Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,295

keeping his eyes locked on me.

I thought back to Allaire and his ominous statement before dying at the hands of the executioner. “I think it’s hardly world-altering that she was seeing Allaire behind your back.” I made sure to keep my voice even as I spoke. My plan was to keep him talking; as long as he was talking, I could figure something out.

“She wasn’t dating Allaire. She was showing him her findings. Dominique wasn’t Lackley’s Companion like I thought. She was his scientist. And she came to Ethros with me as a Companion to hide once he realized that her cure wasn’t working. The woman I’ve been fucking created the damn virus in the first place.”

All at once, a clear understanding flooded through me like an icy shock to the system. My dream, my understanding of Dominique, it all made sense now. That woman was tortured and disturbed, nearly teetering on the edge of insanity. I realized, then, that she wasn’t suffering from all that the world had done to her, but instead from the guilt of all the things she’d done to the world.

“How did you even find her?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how far to push, how much Cavil would be willing to say. If I acted like I was hanging on the edge of his words, worshipping each syllable pouring from his lips, maybe I could distract him and…

“She cornered me in Lackley’s home. She said she was Lackley’s most prized Companion, but she wanted to go with me. I saw the opportunity to claim one of Lackley’s possessions and didn’t think anything of it. I wish I’d known then what I know now, though. I had the answers for the cure under my nose this whole time and didn’t even know it,” he chuckled to himself.

I closed my eyes, once again reliving the glimmer of a memory I was gifted with when Jules gave me the death pill. Maybe it was a message from Josiah. Maybe he wanted to give me one last nudge in the right direction. Leave it to Josiah to find a way to help me from the dead.

I swallowed deeply as Cavil slowly removed his shirt, revealing yet another crisp, white undershirt beneath. “We went through Allaire’s office to find out who else he was working with. I never imagined I’d find his correspondence with Dominique. Just before you escaped, she and Allaire unlocked the cure. She injected it in her son, Payne, then sent him away with the hopes of keeping him far from me. Once I find him, I’ll have it all. And there’s nothing anyone can do to stop me.”

Oh no. Payne. He couldn’t do anything to Payne.

“It’s a shame Dominique died. I would have liked to have seen her expression when I bled her son dry in front of her,” Cavil added while unbuckling his belt. Some dark part of my brain knew what would happen next. I knew where this would lead. Cavil wanted to exercise his power over me in front of Maverick and Cyler.

“The day Allaire died, she hung herself in her jail cell. Pity, huh? I bet she knew I’d find his research. Allaire seemed to think I’d never find her son, but I have my ways. It’ll take no time at all to bring him back to Ethros.”

I grabbed my chest and held it tightly, taking in the pain of her death. Conflict over the woman that died rocked through me. She was Payne’s mother. The woman that helped us escape. But if what Cavil was saying were true, she was also the woman responsible for killing a majority of the population.

I looked over my shoulder at Maverick and Cyler then bit my lip. I knew they were stuck between feeling hopeful about this new information and defeated about Cavil. “You’ll never find him,” I whispered. I would still fight. I’d fight for my guys. I’d fight for Payne. For the empire.

“Is that so? You know where he is, Walker?” Cavil stopped undressing to look at me. He was trying to assess what I knew. I kept my face soft as the pretentious bastard looked me over. “You do, don’t you?” I bit my lip, praying that the idea I was slowly formulating would work. I didn’t think I had the strength, but I had to try. Looking around, there weren’t many other options. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I replied with a smirk.

Cavil snapped his head to the guardsman. “Go!