitation. As if it wouldn’t turn into another way for the rich to get what they wanted at the expense of the poor and desperate. As if it wouldn’t encourage Variant trafficking.
The reporters were eating his words up, asking enthusiastic questions and flashing their cameras. How did they not see that this could turn nasty overnight? That it was just like what the Lightwhores did—Vitals selling off their precious and sacred Light for a couple bucks? Except this was permanent.
His blatant lies made me feel sick. I wrapped my arms around myself, and Ethan handed me my sweater. As Davis kept twisting everything with his clever, poisonous words, I pulled the sweater over my head, and Josh held me close to his chest.
“Unfortunately we’ve had to push back our timeline.” The look of disappointment on Davis’s face was so exaggerated I almost laughed. “We were hoping to make the procedure available to the public next month; however, we’ve hit . . . a snag.” He sighed. A flurry of questions flew at him from the reporters, who all spoke over one another. He gestured for them to calm down. “I can’t go into too many details regarding the process—there is the matter of intellectual property to consider.” He flashed that greasy grin. “But the technology is developed from studying Vitals and the process of transferring Light. There is one particular individual who is very unique in this aspect, and her Light is what allowed us to get this far with these incredible advancements.”
I leaned toward the TV even as I gritted my teeth and gripped Josh’s T-shirt, my knuckles turning white.
A reporter cut in. “Are you referring to the girl who glows?”
Davis sighed, another exaggerated, fake look of regret crossing his face. “I’m sure most people have seen the footage of the young lady who glowed as she transferred Light. Yes, her talents are more than just a visually impressive display. Yes, she was instrumental in assisting us with developing the technology. And yes, we still need her assistance.”
“He makes it sound like you were working together,” Josh ground out, “not like he fucking kidnapped you and nearly killed us all.”
My fists, still wrapped around the poor fabric of his T-shirt, started to shake in anger.
Davis just kept spewing his lies. “I’m very saddened to say she is no longer working with us, especially considering . . . but I won’t go into sharing private family matters at this time.”
But by saying that, that’s exactly what he’d done. My mouth dropped open. What the fuck was he up to?
Intrigued murmurs rose from the reporters, but they settled down quickly, eager to hear more from Davis.