Page 44 of Green Ravens

The director masked his alarm better than the scientists, smothering his reluctance beneath an iron tone and steely posture.

“Valor,” the director said with smooth control, “can you understand me?”

Oakley didn’t answer, watching and fucking with him before he answered, “I understand you.”

Something like satisfaction flickered in the man’s gaze, as if the response was what he’d been hoping for.

“Excellent.” He smiled before he began to circle him like a stalker. “You understand that Valor is your name?”

“No, it’s not, but I’ll answer to it…for now.”

The director smirked. “Very well. And how do you feel?”

Oakley exhaled and allowed a rumble to escape his lips.

“I feel stronger.” He swept his gaze over the scientists, watching them stiffen. “I feelready…for what phase did you mention? Phase two.” Oakley tested his restraints. “Are you going to let me out of these or—”

The director scowled. “We’ll let you out when it’s time for you to be—”

Oakley flexed and yanked at the cuffs. The metal table groaned and the leather straps snapped like tattered yarn.

The woman released a cry of alarm, but Oakley held one hand up in a display of civility. “No need to be alarmed. I simply felt that time wasnow,John.”

The director stilled before his lips curled into something resembling a smirk and a sneer.

“You know my name, I see. You’ve been observant.”

“I know more than you think.”

Mr. Director cut his eyes to the scientists, who appeared even more perplexed, before he turned his attention back to him.

“And what else do you think you know?”

“I know enough to suggest you should be worried about your own problems rather than threatening the lives of your staff.” Oakley’s face was emotionless as stone. “You’ve eliminated one scientist. You can’t afford to lose more.”

He saw the precise moment the director’s amusement morphed into something else.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your phone conference didn’t go as smoothly as you’d hoped last night, did it, John?”

Oakley could hear the imperceptible cracking of knuckles from where the director was clenching his fingers behind his back.

“What conference?” He chuckled, nervousness edging his laugh.

“You know exactly which one. Your office is two levels above me. You have a vent on the floor.”

The director blinked, his smile slowly falling away along with his boldness.

“The phone conference with your donors who are getting rather impatient.” Oakley glanced toward the scientists, who looked stunned and a whole lot confused. “They don’t think I’m worth the investment.”

No one moved.

Oakley smiled, slow and cunning. “They’re considering eliminating your funding, which, in turn, means…eliminating you.”

He let that sink in, watching the director’s shoulders rise toward his ears.

“I could hear the fear in your breaths, in the way you paced your office for an hour after the call ended.”

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