Into Darkness

43

Her mind was splitting apart. The earth was lurching to and fro beneath her. Everything in the room was on the brink of exploding into pieces. “How would you know I was telling you the truth? How would you know I wasn’t holding something back, letting a few of them go, pretending to give you what you want?”

“Oh, that.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Rest assured the Phoenix Corporation has the technology for making sure a subject is telling us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Your friend Alejandro can attest to that.” He paused. “If he were still alive, that is.”

Jenna whispered, “And how do I know you’ll keep your end of the bargain? That you’ll bring my family to me if I do tell you what you want to know . . . that you’ll keep us alive longer than even a day?”

His smile faded. He gazed at her in contemplative silence for a moment. “I wasn’t always a businessman, Jenna. I didn’t always want to rule the world. I had a family once upon a time. A wife, a daughter, both of whom I loved very much.” His face clouded. “They were taken from me by a simple fault of human biology. A rare neurological disorder my daughter inherited from my wife. We’re so frail, humanity. So many things can go wrong with a body. So many diseases can rob us of our lives. Even a wrong step off a curb can spell disaster; the tiniest jolt to the head, applied in just the right spot, can end us altogether!”

He seemed outraged by the thought. He looked at her and his gaze grew fierce. “But you . . . you’re different. You’re not plagued by disease. Viruses, bacteria, fungus, sickness, you’re immune to them all. You heal faster, you age slower. Your strength, speed, and agility are vastly superior to ours, you have powers we’ve never even imagined.” He sat forward in his chair, rested his elbows on his thighs, and threaded his fingers together. “I’m man enough to admit that your species is, for all intents and purposes, better than mine. But I’m also intelligent enough to foresee the inevitable decline of humanity inherent in that reality. It’s the most powerful universal law of them all: survival of the fittest. Even though we vastly outnumber you, evolution would eventually win. The Ikati would claw their way up to the top of the food chain.”

He leaned back. “Unless, of course, one of the species on a lower rung took them out before they could.”

Her laugh sounded insane, even to her own ears. “And so Sebastian Thorne single-handedly saves the human race.”

He shrugged, unapologetic. “Yes. Well, with help from the minions, of course.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question; how do I know you’ll keep your end of the bargain?”

He seemed pleased she was considering it.

Was she considering it? Was she only buying a few more precious seconds with Leander, even if he couldn’t see or hear her? What was she doing? She didn’t know. The universe was imploding inside her mind. All the stars were blinking out.

“I didn’t get to where I am in life by burning bridges, Jenna. I keep my promises. But beyond that . . . as I said before, I think you can tell when someone’s lying. I think with all your enhanced senses you just know. So look at my face. Look into my eyes. Listen to my voice.”

He leaned forward again, and this time his newscaster smile didn’t make an appearance. Solemnly, he said, “I promise you I will reunite you with your family, and allow you to live here in this suite, unharmed, in peace, for the remainder of all of your lives. If you or your husband die before your children, they will be left alone until they die of natural causes, or old age, however it is you normally die. You will never again want for anything; only the freedom to leave these rooms will be denied.”

He spoke the truth, or at least he ardently believed what he was saying.

And all she had to do to hold Leander and her children in her arms again was condemn each and every one of her species aside from them to death.

Her silence displeased him. He said, “Perhaps I can help you make up your mind.” In a quick, elegant motion, he snapped his fingers.

Behind him, the Oracle showed a swarm of guards enter Leander’s cell. They surrounded him, threw him down, began to beat him with fists and boots and billy clubs. He fought back—still so strong—but there were so many of them, and only one of him, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before they beat him to death.

The snarl of fury that ripped from her throat echoed through the room. She jumped to her feet and lunged at Thorne.

Jenna was frozen mid-lunge by a stinging pain in her arm that instantly paralyzed her. The room slipped sideways, and as she looked in horror down at the tiny silver dart sticking out of her bicep, she heard him say in a reasonable manner, “Why don’t I give you a few days to think about it. I’ll even be generous, and wait a week.” He smiled, and Jenna had never seen anything as soulless. “After that, the exterminations begin.” He pointed to the Oracle. “Beginning with him.”

Then the floor came up hard to catch her, and all the world went black.