Page 80 of A Touch of Treachery
Henrika studied the scientist with a cold expression.“You should have known better, Ethan.Did you really think I wouldn’t find out you were taking photos of Redburn and offering to sell a sample to the highest bidder?”
Surprise spiked through me.Ethan had to be the person who’d sent General Percy a photo confirming Henrika was storing Redburn at the resort, although it sounded like the scientist had been interested in a quick payday more than anything else.Desmond glanced at me, the same uneasy realization on his face.
Bryce passed the black briefcase to Henrika, who opened it and plucked something out of the dark depths.She passed the briefcase to a guard, then turned around and held up an auto-injector where we all could see it.Red liquid shimmered inside the clear plastic, and the thick fluid matched what had been in the vials that Desmond had found at Tannenbaum Castle.
“And this is my Redburn formula,” Henrika said, pride rippling through her voice.
For a moment, everyone was silent.Then Niles let out a derisive snort.“You promised us an explosive.Not some jelly in a jar.”
Oriana and Steig murmured their agreement.
Henrika’s lips flattened out into a thin line, and anger shimmered in her gaze.
Danger-danger-danger, my synesthesia warned.
Henrika whipped around and stabbed the injector into Ethan’s upper left arm.
Desmond cursed and started forward.Red flared in the corner of my eye, and I saw Bryce snap up his gun.I grabbed Desmond’s arm, stopping him.
Desmond tensed like he was going to pull away, but I tightened my grip in warning.If he tried to interfere, Bryce would shoot him, and my synesthesia was muttering that it was already too late to save the scientist anyway.
Desmond’s gaze flicked over to Bryce, who smirked in return.A haunted look filled Desmond’s face, and his shoulders slumped in resignation.I slid my hand down and gripped his cold fingers.Desmond didn’t look at me, but he clung to my hand like it was a life raft keeping him from drowning in a sea of miserable memories.
Ethan’s dark eyes bulged.The scientist shouted and shouted, although the cloth stuffed in his mouth muffled his cries.He also jerked and struggled against his bonds, although the thick ropes held him tightly to the tree.
Suddenly, Ethan stopped struggling.His eyes bulged even wider, and his muffled shouts morphed into sharp, shrieking screams that even the makeshift gag couldn’t fully silence.Sweat beaded on his forehead and streamed down his face, as though he was standing in a too-hot sauna instead of the cold, open air.
A large red blister erupted on his left cheek like a volcanic pimple jutting up out of his skin.Then another blister on his right cheek.His nose.His chin.His neck ...
Within seconds, every inch of Ethan’s exposed skin was covered with ugly blisters, which puffed and puffed and puffed ...until they popped.But instead of oozing fluid, the blisters disintegrated, and fresh ones formed, puffing up and popping just like the first wave.That happened over and over again, and the scientist’s skin quickly turned a bright, shiny neon red.
Shock knifed through my heart.Not blisters—burns.The Redburn formula was literally burning through one layer of Ethan’s skin after another.
The scientist’s head snapped back, and he flailed and thrashed against the ropes as though he was having a violent seizure and couldn’t control his own body.Blood poured out of his eyes and nose, like rivers of scarlet lava flowing down his skin.
I sucked in a breath, and a strange scent flooded my nose—harsh, acrid sulfur mixed with a lighter, gooey note, like burned sugar.The aroma slithered down my throat, and the foul smoky-sweetness made me want to vomit.Even though Desmond had described Redburn to me, what it did and how it felt, seeing the formula in action, hearing Ethan’s screams, smelling his skin burning ...
It was one of the most horrific things I’d ever witnessed.
Less than a minute later, it was over.Ethan slumped forward, his body covered with those ugly, ugly burns and his eyes still bulging, this time in death.
Desmond remained tall and rigid beside me, as though his body was made of glass and he would shatter if he so much as breathed.I tightened my grip on his hand, trying to comfort him in whatever small way I could.After a few seconds, he shuddered out a breath, and his face hardened with the same determination that was pumping through my own body.
Shock filled the faces of the other paramortals, although it quickly morphed into a mixture of grudging admiration and cold calculation.
“Thisis my Redburn formula,” Henrika said, even more pride rippling through her voice as though she hadn’t just dished out a brutal, agonizing death to another person.“I’ve been developing it for years, and I have conducted extensive tests, both in and out of the lab.Redburn has a ninety-nine-percent success rate, whether it is used as an explosive or as a poison, like you just witnessed.To date, only one person has ever managed to survive being exposed to it.”
Henrika’s gaze flicked over to Desmond.A muscle twitched an angry rhythm in his clenched jaw, like the timer on a bomb counting down to a massive explosion.
Niles crossed his arms over his chest.“Ninety-nine percent?You told us the formula was one-hundred-percent effective.”He scoffed.“Any scientist would tell you those arenotthe same.You promised us something strong enough to killeveryparamortal, no matter their powers or abilities.”
Henrika nodded.“I did, and I’ve been wrestling with that problem for the last several months.I’ve run one experiment and simulation after another, but no matter what I do or what variables I input, I can’t quite make my formula one-hundred-perfect effective.”
“Who cares if it’s not one-hundred-percent effective?”Oriana gestured at the dead scientist still tied to the tree.“Ninety-nine percent is good enough for me.”
“Me too,” Steig chimed in.
“It matters tome,” Henrika hissed, anger creeping into her voice.“Because it’smyformula, and it isbrilliant.Except for one tiny, unforeseen, unexpected outlier.”
