Page 24 of Gluttony
“And if you can’t fix it, you eliminate it. Quickly. We can’t have this thing running around uncontrolled. We don’t want to unleash chaos until we’re ready, and we’re not ready.”
Falcon’s fists clenched at her side. “You want me to eliminate it?”
“It”—Julius waved at the cage—“him”—he waved at Wayne—“whoever. I don’t care. Just fix it.”
Her violet eyes flicked toward Wayne, then back to the leaf littered cage. “But the plant had no choice in its existence. It had no choice in what it became. It was hungry. I released it to feed. It shouldn’t die for my mistake.”
“For Christ’s sake, darling. What’s gotten into you? The plant is something we created touse. If it can’t be useful, we get rid of it. Call it a practice run, a failed experiment, a pile of trash, whatever you need to get the job done. Just bring it back and under our control or exterminate it. We do not need this kind of attention. If we can’t salvage this massive hemorrhage of Syndicate funds, we cut our losses. Understood?”
She nodded. Julius cast a disparaging glance at his enforcer, who raised a questioning eyebrow in return, then he left.
Falcon, or whoever she was, watched the empty doorway for what seemed like an eternity. She was so still that Wayne began to believe she’d turned into stone, or the plant had left some of its petrifying venom behind. Light from the LEDs brightened her silver hair and accentuated the red stains on her white leather jacket lapels. The blood wasn’t from the corpses littering the base. It was the old blood of men who hadn’t done their jobs. It was failure. When she finally moved, it was for her shoulders to droop, and a sigh to escape.
“Find the sentient plant,” she said in a low monotone voice. “And I might let you live.”
She walked out of the room, leaving Wayne to think debt collectors were the least of his worries today. If he failed to find this plant, there would be no tomorrow.
Seven
Tony cameto with his eyes glued shut. Around him, people spoke in hushed, urgent voices. He could open his eyes, but his training had taught him to always seek the advantage. Whether it was higher ground, information, or to make the enemy come to you, a battle was won if you were smart about it. Keeping his eyes closed—for strategic reconnaissance, he told himself—he focused on gathering what information he could.
He was cold.
The air smelled like disinfectant.
The voices were hollow, echoing as though they were in a room with hard floors and walls.
A bright light shone behind his eyelids, trying to push through.
A rhythmic beep to his right… a heart monitor.
He was probably in the medical room, which made sense if he’d blacked out.
What were they saying?
“…bioluminescence isn’t supposed to be hot.” Parker’s deep grumbling tone was unmistakable. “It’s a cold light. I don’t understand how he’s turned something benign into something so destructive. Frankly, he’s a menace in this state.”
“Goddammit, Parks. It wasn’t his fault,” Liza mumbled under her breath. “See how well you control yourself when you first meet your mate.”
“I control myself fine.”
“You haven’t met your mate yet, ass-wipe.”
A masculine huff. “We’re just lucky Flint was in the back, and no wives or girlfriends were in here. Misha’s pregnant, for Christ’s sake.”
“Wyatt took the brunt of it. Misha was far away. Stop your whining,mijo.” Tony’s mother, Mary, had joined the group, or perhaps she’d been there all along. A warm pressure on his hand meant she’d taken it within her own. It took every ounce of self-control for Tony to hold back a reaction.
Mary had stood with her children, through thick and thin. She’d defied orders from the Hildegard Sisterhood to eliminate them as children, instead choosing to rescue them from the Syndicate. Her entire life had been on the run, and it was only through her inexplicable psychic abilities that she’d kept the family hidden. She’d taught them how to fight, how to be deadly, how to love. Now that their destiny was calling and Mary’s abilities were failing, she’d been unable to hide her increasing feelings of inadequacy from the Seven. But she’d been there. Always. So had Flint.
Whatever was going on with Tony, he knew Mary and Flint would never judge, never leave. Could he say the same for the rest of his family?
A huff and a grumble that could only come from Parker. “I’ve only managed to decipher half of Gloria’s notes. She mentioned bioluminescence, but nothing to explain how the photons could be amplified into some kind of emission of electromagnetic radiation.”
“Speak English, bro.”
“Tony’s body is converting energy into visible gamma rays. He’s got the power of a blue sun inside him. If he can’t control it, his life will never be the same.”
“Dum, dum,duuum. Don’t be so dramatic.” Tony almost laughed at Liza’s attempt to lighten the situation with her ominous sound effects.
