Overkill.
Literally.
Malcolm found a secret to creating Ascended. If they don’t Ascend the first time, he tries again. And again. And again.
A knock at the door makes me jump, which is embarrassing. But in my defense, I just obtained nightmare fuel. I glare at my computer like it’s the one to blame before stalking over and yanking the door open. Lane smiles at me like I didn’t just look two seconds away from committing a felony.
“Hi.”
I blink. “Hi?”
He tilts his head. “You look…alive.”
“For now.”
“Harrison was worried about you.”
Lane then produces said husband of his, reaching over and grabbing Harrison by his sleeve, pulling him into view through the open doorway.
“I was not,” Harrison snaps, straightening his suit jacket. “Curious, maybe, but not worried. However, for some strange reason, my husband likes you, so we’re checking on you to make him happy.”
I snort. “I knew you both loved me.”
Harrison rolls his eyes.
Lane says, “I did mention wanting to check on you since, you know, you literally died.”
“Yeah, that keeps coming up,” I respond dryly. I hesitate for half a second, then step back and gesture inside. “I’m a bit busy right now, but you can come in.”
I close the door as they both move to the couch, then I go back to pacing like a man possessed. Which, honestly, might not be that far off.
“Anything we can help with?” Harrison asks, watching the screen as it flickers through files on its own.
“Unless you suddenly became experts in illegal human experimentation and morally bankrupt billionaires, probably not.”
Lane leans forward, the corner of his mouth tipped up. “Try us.”
Right.
I huff out a breath and drag my hands down my face. I kept my promise and told them what I could about the Institute and Ascension and Malcolm and Reese. But…fuck. Shit has just gotten so much worse.
“They haven’t stopped,” I mutter. “They didn’t stop after Reese.”
“Reese?” Harrison asks. “As in the man who kidnapped you?”
As in the man I’m in love with.
But I don’t say that because I’m still very aware of the camera in the room, and I’ll be damned if he hears me say that for the first time through a video feed to two people who aren’t him.
Of course, if he doesn’t already know, he’s fucking blind.
I’ve been in love with him for seven fucking years.
“Yeah. We’re…kind of together now.”
Lane grins. “That tracks. Even when you talked about how much you hated him, it was clear you didn’t.”
“That transparent, huh?”
