“Our main problem is that we’re stretched too thin,” Rikar explained.“For years, both Moore and I have dealt with the labs with our teams.Unfortunately, the number of labs we’ve been dealing with lately has gone up.The hunters have started helping them.They provide the labs with people and sometimes, security.Unfortunately for us, they don’t have a central authority.They move in small groups and families.”
Dante nodded.“We’ve had to deal with hunters before.We know how they work.”
“Then you know it’s like a game of whack-a-mole.Whenever we eliminate one group of hunters, another two pop up to take their place.Between that and the labs, it’s too much for us.That’s whereyoucome in.”
“I realize that a lot of people here don’t trust us, but we’re willing to work with both of you,” Dante said.
“What do you know about my people?”Moore asked.
“Not as much as I should.”
“Do you know that we’ve all come out of the labs changed?”
Dante paused before nodding.“We do.”
Moore glanced at Matthew.Alan had no idea why, but Matthew seemed to understand because he raised his hand.
He’d shown Alan his ability earlier, but that was nothing next to what happened now.Earlier, Matthew had wanted Alan to know what he could do.He hadn’t been trying to impress or scare him.The same couldn’t be said now.
A bolt of lightning arched from his palm.It crackled and made the hair on Alan’s arms rise up.He didn’t feel threatened, though.He knew he wasn’t in danger with Matthew.
They hadn’t had the opportunity to talk about their relationship, but Alan thought it was obvious where things would go.He might not have done it consciously, but he’d already made his decision.He wanted to see where things went with Matthew.Hopefully, they’d go far, but they’d have hurdles to jump over before they could find out.One of those hurdles was Victor.
Alan really fucking hated him.
The bolt of lightning arched from Matthew’s hand toward Dante.The man had balls of steel because he didn’t move.He barely even reacted.He kept his focus on the lightning, but it was as if he trusted Matthew not to use it against him.Alan didn’t understand why he’d feel that way, but maybe this was Dante’s way of showing Moore and Matthew that he didn’t mean any harm.
Matthew closed his hand, and the bolt disappeared.For a moment, everyone in the room was silent.Then, someone slowly started clapping.
Everyone turned to him.If Alan remembered correctly, the man’s name was Mason.
“What?”Mason asked.“It was impressive.”
Matthew snorted.“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.You’re fucking scary.”
Matthew grinned.“Thank you.”
Dante cleared his throat.Alan felt like the tension in the room had loosened a bit.He wasn’t sure Mason had done it on purpose, but he was grateful anyway.
“Do all of your people have this ability?”Dante asked Moore.
Moore’s jaw tightened.“If I tell you the truth, will you try to take us back to a council facility or something like that?”
Dante seemed taken aback by the question.“Why would we do that?”
“To experiment on us.To find out what we can do and use us.”
“We’re not the Glass Research Company.We don’t do that kind of thing.”
“How am I supposed to know for sure?How can I trust you with my people?”
“I don’t know what to tell you.You’ll have to take a chance if you want us to work together.”
Moore looked like he wanted to say no, but in the end, he relented.“No, we don’t all have the same ability.It’s unique to Matthew, just like my ability is unique to me.”
“Can you tell us a little bit more?”
