THE DAY BEFORE
MERIT
THE Kingsley was a blade of a building, thrust up through the city’s skyline.
But Victor hadn’t chosen the place for the modern aesthetics. No, the selling point had been its underground parking, which mitigated the problems of exposure—a tattooed man with a shaved head, a giant black dog, and a short blond child would always stand out, even in a city like Merit—and the closed-circuit security, which Mitch would have hacked by the time they unpacked, and—much to Sydney’s apparent delight—a rooftop garden.
Mitch set their bags down inside the door.
“Don’t get comfortable,” said Victor. “We’re not staying long.”
Mitch and Sydney shouldn’t have come at all, but Victor had long given up trying to dissuade them. Attachment was a vexing thing, as pernicious as weeds.
He should have left, before it ever took root.
“I’ll be back,” he said, turning toward the door.
Sydney caught his arm. “Be careful,” she said.
What a nuisance, Victor told himself, even as he rested his hand on her head.
“Careful is a calculated risk,” he said. “And I’m very good at making those.”
Victor pulled away, forcing Syd to let go, and left without looking back.
He took the elevator to the street and stepped out, alone, into the afternoon sun, checking his watch. It was just after three. According to Mitch, the doctor’s shift at Merit Central ended at five. Victor would be there to meet him.
Ellis Dumont.
A more spiritual person might have seen the EO’s sudden appearance as a sign of divine intervention, but Victor had never put much stock in fate, and even less in faith. Dumont’s presence in the matrix was convenient to the point of suspicion, his location in Merit its own red flag.
No, Dumont was either a gift or a trap.
Victor was inclined to think the latter.
But he couldn’t afford to stake his life on it.
His latest episode had crossed the four-minute threshold. He’d come back, but Victor knew he was playing a dangerous game. The odds were terrible, the stakes monumental.
It was Russian roulette, except that a bullet would be a cleaner end.
He had considered that, a quick, clean death. Not a suicide, of course—a reset. But that would introduce another factor, another risk. If he died again—truly died—would Sydney be able to bring him back? And if she did, how much of his power would be left? How much of him?
Four blocks later, Victor turned the corner and stepped through the sliding glass doors into a gym. He would have preferred to meet in a bar, but Dominic Rusher was five years sober, and in a moment of distraction Victor had agreed to meet him here instead.
He’d always hated gyms.
He’d avoided sports in school, avoided the weight yard in prison, preferring to hone his strength in other ways. He had enjoyed swimming, once. The soothing repetition, the measured breath, the way physical mass had no bearing on skill.
Now, as he strode past the hulking, sweating masses lifting weights, he had a vivid memory of watching football players trying to swim, attacking the pool as if they could muscle it out of the way. The current worked against them. They sank like stones. Spluttered for air. Bested by something as simple and natural as water.
Dominic was waiting for him in the locker room.
At first glance, Victor hardly recognized the ex-soldier. If the last five years had whittled Victor down, they’d had the opposite effect on Dom. The change was startling—apparently, as startling as Victor’s own transformation.
Dominic’s eyes widened. “Victor. You look . . .”
“Yeah, like shit, I know.” He tipped his shoulder against the steel lockers. “How’s the job?”
Dom scratched his head. “Well enough, all things considered. But remember that EO I told you about? The one making a scene?”
“Marcella.” Victor hadn’t meant to hold on to that name, but something about it, about her, had stuck in his mind. “How long did she last?”
Dom shook his head. “They haven’t caught her yet.”
“Really?” Victor had to admit, he was impressed.
“But the thing is,” said Dom, “they don’t seem to be trying. And she’s not exactly keeping the lowest profile. She killed six of our agents, clipped a sniper—hell, every day she does something new. But orders are to hold.” He lowered his voice. “There’s something going on. I just don’t know what. Above my pay grade, obviously.”
“And Eli?” prompted Victor.
“Still in his vault.” Dom shot him a nervous look. “For now.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just a rumor,” said Dom, “but apparently some of the higher-ups think he should be playing a more active role.”
“They wouldn’t do something that stupid.”
But then, people did stupid things all the time. And Eli could charm almost anyone.
“Anything else?” he asked.
Dominic hesitated, rubbing at his neck. “It’s getting worse.”
“I’ve noticed,” said Victor dryly.
“Yesterday Holtz found me heaving my guts out in a closet. And last week I broke into a cold sweat in the middle of a training seminar. I’ve claimed hangover, PTSD, anything I can think of, but I’m running out of lies.”
And I’m running out of lives, thought Victor, pushing off the lockers.
“Good luck,” called Dom as he left.
But Victor didn’t need luck.
He needed a doctor.
* * *
SYDNEY stepped out into the sun on the rooftop garden of the Kingsley building.
It was a blue sky day, but the air was still cold. It made her think of the lake, her thirteenth birthday, the skin of ice over the melted water. Her fingers tightened on her cell. The text had come in while she was unpacking, three short words that made her nervous.
June: Call me. Now.
Sydney called.
It rang, and rang, and when June finally answered, all Syd heard was music, too loud and fraying at the edges. June’s lilting voice broke through, telling her to hold on, and a second later the music dropped away, replaced by the low hum of an engine.
“Sydney,” said June, her voice high and clear. “Just the girl I need.”
“Hey,” said Syd. “We just got to Merit. What’s going on? Are you here?”
“On my way back,” said June. “Had a bit of work outside the city. Look,” she went on, “I need you to do something for me.”
There was a tension in June’s voice, an urgency Syd had never heard before.
“What is it?” she asked.
A short exhale, like static on the line. “I need you to tell me where Victor is.”
The words fell like a rock in Sydney’s stomach. “What?”
“Listen to me,” pressed the other girl. “He’s in trouble. There are some really dangerous people in Merit, and they know he’s here, and they’re looking for him. I want to keep him safe, I do—and I can—but I need your help.”
Safe. Syd’s mind tripped over the word. If Victor was in trouble—but why was he in trouble, and how did June know? Who was looking for him? EON?
She started to ask, but June cut her off.
June, who’d never even raised her voice.
“Do you trust me or not?”
She did. She wanted to. But—
“Where is he, Sydney?”
She swallowed. “Merit Central Hospital.”