Page 63 of Wired Strong

All was well; he looked perfect. In fact, he glowed with optimal health.

This was how the Master had stayed ageless!The revelation broke over him, a secret the Master had never shared. But in the end, the Master had been mortal—killed by a blade, as any man could be—as Connor could be.

But if he was careful, he could live a long, long time. No telling how old the Master had been.

Connor stepped out of the pool and donned the fresh white robe Nine had left for him, reborn.

Chapter Forty-Five

Connor

Back in his chambers,Connor allowed Nam to dress him in a ceremonial whitegito address the men. Both of his servants were grateful for what he had done in killing the Master—he could feel it in every touch of Nam’s hands as the man tightened his robe, flicking imaginary dust from the sleeves, and he sensed it in Kupa’s gaze from across the room.

Connor addressed Kupa. “You know Pim Wat best. Where do you think she will have gone?”

“I would have said to her sister’s house. But the helicopter pilot did not take her to her sister’s neighborhood, and Malee is still in the hospital.”

Connor’s brows drew together. “What did she do to Malee?”

“She cut the Achilles tendon in the back of her ankle. She told me she was paying Malee back for the help she gave Sophie in recovering her child. I have not been able to get any more information from the hospital, though I have tried,” Kupa said.

“Sophie will want to know this. I have to get a message to her. I already provided her with proof of the Master’s death.” Connor addressed Nam. “See what you can find out about Malee. The Yam has contacts in Bangkok Hospital.”

Nam nodded.

Nine knocked briefly, his coded pattern, and entered Connor’s chambers. He turned and closed the door behind him, lowering the security bar. “I have organized a team of six of our best assassins. I will lead the team to go after Pim Wat.”

Connor turned to face his loyal lieutenant. “No. I will lead the hunt for her.”

Nine drew himself up and put his hands on his hips. His stance was one of confidence and authority, a change since he’d helped Connor deal with the Master’s death; his energy field pulsed with rich new color. “Master. Please reconsider. You need to stay here and lead the men. Keep them on their routine, reassure them. Show them that nothing has changed.”

“But what if I want it to change?” Connor said.

Nine’s small, dark eyes narrowed. “You must move forward to occupy the Master’s role. It is what he wanted. And it is what the men, and the Yam Khûmk?n as a whole, need. Keep routines stable until we eliminate Pim Wat. Then, make changes when your authority is secure.”

Connor pushed a hand through his hair, rubbing the soft bristles under his palm. “I want to deal with her myself.”

“That is a luxury you cannot currently afford,” Nine said in his measured way.

“We are here to support you.” Nam and Kupa, arm in arm, approached Connor. “We know how hard this has been. Let Nine deal with Pim Wat. Take the time you need to grieve, and know that we are loyal only to you, and will care for you while you’re vulnerable,” Nam said.

“Yes,” Nine said. “I, too, am loyal only to you—but also to the Yam Khûmk?n. Your place is here, for the good of all.”

Connor felt his agitation settling. “Let’s sit down. I need to be able to speak freely.”

His co-conspirators joined him at the round work table. Connor spread his hands on the table’s surface, showing them his unmarked hands. “At the moment of his death, the Master revealed that he had killed the Master before him. He told me that this was how the mantle of leadership passed from one Master to the next. But I never aspired to this role. I’m not sure I want it.” He met each of his friends’ eyes in turn. “I moved against Pim Wat and the Master because they threatened Sophie and her children. I have wanted to be free to pursue a life with the woman I love.”

The three faces looking at him were inscrutable—but he could see by the changes in their energy fields that they didn’t like what he was saying.

Connor forged ahead, mustering his focus. “Of course, the first thing we have to do is eliminate Pim Wat. She’s a threat not only to me, but to Sophie and her family. We know from what she did to Malee that she is out for revenge against all those who injured her, and we know that she said she wants Sophie’s children. But with the Master gone, I don’t know what she’ll do next.”

“I have a plan, Master,” Nine said. “We will activate all of our informants and their networks. I will split the team and send half of the team to the Philippines to check the Master’s island there, as I lead the group going to Bangkok. You, as the new Master, command everything that he did—and the men need you now. They will be afraid, and fearful men are angry men.”

Connor winced—Nine was telling the truth.

Nine went on. “Keep the routine. Do the things that the Master would have done. This transition can be bloodless and peaceful. In the end, I believe that’s whathewould have wanted.” Nine met Connor’s gaze honestly. Connor saw the grief in it, a grief he shared for the man they now just called “he.” A man with purple eyes, who no longer had a name.

Would there be a time when Connor’s name had been forgotten too, when no one alive even knew it?“If you think this is best.”

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