Glancing over his shoulder, Sebastian’s usually bright smile darkened.
“Of course not, Milo. We’re notslavedrivers.”
I blinked at him, frowning at the tightness that had returned to the corners of his eyes. For a beat, he looked haunted and exhausted. Nothing like the bright, confident man I’d spent the last few hours with in the car.
“Sebastian… are you…” I frowned, stepping closer to him and finding myself reaching for him. I don’t think he realized it, but he was trembling slightly, and most of the color seemed to have drained out of his face.
His blue eyes grew glassy, and he swallowed, causing my concern to increase. My fingers brushed the sleeve of his blue jacket, and that strange look on his face disappeared.
He ripped his arm away from me and passed his forearm over the black security scanner next to the doors, letting us into the building.
“We just need to put you through a quick neuroscan—for security purposes only—then I’ll get you settled in your condo to rest. We can get started tomorrow morning.”
Sebastian led me into a blinding white room with a reclining surgical chair positioned in the center. Behind the chair were three large screens displaying the Neurovance logo, and there were two men waiting for us with friendly smiles on their faces.
One of the men was a lab technician holding a device I recognized as a NeuroExtractor from the work I’d done on my thesis, and the other was an attractive middle-aged man who looked related to Sebastian.
My heart fluttered anxiously in my chest as I realized I was about to meetfreakingLuke Stevens, co-founder of Nerurovance.
I felt like I might literally faint.
“Milo, this is my father, Luke Stevens. Luke, this is Milo. Milo Murphy.”
Luke smiled at me kindly, and the corners of his cool blue eyes crinkled beneath the harsh lighting of the fluorescent lights.
A chill rolled through me as Sebastian shoved his hands in his pockets next to me. I peeked up at him to find that unnervingly white smile plastered across his flawless face, but he was noticeably stiffer now that we were in the presence of his father.
“Milo, what a pleasure to meet you,” Luke greeted me, his voice warm and thick. His short brown hair had a slight wave to it, and he had smile lines on his face that had me placing him in his mid-sixties. “I read your application essay…Veryimpressive. We’re very lucky that you were willing to fill in for my godson while he… rests.”
I cocked my head to the side, shuffling awkwardly next to Sebastian.
Why did he say it like that?
Why did I get the feeling Luke wasn’t very happy to let Jayrestat all?
Was he evenresting?
That was a red flag for the respect of employee mental health at this company… but, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I dismissed it as Luke gestured to the large white, reclining chair before us.
“If you don’t mind, Milo. One of our memory therapy technicians is just going to give you a quick scan so we can clear you for work. Then Sebastian will show you to your condo, where you can take the evening to sign some NDA’s, then tomorrow we can get started.”
He clapped his hands together jovially, as if this was all routine procedure, and maybe it was. What did I know?
All I knew was that my instincts were telling me to be wary of this man, and it was clear Sebastian was afraid of him.
Almost as if Luke wanted to prove my suspicions correct, he snapped his fingers at Sebastian and pointed to the spot next to him on the floor, summoning his son to him like he was some sort of dog.
Sebastian obeyed wordlessly, sliding up to stand next to his father to watch as I climbed up into the large chair.
“Pay attention, Sebastian. Maybe you’ll learn something about reading NeuroGlyphs while we’re here,” Luke snapped at his son, and I didn’t miss the way Sebastian nearly rolled his eyes.
I didn’t have time to properly process the unnerving dynamic between the two men before the neurotech asked me to lie back in the chair.
“Please get comfortable, Mr. Murphy. This will be entirely painless. We’ll just use the Extractor for a quick security scan, but no memories will be removed today. Do we have your consent?”
“I-ahhh,” I hesitated, unprepared to have my mind literallyreadtoday. Not when I’d just seen someone I loved get killed in front of me,and had spyware from the murderer himself stuffed into the pocket of my jeans.
Jeebus! How was I supposed to get out of this?
