“You hurt anyone?”
“What?No.”
“You want to?”
“No!”Lie. Reece flinched. Was it the corruption, twisting his truth? Did the corrupted part of him want to hurt people, and that made Reece a liar?
Regardless, Grayson didn’t seem remotely convinced. “Hearing lies starts the corruption,” said Grayson. “Maybe you really managed to stall it for months or maybe you’re the best actor I ever met, but either way, you’re dangerous.”
“Thenhelp me,” Reece snapped. “You think Iwantto hear myself lie about hurting people? You think I want to be a monster? You say you’re an empath specialist, not a hunter, sohelp me.”
Grayson only cocked his gun as calmly as he’d pushed the sushi menu across the table. “You wanted my help, you should’ve asked for it in March.”
“I didn’t think you wererealin March—”
“You know how real I am now. And you’ve had chance after chance to tell me the truth today.”
“And why would I have,” Reece said, through clenched teeth, “when you told me all day not to trust you?”
“Because I also told you corrupted empaths get new powers,” said Grayson. “You had to wonder if it was happening to you.”
Reece flinched. “If I had told you,” he said hoarsely, “would you have bothered to listen? Or would we just have ended up like this sooner?”
“I guess we’ll never know,” said Grayson. “Because you’re the biggest liar in this city, and I’m not gonna start believing you now.”
“But—”
“And what I would or wouldn’t have done doesn’t matter,” Grayson said. “There is no help.”
The words hit like a sucker punch.
No help? No way to stop the nightmares and lies? No way to make sure he could never hurt anyone?
“That can’t be,” Reece whispered.
“I’ve been trying all day to protect you from this fate, I just didn’t know I was too late. Corruption’s a one-way street. Once it starts, there’s no coming back.”
“Don’t tell me that,” Reece said desperately. “Don’t tell me I’m doomed.”
But Grayson shook his head. “Your powers will only get stronger, and you’ll become willing to use them for pain and worse as the sadism sets in. You say you aren’t a murderer yet, but you will be.”
A murderer.
Not just any murderer, but one with abilities other people didn’t have. This was why Grayson was above the law, why he could operate however he chose. He was the last fortress that stood between sadistic superhuman killers and innocent people.
And now Reece was on his way to becoming the monster of other people’s nightmares, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He closed his eyes. He couldn’t bear it. “Then why haven’t you already killed me?”
“Have I ever said I kill empaths?” Grayson gestured with the gun. “Get up.”
Reece didn’t move. “But I thought—”
“Thought what?” said Grayson. “I’m not your partner. I’m not your ally. And I’m not your friend. Now get up.” He took a single step backward but didn’t lower the gun. “Slow.”
Reece still didn’t move, just stared up at Grayson, chest heaving. “If I cooperate,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady, “will you promise to save Jamey?”
Grayson stared at him for a moment. Then he said, “Yes.”
