“Aww. Looks like lover boy wants to stay.”
Since I really couldn’t care less what Franco Lucas thinks, I don’t bother to correct him, but Cregg makes an exasperated sound. “This is what I was talking about, Lucas. You are an incredibly poor student of human emotion. Have you never been in a relationship that didn’t involve sex? If you’d observed Anna’s face when she looked at the boy, you’d have seen that hers is not a romantic attachment. She feels . . . parental. Responsible for his well-being. And I’m sensing a great deal of guilt for putting him in danger in the first place.”
It annoys me when Kelsey slips into this sort of psychobabble, but coming from Cregg it’s almost laughable. I’m tempted to ask how many years he spent in analysis. Clearly not enough. I doubt he would appreciate the snark however, so I focus instead on clarifying the rules and regs of this ungodly test he’s cooked up.
“How long?”
Cregg looks surprised.
“How long do I have to finish the test?”
“I hadn’t really considered that,” he says. “I guess the best way to put it is that this isn’t exactly a timed test. Our schedule has a bit of . . . flexibility. But at some point, if there is no result, I think we might have to conclude that you’re not really trying. And that would be . . . unfortunate.”
His eyes move very deliberately toward Deo.
“So, that’s the stick side of the equation. The carrot, per your request, is that we’ll release him. If he cares as much about your well-being as you do about his, I think we can trust that he’ll keep quiet about our little arrangement. So . . . are we agreed?”
I’m not sure I believe him. I have a feeling that Cregg’s lying face is indistinguishable from his regular face. But it comes back to the same question I asked myself earlier: What choice do I have?
“Agreed.”
“Then I shall leave you to it. I can never focus with people watching over my shoulder, and I doubt you can, either.”
I try to keep my expression neutral, but it’s hard, because suddenly I’m seeing Cregg again in the cabin. Half dressed, half lotus, eyes half closed as he struggles to make Molly dig a small knife into Dacia’s upper arm.
“Should we take the boy with us?” Cregg asks.
“No. I’ll be able to focus better with him here.” That’s completely true, because I won’t be distracted wondering whether Cregg is practicing his skills on Deo. “In fact, could you untie his hands, please?”
Lucas snorts and says no instantly, but Cregg asks me why.
Deo beats me to it. “Because those three people just took bullets to the brain. If she manages to pick one of them up, it’s not going to be pleasant. It might even be dangerous. She may need someone to pull her back, to remind her that she’s Anna, that she’s still alive.”
Cregg considers this and nods. “I guess that’s reasonable. Go ahead and release him, Lucas. The door will be locked and we’ll be right outside. They’re not going anywhere.”
As Lucas frees Deo’s hands and feet, Cregg nods toward a cabinet at the back of the room. “There’s water in there should you need it. Hit the call button once you have a result. Or if you need food. Many of us have a high caloric burn rate when we’re active. I’ve noticed that’s especially true of the second-generation adepts like yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
The idea of eating anything in a room with three still-bleeding corpses nearly pushes me over the edge. I just want Cregg and Lucas to go.
And even though they leave the curtains drawn when they do go, I’m under no illusions. We’ve been monitored every second since we entered this place, and as soon as they get to the computers, they’ll be monitoring us again.
I take advantage of the few seconds of possible privacy to hug Deo again. “Did they hurt you?”
“No. Threatened me, that’s all. Said they’d made you an offer . . . if you’d come in, they’d let me go, but you refused. Which I knew was a lie. The worst part was Dacia. She grabbed my arm and asked me all kinds of bullshit questions. Stuff about Molly. Stuff about everyone in your spook menagerie. I knew what she was doing this time, with her head-buzz routine, but it didn’t make it any easier to stop her.” He shrugs, looking embarrassed. “I don’t think we have any secrets left.”
“Hey, I had a session with her, too. It’s not your fault.”