“So much chaos.”
“It’s the serum. Speaking of- the feed of Daniela picking up the truck, the way she drove, what will you give me for it?”
I stared at him. “Picking up the truck?”
He smiled mockingly. “You didn’t see? Your drones must have been specifically targeted. Let’s watch together.”
He turned his laptop and came around the table to sit next to me. He was right, all of my drones had been hit moments before the crash, but Horse’s had been far enough away, and operating on a different brand of tech, which wasn’t as good as mine, older, practically obsolete, but apparently still useful.
I saw the glowing light in the distant hills and then the truck spinning so it took the impact on the heaviest shields on the rear. Flames enveloped the truck as it rolled a dozen times, finally coming to a stop on the driver’s door. Through the clouds of dust, Daniela climbed out the passenger’s side and stood for a moment, glaring into the distance where the rocket had come from, daring it to send another.
Then she jumped down and lifted the truck over, the armored truck that was tons heavier than she should be capable of lifting.
“Let’s watch that again,” he said, going back so I could see Daniela drop down and then haul the truck upright so it bounced on its tires while another cloud of dust came up around it. She ripped the door open, and then bandaged Trixie, stopping the bleeding before she took over the driving.
I ran a hand through my hair. “You think that she has some altered DNA? The better to defend herself.”
He turned to frown at me. “You know that that particular batch of serum produced the worst psychopaths. She’s been trying to figure out what she wants, but if her core is as messed up as her cousin Philippe’s, then there’s nothing there for you to save.”
I stared at him, completely blank for a moment before rage eclipsed everything. I grabbed his shirt and yanked him close to me. “You’re talking about my wife!”
His blue eyes widened. “So I am.” His eyes narrowed. “And if she does ask you to join Haversham, to help her destroy the world?”
I released him and sat back, turning his laptop so I could reverse the feed. “She’s protective, not destructive. If she asks me…” I stared at that small figure glaring in the distance with resolve and fearlessness. If she couldn’t go against her family, I would work with them with much reluctance.
“It was a marriage of convenience,” Horse said gently.
“She asked me to protect her. I can’t do that if I’m destroying something she wants to keep safe.”
“She has to hate them.”
I pushed his laptop back over to him. “I have very strong feelings about my mother that are usually not positive, but I could never hurt her.”
“Your mother kidnapped Daniela. Do you think that she’ll have such delicacy when it comes to your family once she’s capable of pulling the trigger?”
I pulled up the list of businesses I was watching, the ones connected to Haversham that had been buying up as many renewable resource power patents as possible. There was one company that I was working with, but it was in danger thanks to a greedy CEO and a group of shareholders that were getting bonuses from Haversham’s associates. It would be in position soon, however strenuous my efforts to the contrary, and then Haversham would strike. That would cause a chain-reaction and a greater collapse of the entire sector. Haversham would profit, and the world would suffer. It wasn’t a big deal, just business as usual. If I’d moved as soon as I had Daniela, then the danger would have been averted, but I couldn’t use her like her grandfather used her.
“You don’t care if she murders your mother?”
I looked up at him and shook my head. “Daniela’s never killed anyone. I doubt she’d start with my mother. Although that does give me an idea. Have you ever dated someone who liked your mother?” That’s when I remembered that his mother was dead. “Sorry. What do you want me to give you for the footage?”
He closed his laptop. “Your word that you won’t join Haversham.”
“She’s a Delavigne, not a Haversham.”
He scowled darkly. “You’re a hero. Heroes don’t give up what’s right for a woman.”
I exhaled and slumped down in the chair, closing my eyes. “Heroes don’t play women the way I did. She could have been killed in that wreck, and that’s all on me. I don’t know, Horse. I never wanted to be a hero, and maybe I could love her enough that she…”
He gripped my shoulder. “You don’t get the footage. You aren’t helping her if you give in to her grandfather or her cousin. They will devour whatever’s left of her beautiful artist’s soul. I trust you to do the right thing. I’ve got to go. I have a family dinner for Thanksgiving I need to make after I wrap up the season. I understand hating family that you still love, but you have to stick to your own code, or what’s the point of anything?” He strode off, laptop under his arm. In a few more minutes, he took off in the helicopter he’d landed on the deck, like a crazy person. Everyone was crazy. Particularly me, because I was going to put on my ninja suit and break into Jezebel’s house to make sure my wife was safe.
35
VILLAIN
Iwoke up hungry, angry, and determined.
I’d been so sure that I was a supervillain, but instead I was a spineless doll who got passed around to whatever buyer her grandfather chose to trade her to.
