“A thousand?” Surely he can’t be that powerful.
“Eventually,” he says. “With more training.”
“I can’t believe Kallister has allowed this.”
He barks out another laugh. “Kallister understands who those people are. That a new world order is needed.”
“By killing the majority of the world?”
“We’ll keep some of them around,” he says, eyes gleaming. “We need bodies to work in the mines and pick up our garbage. Kallister sees the bigger picture. He knows what needs to be done. Adrienne was too weak for leadership, and if she’s too hesitant touse her gifts, that’s on her. I told you—we have these powers tousethem.”
Fury boils in my blood. I have a hundred more questions, but Hawkins doesn’t let me voice them. He lifts his hand as if he’s going to flick his cigarette away, only to snap his other hand to his waistband and draw a weapon.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Irritation tightens my gut. “What are you going to do, shoot me? Seriously?”
“I think Kallister would agree that getting rid of you would be neutralizing a threat.”
“He would never approve of you killing me,” I retort. “Put down the gun.”
“Eh.” He shrugs. “Then I’ll just apologize later.”
He cocks the weapon. I freeze.
I can’t grab my comm out of my pocket to dispatch help, but fortunately I have other means of communication. Since Gray can’t do telepathy, I quickly open a path into Saint’s mind, but he doesn’t link with me. I try Tana next, also to no avail. I don’t know who the hell to try next. Adrienne is in a cell. Poppy and Luisa are in the valley. Evlynne’s a traitor. Mako!
Relief floods my body when he links.
“Get to the white daggerstone bluff right now!”I shout in his head.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Now!”
I can’t rely on Mako to save me, though. Who knows when or if he’ll get here before Hawkins decides to pull that fucking trigger. I’m already harnessing the gold, allowing it to flow through my body. Not for the first time, I’m overcome with gratitude that my veins can’t betray me.
I open a path into Hawkins’s mind, like I used to do when he allowed me to practice on him. Only this time, I encounter resistance. And not the kind of resistance Gray offered during our incitement sessions.
This is an attack.
Agony explodes behind my eyes even as I attempt to voice the command, “Put the gun down and kick it away.”
Laughter echoes between us. “Would you stop that? You’re just going to give yourself a migraine.”
“Put the gun down.”
The pulsing waves of pain inside my head make it hard to focus.Fuck.Hawkins can’t be incited, not without substantial training.
The moment I release my grip, a wave of relief washes over me, the pain in my head dissipating.
“If it makes you feel better,” Hawkins tells me, “I don’t want to kill you. I sort of like you, Darlington.”
“Then don’t do it,” I say irritably.
He mulls it over, head slanted like a dog listening to its owner. Finally, he sighs. “No. I can’t have you walking around telling people I can corrupt. I’m a very private person, in case you haven’t noticed.”
