her head.
He glared as the knock came again,
but went to the door and looked through
the peephole. His shoulders relaxed and,
with a rueful smile at Remy, he unbolted
and unchained the door and opened it.
“Well, Grandfather,” said Cat as she
breezed in. “How wonderful to meet
you.”
N
ineteen hours
Wyatt and Remy were a half hour late
to the midnight meeting with Vaughn and
the others. The tardiness was due to the
unexpected arrival of David and Cat and
the sort of family reunion that occurred
between grandfather and granddaughter.
But when he and Remy walked into
the mayor’s private office, Fence looked
at Wyatt knowingly and winked. “Duu-
uude.”
Wyatt gave him a fuck-you glare and
went to stand across the room where he
could watch or pace, and yet be out of
the line of sight. He was also, purposely,
near the door.
“Nice of you to join us,” Vaughn
said. He seemed to make no effort for
civility in his tones. Wyatt couldn’t
really blame him, but he wasn’t in the
mood to be benevolent. “I trust there
were no problems that delayed you?”
added the mayor. “Remy hasn’t been
identified?”
“No problems,” said the woman in
question, looking around as she selected
a chair. She’d been ecstatic about
changing into some of the clothing he’d
rescued for her, and while Wyatt, David,
and Cat were talking, Remy showered
and changed into her new clothes.
Problem was, she’d pulled on a sleek
blue tank top that made it hard to look
anywhere but there. And then there was
the question that popped into his mind
. . . was she wearing the thong, or the
lacy black panties?
Hell.
This was, Wyatt reminded himself,
viciously rerouting his thoughts, the first
time she had been in this room, meeting
with the mayor and his friends. She
seemed at ease, surprisingly so, and
smiled when Sage reached over to
squeeze her arm. The two women
exchanged brief words, and then Remy
looked over at Jade and nodded. The
other woman patted her on the shoulder,
concern lining her face.
Wyatt leaned against the wall and
folded his arms over his chest. “Well?”
“The city council has decided it’s in
the best interest of the city to turn
Remington Truth over to the Strangers,”
Vaughn announced.
“The city council can go fuck itself.”
Wyatt would have swept Remy up and
been through the door if Simon hadn’t
moved. Strong fingers closed over his
forearm and the other man placed
himself in Wyatt’s path.
“Wait.”
It was the calmness and fierce
understanding in Simon’s exotic eyes
that had Wyatt easing back into his
place. He allowed himself a brief glance
at Remy, careful not to linger too long—
just enough to see that she wasn’t
horrified or upset. Sage still held her
hand, their fingers clasped together.
“The
council
feels,”
Vaughn
continued as if there hadn’t been an
interruption, as if he hadn’t just
delivered a damned death sentence, “that
there is no way to protect Envy or
otherwise divert an attack by the
Strangers. If they come in by helicopter,
dropping explosives, we have no
recourse. They have motorized vehicles
as well—we have no idea what other
sorts of weapons they have. We’re
sitting ducks, and they’ve ensured that
the evacuation process has been halted.
The buildings are old, and although
well-maintained, it’s clear that warlike
activity can and will destroy them and
cause innumerable casualties.” He
looked around at them all. Dark circles
swelled under his sunken eyes and the
grooves in his face had grown more
pronounced. “There’s simply no way to
protect the people of Envy. And I am in
agreement with them.”
He looked over, his steady, calm
gaze clashing with Wyatt’s. It took his
last iota of control to remain quiet and
still, allowing his eyes to deliver the
message of
Fuck you, sonofabitch. I’ll
show you agreement.
Vaughn looked away, transferring his
attention to Remy. “Let me be clear: I am
in agreement that there is no way to
protect the city. But understand that I am
not, for one minute, suggesting that we
turn you over to the Strangers.”
“Which
means,”
Elliott
said,
breaking the snapping tension, “we have
to find another option.”
“What other option? There is no
other option.” Remy stood abruptly,
dragging her hand out of Sage’s grip.
“There’s no way to protect the city, no
way to get out of it, no place to be safe.
That leaves one choice: give them what
they want.”
“But it’s not really you they want, is
it?” Quent pointed out, his voice clipped
and formal, rising over the instant
reactions of the others. The voices
quieted. “They want the Mother crystal.”
“We can’t give them the Mother
crystal,” Ana exclaimed just as Remy
said, “I’ve spent the last twenty years
protecting that stone. My grandfather, for
whatever reason, risked his life—and
mine—to get and keep it. I’m sure as
hell not going to just give it to them.
Then what would stop them from
attacking Envy anyway?”
“What would stop them from
attacking us if we gave them
you
?”
Wyatt snarled, pushing past Simon to
glare at her. “Not a goddamn thing.
They’ll do what they want. They have
the might, the weapons, the technology.
So there’s no sense in risking—”
“There are the tunnels,” Jade pointed
out, pitching her voice loud enough to
hear over the others. “They don’t know
about the tunnels under the city. We can
evacuate or at least hide down there—
like bomb shelters. Even though there
are
wixy-big-ass
snakes.”
