Page 41 of Knight

And somewhere out there, Victor’s student is learning how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine.

“Knight?” There’s a tentative touch on my arm. “What happens now?”

“Now?” I lean back in my chair. “Now we wait here, while I figure out what Victor’s playing at. Try not to do anything stupidlike move around. There’s a lot of expensive equipment in here that you could trip over.”

"For how long?"

“Until I decide what’s worse—letting the virus finish whatever it’s been designed to do, or being trapped in here with you.”

What did Victor mean about saving her or my systems?

My gut tells me I won’t have to wait long to find out. And right now, in the dark, with a woman I still don’t trust, and computers I can’t access, I’m starting to think that cutting power might have been exactly what the end game of that virus was.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Evangeline

Darkness settlesaround us as the last screen dies. Only thin emergency strips along the floor offer any illumination, turning Knight into a collection of shadows and sharp angles. They must be battery-operated, there’s no other way they can be working.

The residual heat from the equipment makes the small room feel like a sauna. My wrists are throbbing, and I shift uncomfortably on the chair, trying to figure out a way to ease the pain.

"Your wrists need fresh bandages." Knight's voice emerges from the darkness. "And you should take more painkillers."

"I'm fine."

"Your breathing changes every time you move. You'renotfine." A drawer opens somewhere to my left. "I need you focused, not distracted by pain."

"Why? So you can make me keep repeating the things I've already told you?"

"No." Something rattles in a bottle. "Because this is just the beginning of his game, and if you’re not alert, then you’re a problem. He’s forced me to shut down everything I've built, and I need to know why. That’s where my focus needs to be, not on you potentially collapsing."

Heat presses against my skin as he moves closer. Then his hand touches mine, peeling back the fingers I have clenched into a fist. "Take these." He drops something onto my palm.

"What are they?"

"Cyanide. I've come to the conclusion that murder by poison is a far more acceptable solution than shooting you." His irritable sigh carries clearly. "They're painkillers. Take them before I decide force-feeding you is more appealing than this conversation."

I accept what feels like two pills. He produces a water bottle from somewhere and hands it to me. The water inside is warm but I swallow it anyway, grateful for the small relief. The darkness feels heavier somehow, more oppressive with each passing minute.

"What happens now?" I need to fill the silence with something besides the sound of our breathing.

"Now I figure out why Victor wanted this exact scenario." There’s a frustrated note to his voice. "He knew I'd shut everything down rather than let his virus finish the job. Which means trapping me in here was his goal all along."

"Why would he want that?"

"Because isolation makes you vulnerable." His chair creaks as he shifts position. "No power. No communications. No way to verify anything. Just darkness and whatever truth someone decides to tell you."

“What about your cell phone?”

“I can’t risk turning it back on. It was connected to the same network as the computers. The virus might have gotten to it.”

"Do you think he's going to contact you somehow?"

"He already has. I just haven't figured out what the message is, other than ‘surprise I’m not dead, and now I’m going to fuck you up unless you learn the rules of this new game and fast.’" Something metal scrapes against the floor. I think he’s movinghis chair. "Every detail matters. The phone. The timing. The virus.You."

The way he says'you'makes me nervous. "I told you. I don't know anything."

"Maybe that's the point." His voice comes from much closer now. "What better way to deliver a message than through someone who has no idea they're carrying it?"

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