Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(76)

Justin had the scent. He could barely contain himself. “How many?”

Hiroshi turned back to his ego. “Twenty-five, spread out over a two-year period—but they’re one off from the two you’re focusing on. Twenty-nine and twenty-eight years ago.” When no response came, he tentatively asked, “Is there something else?”

“No,” said Justin, slowly shaking his head. “You’ve been more than helpful. Thank you.”

When Leo finished up his assessment of the house—finding no definitive answers—he, Justin, and Mae decided to catch dinner in the grant before their flight. That was one perk of visiting land grants. Sure, outsiders often received cold treatment, but if you could suffer through that, the cuisine was outstanding. The three of them found a sushi place that served plebeians, though Justin barely noticed the excellent food. His mind was still trying to find the pattern, to beat sense out of the jumble of data he’d been given.

“So what did you learn today?” Leo asked. “Because I can tell there’s something going on in your head. Our cute waitress smiled at you, and you didn’t even notice.”

“I noticed,” said Justin. “And I learned all sorts of things. One is that a bunch of castal eights and nines were born twenty-seven and twenty-eight years ago and that our victims are among them. Twenty-nine and twenty-eight years ago, a bunch of plebeians died near castal borders.”

“And?” asked Mae. “What’s your brilliant deduction?”

Glancing at her, he momentarily lost his train of thought. How did she fit into this? Despite her claims, it seemed too incredible that she couldn’t have some connection to the other victims. Of course, he was missing an awful lot of connections right now and had to admit as much.

“I don’t know. The only thing I’m pretty confident of is that we’re dealing with some pissed-off geneticist. I’m working on the rest.”

He wouldn’t give them any more than that, and after a while, his silence turned them to other topics. In fact, by the end of the meal, Mae and Leo seemed to be on pretty good terms with each other, which was a nice change. Justin’s ego rang just after he paid the bill, and he excused himself from the table when he saw the call was coming from Internal Security. He returned a few minutes later and found Mae and Leo looking remarkably serious as they talked. Both fell silent in that sort of uncomfortable way that indicated they didn’t want him to know what they’d been discussing.

“Everything okay?” Mae asked after several moments.

“Yeah, actually. They brought in Geraki. You want to go meet the most dangerous man in the Republic?”

The predatory look in her eyes was answer enough. Justin didn’t share nearly the same excitement. He didn’t want to talk to Geraki at all. But he had to find out what had prompted the house visit with Tessa, and SCI had said in their call that they probably couldn’t hold Geraki too long. If Justin wanted a shot at talking to that madman, he’d have to do it when they got back to Vancouver. Fortunately, Internal Security’s detainment center had open visiting hours, and he and Mae went straight there after their flight landed, leaving Leo to connect to Portland.

They went down to the building’s lowest floor and waited in an interrogation room while a soldier fetched Geraki. When he was brought in, Mae sized him up with a glance and waved off the soldier’s offer to stay or at least restrain the man. Although Justin and Mae remained standing, Geraki took a chair and leaned back, putting his feet up on the small table. He looked about the same as he had four years ago, except maybe even smugger.

“Dr. March, at last,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to welcoming you home.”

“By intimidating my—family?” Justin supposed Tessa might as well have been.

Geraki made a dismissive gesture. “Bah, I did nothing of the sort. I just had a chat with that girl, who’s adorable by the way. You should adopt more provincial orphans.”

“She’s not an orphan.”

Geraki had already moved on, his gaze settling on Mae. “And you…you really are magnificent.”

Justin was used to Mae’s admirers. It happened a lot in their travels. But as Geraki’s dark eyes swept her, Justin somehow knew it wasn’t her beauty Geraki was complimenting. He was assessing something else in her, something more intangible. He can see it, those powers that come and go, even if they aren’t possessing her right now.

They leave a mark, Magnus confirmed.

Why have you guys been so quiet? Justin asked them. I thought you wanted me to talk to him.

We do. We just don’t like being around the wolves, said Magnus, enigmatic as usual.

Mae was at full alert, her body crackling with tension and power as she looked Geraki squarely in the eye. Justin was suddenly reminded of their first encounter in Panama, when she’d stood by him in the alley, wearing the plum-colored dress and bracing herself for action. She was like that now, coiled and ready to spring if Geraki did anything remotely dangerous. Recalling the exhilaration in her eyes each time she fought, Justin wouldn’t have been surprised if she actually wanted Geraki to attack.

“You’re a lucky man, Dr. March.” Geraki’s awed expression finally shifted to admiration—no, not quite. More like wistfulness. “I have twice as much devotion and not half as many blessings. But I suppose eventually your job will be greater than mine.”