Invaded (Alienated, #2)(46)

The tightening of Isaac’s jaw showed he agreed.

“After the Patriots murdered Eron,” Aelyx continued, “I fought for your kind. I begged The Way to give you another chance. Now you have it, and you won’t stop trying to assassinate me.”

“Whoa, there.” Isaac flashed a palm. “I already told you I had nothing to do with that.”

“Maybe not you specifically, but when you preach hatred, how do you expect your followers to respond?” Aelyx delivered a stern warning. “If one of them succeeds in killing me, there’ll be no one left to plead your case. There will be no alliance and no solution to the water contamination.”

“What is it you expect me to do?”

“Support the alliance,” Aelyx said. “Publicly.”

Colonel Rutter added, “Without mentioning the water crisis. If you do, there’s a military prison cell with your name on it. We don’t need riots and hoarding on top of everything else.”

“How am I supposed to justify a sudden change of heart?” Isaac asked. “I’ve been battling this alliance for two years. I’m still against it. My members will think you brainwashed me.”

Aelyx pushed the microscope across the table as a grim reminder. “I’m confident you’ll think of something.”

Isaac gazed into his coffee as if the answer might drop from the heavens into his cup. Seconds ticked by, turning to minutes.

“Think of your son,” Aelyx pressed. “Without this alliance, he won’t live to see thirty. And it won’t be an easy death. Have you ever seen what dehydration does to a man? His lips will crack. His muscles will cramp and his head will throb. If he’s lucky, his heart will fail before his skin begins to—”

“Enough!” Isaac pushed away from the table, his chair loudly scraping against the floor. “I’ll do it. But if your leaders don’t hold up their end of the deal, there will be war. I swear it.”

Colonel Rutter bristled at the threat, but Aelyx waved him off. “I’ll get the technology myself if I have to,” Aelyx said. “But I can’t help you if I’m dead.”

Isaac snatched his coat off a nearby chair. “None of my people will touch you. I’ll make sure of it.”

Before he charged toward the door, Aelyx called, “Wait,” and handed him the first jar of water. “If you ever doubt what I’ve told you, look at this sample beneath a scope and see how quickly the blooms multiply.”

Isaac took the jar, careful not to make contact with Aelyx’s skin, then stuffed it inside his jacket pocket and wiped his hand on his pants as if he’d touched filth.

What a bastard.

“Well, that didn’t go too badly,” Colonel Rutter said after Isaac had left. He stood and clapped Aelyx on the back. “Now all we have to do is keep you alive till spring.” Gathering his supplies, he beamed and said, “Easy peasy.”


When Colonel Rutter returned Aelyx to the hotel an hour later, the penthouse was crowded with politicians and publicists—none of them smiling. Confused, Aelyx made his way into the room, then stopped short when his gaze landed on the television screen. Someone had paused the program, but he recognized it at once. His own image stared back at him from a hotel sofa he shared with Cara’s parents.

Somehow the botched interview with Sharon Taylor had aired.

Stomach dropping, Aelyx glanced around the room for an explanation. He grew cold when he noticed the ambassador glaring at him from the dining room table. No doubt, Stepha would punish him for this.

“What happened?” Aelyx asked.

“She leaked the whole thing,” the PR specialist said. “We’re not sure how she did it, but I assume she was wearing a hidden camera and transmitting the footage offsite.”

“So it’s…”

“Everywhere. And the response isn’t pretty. HALO leaders are already calling for your arrest.”

The room exploded in simultaneous conversation as everyone bickered over who to blame and what to do next.

Colonel Rutter’s voice carried over the crowd. “Simmer down. We’ve got backing from Isaac Richards now. Whatever the damage from that interview, we’ll call a press conference and have him put out the flames. This isn’t the end of the—”

Stepha raised a hand and silenced the colonel. “It’s late. We will continue this discussion in the morning.” A few objections arose, but Stepha insisted that everyone leave, even David, who begrudgingly agreed to wait in the hallway. Within minutes, the room cleared until only Aelyx and Syrine remained.

“I’m sorry,” Aelyx said. He doubted it would help, but he meant every word.

The ambassador showed no sign of emotion. “You know what has to happen.”

Aelyx could only nod.

Stepha led the way into the living room, where he settled in his armchair and instructed Aelyx and Syrine to take the sofa. Right away, Aelyx noticed the iphet resting on the coffee table and his shoulders clenched of their own volition.

“I haven’t administered a Reckoning since I accepted the post of ambassador,” Stepha said. “I find the task demeaning.” He wrinkled his nose. “And I loathe the smell. It reminds me of my own childhood indiscretions.”

Syrine shifted beside Aelyx on the sofa and wrung her hands. She’d nursed him through his first Reckoning at age six. Afterward, she’d empathized with his pain so acutely she’d vomited her breakfast. Aelyx wished Stepha would dismiss her. She didn’t need this anxiety.