AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He broke my bloody nose,” Hannox shrieks.
“Thanks for the status update,” Cormac says. “Bring them into my office.”
Hannox grabs me roughly and drags me toward the open door at the end of the hall. I consider the injuries I could inflict on him and for a moment my fingers itch and tingle, urging me to attack. But if I unwind Cormac’s right-hand man, I’ll never get Cormac to give me the pass code.
So I let them lead me down the narrow corridor and into the den of my enemy.
TWENTY-FIVE
“I’M SURPRISED TO SEE YOU CAN CONTROL yourself,” Cormac says to me when Hannox shoves me into his office. Hannox and his men force us into chairs and tie our hands behind our backs. I don’t even struggle. All I need is for Cormac to talk, and maybe he will if he thinks I’m incapacitated. Cormac shares a few quiet words with his right-hand man as one of the officers finishes tying us to our chairs. Hannox casts one long look at me before he orders his men to follow him out of the room.
We have Cormac alone. This should feel like a victory.
“I didn’t try to escape this time,” I remind him now that Hannox is gone. “I was taken.”
“And yet I notice you aren’t wearing my ring,” he snarls. “And there is a glow about you. Spending time with young Erik? Or is it Jost? I can’t keep up with you.”
“We took Adelice,” Dante says. “She convinced us to bring her back.”
“Sell your lies elsewhere,” Cormac says, tugging at his bow tie. “I was heartbroken to learn young Alixandra is a traitor. I can’t wait to get my hands on her—now that I’m through with her.”
Through with her? I glance at Dante to see if he caught it, but his eyes are distant. Plotting.
“You came in veiled after rebounding into every remaining sector in Arras,” Cormac continues. “You have someone very talented working with your group.”
I keep my face stony. I’m not sure what harm it would do to admit Cormac is right, but I also know he hoards information, keeping it to twist for his own purposes later.
“Tell Loricel I sa
id hello,” Cormac says. “Unless…” He leaves the unspoken words in the air, niggling at me like an itch.
“Unless?” I can’t help prompting him.
“Unless you came from the Eastern Sector.”
“And if we did?” Dante asks.
“Then I’ll be offering condolences soon.”
I bite back a cocky smile. Cormac doesn’t know that we know about his plan. He doesn’t know that there was time to evacuate.
“Don’t hide your smile, Adelice. I’ve always loved that smug grin,” Cormac says. He strides over to his desk and pours himself a drink. “I especially love the moments when I get to wipe it off your smug face.”
“Not this time, Cormac,” I say.
“Do you think I didn’t know Alixandra was going to betray me?” he asks.
He succeeds at wiping the amusement from me.
“You didn’t set the Eastern Sector to self-destruct,” I say in a flat voice.
“Of course not,” Cormac says, “but by now your people will have herded themselves into a nice flock of sheep ready for the slaughter.”
Erik. Jost. Sebrina. The list of people currently evacuating flashes through my mind. “Don’t. I will do anything you want.”
“But you’ve already done everything I wanted,” Cormac says. “You rid me of a troublesome sector, put the rest of Arras into a panic, and managed to hand deliver the leaders of the Kairos Agenda. Do you think citizens will listen to strangers screaming that the sky is falling? Arras will look to me now and I am more prepared than anyone expected for the tragic events of today.”
“You never wanted to marry me,” I realize.
