Conall’s brain glitched.
“After the meeting,” Maya said firmly, planting one hand on Conall’s shoulder. She pushed him gently upright. “Someone should watch the kids…”
“Max has got it,” Syd said confidently. As if obeying a silent command, Max pivoted and stalked toward the opposite side of the warehouse, and the tiny children in their little protective circle.
Maya cleared her throat. “No offense, but are you sure…”
“Trust me,” Syd told her with a feral smile.
Max stopped a few feet away from the children. In an instant, the dour expression melted away, replaced by a brilliant smile as he clapped his hands together. “Okay, who wants to learn about something fun, like quantum physics?”
Oh, fuck. Conall was screwed.
TECHCORPS PROPRIETARY DATA, L1 SECURITY CLEARANCE
When apprehending the Silver Devils, take special care not to permanently damage 66–793. I’ve invested too much time and money into him to let an idealistic fool like 66–615 ruin his future potential.
Internal Memo, January 2086
THIRTY-TWO
Conall fled two seconds into Max’s lecture on quantum theory, and Maya pressed her lips together into a firm line to keep from laughing. Conall lost his heart regularly and swiftly—and predictably. Max would likely last as long as all the others did.
Then again, Syd had returned to her earnest conversation with Nina, and the two of them seemed to be hitting it off. Even Knox looked relaxed, which was rare around a stranger and damn near miraculous around a stranger vetted by Ava. If Max and Syd became a regular part of their lives, Conall’s crush might not get an opportunity to subside.
Resolving not to tease him about it—unless he started teasing her—Maya swept up her tablet. And dropped it again just as swiftly when the familiar silk of Gray’s voice curled around her.
“Need some help?”
Maya spun on her stool, opening her arms. “You’re done already?”
“Yep. Savitri gave me a clean bill of health.” He was standing on his own, his arms steady as they folded around her. He felt amazing. Strong and solid and alive. “Still a few patchy holes in my memory, but she said that’s to be expected.”
Maya leaned into his chest and savored the warmth of his embrace. “Where is she?”
“She headed out already.” His lips brushed the top of her head. “Had shit to do, I guess. As any criminal, nightclub-owning genius neurosurgeon likely does.”
She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “Does that mean we get to sleep in my bed tonight?”
“Absolutely,” he replied in a low voice full of promise.
It would have been easy to tilt back into the giddy memory of how good it felt to kiss him right there, but Nina lifted her voice. “Okay, grown-up talk inside.”
“Later,” she whispered. “When we’re alone, you can grown-up talk me.”
Gray’s laughter carried them into the kitchen, where they found Savitri sitting at the head of their table, as regal as if she had her ass planted on her throne at Convergence.
Dani stood there, watching her as she nursed a steaming cup of coffee. “I found her here. We might need to beef up our security system.”
Gray just shook his head. “I thought you left.”
“It didn’t seem prudent.” She waved her hand at Syd. “You have such interesting guests. I don’t want to miss whatever comes next.”
Maya was sure she didn’t. Information was gold for Savitri, and God knew there was plenty of that sitting around the table. “Is this you calling in your favor?”
“Maya, don’t be crass.” Savitri tapped her fingers on the table. “I just thought I’d raise a few pertinent questions you might be able to answer. Like how Richter found you, and who’s in charge of security now that he’s gone.”
Maya focused on the easy question first. “Who’s in charge? It’s honestly hard to say. Richter was jealous about his power. He didn’t trust his subordinates with it. The only person he trusted…” The ache of betrayal had faded, but she still had to force the words out. “We just found out that his data courier turned herself in. Normally, she’d be decommissioned—”
“Murdered,” Conall clarified darkly.
“Yes,” Maya agreed. “But Cara’s probably the only person left at the TechCorps who knows all of Richter’s plans. They definitely need her. They might be stupid enough to think they can use her.”
The buzzer for the front door went off, and Dani abandoned her mug on the counter. “I’ll get it.”
“That covers the second question,” Rafe said. “But not the first. How the hell did Richter know to set that damn trap?”
“It wasn’t by something as simple as tracking Mace,” Knox confirmed. “It had been carefully planned. Hours in advance.”
“More likely days in advance.”
The deep voice came from the direction of the door. Jaden Montgomery stood there, and even for him, his glower was fierce. He stopped at the head of the table, and his gaze found Nina’s. “We were the leak. Lucas was working for Richter. He confessed to me after he heard what happened. He gave Richter all of the information you passed to us. He claims Richter promised him that you three ladies wouldn’t be harmed, but…” His jaw tightened. “A promise from Richter means nothing and he knew it.”
Dani cursed softly, but Nina just stared at him. “What are you going to do with him?”
Jaden’s expression didn’t change. “I dealt with it.”
“Uhh…” Conall raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”
“No.”
“Not even a hint?”
Jaden’s silent stare made Conall sink back in his chair, both hands raised in silent apology.
“I guess that’s that, then.” Gray crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless it isn’t. Nothing in the rule book that says there can only be one leak.”
Nina shook her head. “Wondering won’t help, and it doesn’t matter, anyway. We’re not just going to sit here and wait for the TechCorps to come after us again.”
“And they will,” Knox said. “We have to assume that, if nothing else, Cara Kennedy has already told them we’re still alive.”
“What about the server access I procured for you?” Ava asked from where she leaned against the wall, carefully situated to be able to see all of them and both exits. “That should give you some insight.”
“I think that’s been burned,” Maya admitted. “Conall just intercepted a memo. They’re shifting all communications about Richter and Cara to in-person only. We have to assume that anything relevant we come across going forward was planted there for us to find.”
“Assuming they don’t shut me down entirely,” Conall grumbled.
Savitri’s gaze found Maya’s, and her lips curved in a tiny smile that whispered of shared secrets. “I may able to do something about that,” she murmured, and Maya remembered her confession on the roof.
Adam is everything I made him to be.