Page 71 of Lust
A strange grunting and choking sound came from the basement hallway entrance. When Despair left the solace of her dot, she found Lust clutching her middle as though it hurt and eyeing Despair with suspicion. Her mate rubbed his palm on her back.
“You okay?” he asked.
Lust nodded grimly, straightened, and took a deep breath.
She senses my lust.
Despair tried to empty her thoughts, hopes, and dreams. If she was found out at this late stage in the plan, it would all have been for nothing. Thankfully, the rest of the family noticed Lust’s entrance and started talking.
“I thought you were at work,” Pride said, with a clear note of derision.
Despair had caught the underlying tension between the two earlier, but now it felt palpable in the air. Lust’s gaze darkened upon landing on her brother. She took a step forward with clenched fists, but her partner stopped her. He whispered something in her ear, and she calmed.
Treasonous longing slashed through Despair. To have someone so trusted in her corner, like the way Lust’s mate was for her, it begged the question of love without boundaries. Did they have them? Did they put caveats on their love, the way Julius had kept Despair striving harder and higher for his? From the way they looked into each other’s eyes, the way they softened from a simple touch, yes, she believed they loved freely. She knew this because she’d never experienced the same.
“You have some nerve,” Lust said to Pride.
He sat back on his stool, leaned an elbow on the table, and arched a righteous brow as if to say,This should be interesting.
Lust seemed to bite back words, and instead said, “I got suspended.”
“Good.” Pride strode to one of the white mannequins in glass cases surrounding the operations room walls. Each held one of the Deadly Seven augmented suits. One looked pristine and untouched. The one with the fuchsia face mask. He opened the cabinet. “You can finally try on your suit. Flint and Sloan have worked around the clock to make the upgrades.”
A sort of grumble broke from Lust’s throat, but she dragged her feet over to Pride. While she did, Envy approached Joe and shook his hand.
“I suppose welcome to the family is appropriate if you two are walking in together like this.”
Joe gave a curt nod of acknowledgment, and then Sloth gave a “Wassup” from her spot. Flint also greeted Joe with a smile. Pride’s inaction toward Joe was as good as recognition. Their acceptance of the new stranger was troubling. They put so much faith in this soulmate business, that they simply accepted a federal agent into their secret headquarters. They’d also accepted her. A killer. A thief. A liar. Such was the stringent loyalty this family showed for one another. Such was the power of their love and devotion. Their hope.
Despair looked down at her tattoo. The black seemed a little less.
Her heart kicked in her chest. Sweat broke out on her brow. The vague warbles of conversation flittered into her perception, but it compounded with her heartbeat rushing in her ears until everything became a cacophony of voices, those long silenced from within, and those without. She ripped the electrodes from her chest.
“Enough.”
All eyes swiveled her way. Perhaps she’d overreacted. Her mind scrambled to come up with a solution, and then she remembered the tail end of Pride’s conversation with the agent.
“… we need more hard evidence before we can entertain some kind of conviction against the Syndicate.”
Perfect.
She turned to their expectant faces and straightened her spine, but the dizziness in her mind still threatened to topple her. Her words intended to come out firm, but instead breathed like the wind. “I think I know how you can get some.”
A stillness came over the room. Pride left Lust at the cabinet and strode to Despair. “You said you knew nothing.”
“I can’t give you locations where the replicates are held because I don’t know. That’s the truth. You confirmed with the polygraph.”
“Anyone in this room can beat one of those tests.”
“So why give it to me?”
His face deadpanned. More secrets he was unwilling to share.
“Give her a break,” Sloth mumbled. “Let’s see if her intel pans out and go from there.”
Lust nodded. “I agree. Daisy made the first step, it’s our turn to trust her.”
“What do you call bringing her into our homes?” Pride replied, didn’t wait for a response, and turned to Despair. “What’s your intel?”
