“No.” She shrugs. “I want you to make it more personal.”
I take a step away from them.
“Oh, yeah?” Wynd sounds interested.
I shake my head. “How can you do this to Justice? He’s like a brother to you.”
“No, he’s like a brother to Thorn,” Wynd says. “I’mthe hired help. I have royal blood in my veins just like he does. The garnets can be mine.”
I cough out panic. I’m sure he doesn’t have half the power needed to charge them, and he’s too egotistical to know it. “You’re going to drive two social media companies into the ground.”
“We can handle it until kids arrive,” Stacia says, patting her flat stomach. “I’ve heard kids as young as three can charge.”
“Even so, that’s years away,” I snap. “Do you have any idea how Aquarius and Hologrid will take you down by then?”
Wynd shakes his head. “I’ve been coming for them for a long time.”
“Yes,” Stacia says. “We’ve been infecting servers left and right. You have no idea how weak the infrastructure is on both Aquarius and Hologrid Hub. I’m in their systems.”
I blink. “You can code?”
“Of course I can code,” she snaps. “What do you think I’ve been doing this whole time? Just going to parties, having fun with Corinda, and posting on social media?”
“Well, yeah,” I say, stunned. Apparently we underestimated Stacia the same way the world underestimated Alana. I should have known better.
“Don’t worry,” Stacia says. “I’ve done plenty of damage.”
She doesn’t know I already found the routes and corrupted them.
I swallow and try not to sneeze. That stupid purse is too close. “If you can code, do you know where the virus came from?”
“I have no idea.” Stacia stares at me. “I figured you created it.”
“No.” Not the mutated one, anyway. If I can get to a mainframe, I can clear her out completely. She’s not nearly as good as I am. She didn’t have Aura, Mags, and Jos training her all her life. My mind goes to the women. I have to get out of here. Who will take care of them?
I think of Justice. I think of what we could’ve had. I fell hard, and I fell fast. I love a guy who can break someone else’s neck with his own hands, and I never told him. Oh, I’ll put up a good fight, but Wynd is twice my size. While I feel the power of the crystal, it doesn’t give me extra strength.
“I’d very much like for you to strangle her now,” Stacia says cheerfully.
I take another step toward Corinda. The idea of Wynd’s hands around my throat makes me want to gag. I back toward Corinda and grab her arm. “You need to wake up now. Help me.”
She looks up listlessly. “Huh?”
“Get up. We need to fight.” I bite the words through my teeth.
She looks at me, then at her sister, and then she pushes herself up as if her body is ninety years old.
“There you go,” I say.
Stacia actually laughs. “Nah, we’re going to let you live. You have a purpose to serve, so why don’t you just sit down and behave yourself?”
“You are such a cunt,” Corinda slurs. She wavers on her feet. “I can’t believe you killed our mother. You’re going to die a horrible death.” The words are soft, fragile.Her voice is weak; speaking has tired her out. I can’t count on her much for an assist.
I scan the room for weapons. The only thing I can see is a pen. I grab it.
Stacia watches me and laughs.
It’s funny until I stab her in the eye. I brace my feet and get ready to lunge just as the barely repaired elevator door blows open. The whole room stutters.
