Page 35 of Provocation
‘I thought about paper,’ she murmurs absently. ‘Like LSD, and I think the onset of effects will be similar either way. Maybe twenty minutes to an hour. But you mentioned you wanted green for envy and that’s easier to create in pill form rather than making a liquid and then having to find green blotting paper.’
I see Shade’s eyes narrow a little. ‘How did you know we wanted it to be green?’
She turns away to put the next ingredient in the mixer, but not before I see a tiny wince.
I raise my eyebrows at Shade, and he crosses his arms over his chest, frowning at her back.
‘Well?’
‘I might have seen a memo that you sent to each other about it.’
We both stare at her in disbelief.
‘But that was on my private lab server,’ I say. ‘How could you have possibly seen that?’
She lets out a sigh. ‘Just a minute. I don’t want to get this wrong or I’ll have to start all over.’
We both watch in silence as she closes the mixer and sets it to run for a few minutes to make sure it’s evenly mixed.
When she turns to face us, she looks almost sheepish. She glances at me and then looks at the floor.
‘You know when I was stuck upstairs in the KIP house with my ankle, and you gave me access to the lab documents so I could get some work done?’
I feel Shade’s accusing eyes on me. ‘That’s impossible! I only gave you the lowest clearance level. You shouldn’t have been able to see anything I didn’t want you to.’
She shrugs. ‘Well, it didn’t work. I saw everything. I read everything. I already knew Envy existed, I just didn’t know anything about it. You should be glad it was messed up, if you think about it. Or I might never have figured it out and you’d still be up against your looming deadline.’
I can’t fault her logic, but what the actual fuck?
‘I thought you guys couldn’t…’ I taper off, not sure if I should continue, but she gives me a questioning look.
‘Us guys?’
‘Neurodivergents,’ I amend. ‘I thought…I mean I read that you couldn’t…um…lie.’
She gives me a look that’s half incredulous and half ‘do better’.
‘Don’t be an idiot,’ she says softly. ‘Of course I can. I don’t often because I don’t like doing it, but I have the capacity, Mav. Just like anyone else.’
Shade, still standing by the wall, is very quiet. Daisy doesn’t seem to notice. She’s too focused on what she’s doing, but every time my eyes find him, he’s staring at her with a predatory intensity that even has me shivering a little.
I snort. Our girl thinks she’s tired now, wait until Shade’s done with her later.
My phone buzzes. It’s Shade.
I have some stuff to do. Give ten pills to Dom on your way out. He’ll get them to the guinea pigs. Make sure she eats and drinks. I want her ready.
I nod and Shade leaves.
It’s a few minutes before Daisy notices he’s gone. When she does, she turns to me.
‘Where’s Shade?’
She sounds disappointed.
‘He just had some errands.’
‘Oh,’ she murmurs, looking woefully at the mixer which has stopped. ‘I thought he’d want to be here for the first ones to be done.’
