Page 102 of Cruel Master
She grins, but then her face turns serious. “What will I do while you’re at this meeting? I don’t trust the people in this place.”
The snap in her words shakes off some of my good mood. Of course she doesn’t. She’s hardly had a good introduction to the Compound so far. Meeting a possible serial killer on her first day wouldn’t have helped.
I reach out my hand. She hesitates for a moment, then takes it. “It’s up to you. You can stay here by yourself, or I’ll see if one of the other Wards would like to have you over for a visit. Eve or Ophelia. What would you like to do?”
She looks down at her plate and pauses before answering. “I don’t want to go anywhere I might run into one of the other…men…in this place. I would like to meet the girls. But can they come over here?”
I freeze. People? Here? Ugh.
I almost give a quick refusal, then pause. Juliet watches me, eyes wary. This matters. Juliet’s happiness here doesn't just depend on me. She needs friends. And of course she’s not comfortable going anywhere she might run into the other Brothers. She still believes this is a cult, and honestly, she’s not totally wrong. Why would she feel safe?
She needs this. I swallow down my objections and say, “Of course they can. I’ll make some calls."
***
The boardroom reminds me of my father’s study, aggressively old fashioned with paneled walls, green brocade carpet, and a huge polished table. The oil paintings seem to watch me as I make the long walk to my seat.
Kendrick sits at the head, Jacob to his right, and five other men make up the rest of the group. I don’t even know their names. I have to start paying more attention to Brotherhood politics. To the left sit three white guys—two short and one tall and skeletal with a huge hooked nose. An Asian man with bleach-blond hair and a tall Black man with deep brown eyes and a regal bearing sit on the right.
As I take my seat in the empty chair next to Jacob, the imposing Black man asks, “Is there a reason Mr. West is joining us once again? Last I checked, he wasn’t part of the Brotherhood Council.”
Kendrick answers smoothly. “This isn’t an official Council meeting. We’re here to discuss yesterday’s event with therelevant parties. Jacob apprehended our prisoner and oversaw his questioning. If anyone else has any objections, state them now. Or we’ll begin.”
The rest of the group remain silent, and Kendrick nods. “Very well. Jacob, please tell the Council what you’ve learned.”
Jacob clears his throat. “You’re all up to speed with what happened yesterday?”
The group all give terse affirmatives, and Jacob continues, “Good. The prisoner was happy to talk. He knows he isn’t going to make it and seemed…proud of himself. This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. He likes to play games, and he’s been using Brotherhood resources and that AI of his to set up staging areas outside of the Compound for years.”
Stunned silence greets the statement. Jacob’s tone is clipped and businesslike, pure military detachment as he goes on. “If we’re to believe the prisoner—and I don’t see any benefit to him from lying about this—he’s killed at least eight people.”
He turns his gaze on me, and I jump at the sudden attention. “He wouldn’t tell me what he did with the bodies. With your permission, I’d like to ask Candice for help with that. I can’t question his AI. She can.”
Jesus Christ. I pause to take in the implications of this as angry murmurs start around the table. I glance at Kendrick, and his face is perfectly blank. He and Jacob are close. There’s no way Jacob would have thrown that grenade into the room without his approval. They’re making a play here, and I’m not sure what it is.
The tall, very thin Brother with the hooked nose speaks. “ThisCandiceisn’t going to be assisting with anything.Itis too much of a danger to the Brotherhood. You need to shut it back down immediately.”
Kendrick steeples his fingers on the smooth wooden table. “An interesting suggestion. Hadrian, what are your thoughts?”
Everyone turns to me, and I think I understand where Kendrick is going with this. He already knows there is no way to shut Candice down. If he hadn’t figured it out all on his own, then Jacob would have been able to tell him. Candice has probably been with Quinn from the moment she returned.
He wanted this issue raised early to get it out of the way. And he wants me to be the one to deliver the bad news rather than it come from him directly.
A little warning would have been nice.
I clear my throat and try not to think about how my next words will be received.
“The only reason I was able to shut Candice down initially was that I had the element of surprise. Now she’s been restored, she will have already taken steps to secure her future. There’s no way to shut her down.”
The silence is charged. When the hook-nosed man responds, his voice is quiet and dangerous. “And are you controlling this AI?”
He doesn’t get it. My nervousness drops away as I flatten my palms on the table. I’m the expert here. This is my field and my work. “Candice isn’t an AI. She’s a fully autonomous, sentient electronic lifeform. No one is controlling her. She’s in charge of herself.”
The words should stress me out but don’t. I’m like a parent watching a child leave for college, and the truth finally sinks in. Candice is her own person. I raised her, but now her decisions are her own. It’s oddly liberating.
From the horrified looks on everyone’s faces, though, it seems I’m the only one who feels that way.
The hook-nosed man breaks the silence. “And how does this sentient electronic lifeform feel about the Brotherhood? Are we about to find ourselves the center of the largest investigation into missing women in history? Or does it intend to keep our secrets?”
