“I’m Donna Dixon. And you are?”
“I’m Dr. Evans.”
Donna blinked her eyes quickly; flutter might be a more appropriate word. Bloody hell, was she flirting with him? The woman purred, “Do we really need to be so formal?”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. What department did you work in again?”
Irritation flashed in Donna’s eyes. Good. Maybe she’d take the hint. Will had zero interest in romantic entanglements. His own freedom depended on the success of his research.
Leaning on his arm for support, Donna answered, “I’m a genetic research assistant.”
Will was careful to keep the disdain from his voice. “For the children?”
“Yes, of course.”
While Will’s work focused on adults with latent magical abilities, the Sichuan research facility had a much bigger secret. The children born inside the AMT compounds to inmates were shipped to China at a young age. A team of scientists studied them for genetic shifts because of the experiments conducted on their mothers. It was all part of the AMT Oversight Committee’s bigger goal to eradicate magic.
However, Will didn’t agree with hiding the children away from the world, especially for the innocents born without magic.
Still, he couldn’t afford to alienate the other research staff. His own boss, Giovanni Sinclair, had bigger plans that required their cooperation.
Wanting to rid himself of the woman’s company, he placed an arm around her shoulders and maneuvered them back toward the entrance. “I’ll help you inside. But after that, I really must go back to my lab.”
“I’d love to see your lab. I don’t think you’re in the same department as me and it’d be fascinating to see what you’re up to.”
He glanced down at Donna. His gut told him something was off about the woman. “What level clearance do you have?”
She answered without missing a beat, “Seven.”
The highest level was five.
Will stopped and swung the woman around until he had her shoulders pinned with one arm and his thumb at her carotid artery with the other. “Who are you and what do you want?”
The woman murmured, “I’m sorry about this,” before she elbowed him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him.
Donna tried to sweep his foot to knock him off balance. Since Will had spent the last two years training against any sort of attack, he moved his leg out of the way and tightened his arm around the woman’s throat. She elbowed him again and he grunted. But there was no way she was going to win. Another few seconds of pressure against her artery and the woman would fall unconscious.
He couldn’t wait to find out who she was and why the hell she was lying about working at the research facility.
Of course, the bigger question was why someone was targeting Will at all. His abilities were a secret, or so he thought.
~~~
Petra cursed as Millie and Will tried to disarm each other. From the look of things, Will was winning.
She cou
ld either show her face and use Will’s reaction to knock him unconscious or she’d have to chance shooting a tranquilizer dart from her current position.
Given that she was at least 400 feet from Will and Millie, only luck would guarantee the shot with the equipment she’d brought with her.
Tossing her binoculars to the side, Petra spoke so Millie could hear her through the earpiece. “I’m coming, Millie. Find a way to stay conscious a little longer.”
As she took off down the hill toward the exercise path, Petra took out her Taser. The tranquilizer would knock Will out for far too long. The last thing she needed was for his absence to be noted. Yes, she wanted to rescue him, but she also needed time to escape.
Pumping her legs as fast as she could, she drew near where Will and Millie were having their altercation. Millie had snaked an arm behind her and Petra watched as she grabbed Will’s balls and twisted.
Even as Will cried out in pain and loosened his grip, jealousy shot through Petra’s body. She had no claim on Will Evans, but she didn’t like any other woman’s hands on him.