Page 104 of Villainous Intent

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

The last thing I’d had was a cup of coffee and a side of panic at the Tower before Cipher had taken me.

“I was kidnapped, trapped on a plane, and left to wander around your boss’ lair by myself,” I snapped. “What do you think?”

Twelve frowned, sliding his tablet into one of the pockets of his uniform jacket. “Right. Follow me. Hypoglycemia makes for poor decision-making.”

I followed him, mostly because I didn’t have a better plan and the smell of something savory was beginning to drift down the corridor.

The Labyrinth’s cafeteria was another slap in the face to my preconceived notions of villainy. I expected gruel, or maybe MREs eaten in a dark, damp cave. Instead, I found myself in a mess hall that looked like it belonged in a ritzy tech startup. There was a digital menu board and a line of henchmen waiting to get food.

We grabbed trays. Despite my anxiety, I was starving. I piled my tray with food and let Twelve lead me to a quiet table in the corner, where he spent the next twenty minutes giving me a low-voiced rundown of the immediate area.

“Showers are down that hall to the left. Laundry chute is by the gym entrance. If you need medical attention and I’m not in the bay, press the blue panel on the wall.”

I nodded, chewing mechanically, but I felt exposed. I was wearing my “rotting on the couch” attire and my face was unmasked.

When we’d first arrived, Cipher had stripped the mask from me.

“I don’t wear a mask down here,” he’d said, his own face bare. “Neither do you. I want to see you.”

“He’s confident,” I murmured, stabbing a piece of broccoli. “Letting me walk around like this. Letting all of you see him without his mask.”

Twelve took a sip of his water. “He values efficiency over theatrics.”

“I suppose the fear of death is enough to keep everyone’s mouths shut,” I said, glancing at a group of men laughing near the soda machine. “One slip up, and Cipher turns you into a stain on the floor. That’s a powerful NDA.”

Twelve paused, his fork hovering halfway to his mouth. “Well, yes. There’s the fear of death. That’s always on the table. But that’s a last resort.”

“Is it?”

“Ms. Bishop,” Twelve said, leaning in slightly. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a henching position that offers full medical, dental, and a matching 401k?”

I choked on my lasagna. “Excuse me?”

“The retirement package is phenomenal,” Twelve continued, his tone serious. “And the hazard pay is three times the industry standard. Most Villains pay in cash and threats. Cipher pays in equity and security. Anyone willing to mess that up by leaking secrets is a fool.”

I stared at him, my fork clattering onto my tray. “You’re loyal because of the benefits package?”

“Competence costs money,” Twelve said with a shrug. “Cipher knows that. We aren’t just loyal because we’re scared. We’re loyal because we’re the best, and he treats us like it.”

I tried to reconcile the monster who had killed Velocity for insulting me with the employer who apparently offered a 401k match. It didn’t fit. It made him seem rational. Pragmatic. And that was infinitely more terrifying than him just being a psychopath.

Twelve suddenly went still and cocked his head to the side, his eyes unfocusing. He sighed after a moment, wiping his mouth with a napkin and standing up. The casual, informative tour guide was gone, replaced instantly by the subordinate.

“Tour’s over,” Twelve said, gesturing toward the door. “The Boss says it’s time to go back.”

Twelve offered a small, tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes when we got to the command center, then the doors hissed open.

The room had changed since I’d last been in there. The main display was now a wall of violence. Cipher was watching fight footage and on the screen, a Hero named Sentinel was being thrown through a bus.

I looked at the chair he’d pointed to earlier. The “timeout” chair. It was about as comfortable as a slab of granite. Though looking back, maybe that was a deliberate choice to make me more likely to leave and run around for his amusement. I sighed and started toward it. If I sat down and shut up, maybe he’d ignore me long enough for me to figure out a way to stab him with a pen.

“No.” Cipher didn’t look away from the screen. He tapped a command on the console, rewinding the footage of the bus impact.

I scowled at his profile. “Make up your mind. First, I’m supposed to sit and stay. Then you let me wander around your evil lair. Now I can’t sit?”

He finally turned his head. “I let you wander because it was entertaining to watch you try to outsmart a building that thinks faster than you do.”