Flare of Promise (Asylums for Magical Threats #3) (3 page)

“I suspect this Leyna person. Who was she again?”

Shaking her head, Petra motioned toward the hallway. “Just help get things ready for tonight. We’ll reconvene two hours before. In the meantime, I have some people to contact.”

Millie rolled her eyes. “Right, like all of those ones who turned down helping you with this assignment?”

Petra gritted her teeth and forced her voice to be even. “I did manage to get some help with regards to weapons and a place to stay, but I’m not going to argue with you any more. Leave before I take out some of my pent-up energy by punching you in the face.”

“As if you could best me.”

“You said that about Will, and he just about had you unconscious.”

Millie sniffed. “I had things under control.”

Petra massaged her temples. “You’re nearly as bad as my brother.”

“I’d say the same about one of mine, except he’s mellowed out a lot since finding love. Maybe you should try the same.”

“Yes, because a woman with dangerous enemies is quite the catch.” She waved toward the door again. “I need a break from you to regroup. Go.”

Studying her a second, Millie nodded. “I’ll check in with you in a few hours.”

As soon as she heard Millie’s door close, Petra let out a sigh and placed her head in her hands. Not because of Millie, although the woman tried her patience, but because Petra had exactly nine hours to contain her feelings about Will.

Despite her display of nonchalance with Millie, seeing Will again was going to be difficult. She couldn’t risk showing any sign of affection because she had a feeling that if she did, Will might try to pursue her.
 

Not because he felt the same way about her as she did him, but Will would want answers. Once he put his mind to finding them, he didn’t give up. The man had always been as stubborn as an ox. And given his new position, he might even have the resources and contacts necessary to find her later if he tried.

Rubbing her face, Petra inhaled deeply.
Right.
She could do this. All she had to do was save the man she still loved and then hurt him so badly he’d want nothing to do with her ever again. That couldn’t be that difficult, right?

