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Dr. Nikas pushed to his feet. “No. Confident that I will.” The lines in his face deepened. “I’m sorry.”
Pierce moved to him and took his arm. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, my old friend. You’ve saved us a thousand times over already. I won’t fault you for failing to be omnipotent.”
“None of us will,” I said.
Dr. Nikas’s gaze traveled the room, resting briefly on each face before he dipped his head in acknowledgement. “It has always been my privilege and honor to serve the Tribe thus,” he murmured, though his eyes still looked bleak, and he didn’t smile.
“Are we doing this?” Marcus asked, forehead creased. “Allying with Charish?”
“We are,” Pierce said, voice resolute. “Angel, give me the number she called you from.” Then added, “Please.”
Slightly mollified by the attempt at courtesy, I found her number in my previous calls and held it so Pierce could dial it on the conference room phone.
“Marcus, you’ll need to speak for us,” Pierce said. “Tell her we welcome her here, but she’ll still have to submit to our security screening.” He dialed the number and pushed the speaker button.
I held back a derisive snort. Sure, Marcus would speak for the Tribe, but Pierce would feed him the words.
The ringing filled the room. Everyone stared at the phone. Five rings. Six. Didn’t the bitch have voicemail?
On the ninth ring, Kristi picked up. “This isn’t Angel’s number,” she said, voice silky and filled with confidence. She had the upper hand and knew it.
Marcus straightened. “Dr. Charish, this is Marcus Ivanov. I speak for Angel and the rest of us when I say—”
“How wonderful to hear your voice, Marcus! It’s been ages. I think the last time we chatted was at a party at your dear departed uncle’s house.”
Marcus cut a sharp look at Pierce. “Yes, it’s—”
“But if you’ve called to discuss my very generous offer, it’s Angel with whom I’ll speak.”
Pierce rolled his eyes.
“Angel’s right here,” Marcus said, giving me a helpless shrug.
“Ready and waiting,” I said with a heap of false cheer.
“Lovely. Take the damn thing off speaker. And everyone but Angel can leave the room.”
Marcus stepped back as if more than happy to relinquish this bullshit. Dr. Nikas squeezed my shoulder as he passed. Pierce looked ready to chew nails and didn’t budge.
I gave him a nod and picked up the handpiece. “Okay, it’s off speaker, and everyone else is gone. Though I’m not sure why you bothered with that. You know damn well the phone lines here are all monitored and recorded.”
“Oh, I know. Call it performance anxiety.” She trilled a laugh. “Besides, this feels friendlier, don’t you think?”
“Like hugging a cactus,” I muttered. “Anyway. You’re invited to the lab, and Dr. Nikas will share what he’s done so far.”
“That won’t do. A few too many unpleasant memories at that lab.”
“I know all about unpleasant memories,” I said through my teeth. “Abandoned factories, animal cages, that sort of thing.”
“I will use the facility at NuQuesCor,” she said, blithely ignoring my comment. “It has everything I’ll need, and Ari can consult there just as well as in his own lab. It’s as close to neutral ground as we’re likely to get.”
“Um. Sure.” NuQuesCor was the biotech company that Pietro had been part owner of and where Kristi had begun her zombie research. “You do know I can’t make these decisions, right?”
“Of course you can’t. But I doubt your superiors will be able to come up with a better option. Using the Tribe lab is off the table.”
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll pass it along.”
“Whatever,” she mimicked. “Now call the grownups back in so we can hammer out the details.”
