Page 81 of A Touch of Treachery
Once again, her gaze flicked over to Desmond, and a cruel smile slowly curved her red lips.“But luckily, I’ve finally found a way to rectify this flaw.”
“Flaw?What flaw?”Oriana asked.“You just said your formula was foolproof!”
“No, it’s not,” Niles argued.
“I don’t care what the two of you are going on about,” Steig cut in.“I want to see another demonstration ...”
The three of them kept arguing with each other, but I tuned out their chatter.Instead, I thought about everything Henrika had just said about her formula, along with everything that had happened over the past few days.
During the Vault mission, Iris Berriston and Bryce Finkley had both had chances to kill me, but Iris claimed that she’d been ordered to let me live, and Bryce had only tossed a smoke grenade at me instead of a real bomb.Then Henrika had sent a personal invitation to me and a video to General Percy, basically forcing him to let me come to the resort.More than once, I’d wondered why Henrika now wanted me alive, instead of trying to orchestrate my death like she had before.
For the first time, I realized her seeming benevolence hid a sinister purpose: to make sure I ended up right here, right now.
Henrika kept staring at Desmond, and the greedy look on her face was like a key opening a lock in my mind.Henrika hadn’t just fooled the two of us.She had been pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes this entire time.This had never been about a weapons auction.Henrika hadneverintended to sell her Redburn formula to any of the paramortals—at least, not until it wasfoolproof.Her pride, ego, and arrogance wouldn’t let her sell a weapon that wasn’t one-hundred-percent effective, and there was only one way she could perfect her gruesome formula.
Henrika inviting us to her resort hadn’t been about me or my father or the Mexico mission.At least, not directly, although I got the sense that was among her list of priorities, along with thumbing her nose at General Percy.Even stealing the undercover list had just been a feint to hide what—or rather whom—Henrika was really after.
My plus-one, as her invitation had said.
Desmond.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
DESMOND
“Desmond.”Charlottewhisperedmyname like it was a password that had just unlocked all the secrets of the universe.
She dropped my hand, whipped around to me, and drew in a breath, as though she was going to shout a warning.What was she suddenly so worried about?
“Execute!”Bryce yelled.
The guard closest to Charlotte drew his gun.I lunged in that direction, but the guard stepped forward and aimed his weapon at Charlotte’s head before I could tackle him.The other guards also drew their guns and aimed them at Charlotte.
“I would stop right there if I were you, Dez,” Bryce called out in a mocking voice.“Unless you want to see your girlfriend’s brains splattered all over the snow.”
I swallowed a frustrated growl, but I had no choice but to do as he commanded.Bryce grinned, drew his own gun, and pointed the weapon at me.He jerked his head.Another guard stepped forward and searched Charlotte.He removed the gun she’d had stuffed in her jacket pocket and tossed it aside.
“What is going on?”Niles asked, his gaze darting from one guard and gun to another.
“Desmond and Charlotte haven’t been entirely truthful with the rest of us,” Henrika replied.“They aren’t arms dealers.They’re spies for Section 47.”
I muttered a curse, as did Charlotte.We had known Henrika could blow our cover at any time, but I’d been hoping we could take her down before that happened.Once again, though, she was three steps ahead, and she had just put Charlotte and me in even more danger.
Steig curled his hand around the hilt of his hunting knife, while Oriana cracked her knuckles, sparks of golden, caustic combusto magic flickering around her fingers.Niles pushed his glasses farther up his nose, but his lips curled back in a disgusted sneer, as though he was plotting the best way to kill us both.
Oriana’s dark, angry gaze swung over to Henrika.“Wait a second.Youknewthey were Section spies?And invited us here anyway?”
Henrika held her hands out wide.“Guilty as charged.”
“Why would you do that?”Steig bellowed.“We came here to buy your weapon!Not get captured by Section 47!”
Henrika shrugged.“If you want to walk away just because a couple of spies turned up, go ahead.I can always find other buyers for my formula.”
“Afteryou perfect it,” Charlotte snarled.“Right?Isn’t that what this isreallyabout?Making your precious formula the deadliest it can be?”
Confusion filled me.What was Charlotte talking about?
Henrika let out a laugh and clapped her hands together in delight.“You really are too clever for your own good, Charlotte.It’s too bad General Percy can’t see the big picture like you can.He might have prevented this whole thing from happening.”
