“Academics will pick up where you left off at Ridgemore High or, if you’d rather, you can undertake personally tailored academic study programs that will actually challenge you and teach you topics you find interesting and rewarding. Based on your testing, I doubt any one of you have been challenged at that school for a very long time.”
None of us denied it.
“The men and women sitting here at the table with us are, collectively, superb minds. Between them, I’m certain they can teach you a variety of topics that will fascinate you. If you want to learn something and no one here is qualified to teach you, I’ll recruit whomever you want. No one saysnoto me for long.”
No one in the entire room attempted to deny that. Though we were the newest to the dastardly ways of billionaire mastermind Magnum Chase, the fact that he got his way was already abundantly evident.
“Each one of you can already test out of high school and receive the equivalent of a high school diploma, however much good that will do you. What I’m offering is advanced university-level studies.”
I snuck a glance at Hunt, whose eyes glittered with his restrained excitement. Dudelovedto learn, even more than the rest of us, and we were all closet nerds.
“That includes fine art and mechanics,” Magnum added, eyeing Layla and Brady especially.
“Next is the physical aspect of your time here. As much as you work your minds, you’ll be expected to work your bodies. I believe you all share a love for martial arts and the like?”
Reluctantly, I joined my friends in nodding, doing my best to subdue my enthusiasm at the idea of finally getting to progress our fighting skills to the next level.
“I’ve assembled three of the finest instructors and sensei of martial arts and ‘ninja skills’ in the world.”
My cheek twitched at his use of the phrase “ninja skills.” That was how my friends and I discussed our abilities and goals when we believed we were alone and speaking in privacy.
Unable to help myself, I glanced atLynneand whoever-dad. Lynne’s face was guilt free, but my faux dad’s was laden with it. I could see the truth of it there: Magnum had access to every transcript of every “private” conversation my friends and I had ever shared near one of their hidden wiretaps.
Magnum looked to two men and one woman who sat in a row along the opposite side of the table from us. Though they looked remarkably different in appearance from one another, and they sat at complete ease, I suspected each of them could kill everyone in this room without breaking a sweat. They put off that vibe—unarmed but extremely dangerous. Their bodies were lethal weapons.
Instantly, I wanted to train with them. Griffin also sat up straighter. Magnum sure knew how to lure us in, the observant cocksucker. First the mansion and the cars, now the badass ninja teachers? I was practically swooning on the inside.
“Finally, there’s the study of your immortality, both by yourselves and by us. I’ll expect you to learn everything there is to discover about your power, including if there’s more of it, and I’ll expect my team and I to learn about it right along with you.”
“Meaning?” Brady asked.
“Meaning, we’ll test your limits and together we’ll learn all there is to know about what you can and can’t do.”
“Does that mean you’re planning on killing us to see how we come back?” Hunt asked, and a foreboding shiver raced up my spine.
Magnum didn’t shy away from Hunt’s accusing stare. “Yes.”
I gulped.
“But you’ll have every possible support,” Magnum added. “Of all kinds. I’ll have the best medical personnel on standby to aid you and make the process as seamless and painless as possible.”
“The process of us dying and coming back to life, repeatedly,” Layla deadpanned.
“Yes.” Thedevil we knowheld our murderous stares without flinching. “But this isn’t about causing you pain. In fact, I’d very much prefer it if you didn’t experience pain.”
“You can’t be serious,” faux Porter Rafferty exclaimed. “They’re children!”
“They’re eighteen years old, all of them,” Magnum said with a calm I wasn’t experiencing. “They never were your children to begin with, and now they are adults.”
He snapped his fingers. I was looking around, trying to figure out at what or whom he was snapping, when Jaggar, Raynar, and two other soldiers outfitted in paramilitary gear jogged in.
Wordlessly, they lined up beside our faux parents, the lot of whom stood, some with shoulders slumped in defeat, others glaring at Magnum and the soldiers. Faux Alexis was looking longingly at Hunt, her eyes wide and pleading. The soldiers led them from the room without incident, as if everyone there knew how pointless it would be to resist.
Their easy acquiescence only made the fight inside me brew more insistently.
Magnum continued as if there’d been no interruption. “We’ll test your immortality and I’ll expect you to submit to regular physical checkups so we can track your progress.”
“How long do you expect us to stay here?” Hunt asked.
