Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

I gave him a brief rundown of everything I’d caught, then added, “Whatever the Daybreaker project is, it’s sucking up huge amounts of money and is in danger of making Winter Halo broke.”

“If it is the project behind the kidnappings, I doubt Sal’s partners would care overly much—not if they achieved their aims.” He took a drink. “Did you get anything else on it? Any mention of links to the missing children?”

“Nothing I picked up from Charles indicated he had any knowledge of the project beyond its finances. Although funding did begin around the same time the children started going missing.” I shrugged. “Seeking isn’t an exact science, you know, even for someone like me.”

“Someone who was specifically created to seduce and steal, you mean?”

“Yes.” I returned his gaze evenly. “You surely can’t have a problem with that, especially when it’s being used to help save those children.”

“I have a problem with the concept—”

“And yet you’re using Ela and her telepathic skills in the exact same way.”

“—of creating life with specific skill sets in mind,” he continued, ignoring my remark. “Life is sacred. It should be a creation of two people rather than one of science.”

“Being created in a tube doesn’t make me any less of a being, Jonas.”

A smile ghosted his lips. “Most would disagree with you.”

“I can’t change what I am.”

“And I cannot help the prejudices of my past. You, however, are something of an outlier.”

I frowned. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning,” he said, draining his cup, “that I have been unfair in treating you with suspicion and distrust—even if it was initially deserved—and I’m endeavoring to rectify that. But you need to stop treating every statement I make as an attack.”

I half smiled. “I know.”

He stared at me for several heartbeats, his expression unreadable, then nodded, once. A deal had been struck. Now we just had to both keep it.

He pushed upright. “Another coffee?”

I shook my head and watched him walk across to the autocook. Like most cats, he moved with a predator’s grace.

“When do you meet Charles again?” he asked.

“Tomorrow for lunch. I’ll try to pin down more information about both Daybreaker and his boss.”

Jonas crossed his arms and leaned against the tower’s wall as he waited for his coffee to be made. “Has there been any evidence of contact between him and Rath Winter so far?”

I shook my head. “But as senior financial director for the company, he surely must have.” I paused. “Have you had any luck finding someone for me to replace?”

“Nuri’s pinned down two possibilities. She’s going to read them today and see if one is a fit. If she’s successful, they’ll be here tonight.”

I frowned. “I hope she’s careful. Both the corps and Sal’s partners are obviously suspicious of her.”

A smiled touched his lips again. “They won’t even know she’s in the city. She may not be a body shifter, but magic has many uses.”

“Including disguises, obviously.” A huge yawn broke free and I waved a hand. “Sorry, it’s not the company. It’s just been a long night and I can’t get downstairs to my bunk until tonight.”

“You can’t shadow in light?”

“I can, but it’s physically draining.” Mainly because it involved creating a light shield that blocked all light, providing me with a capsule of darkness in which to shadow. “It’s something I do only in extreme emergencies.”

“Then sleep here. The air bed is basic but comfortable enough.”

I frowned somewhat dubiously at the pack near the tower’s door. It wasn’t so much the thought of sleeping rough after all these years, but rather sleeping knowing he was here, watching me.