A golden phoenix, larger than the one at Pompeii, stood on a raised platform. Its wings stretched wide, head tilted toward the sky, every feather detailed and gleaming under two portable work lights.
Surrounding it? Fireworks.
Not one or two. A dozen launching positions, each loaded with multiple mortars. Some angled high, some low, some aiming for the bay, and others toward the city. The kind of setup that could blanket a massive area with whatever the fireworks contained.
These were the ones we’d been looking for.
But if they were going to blanket the surrounding area with them, raining down powdered Greek Fire on the festival-goers below, where was the liquid form? That was the part that would heal, so if our theory about the dual-deployment had been correct, they’d need the liquid.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Owen pulled me closer to the phoenix, his fingers wrapped around mine like we were on a date.
“Yes,” I breathed, unsure what else to say.
“Oh! Before I forget!” He leaned close to me like he was about to kiss my ear, but instead, he pulled out the earpiece, tossed it on the stones in front of himself, and smashed it with his heel.
Shit. How did he know about my earpiece?
He then detached the phone from my forearm and tossed it over the terrace edge. “Now we can talk.”
“Owen, what are you?—”
“Enzo warned us.” He waved one of the operatives over. “But I know you better than he does.”
The operative took my backpack and walked away with it—with my Pendragon phone, my test kits, my neutralizer pads.Oh fuck.How much had Enzo told him? How much did they know about me?
Owen retook my hand as though nothing had happened. “The calculations alone took me two years. Getting the polymer barriers right, triggering their rupture at the perfect temperature, and ensuring they could withstand extreme heat was the biggest challenge. But I did it, Brooke. I figured it out.”
As much as this was clearly Owen Kengsington standing next to me, I barely recognized him. He’d been a narcissist before, but now?
His words were frantic, but his voice held the eager tone it always had after he’d solved something complex and was waiting for praise.
“Owen.” I kept my voice level, attempting to sound as scientifically curious as possible. “What exactly did you figure out?”
“How to fix things.” He turned to face me fully, and his eyes had the same crazed look as Enzo had when he began talking about the phoenix. “It will even be able to fix you.”
Fix me? As though I were broken equipment.
The memories invaded my brain, of his face paling when I’d taken off my shirt. Of how he’d stepped back. How he’d suggested I should find a good plastic surgeon.
“You mean my scars?”
“Yes!” He reached toward my neck, and I stepped back instinctively. His smile vanished, and disgust flashed behind his eyes. “Enzo told me you were working with the paramilitary group.”
“The who?” Was there any point in pretending? I’d come up here with a hidden earpiece and a phone attached to my wrist.
“You know, we had most of the formula from Haddad’s old research partner. But once we got the extra files that were hidden in the data center?” His eyes lit up, and he squeezed my hand.
You should have pushed harder to have it deleted, Brooke. There was obviously enough data left in those files for him to use.
“After that, everything clicked. Except the genetic markers. I don’t think Haddad ever figured that part out.”
Stroke his ego.“But you did, didn’t you?”
“No.” He laughed, sweeping his hand around the area, across the fireworks mortars. “Stefano had been testing on mice but getting nowhere.”
Play dumb, Brooke.“Stefano?”
Owen’s eyes widened, a fervor deep inside them. “You have to meet him. He’s the most remarkable man I’ve ever worked for.”
