Venna looked like an angel. A fucking goddamn angel and something had clicked in Tannis’s head when she’d seen the other woman.
She recognized her immediately as the Collective woman who had visited the research center all those years ago.
Her angel.
The woman who had given her chocolate and awoken a dream.
Rico had asked her the other day what the woman had been doing there, and she’d replied she didn’t know. But since he’d asked the question, it had festered in her mind. Demanded that she come up with an answer.
So what would Callum Meridian’s head of research have been doing at a privately owned research station?
She slammed her palm into the panel, and the door slid open. Stopping just inside her room, she thought for a minute, finally hurrying over to a closet behind the bed. In the bottom, she found a box with a small scrap of material inside. It was stained brown with old, dried blood and a shiver ran through her at the memory of that day.
She smoothed the cloth out, every cell hoping she was wrong. Her fingers ran over the writing—the insignia of the research company. And everything went cold inside her. CM Research.
She crumpled it in her hand and then sank down onto the bed.
Just about all her life she had yearned to become one of the exalted Collective. She’d imagined she would be like that beautiful angel of mercy who had given the children chocolate and patted their heads. While all the time, she had been responsible for the torment they endured every day. Why hadn’t she made the connection before now?
Because she’d been only six years old and such things had been beyond her understanding. She’d grown up isolated from the world, only knowing what they told her, which had been very little. She’d needed something to cling to, some hope of a better future, and she’d picked on the Collective, idolized them in her mind. When she’d left that place with Rico she’d needed a goal, so she had clung tenaciously to that dream.
But maybe all along, deep in her subconscious, she had known the dream was flawed. That’s why she had put away thoughts of revenge, because if she’d gone after those behind the research center her dream would have shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving her with nothing.
She’d told herself she would get her revenge, but later. After she’d gotten the Meridian treatment and become one of them, one of the angels.
Shit. She was pathetic. And blind. And stupid.
And there was a good chance that Callum fucking Meridian was responsible for everything.
She flung the scrap of material across the room. Then she hurled anything she could reach until there was nothing left, and she threw back her head and screamed. Black fury filled her. She recognized it, her old friend from the research center. The emotion that had kept her going as, one by one, her friends disappeared. Her sister.
She wanted to go out and kill Callum and Venna, blast them until they were no more than smoking ashes. She leaped to her feet and paced the room, slammed her fist into the wall and cursed at the pain. But it cleared her mind and an icy rage settled over her.
What should she do? First, she had to check out her facts.
Maybe the dream was within her grasp. Just a bit altered from the original version. She could still get the Meridian treatment and her immortality, then say good-bye to them. Permanently.
The buzzer sounded, and she crossed the room and peered into the monitor, relaxing when she saw Rico standing outside.
“What do you want?”
“To come in perhaps?”
She pressed the panel. “Actually, I was just leaving. Why are you here?”
“Callum said there was something wrong. He asked me to come and check on you.”
“Did he? How sweet.” She forced a smile. “Well as you can see—I’m fine.”
Head cocked on one side, he studied her. “No, you’re not.” He peered around her into the room, his eyes widening, and she followed his gaze. The room was a tip; she’d thrown just about everything that was moveable.
“I was just doing some clearing up.”
“Really? What’s the matter?”
She thought about telling him. Rico had suffered in that place as well, and he had a right to know. But she wanted some proof first. “Just a moment.”
She crossed the room and searched among the debris for the scrap of material. She found it and stuffed it in her pocket, then returned to Rico.
“Where are they?”
“Who? Callum and his blonde girlfriend?” His eyes narrowed. “That’s not what this is about, is it? You’re jealous?”
“Hah. Did Callum suggest that?”
“No, I thought of it all on my own. There’s no need. I was just winding you up. They don’t have the look of a couple—my guess is the relationship is strictly business.”
“And you’re mistaking me for someone who gives a shit.”
His frown deepened. “Yes, I was. What’s going on?”
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll tell you once I’ve checked something. Are they still in the conference room?”
“Yes.”
“And Janey?”
“In her cabin, I think.”