Page 72 of Under Pressure

“Ninety— I was damn near on my deathbed before we figured it out,” he laughed, his eyes on the microscope. “All we had to do was find a way to tell my cells to behave like younger cells, and voila, here I am. I haven’t felt this good in about, well—in about sixty years, right?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she didn’t doubt it was the truth. The cutting edge of science was beyond imagination at points. She was seeing what was next.

He pulled back from the microscope again, jotting in his pad. It was so bizarre—the whole conversation, he had never once looked at her.

“I could give you eternal youth, you know.” He grinned downward as he carried on with his work.

“Is that what you did to him?” Her tone grew angry, inescapably so.

“No, he didn’t want that.”

She found herself striding forward, glaring down on the man’s notes. She recognized the structure of the virus, the live organism, found in the victims’ plasma. Lab-made, just like Lily had thought.

Lab-edited, just like Delta.

Kendra snapped, “So what did he want?”

The scientist grinned again, wicked and pleased. “He wanted to be the best—toughest, fastest, strongest. He wanted to be fearless. A highly competitive subject, dominant in his field. He always needs to triumph, that one. Worked for me, since I wanted to succeed, too.”

Irritated, Kendra sucked in air, knowing that was exactly what he was like. She pressed, “Tell me how to reverse it.”

“Ha—well, there’s always a way, but I don’t think he wants that.” He tossed aside his pad, fiddling for another sample.

“Of course he does. He can’t control it.”

“He can’t—but we can.”

“How?”

“A kill-switch.” The scientist’s gaze finally shot up to her, revealing his blood-red irises.

Kendra gasped, stumbling back from the bench as the scientist’s red eyes followed her. Clearly amused at her horror, he collected his samples, spinning away from the bench and striding to the back of the lab.

I have to get out of here.

She jumped back across the doorframe, into the hallway, but then it happened. She heard smashing and crashing in the distance, and a man yelling at the top of his lungs. Anger and hatred permeated the space. The lab door slid shut, locking in front of her, trapping her in the hall. She fumbled, her shoes squeaking on the vinyl flooring, hitting the concrete wall behind her.

Her mind screaming, Kendra struggled to breathe. She was in danger. And Leo? Her son. Why the hell had she come here? Her own obsession with doing everything on her own had driven her into danger.

Then she heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, further validating her realization. She immediately dove to the side into a large, unlocked storage room and hid behind a rolling cabinet. Her heart pounding, she heard a man talking loudly in the halls. Was he talking to her or himself? She couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

Sucking in breath, her heart pumping, she hovered her fingers over her phone. She couldn’t make a call—her signal was still gone. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Sweat beaded on her chest. Shit, shit, shit. The worst was happening. Why did I come here? It was all a goddamn mistake. Such a mistake. Going it alone wasn’t the answer, was never going to be the answer. She had to think of her son. He couldn’t grow up without a mother. How could she be so careless?

She should have listened to her sister, listened to anyone. Listened to Delta? She cringed at the truth in that question. They’d been warning her all along—and she’d proved them right. She had to do everything alone. She refused to be rescued.

The madman’s yelling echoed through the lab’s long hallway—and she could hear him breaking down doors at the end of the hall.

Kendra ran her fingers over her face, realizing the hard truth. She had to stay alive for more than just herself now. She had a son. She had responsibilities. And if someone was a danger to her, they were a danger to her child as well. Her mindset shifted in a split second with the sudden realization. She’d been so used to taking herself for granted that she’d forgotten how it affected the people she loved the most.

I need help.

“I shouldn’t have come alone. I can’t do this by myself anymore,” she panted to herself as she felt a tear rolling down her cheek. “I just can’t.”

More smashing glass came from down the hallway, signaling a man who had lost all control.

“Fuck.” She pressed her fingers to her lips, thinking about Leo’s face.

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