“We’d learned from our failure to change you—or what we thought was failure. We knew we needed someone Ms. Falcon loved. We used her fiancé to induce a corruption in her more impressive than we could have even hoped. I’ve never known another empath who’s picked up new abilities with her speed.” Stone’s expression shifted, actual regret lighting his eyes for a moment. “Hannah’s death wasn’t part of the plan, a tragic and regrettable accident. Jason misjudged how quickly Cora would adapt, and he paid the price for that. Rest assured I won’t make those mistakes with you.”
Stone gestured at Jamey. “Your sister, of course, brings something special to the table too. With her strength, how much pain do you think she’ll be able to take? How long will she fight death? I’d be lying if I pretended I didn’t want to see just how far we can take your corruption, to see what you’ll become.”
Reece yanked at his captors’ arms again. “Why the hell would you do something like that? Why not just kill us?”
“And waste such a valuable research opportunity?” Stone said incredulously. “Your sister has natural defenses against empathy, and I assure you I don’t take losing that research lightly. But we’re not the only country with empaths. Imagine: spread across the planet is a field of daisies we barely understand, all ready to become nukes if someone presses the right button. We need to know exactly what those buttons are. And then we need to raze the field.”
Reece was suddenly shoved to his knees, inches away from Jamey.
“Take a good look at her, Mr. Davies, and think very carefully about how difficult you want to be. The fate of the two of you is sealed, but you can decide when it comes.”
Reece looked into his sister’s eyes, streaked below with blood. When he spoke, he tried not to move his lips, and kept his voice softer than a whisper. “Is Cora’s empathy out of your system?”
She briefly shook her head no.
Reece’s heart sank, and with it, the darkness pushed forward a little further. “I’m not letting them do this—”
“Don’t you dare,” she hissed. “We did not get through three days of madness for you to go dark side now.”
“Break them up,” Stone snapped.
Reece was yanked backward, away from Jamey. He could feel something in his blood, like simmering water about to break into a boil. Could he do what Cora had done in the dry dock, project his own feelings, set off every minion on this roof, and give the two of them time to escape?
“He corrupted Cora,” he said, loud enough for Stone to hear.
“That makeshimthe monster,” said Jamey. “Not Cora.Not you.”
Stone scoffed openly. “Sticks and stones, Detective.”
Jamey’s eyes darted to the side, past Stone, so quickly Reece almost missed it. Then she lifted her chin. “If you think I’m just here to be broken to break my brother, you’re in for a surprise.”
She blinked, and to Reece’s horror a bloody tear escaped her eye. “You’ve seen what happens to an empath’s minions, how an empath can turn up their strength and speed to my level. But I can still feel Cora’s empathy in my blood; she’s jacked up all my senses. How strong do you think she made me? How much faith have you got that these chains are going to hold?”
Stone’s expression flicked with sudden fear.
Then Jamey swept her leg out toward one of the men holding her, so fast and hard Reece heard bone snap. She dove backward as the man’s shriek of pain was accompanied by the sound of guns drawn all over the roof.
But Jamey wasn’t running for the elevator. She’d jumped to her feet and backward, to the half wall surrounding the building’s edge, not flinching from the twenty-two-story drop behind her to the ground below.
Reece’s heart leaped to his throat.
“Hold your fire,” Stone said sharply.
All across the roof, his lackeys hesitated.
Reece tried to lunge for his sister, tried to fight the men holding him. “Jamey—”
“Get down,” said Stone.
Jamey took a step back, closer to the edge. “You don’t have me, you don’t have a way to corrupt Reece.”
Stone drew his own gun and put it to Reece’s temple. “Get. Down.”
But Jamey didn’t flinch. “You won’t kill him.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you need me to figure out where Owens’ phone is before Evan finds it,” Reece said, the answer tumbling from his lips. “You’ll do anything to stop the Dead Man from finding out what you’ve done.”
