Page 59 of Amethyst Flame
Ruskin must’ve caught a glimpse of my bitterness. “It’s not your fault either. I would’ve found you eventually, even if you hadn’t gone for the bait. Between Greg and Brayden, security was hampered, but we’re rebuilding the records and would’ve zeroed in on you finally. You just skipped ahead to the good part.”
“Yeah, this is great,” I muttered. Stepping back from the containment shield, I gestured surreptitiously with a finger of my own—the middle one, for luck—and sent out a few moths to find the limits of my cage. I’d meant to be devious, but the moths skipped along the shield and flared purple before ashing again.
Still, I saw enough to know I was surrounded, just like the vial of the dragon configuration had been shielded.
But nowIwas the vial, and my moths were a wild tornado of anxiety inside me.
Ruskin watched avidly, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “Amazing. How far can they go? How long do they last? Can they draw on you as an energy source at a distance? What level of complexity do they—?”
“I don’t know,” I said, way louder than was necessary. “It’s only been a few months. And I had other things to do.”
Why weren’t they coming?
She tucked her chin like I’d offended her. “Other things more important than an exponential leap in our understanding of nanotechnology?”
I glanced away. “Had to work, didn’t I?”
Abruptly she stood, nudging the chair back with a squeal. “You work here now. This is your job.”
“Being stuck in a cage?” I wrinkled my nose. “Uh, how about thanks but no?”
I would not be their lab rat.
She strode to the nearest console and tapped out a command. Even without my moths telling me, Ifeltthe shield drop, the strange air pressure and sound dampening disappearing.
I tensed, ready to run. This might be my only chance to escape.
Ruskin turned to me, straightening. “Are you ready to start?”
“Um…” My gaze arrowed to the hallway that would take me to the elevator, back to the sunlight…where the boys had better be waiting with the Kidnapper.
“This thing happened to you.” Her voice was low, almost hypnotic. “Not because you’re some metaphysical Chosen One. Not what you intended or wanted. But it happened. What you do next matters for you and for the world.”
Damn. She could’ve been Dane’s more elegant echo.
Was she going to kill me…or dissect me…or what? Because it sounded like she wanted me to do what Dane wanted me to do: learn the tech.
And wasn’t this why I was here? To find out what was coming with the dragon.
“You’d trust me to do this work after”—I cranked my jaw—“everything?”
“You’re the one with all the power here, Imogen,” Ruskin said quietly. “So I guess the question is, do you trust me?”
I had the power? Wow. I might’ve thought as much to myself, but had anybody else said it aloud? Certainly it didn’t stop them from telling me what to do anyway.
“You don’t think I’ll just say yes and then, like, run away?” Because running away still sounded pretty damn appealing.
“You could’ve stayed away from BantaMatrix—any sane person would have—but you came back,” she noted. “Why would you run now?”
She had me there even if she didn’t have me trapped anymore. And it seemed like death and dissection weren’t on Ruskin’s mind.
But still I hesitated.
It was one thing to wish I knew what I could do, but to finally have the opportunity to work with someone who could help me find out? Somehow that was scarier than not knowing. Like all those people who won a mega payout lottery only to realize they still didn’t know how to balance a checkbook or say no to deadbeats.
Okay, maybe a big shoot-out rescue would be premature. Maybe the boys should wait. With all my might, I willed them tohold their positions.
Ruskin waited another moment then took a sidelong step, the curious flow of fabric in her wide-legged pants swirling around her as she cleared the path to the doorway—to my escape. “You can say no or take time to think about it. But for what it’s worth, I think you’d be an excellent research partner. Curious, not arrogant, familiar with limitations but not bound by them.” She let out a breath. “Do you know why I started BantaMatrix?”
