Page 204 of Villainous Intent

The footsteps drew closer, then stopped several yards away. I still didn’t turn, my eyes fixed on the glowing bridge spanning the bay, its reflection rippling in the dark water below.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” I said.

A figure moved into my peripheral vision, the faint blue energy signature unmistakable even without looking directly at him.

Havoc didn’t look at me, just stared out at the bay as I was doing.

“I wasn’t sure I would either,” he said after a long silence, voice clipped.

“What do you want, Cipher?” Havoc asked, not bothering to hide his impatience. “Your message said it was important.”

I let my fingers brush against the small box in my pocket once more. This moment had played out differently in my head. Now that it was happening, I found myself hesitating. A strange sensation for someone who prided himself on decisive action.

“I have something for you,” I finally said, pulling the box from my pocket. “Or rather, for Annie.”

I held it out between us, the offering hanging in the air longer than was comfortable.

“Take it,” I said. “Please.” The word felt foreign in my mouth. When was the last time I’d genuinely said please to anyone?

Havoc finally took the box. He turned it over once, twice, then reluctantly opened it.

Inside, nestled in black foam, was a cuff. Unlike Annie’s current bulky model, this one was elegant, like jewelry. It was slim, with a delicate pattern etched into its surface.

Havoc’s eyes narrowed. “What is this supposed to be?”

“The Alliance’s cuff design for Annie is atrocious,” I said, watching Havoc examine the device. “Embarrassing for them, really. There are too many flaws in it—power fluctuations, irregular feedback loops. Did you know it sends diagnostic data back to them every six hours? Terribly invasive.”

I gestured toward the cuff in the box. “This one actually works properly. The power suppression matrix is distributed more evenly, and I’ve added a secondary failsafe system that kicks in if the primary dampening field destabilizes.”

Havoc’s eyes narrowed as he studied the delicate patterns etched into the metal. “You used the Hammer for this.”

I shrugged slightly, keeping my expression neutral. “I had some new-found help with the design constraints. The materials manipulation aspect was particularly enlightening.”

The energy around Havoc’s hands pulsed slightly in warning. “Why would you do this? What’s your angle, Cipher?”

I slipped my hands into my pockets, adopting a casual stance that belied the tension coiling through my body. The truth, that I couldn’t bear the thought of Annie suffering with faulty technology that could fail catastrophically, wasn’t something I was prepared to admit aloud. Not to Havoc. Perhaps not even to myself.

“I was bored,” I said. “The coding challenge was interesting. Reverse-engineering the Alliance’s work, improving upon their failures, it’s what I do. Consider it professional courtesy.”

Havoc studied my face, searching for deception. Let him look. I’d perfected my mask long before I ever donned Cipher’s.

Havoc closed the box with a snap, his eyes narrowing. “Why don’t you give this to her yourself?”

I laughed. “Would you let me within a hundred yards of her?”

The blue energy around his hands intensified, casting eerie shadows across his face. “If you ever come near Annie again, I will kill you.” The words were delivered with such calm certainty that lesser men would have backed away.

“There’s your answer.” I gestured toward the box in his hand. “And even in the off chance I could get close enough to give it to her, she’d never accept anything from me.” Something twisted in my chest at the admission.

“She almost died because of you,” Havoc said, voice dangerously quiet.

“I’ve built in all the necessary override protocols,” I continued, ignoring the accusation and focusing instead on the technical details, the safer ground of circuits and systems rather than the messy reality of human emotion. “Your biometric signature is already programmed as the master control. The cuff will recognize you and respond to your commands, just like the Alliance one.”

I nodded toward the city lights. “You can have your people examine it, run whatever tests you want. You’ll find it’s simply better technology. Nothing more.”

The lie came easily. There was something more, much more, but Havoc didn’t need to know that I’d spent three sleepless days ensuring that this cuff would never fail her, that her powers, Halcyon’s powers, would remain dormant, that she would never have to feel that fear again.

I’d read the rest of her files after that night in the crucible. I knew what she’d taken. A different person would have wanted those powers, the power to influence others. Make them move to their every beck and call.