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“Mr. Magnarella is a very generous employer.”
“He must be pretty desperate to fine-tune those godly powers. What does he get out of it?”
Albert gave me a pointed look. “If you’re trying to get me to divulge information, you’re out of luck.”
“Do you even know?”
He made a show of locking his lips and tossing the imaginary key over his shoulder.
“Fine. Then at least tell me what the examination involves.” According to Dusty, it was more of a basic assessment that I’d experience at the doctor’s office. Height. Weight. Blood pressure. Reflexes. I had no reason to believe my experience would be any different.
Albert gestured to the scale. “I need accurate data for the elixir. The slightest inaccuracy can screw up the dosage and its effect.”
“Is that what happened with Dusty? You mismeasured her height and boom! You’ve got yourself a swan.”
Albert raised his chin, indignant. “That had nothing to do with my assessment. Whatever went wrong was the fault of the elixir.”
I winked. “I’ll be sure to let Dr. Edmonds know you said that.”
He typed my height and weight into the computer, then took my blood pressure.
“Excellent stats,” he commented.
I batted my eyes at him. “Why, thank you, kind sir.”
“Same for the last one. Kaleigh. Her stats were impressive, too.”
“Did she have a positive elixir experience or is she a winged helmet in Magnarella’s closet?”
He snorted. “I believe she passed. I’m not part of the team’s inner circle, but I saw her name mentioned in a report.”
“Why aren’t you a member of the inner circle?”
“Mr. Magnarella prefers to keep layers between each phase of the process.”
“In other words, he’s a super secretive control freak.”
Albert’s smile faded. “Not at all. He believes a holistic approach to business isn’t feasible. You end up with too many chefs in the kitchen, so he likes to segregate.”
“He likes to segregate so that he’s the only one with all the information and, therefore, no one can threaten his position of power.”
Albert’s face soured. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a real Negative Nellie?”
“All the time.” My eyes widened when I saw him turn around with a syringe. “Hey, nobody said anything about a blood draw.” It was one thing to sign my name in blood on a contract; it was quite another to offer it up for testing.
“It’s standard procedure.”
I hopped to my feet. “Nope. Sorry. I have a phobia about needles. I’ll take my chances that the elixir won’t kill me.” Although my blood wouldn’t reveal my identity, the report would raise more questions than I was willing to answer.
Albert seemed uncertain how to proceed. “You’re going to face far worse than a needle if the elixir is successful.”
His words gave me pause. “If the elixir works, I’ll have the power of a god. How is that worse?”
Albert seemed to recognize his mistake and averted his gaze. “Excuse me. I misspoke,” he mumbled.
“I don’t think you did. I thought you didn’t know anything. What’s going to happen if the elixir is successful?”
Albert turned away and set the syringe on the tray. “I meant what I said. I don’t know anything for sure.”
