Page 373 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Riley stands between the central consoles.

Lee is beside him.

Across the room, Blaire waits with Vasily, who, Kade is delighted to see, has abandoned yesterday’s drab necessities.

A mustard-yellow velvet waistcoat hugs his broad chest over a black silk shirt, the collar open low enough to reveal cornflowers and curling ivy beneath his skin. His fitted black pants disappear into polished knee-high boots. Gold rings crowd his fingers, and his long dark hair falls loose almost to his waist. A black velvet coat hangs from his shoulders, lined in the same rich yellow as the waistcoat.

He looks like a very fuckable bumblebee.

Meanwhile, the sisters have arranged themselves as far apart as the confines of the Watch allow.

‘Sorry I’m late.’

Riley looks at Kade.

His gaze drops to the marks on his throat.

Kade searches for the answering bruise above Riley’s collar, the smallest sign that something crossed between them while he slept, but there’s nothing. Riley gives him a small, somewhat knowing smile and performs a mock two-fingered salute.

‘All good. Where’s Tanner?’

‘Giving blood to Luca in Medical.’

‘Noah wanted to test a few things first.’

‘Yeah, he told me the same.’

‘Hey, you.’ Finn swivels in his chair, greeting Kade with a warm smile. ‘You look awesome.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Uh, excuse me? I also look very pretty,’ Vasily chimes in.

‘I think you look beautiful,’ Lee tells him.

Blaire rolls her eyes and mutters something insulting in French.

Kade claps his hands once. ‘OK, so! Where are we at?’

‘We were waiting for you.’

‘Sorry. What’s on the agenda first?’

‘Roman Sorrenko’s blood panel,’ Riley says.

Cole sends the blood analysis to the largest screen.

At the centre of the console, a recessed projector wakes. Translucent pages of results rise above the glass, layered with molecular diagrams, chemical values and slowly turning strands of DNA. Helices unfurl, divide and reconnect amid dense blocks of notation that mean absolutely nothing to Kade.

He watches the beautiful gibberish rotate.

‘What am I looking at?’

‘Every Reset we’ve examined in the past had the same compound in their bloodstream,’ Cole explains. ‘What we now know to be called Resonyx remains in the plasma until it degrades or the cuff replenishes it. We know that it remains active for four days, even in a dead host. Echo One, however, is different.’

Kade looks at him. ‘You’ve examined Resets?’

‘Of course.’