She
shuddered and glanced at Elliott.
“Already in progress,” Vaughn said,
looking at her. His smile was faint and
humorless. “We’ve already begun to
evacuate through them, but we have to
do it carefully and slowly. If the
Strangers find that entrance, they’ll
blockade it as well. So we’re being very
careful. And we don’t know what
information is being passed to them by
Goldwyn or anyone else.”
Wyatt felt some of his tension ease.
At least someone was thinking. “The
ocean?” he asked, looking at Fence and
Ana.
For once the big man’s expression
was tight and sober. “Ain’t no chance
there. Ana and I were there checking
things out. The motherfucking Atlanteans
have their crazy shield up again—
anyone tries to get past it in the water’ll
fry their asses.”
“Which means,” Ana said, “they’ve
got to be in communication with the
Strangers and are supporting them. The
shield just appeared this morning. The
timing isn’t a coincidence.”
“So we put some people safely
below the ground, others in the sturdiest
structures possible,” Wyatt said, his
mind clicking along. Hell, he hadn’t
been in a war in Iraq for nothing. “We
have to have some defensive weapons of
our own—Molotov cocktails at the very
least. And others. We can hold them off
—”
“Listen.”
Remy’s voice cut into the discussion,
and, surprisingly, everyone quieted and
looked at her. She stood in front of
Vaughn’s desk, the center of attention,
turning to look around the room. Hands
on her hips, her glossy black hair pulled
into a long, loose braid that fell over one
shoulder, her startling cobalt eyes bright
and steady, she spoke. “I’m the one they
want. The only way to keep them from
attacking Envy is to surrender myself to
them. And I’ve decided that’s what I’m
going to do.”
The room surged into a cacophony of
negation, but Remy held up her hand and
continued to speak. “I’m not finished.
First of all, it’s my choice. Second, there
is
no way
I am going to stay hidden here,
cloistered away, while the city is
attacked—even if you believe there are
some safe hiding places. Someone’s
going to get hurt or killed, and I don’t
want that on my conscience. You,” she
said, whirling to spear Wyatt with fierce
eyes, “of all people should understand
that
.”
He closed his mouth, pressing his
lips into a hard line. But that didn’t keep
him from glaring back at her.
Always
knew she was fucking crazy.
“And besides that,” Remy continued,
“we don’t know why they want me—
maybe they just want to talk—”
“Jesus Christ,” Wyatt exploded. “Of
course they don’t just want to ‘talk’—”
“They probably just want to know
where the Mother crystal is.” Remy
raised her voice to be heard over his,
lashing out at him. “And killing me or
even hurting me won’t get them what
they want.”
“Unless they just want to torture the
information out of you,” he shouted back.
“Then it might hurt a
little fucking bit
!”
All at once he realized the room had
gone silent, that he and Remy were
nearly chest-to-chest in the middle of
everyone, both heaving with anger, and
everyone was looking everywhere but at
them.
He
stepped
back,
desperately
channeling calm, spinning away even as
his hands trembled with anger. And fear.
“The bottom line,” Remy said, her
voice low and subdued, her cheeks
flushed red, her eyes averted from
Wyatt, “is that it’s my choice. And
whether the rest of you support it or not,
agree with it or not, it’s what I’m going
to do.”
Wyatt opened his mouth, desperately
searching for something to say, but Sage
stood. She quelled him with a look, then
turned to Remy, putting her arm around
her. “Then it’s our job to make it as safe
for you as possible, you brave woman.
You’ll go with guards, with an escort. In
full view. You can parlay, and we’ll
have your back.”
Remy nodded, and Wyatt saw her
lips move in a tremulous smile. So she
wasn’t as foolishly fearless as she
seemed. “Great plan. Thank you.” She
turned to Vaughn. “You can tell
Goldwyn to bring the message.”
The mayor nodded gravely. “Unless
some other option presents itself
between now and tomorrow night.
Which it’s my sincere hope it will,” he
added, rubbing her on the shoulder.
“Remy, I’m sorry to tell you this, too, but
the mob group led by Mary Proudy is
getting
louder
and
stronger.
It’s
imperative that you remain anonymous
and safe. My apartments are the most
secure—”
“She’ll stay with me,” Wyatt said,
easing away from the wall. His
movements were deliberately casual, but
the look he gave Vaughn was not. The
room stilled, quieted, and he didn’t
understand why.
“Is that all right with you, Remy?”
asked Vaughn, purposely placing himself
so Wyatt couldn’t see her face, his back
presented to him.
“Yes.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Wyatt
said. Done. He was done with this, done
with all of this. And his hands were
shaking.
F
or safety reasons, a large group
accompanied Remy and Wyatt back to
his room. But none of them lingered; in
fact, they seemed eager to be off—with
the exception of Fence, who stepped into
the room and wandered around, looking
about as if to ensure its security hadn’t
been breached. Or maybe he was just