Page 56 of From the Noblest Motives
Dr. Parma let out a slow breath. "He was here right under our noses all this time."
"You ever meet with this Noisette guy in person, Doc?"
"No. Messages exchanged. Documents. I had his ID photo, but I never met with him. There would've been no reason to."
"Not your fault you didn't recognize him, then." Blaze drummed his fingers on the seam of his jeans. "What's your gut tell you, Doc? Are we safe with him? IsDamiensafe with him?"
"In the long run?" Dr. Parma made a considering noise. "Most likely not. From what you've told me—from what we now know—Cyril's had access to information and spaces he shouldn’t have for far too long. I suspect that most of what he does, admirable though his motives might be, is highly illegal and will prove dangerous to all three of you if you stay with him too long. In the short term, until Shudder is recovered? Probably safe enough. Cyril has an obvious obsession with his own security."
"Wish I knew his end game, Doc. Some of the things he says—" Blaze shook his head. "I dunno. I just don't know enough yet."
"I'll do some digging on my end." Dr. Parma fixed him with a steady, granite-serious look. "Because I wish I knew, too."
Blaze twitched as a shadow passed over the grass to his left. He jerked his head around to look up. "Doc, did you send a Guild gunship for us?"
The hesitation was just long enough to convey her shock. "No. Blaze, get back to them. Get them out of there."
12
VARIANTS OF THE MIND
The protests at the capitol had become an encampment—variant activists and Human Firsters taking opposite sides of the parkway. Damien wasn't certain what to feel as he watched the news coverage. As long as there had been variants, there had been people who feared and hated them because of that fear. But this. This was all the whispers and background machinations of both sides coming out into the daylight. The bigoted and the righteous faced each other as entrenched armies, with all the things not said aloud for years suddenly screamed across a strip of grass not wide enough for a soccer match.
It took one false arrest. One traumatized voice. The right voice…one martyr.
What had Cyril said?A dead martyr is a powerful symbol. Not a thought Damien wanted to take to its logical conclusion. Not one he wanted to consider any longer that day. Shudder was very much alive, thank you.
What did one say to a long-lost, or more accurately, long-hidden father who might be involved in unethical or possibly evil things? Damien wished he was better at people skills. Asking questions. Yes, he was good at that. Asking them in such a way that he didn't destroy a tentative parental relationship—not great.
He heaved a soft sigh and kissed Shudder on the cheek.
"That was nice. Any reason?" Shudder wriggled back into his pillow nest with a little grin.
"I need to go find Cyril. There are things he needs to answer."
"Oh." Shudder started to get up. "You want me with you?"
Damien pushed him back into his comfortable spot. "I'd like to say yes, but I think I need to do this on my own."
"He won't say certain things in front of me. I get it. My feelings are definitely not hurt. No, no, it's fine."
A corner of Damien's mouth twitch up. "You just want all the attention."
"Yes?" Shudder caught Damien's hand and kissed his fingers with something close to his usual bright smile. "You knew that about me the moment you met me."
"Maybe notthatmoment, since I wasn't conscious."
"That sounded suspiciously like a joke."
"Hmm." Damien stroked the tender top of Shudder's head where bristly stubble was beginning to crop up. "I'll be back before you wake up from your nap. And Blaze should be here soon."
"True." After a jaw-cracking yawn, Shudder murmured, "It's good to have Blaze back."
While that might have referred to Blaze's returning from his jaunt to call Dr. Parma, Damien was certain Shudder meant in a more general sense. He couldn't disagree. Having Blaze back, no matter how short a time, had lifted the anxious gray pall that had settled over Damien when he'd left Blaze standing in Shade's valley, as if the color had been restored to the world.
It is good to have Blaze back.
Yes, and for more than personal reasons. Blaze's instincts had led to crucial information, and Dr. Parma had called Damien on the secure line, where he listened on his earpiece, only answering in vague affirmatives as she filled him in.
