Will narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ever question my abilities as a researcher. If anyone will screw things up, it’s you. Stop asking so many bloody questions. Leave that to me.”
Gio’s voice was calm and steely as he replied, “Remember your place. One word from me to the scientists here about your strange, healing light and they’ll lock you up in one of the cells.”
“Threaten me if you wish, but you need me.”
Gio raised an eyebrow. “You need me as well. I did learn something from my father that may interest you.”
“And that is?”
“If we progress well and you can provide evidence as to what is causing these latent abilities, you might be able to work with the team studying E-1655.”
E-1655 was the serial number assigned to an elemental earth first-born female. Unlike most first-born Feiru who needed to point their hands to a particular compass direction to use their abilities, E-1655 could manipulate the earth regardless of where her hands were placed. “Is she still drugged in a semi-stupor in Hong Kong?”
Gio shook his head. “They’ve actually moved her to a secret location I don’t even know about. But they keep losing researchers any time they stop the drugs and allow the woman to regain full consciousness. Her magic is dangerous and she’s injuring people left and right.”
Will had spent the last two years looking for ways to eradicate elemental magic; E-1655 could be the key he needed to do it. “Has the woman given birth?”
“Not yet. They’re afraid to sterilize her. Some think it may affect her unusual abilities.”
Each first-born Feiru was assigned to an experiment track at the age of thirteen inside the AMT compounds. The mental, breeding, and gene therapy experiments had never sat well with Will. He preferred willing volunteers, not coerced ones. “I may be interested, provided we can sol
ve the little problem of latent abilities first.”
“Good.” Gio’s mobile phone beeped with a text message. After reading it, Gio glanced up again. “They’re here.”
A flicker of anticipation flared in Will’s stomach. “Right, then let’s get started.”
Gio exited the room to greet the volunteers and Will followed. Talking about the future with Gio had temporarily helped Will forget about Leyna’s note. Hopefully his work would make time move quickly. Clutching the wad of paper in his pocket, the urge to run out of the building and search for the woman from earlier coursed through his body.
A small voice in the back of his head brought up the fact that if Leyna was still alive, Will’s entire reason for living over the last two years would become moot.
But he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Entering the main security office, Will nodded to the guards standing over three unconscious bodies in wheelchairs. One of the guards spoke up in perfect English. “They should be out for another thirty minutes.”
Will answered, “Right, then follow me. We need to secure them in their special quarters before they wake up.”
As he led the guards back toward his lab, Will glanced behind him at the two women and one man in the wheelchairs. For a split second, he wondered what their stories were. Did they have families? Had they been blackmailed into coming here? Where had they been before developing their strange abilities?
Then he remembered he might lose his freedom if he started to care. Much like he’d done for the past two years, Will pushed his emotions deep down and focused on the theories he needed to prove.
Chapter Three
Petra pretended to stare at her cell phone, but in reality, she kept an eye on the surrounding patrons of the restaurant where she was meeting Will. The room was on the small side, but clean and filled with about fifteen tables, plus a bar up front.
The local humans believed the AMT research facility was actually a British pharmaceutical company and their economy had developed around it. The restaurant Petra had chosen catered to foreigners, which meant German-born Petra fit right in. A few other Feiru and one human backpacker also filled the room.
Keeping her voice low, Petra murmured, “Update?”
Millie answered through the earpiece. “There is a large group of non-Chinese heading right this way. I can’t tell if Will’s in the group or not. But don’t worry, I have your back. I’m willing to undo a few buttons on my blouse and reveal the girls to distract the men if you need it.”
Only because she was sitting alone at the table did Petra not roll her eyes and give a rather colorful reply.
With nothing to do but scroll around on her phone to look as if she were reading something, Petra’s heart beat faster in anticipation of seeing Will.
Her life had changed a lot over the past two years and she wondered if Will would even recognize the woman she’d once been.
After giving up the pursuit of her PhD in chemistry, Petra had spent months learning hand-to-hand combat and self-defense. Her life had been safe in the beginning only because of her ability to cook meth. But she’d never trusted the drug lord who’d convinced her brother Dom to join his ranks. Not only had her martial arts skills saved their lives later, the discipline of daily practice had also helped Petra focus on her new life and forget about Will Evans.
Truth be told, Millie wouldn’t recognize the woman known as Leyna but now Petra. Leyna had loved to tease, scream at the sight of a spider, and had had a weakness for white chocolate. But Petra had to be strong, strategic, and clever. Gone were the weaknesses and easygoing nature, and in its place, she had developed a hardened persona.