Page 82 of A Touch of Treachery
“What does the General have to do with any of this?”I asked.
Henrika looked at me, fury sparking like matches in her green eyes.“He haseverythingto do with this, dear Desmond.And now Jethro is finally going to pay the price for his arrogance and treachery.”She paused.“Or, rather, you are.”
I opened my mouth to ask her another question and give myself a few more seconds to figure a way out of this mess—
Crack!
Crack!Crack!
Crack!
In the distance, gunshots zipped through the air.
Bryce checked the smartwatch on his wrist and nodded, as if he’d been expecting the commotion.“And that would be the Section strike teams swarming the golf course and firing on my men.Right on schedule.”
“Jethro is nothing if not predictable in his impatience,” Henrika replied.
“What do you want?”I asked, my hands balling into fists.
“You,” Charlotte said in a soft, strangled voice.“She wantsyou, Desmond.This was never about leaking the UC list or any weapons auction.This was all about luring you into her trap.”
I frowned.“Why would she want me?I’m just a Section cleaner.”
Charlotte gave me a grim smile.“You’re a Section cleaner who survived a Redburn explosion.You’re Henrika’sflaw.”
My gaze flicked over to the dead scientist and locked on the horrific burns that had decimated his skin.The clearing melted away, and I was back on that blackened beach, the explosion blasting over me just as it had done countless times in my nightmares.The chemical fire of the Redburn formula just kept eating, eating, eating away at my skin like a red-hot monster that wouldn’t be satisfied until it had devoured me completely ...
“You also happen to be Jethro’s son,” Henrika added, her voice snapping me back to the here and now.“Which is an unexpected but delightful bonus.”
She jerked her head at Bryce.“Let’s move.Now.Before the strike teams reach the woods.”
Bryce stepped forward and aimed his gun at Charlotte’s head.She tensed, although she glared at the former cleaner.There was nothing I could do.Bryce could pull the trigger before I could take one step toward him, and I didn’t know if I could use my galvanism to grab hold of the bullet’s kinetic energy and send it spinning away from Charlotte.Not when he was that close to her.
“Your choice, Desmond,” Henrika purred.“Come with me and save Charlotte.Or stay here, try to fight your way through my men, and watch her die.”
My gaze zipped from one person to another.The dead scientist sagging against the tree.Henrika smirking at me.Bryce and the guards aiming their guns at Charlotte.Steig, Oriana, and Niles glaring at me, Charlotte, and Henrika in turn.
As a Section cleaner, I’d been in a lot of dangerous situations.Faced a lot of long odds and had to make a lot of tough choices, most of which involved picking the lesser of two evils.But these odds weren’t merely long, they were bloodyimpossible, and really, it wasn’t a tough choice at all.
Not when Charlotte was involved.
I stared at Charlotte, memorizing the way the winter sun brought out the highlights in her auburn hair.How her eyes crinkled and her heart-shaped lips quirked with worry.And most of all, I breathed in the cool, soothing blue of her aura, knowing I would need it for what was coming next.
Then, when I had that all locked away in my mind and especially in my heart, I looked away from Charlotte and walked over to Henrika.
“Good boy,” she purred again.
“Desmond, no!”Charlotte yelled.“Don’t do it!We can find a way out of this!Together!”
She lunged forward, but one of the guards grabbed her arm and dragged her back.
Fury roared through me.“You want me to go with you?Tell your men not to hurt Charlotte,” I growled.“Right now.Or your guards will have to pump me so full of bullets to take me down you’llneverfigure out how I survived your monstrous formula.”
Henrika arched a chiding eyebrow.“Temper, temper, Desmond.But very well.Although for the record, I never had any intention of killing Charlotte.Ms.Locke still has her part to play in this little drama, just like you do, Mr.Percy.”
My gut twisted.I had no idea what Henrika was planning to do to me or how Charlotte fit into any of this, but it wouldn’t be anything good.
“Give them the order,” I growled again.
