“Tell us his name,” Liam heard himself say. Tell me his name. I need to know his name.
Ant leaned back in his chair and shook his head, looking tired. “I really can’t,” he said with a tight expression on his face. “We’re put under NDA after leaving the service. I can talk about my former job only in general terms. As soon as I attempt to talk about something concrete, like the names of my former teammates or superiors or the tech specifics, I’ll get distracted and forget what I’m talking about.”
Liam frowned, dissatisfied.
“Can’t you even write down his name?” Jules said, shooting Liam a quick look.
Ant chuckled bitterly. “You do know how the NDA-tech works, right? If it weren’t so effective, it wouldn’t piss off so many people.”
Right.
“Can’t you take us to him?” Liam said.
Ant shot him a curious, somewhat puzzled glance.
Hurriedly, Liam tried to look only mildly interested.
“No,” Ant said at last. “He was taken by the medical personnel of—my former place of employment. I don’t have access anymore. And I definitely won’t be able to show the location to civilians without getting all of us into a ridiculous amount of trouble.” He grimaced. “Depending on how pissed-off my former superiors are, they might consider you a security risk anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re put under NDA too.”
“No offense, but your former place of employment sounds like a shitty place to work for,” Jules said.
Ant snorted. “I’m not going to argue with that. But it does have its perks.”
“Like what?” Jules said.
“The lifetime benefits actually exceed the income of this estate,” Ant said, shrugging.
Jules whistled and said something.
Ant chuckled and said something.
It was all white noise to Liam. Unimportant. Background.
“I’m tired after our trip,” he said abruptly, getting to his feet. “I’ll go to my room.” And he left, before either of his brothers could say anything.
His brothers.
They were his brothers.
He—he…
Liam sat down on his bed and dropped his face into his hands, not even sure which of the emotions he was feeling was the strongest: relief, anger, or fear.
Chapter 19
Next morning when Liam left his room, there were people in dark suits all over the house.
It took him a moment to realize what they were doing: they were using NDA-tech on the staff.
His insides tightening in dread, Liam took a step back, but one of those people had already noticed him and headed toward him.
But before she could reach him, Jules rounded the corner and practically collided with him. “They’re putting everyone under NDA, Li,” he blurted out, looking a little wide-eyed. “Should we—”
“Hello,” the woman said pleasantly upon reaching them. “I’ll need just a moment of your time, please.”
Warily eyeing the innocuous-looking silver device in her hand, Liam took another step back, but stopped, realizing the futility of it. What was he going to do, try to outrun all of these people?
Jules grabbed his hand—in warning or seeking reassurance?—and Liam took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and think rationally.
He gave Jules’s hand a firm squeeze and stepped forward. He was the elder brother. It was his job to take care of it.
“Look, there’s no need for that,” Liam said with his best smile. The woman smelled like an alpha, and he wasn’t above using his designation to get out of this situation. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
The alpha hesitated but shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Blake, but I have my orders.” Her voice was considerably gentler. “It won’t hurt, I promise. Only the relevant subjects will be affected.”
“The relevant subjects?” Liam said.
“Yes,” she said patiently. “Any classified information you have learned, as well as the fact that someone else was impersonating your brother—you won’t be able to talk about it.”
Liam swallowed. “Not even with the people who know of it, too?”
She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m afraid not. Every time you get the urge to communicate about those subjects, your thoughts will stray to something else.” She smiled encouragingly. “I know it sounds scary, but it’s very safe, I promise. We get our tech straight from Calluvia. It’s of the highest quality. Your other memories will not be affected.”
Licking his lips, Liam shook his head. He didn’t care how supposedly safe it was; it seemed like brainwashing to him. Liam knew people didn’t really forget anything—NDA-tech affected the person only during the conversation if they attempted to reveal something that was NDA-locked. But he couldn’t agree to it. He needed to find out if A—if the impostor had survived. How could he ask about it if they took his ability to talk about it?
“I decline,” he said, staring her down. “It’s called a non-disclosure agreement. I don’t agree to my brain being messed with like that.”
She grimaced. “I’m sorry, Mr. Blake, but it’s non-negotiable. My orders come from very high places.”