Page 54 of Nick

Greg was bolt-upright on the bed, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as if he were somehow superior. “It’s easy to guess,” Greg said immediately. Greg turned to spear him with a look that would make a lesser male shiver. The expression on his face was flat and emotionless. “That doesn’t mean you’ll get anything from me.”

“That’s all there is to it, right? Fifteen years together, and now you betray and refuse to give me anything.” Nick shook his head in disappointment.

Greg replied, “You know I used to admire you,” casually without seeming worried. He didn’t seem concerned at all about being in prison.

Nick raised his eyebrows in response. “And now?”

Greg laughed harshly. “Ha!” he exclaimed. “Now you’re delusional.” Greg sneered. “Becoming close to animals and treating them as though they are humans!” Greg scoffed and raised his hands.

“Are you kidding me?” Nick sneered back at him. “You were there with me,” he snapped. “When we discovered them chained like animals and beaten to within an inch of their lives, we were horrified, and now…”

In disbelief, Nick shook his head. How could they or he have missed Greg’s fanatical side?

It never occurred to him that any of his team members would join humans for humans or accept anything the radical humans were saying about Numbers. But here was Greg, sitting before him, ready to risk his life and loyalty to Numbers, all for a cause Nick couldn’t even fathom.

Harper nodded when he glanced at her briefly to determine whether she was alright.

“Now what?” Greg replied sarcastically.

“It’s a betrayal of me and them,” Nick exploded, his hands clenched. “It was you,” he said suddenly, a thought rising in his mind.

“What was me?” Greg asked with a nasty smirk on one side of his face.

There was no doubt that the question was loaded. There were a number of things Greg could have done.

“You searched Perdy’s car?” he snapped.

Greg laughed loudly, as he arched his eyebrows.

His sharp glare and obvious anger told Greg that his antics did not amuse him. He was so angry with Greg that he was having violent thoughts about him and was likely about to act on them if the bars weren’t there to restrain him. Greg should count himself lucky.

Greg’s face turned red as he screamed, “You betrayed us first!”

He stumbled and put his hand on his chest. “I betrayed you,” he whispered unbelievably. He repeated the question louder, angry now that the words had sunk in. “I betrayed you!” he said, his sadness and confusion almost mirroring his own, a realisation that he had gone against everything he had ever believed in.

“Yes, you did.” Greg pointed up above them. “They aren’t humans. Yes, they’re intelligent, but you can say the same about monkeys.”

A look of disgust flashed across his face as he recoiled from the words. “Can you hear yourself at all?” Nick asked, tilting his head to see him better in the dark cell. He clenched his fists and hardened his gaze, determined not to allow Greg’s words to deter him from his values.

“You’re the one who doesn’t listen to yourself—spouting off about taking care of Numbers, giving them homes, and giving them our land. How long before they take our jobs, our homes? Lila and Cain have made that thing…”

He smashed the bars of the cage with his fist. “If you say another word, they won’t be able to find your body.”

Suddenly, Greg laughed cruelly, “Oh yes, I forgot there’s also the little…” When Nick reached for the cell door, Greg paused.

It seriously crossed his mind to get the guard to open Greg’s cell door and beat him with all he had. If Greg spoke in a derogatory manner about Sylva or Darby again, he would suffer more injuries than he could count.

With his hands raised, Greg laughed. “It’s not natural.” He snapped his fingers. Looking deranged, he spat, “You know that.”

“And you think people like Howard are?” Nick clenched his teeth so hard he had to force the words out. Seeing Greg flinch when Howard’s name was mentioned gave him satisfaction. “You haven’t asked what happened to your friend.”

“I heard him singing dementedly in the direction where the animal used to be.”

Drake was the animal he was referring to. The Number Greg had helped hurt so badly. His mind went fuzzy with an intense, unfamiliar rage that left him feeling almost physically pained.

A tiny hand shot out, stopping Nick dead in his tracks as he stepped forward. A disgusted expression appeared on Greg’s face, his face screwing up, his lips peeling back as soon as he saw Harper’s arm.

Inhaling and exhaling for patience not to kill Greg, he asked, “You heard him singing?”

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