If that were so, then why did her heart ache at the thought of never seeing William Evans again? Petra was starting to understand why people hired mercenaries to take care of a problem within a family. Attachments, no matter how well bottled up, made things fucking difficult.

~~~

Will had just managed to don his white coat and boot up his computer before Gio walked into his lab. Even though Will had seen the man’s face a hundred times before over the last few weeks, this time Will noticed something different. Gio’s usually calm and collected face was replaced with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes. Will asked, “Did you talk with your father?”

Gio took a deep inhalation and let out his breath. “Yes. He wanted to take away my high-level clearance.”

Will couldn’t care less about Gio’s relations with his adopted father. But Gio was the reason Will had his freedom, so he needed to ensure nothing went wrong. “Why?”

“Because Liang told my father I’ve spent too much time in the children’s research wing.”

Will shrugged. Liang was the director of the research facility in Sichuan. “You have spent too much time there. I told you to be cautious.”

Gio motioned with his hands about the room, asking if it was safe to talk. Since Will had neutralized the bugs, he nodded and Gio continued, “You know what they’re doing is illegal. Keeping first-borns locked up to protect both themselves and the public is one thing. But keeping children with no magical powers in prison and denying them an education, that’s criminal.”

“Spoken like a true future politician.”

“Stop it, Evans. I will find a way into the British Parliament and once I’m there, I’ll ensure the safety of humans and
Feiru
without violating the law.”

If given the chance, Gio would carry on about the future of
Feiru
-kind for an hour. Glancing to the clock, Evans changed the topic. “The volunteer test subjects are still coming, right?”

“Yes, they’ll be here momentarily. Although you want to make sure you don’t fuck this up, Evans.”

Will narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ever question my abilities as a researcher. If anyone will screw things up, it’s you. Stop asking so many bloody questions. Leave that to me.”

Gio’s voice was calm and steely as he replied, “Remember your place. One word from me to the scientists here about your strange, healing light and they’ll lock you up in one of the cells.”

“Threaten me if you wish, but you need me.”

Gio raised an eyebrow. “You need me as well. I did learn something from my father that may interest you.”

“And that is?”

“If we progress well and you can provide evidence as to what is causing these latent abilities, you might be able to work with the team studying E-1655.”

E-1655 was the serial number assigned to an elemental earth first-born female. Unlike most first-born
Feiru
who needed to point their hands to a particular compass direction to use their abilities, E-1655 could manipulate the earth regardless of where her hands were placed. “Is she still drugged in a semi-stupor in Hong Kong?”

Gio shook his head. “They’ve actually moved her to a secret location I don’t even know about. But they keep losing researchers any time they stop the drugs and allow the woman to regain full consciousness. Her magic is dangerous and she’s injuring people left and right.”

Will had spent the last two years looking for ways to eradicate elemental magic; E-1655 could be the key he needed to do it. “Has the woman given birth?”

“Not yet. They’re afraid to sterilize her. Some think it may affect her unusual abilities.”

Each first-born
Feiru
was assigned to an experiment track at the age of thirteen inside the AMT compounds. The mental, breeding, and gene therapy experiments had never sat well with Will. He preferred willing volunteers, not coerced ones. “I may be interested, provided we can solve the little problem of latent abilities first.”

“Good.” Gio’s mobile phone beeped with a text message. After reading it, Gio glanced up again. “They’re here.”

A flicker of anticipation flared in Will’s stomach. “Right, then let’s get started.”

Gio exited the room to greet the volunteers and Will followed. Talking about the future with Gio had temporarily helped Will forget about Leyna’s note. Hopefully his work would make time move quickly. Clutching the wad of paper in his pocket, the urge to run out of the building and search for the woman from earlier coursed through his body.

A small voice in the back of his head brought up the fact that if Leyna was still alive, Will’s entire reason for living over the last two years would become moot.

But he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Entering the main security office, Will nodded to the guards standing over three unconscious bodies in wheelchairs. One of the guards spoke up in perfect English. “They should be out for another thirty minutes.”

Will answered, “Right, then follow me. We need to secure them in their special quarters before they wake up.”

As he led the guards back toward his lab, Will glanced behind him at the two women and one man in the wheelchairs. For a split second, he wondered what their stories were. Did they have families? Had they been blackmailed into coming here? Where had they been before developing their strange abilities?

Then he remembered he might lose his freedom if he started to care. Much like he’d done for the past two years, Will pushed his emotions deep down and focused on the theories he needed to prove.

Chapter Three

Petra pretended to stare at her cell phone, but in reality, she kept an eye on the surrounding patrons of the restaurant where she was meeting Will. The room was on the small side, but clean and filled with about fifteen tables, plus a bar up front.
 

The local humans believed the AMT research facility was actually a British pharmaceutical company and their economy had developed around it. The restaurant Petra had chosen catered to foreigners, which meant German-born Petra fit right in. A few other
Feiru
and one human backpacker also filled the room.

Keeping her voice low, Petra murmured, “Update?”

Millie answered through the earpiece. “There is a large group of non-Chinese heading right this way. I can’t tell if Will’s in the group or not. But don’t worry, I have your back. I’m willing to undo a few buttons on my blouse and reveal the girls to distract the men if you need it.”

Only because she was sitting alone at the table did Petra not roll her eyes and give a rather colorful reply.

With nothing to do but scroll around on her phone to look as if she were reading something, Petra’s heart beat faster in anticipation of seeing Will.

Her life had changed a lot over the past two years and she wondered if Will would even recognize the woman she’d once been.

After giving up the pursuit of her PhD in chemistry, Petra had spent months learning hand-to-hand combat and self-defense. Her life had been safe in the beginning only because of her ability to cook meth. But she’d never trusted the drug lord who’d convinced her brother Dom to join his ranks. Not only had her martial arts skills saved their lives later, the discipline of daily practice had also helped Petra focus on her new life and forget about Will Evans.

Truth be told, Millie wouldn’t recognize the woman known as Leyna but now Petra. Leyna had loved to tease, scream at the sight of a spider, and had had a weakness for white chocolate. But Petra had to be strong, strategic, and clever. Gone were the weaknesses and easygoing nature, and in its place, she had developed a hardened persona.

The only question was whether Petra could retain her new persona while talking with Will or not.
 

Get a grip, Brandt. You’ve taken down powerful men and women. Surely you can handle one random scientist.

Nodding to herself, Petra looked up at the sound of people entering the front door. At the front of the small crowd stood Will with his strong jaw and close-cut beard. When he finally met her eyes, Will blinked.

Hoping to fool the other patrons, Petra smiled and tilted her head in invitation. Millie had sworn earlier that the head tilt, when combined with a revealing shirt and a suggestive smile, always worked to bring a man over.

Since Petra lacked Millie’s confidence, she barely restrained herself from tucking her hair behind her ears. Will had known her originally with short hair. Would he like her hair longer?

Stop it.
For both her safety and Will’s, they could never be together. The sooner Petra remembered that, the better.

Yet as Will walked toward her table, her heart pounded. She’d dreamed of the normalcy of going on a date with Will hundreds, if not thousands of times over the years. She may never be able to kiss him again, but she sure as hell could drink in his face and memorize it for the future.
 

Whether she liked it or not, Petra would probably love William Evans to the day she died. However, his life was more important than her desires. To save him, she would need to drive him away.

But, damn, it was going to hurt.

