Page 4 of Avenger of Sins

After all, the army was funding Project Solomon, not SPECTR. And if he was careful, and clever, he could recapture Fifteen and make him a part of the project.

It was doubtful Fifteen would see reason and become a willing participant…but that detail had never stopped Harlow before. It certainly wouldn’t now.

“I don’t know precisely,” John said. “It wasn’t…that sort of relationship anymore.”

Kaniyar studied him carefully. He made certain to keep his attention on her instead of…what was his name? They’d met briefly during the rougarou outbreak.

Andy Bertin, that was it. Empath. So either Kaniyar didn’t trust him to tell the truth, or she didn’t trust herself to spot a lie.

That thought gave him pause. Kaniyar had moved through the world with Pittman at her side for as long as he’d known her. To the point, maybe, where she no longer felt comfortable without an empath present, silently observing every conversation, then dissecting it with her after.

“You’ve already asked that,” Caleb said to Kaniyar, and Goddess, John was grateful to have him there. To have someone he could trust implicitly, with no questions, no doubts. “I think it’s our turn to ask a few questions. Such as, Pittman claimed you didn’t know about Operation Mephisto, but I’m not sure I believe that.”

“You can believe whatever you want,Mr. Gris,”she shot back, emphasizing the name she’d invented for him. A reminder: the only reason they were free, walking around, was because of her tolerance.

She’d misjudged Caleb if she thought that would be enough to shut him down. “The state school knew,” he said with absolute certainty. “Or at least some of them did. They had to.”

Kaniyar’s mouth tightened. “I suspect you’re right. I haven’t exactly had the time to do a thorough investigation into a project that was shut down over a decade ago. Nor do I have time now to humor you. Lives are at stake.”

Caleb bristled. “So why are you in here harassing John, when?—”

“Caleb,” he said, and though he didn’t raise his voice, Caleb instantly fell silent. “Let me handle this.”

Caleb slouched back in his seat, arms folded over his chest. The movement hid most of the blood and gunshot wounds on his torso. Wounds John had put there.

He hadn’t even seen Caleb—well, Gray at the time—as someone he knew. Just an NHE between him and his objective, Kaniyar.

John cleared his throat, pushing down the keen sense of betrayal that cut through every other emotion. “As we speak, Ryan is probably pulling names out of Pittman’s mind. Assembling a kill list. I can’t tell you who they are, obviously.”

“Does he have a safehouse?” Kaniyar asked.

A part of John wanted to laugh. “Where can he go to be safe? To get away from SPECTR? We tried when we were kids. But it didn’t work. None of us escaped, except maybe Megan, and she turned into a fucking naga.”

He touched the necklace he’d taken from her rotting body, and now wore around his own neck. A simple crescent moon with a zircon chip of a star, the sort of jewelry worn by teenagegirls everywhere, because that’s what she’d been. Just a fucking ordinary kid, who had the misfortune of being born to parents whose love had conditions on it.

An expression of discomfort passed over Kaniyar’s face. “I didn’t know,” she said, and it was the only time he’d ever heard her try to justify herself, her actions, to someone else.

“Nowhere is safe, and Ryan knows that,” John went on. “He’ll move as fast as possible and take out as many of the bastards as he can. What other choice does he have?”

Kaniyar arched a brow. “He could choose not to kill them.”

“They could have chosen not to torture us in an underground bunker. But here we are.”

Kaniyar’s lips pressed into a thin line. She didn’t like his answer.

A part of him longed to give her what she wanted. Murdering people in cold blood wasn’t the answer, or at least, he didn’t want to believe it was.

But he no longer trusted his own judgment. Not because of anything Ryan had done, but because of SPECTR. They’d kept him in the fold, let him believe a lie about his past, given him a state-sponsored education, then sent him to their academy to have his views of the world further shaped by their carefully chosen curriculum.

He’d been a true believer. Made SPECTR his whole identity, because he thought they’d saved him.

Lies, all of it lies.Hewas a lie.

“Will he hurt Agent Pittman?” she asked, and he noted a flash of fear in her eyes, a tremor in her voice, there and gone. “Or the pyrokinetic?”

“He’d never hurt Jo. Physically, I mean.” Ryan had done plenty of damage by controlling them, but John doubted he’d see it that way. “As for Pittman…I don’t know. He might.”

“He beat an old man to death,” Kaniyar said heavily.

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