The Overseer stared back, a dozen guards around him all bristling with weapons. The goons were all Merrick-sized. Our only way forward was through a unit of super soldiers.
“Nathaniel.” The Overseer canted his head to one side in question. “What are you doing with my prisoners?”
Chapter 20
TESS
No. No! This wasn’t happening. Not after everything we’d done.
The Overseer wore that smile I hated. Small but gleeful—the one displayed by every fairy-tale villain right before he burned a village to the ground.
Simon Novalight beckoned us out of the lift, and we had no choice but to enter his spacious command center at the apex of Starbase 12. There was no more up from here, and down didn’t really matter when the Overseer controlled the elevator.
“I just heard about a possible rebel infiltration here. I’m bringing these prisoners to Dark Watch 12 for further questioning,” Shade answered. He knew the man he was impersonating. The intonation, pitch, stiffness—he almost sounded like Bridgebane. Almost.
“Dark Watch 12?” The Overseer’s hard stare bore into Shade, as if trying to peel back the layers of his mask. Behind him, the huge window panels offered an unparalleled view of Alpha Sambian, clouds floating over oceans, green continents, and mountains. “I wasn’t aware that either you or your ship were anywhere near here. Or that rebels were running amok on my starbase.”
Shade didn’t miss a beat. “We only just received the intel. I was about to contact you to verify it. I wanted to lock this lot up somewhere safe in the meantime. I failed to properly deal with Quintessa the last time we met. It’s time to rectify that.”
The Overseer studied Shade, expressionless. “Is it?”
Shade nodded, a quick military-efficient dip of his chin that fit perfectly with Bridgebane’s head.
“And you needed an old blind woman and Reena Ahern for that?” The Overseer didn’t even glance at the women he spoke of. He looked my way briefly, his suspicious gaze like a reptile slithering over my body. It was Merrick he focused on.
Sanaa saw his focus, too, and instantly put a knife to Merrick’s throat. I worried, though… Was this ruse already up? Handcuffs wouldn’t hold a super soldier. Neither would a knife.
“They’re leverage,” Shade said with the same dead flatness Bridgebane used when he spoke.
Without comment, the Overseer turned and typed out something on the big control panel next to him. I stopped breathing when the elevator doors shut, trapping us at the top of the starbase. There was only one other area up here—the family living quarters. Except, this monster had no family.
The Overseer turned back to us with a Grayhawk in his hand. He leveled the gun on me, his cold brown eyes screaming triumph down the barrel. “Quintessa won’t talk, and I don’t need her anymore. So, you won’t mind if I—”
I dove on instinct, popping open my cuffs to break my fall. The shot hit the goon behind me. I twisted, grabbed his gun as he dropped, and swung it on the Overseer.
“Your turn.” I aimed and fired.
The Overseer took a step back, a flash of surprise animating his features. I spun to my knees and hammered off another shot right at his black heart. I’d never aimed to kill before. I didn’t regret it for a second. I’d destroy this bastard twice if I could.
His guards took aim at us but didn’t return fire without his order. And he just stood there, metal glinting from his chest. No blood seeped out. He smiled again, and this time it wasn’t the village he was going to burn, it was the whole damn universe.
Fear contaminated my wrath. I fired again, the deafening bang of useless shots echoing back to me as violently as the recoil pounding up my arm. Like the walls on Starway 8, the Overseer’s dark-brown uniform was impenetrable and absorbed the impact.
I stopped shooting but kept my gun up.
“You stupid girl,” he sneered. “People try to kill me every day. Do you really think I wouldn’t make myself bulletproof?”
My hostile gaze dipped up and down his body. I adjusted and aimed for his head.
His mouth flattened in acknowledgment of a strategy that might work—until he turned his gun on Jax instead. “Throw the gun away from you. Now.”
Scowling, I set down the gun and sent it spiraling off. With my other hand, I swiped a flash blast from the dead goon’s belt and folded the small weapon into my grip as I stood. Whatever happened next, I wouldn’t be on my knees for it. If I was going to die, I’d die on my feet and do some damage before I left.
I lifted my chin in a fuck-you that I hoped slapped the Overseer right across the face.
His eyes narrowed. Jax, Merrick, and Ahern still appeared to be in cuffs. Was he questioning that?
Sanaa distracted him from his scrutiny by prodding Merrick with her knife. “Knock it off,” she growled when Merrick twitched. She shoved him closer to Shade, which forced Shiori farther back.
The Overseer focused on his long-favored general again. “Nathaniel, I suggest you get control of your niece and prove your loyalty, which I’ve been questioning of late.”
Shade’s jaw hardened beneath the mask. He modulated his voice, dropping it to a low, clipped tone to try to emulate Bridgebane’s. “You have no reason to question my loyalty. I’m with you—as always.”
The Overseer pursed his lips. “You didn’t kill her when she was eight. You let her go just a few weeks ago. You brought me a paltry amount of her blood as some kind of stall tactic. You disappear for days on end. And now this?”
As his voice rose in fury, something occurred to me: the Overseer had only one friend, one person he trusted. Bridgebane was it. And while Bridgebane’s capacity for lying and subterfuge was impressive, the Overseer hadn’t wanted to see what was becoming plain enough.
That faith and trust were crumbling now. I could see it in the Overseer’s expression, like rocks tumbling down the side of a cliff, breaking apart as they crashed together, the raw insides exposed to the harsh light. Because of me, in a short amount of time, Bridgebane had taken one too many risks. Now, doubt glared from the darkening flush spreading across the Overseer’s face.
“You got the blood you wanted from the early GIN subjects,” Shade said briskly.
“And then I lost them.” The Overseer pounded a fist on the edge of his console. The skin whitened around his mouth. The look he turned on Shade was like cocking a gun—primed and ready to go off. “Do you know anything about that?” Accusation flicked a spark toward the gunpowder in his voice.
Shade stiffened his shoulders. “I attempted to get them back. DW 12 fired shots on those rebel bandits.”