~~~

Will blinked at the sight of Leyna wearing a deep blue top that was cut low to reveal the tops of her breasts. Her light brown hair was longer than he’d ever seen it, but he loved the way it framed her face to make her green eyes pop. God, her eyes. He may have doubted the woman at first, but even from about six feet away, the eyes told him his beloved Leyna was still alive.

And he was determined to find out why.

He approached the table. Pulling out a chair, he slid in and kept his voice low. “Start talking.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So much for hello.”

Will glanced from the corner of his eyes, but all of his colleagues were busy talking amongst themselves. Since he’d told them he’d had a date with a new assistant, they wouldn’t question him having dinner with a beautiful woman.

Clenching his knee under the table, he pushed that thought aside and focused on the grief and pain he’d suffered. “At least you’re still smiling. We’re on a date, love. So keep up the facade.”

Leyna purred, “Oh, I can keep up an act as long as necessary.”

“So is that what I was, then? Part of an act?”

Regret flashed in Leyna’s eyes. But it was gone before he could blink. “Of course not. But I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m trying to give you a future.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Why now? You had no problem keeping quiet for two years.”

She answered in a low whisper. “Because I couldn’t stand the thought of you being locked away and used as a guinea pig.”

He almost believed the sincerity in her voice. Then he remembered the days after her death, filled with crying, shouting out in anger at anyone who tried to console him, and the self-imposed isolation. It had been pure hell.

If Leyna had cared for him at all, she would’ve sought him out earlier. The woman he’d loved back then would’ve cared about easing his pain instead of causing it.

Yet despite the memories of hurt and betrayal, a small part of him still wanted the truth.
 

To ensure no one overheard, Will moved his chair next to Leyna’s. Yet as soon as he did, her soft, feminine scent filled his nose. Despite the years between them, Leyna still smelled lightly of vanilla. He’d always told her it made him want to eat her up. Back then, she’d even blushed whenever he’d said it.

However, eyeing the current, hard woman next to him, he doubted this version of Leyna ever blushed. Hell, he was surprised she still had a heart.

Leaning down to her ear, the vanilla scent was stronger and he battled the urge to take a deep inhalation. If that wasn’t a big enough temptation, her warm cheek was right in front of him. Her skin had been quite soft back in the day. He itched to trace her cheek and find out if it were the same.

He might be angry at her lies, but he’d be a fool to deny his lingering attraction.