Meghan shook her head. “Just you, but don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Chin up.”
Reyna took her advice before stepping into the situation room. It was about the size of a large conference room with a table taking up the center and a wall of television screens showing a loop of all the major news networks.
Her eyes landed on three figures standing on a platform on the other side of the room. She recognized the two men immediately, though she knew them from completely different worlds. One wore a white doctor’s coat. He was pale, tall, and disheveled in his middle years—though she knew he was a vampire and thus likely much, much older. He had been the doctor on duty who’d handed her over to Beckham that fateful first day at Visage.
The other was a white human male with red hair and a slight but fit build—a fighter’s body. Someone who had crawled their way up from the streets to make something of himself. His green eyes were haunted, but his smile was light, almost inviting when he noticed her standing in the open doorway. She had once photographed him when he was in an underground fighting ring at Five Points.
The last person was dressed in a sharp charcoal gray suit. This must be Sydney. She had her back to the door—a bold move. All Reyna could see was that she was tall, though not as tall as the doctor, and had light-brown skin and dark hair slicked back into a low bun.
“This must be Reyna,” the fighter said. He whistled low. “Everything suddenly makes sense.”
Sydney slowly turned around to face Reyna. She was imposing. Everything about her was sharp and hard and controlled.
Reyna took a half step backward. She should have known—should have prepared herself for this—but she had asked the wrong questions. So how could she possibly have known in advance?
The leader of Elle was a vampire?
“Gabe, go see Tony about this. See if we can get eyes on the subject,” she said in a crisp, clear voice. A commanding tone that said she was in charge and if she ever had to raise her voice, you were done for.
“Sure thing, boss,” he said with the cocky grin Reyna had seen in the ring. He winked at Reyna as he slipped past her. “See you around.”
She sincerely hoped not. He had bad news written all over him.
Gabe shut the door behind him, leaving Reyna alone with two very keen, very intelligent, very domineering vampires.
“Miss Carpenter,” Sydney said, straightening her already impeccable suit and taking the stairs down the platform. “Please come in. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Hi,” Reyna said. She took one step forward and then another.
Sydney stuck her hand out. Reyna looked at it a beat too long before placing her hand in Sydney’s. It was cold to the touch and clearly strong. Very strong. Calloused in a way that said she knew hard labor and was skilled in her work. You didn’t get hands like this without years of rigorous training.
“You have met Dr. Washington before, I believe,” Sydney said. She gestured the doctor forward; he nodded at Reyna.
“Yes. We’ve met.”
Washington had saved her from Harrington the first time. Sydney had saved her from him a second time.
“Thank you,” she said immediately. “Both of you, actually, for what you did to help me.”
Sydney had a severe face, but her lips quirked up at her comment. “We’re glad that our mission was successful and that you were able to be brought back safely. The cost could have been greater. It’s fortunate that we only lost four sleeper agents to retrieve you.”
Reyna’s mind whirred. “Sleeper agents?”
“Meghan, Tye, and Xavier were all in key positions in Visage. Washington had been working in the Visage hospitals from the beginning. All were scrubbed from Visage after their work for you. Luckily, we have other people working there, so it’s not a total loss.”
“But most unfortunate,” Washington said.
“You know Harrington wouldn’t have let you live,” Sydney said to him.
“William and I have a complicated history. I do not know if he would have killed me, had he gotten the chance.”
“You knew Harrington?” Reyna blurted out in surprise.
“My dear girl,” he said with a flash of fang, “I was his closest friend. His only friend for most of his wretched years looking for a match such as yourself.”
Reyna’s mind spun. “But…you work in opposition to him.”
“Penance.”
