Seeds of Iniquity (In the Company of Killers, #4)(44)

“You mentioned you had something else on her?” I say, trying to ignore it. “Something to add to what I found out?”

“Yes,” he says, turning away from the screen entirely, and putting his back to it. “I had Woodard run her DNA through the data files I took with me when I left The Order. I wanted to see if she matched up with any of the operatives that were under me when I worked for Vonnegut.” Victor leans against the edge of the table. “There were no matches with any of the operatives, but there was a match with one of our hits.”

“Who?”

“Solis,” he says. “Six years ago when we first began looking for Solis, like Niklas said when he was confessing to Nora, we did not have anything on this man except that he had been in contact with Claire. But several years later, we were closing in on him and he was shot. He got away and to this day he is believed to still be alive, but because he was shot we were able to get a blood sample.”

“Nora’s related to this Solis, isn’t she?” I ask, my eyes filled with anticipation.

“She is his daughter,” he confirms. “The DNA proves it, and the story she told you only solidifies the truth further.”

“Who is Solis?”

“He’s one of the leaders of the Shadow Sect who breeds people like her.”

I look over Victor’s shoulder at Nora again.

“So then this has to do with Claire,” I say and Victor looks somewhat surprised. And proud. He smiles and I go on. “Other than Solis, Claire is the only other connection.” I don’t even know why I’m saying this, or how any of it makes sense, but I feel it in my gut to be true.

“I think you’re onto something,” Victor says, still smiling.

I think he already came to this conclusion himself before I did, but he doesn’t want to ruin my ‘moment’. I let it slide this time.

“So then do you by chance have a DNA sample on Claire?”

“No,” he answers quickly. “Claire wasn’t a hit or an assignment of mine so I had no reason to keep records on her.”

“But Niklas did?”

“He retrieved samples from Claire, and he turned them over to The Order, but did not keep private records as I did. When he left The Order, all of the information he obtained as an operative, he left behind.”

“So then that leaves us at a dead end,” I say.

“There are no dead ends,” he says. “There is always a trail; sometimes they are just harder to find.”

I think about Niklas and Claire again, and all of the things Nora and even Niklas have said to me. After a moment I work up the courage to say, “Do you think that…your love for me is a weakness, Victor? Do you ever worry that your feelings for me could get in the way of what you do?” I don’t want to know the answer, but I need to.

Victor fits his hands about my elbows, brushing his thumbs against my skin. He looks into my eyes with a soft, longing look of study.

“If it ever did, I would deal with it.”

At first, I’m happy with his answer, until my paranoid mind starts running away with me again.

“You’d deal with it how?” I ask with a nervous tenor in my voice and a look of uncertainty in my eyes.

He sighs and then presses his lips to my forehead.

“Izabel,” he says softly, “yesterday I knew what you were going to say but didn’t. When you were talking about how I couldn’t become someone I’m not simply because I’ve developed feelings for you.”

I look away from his eyes, but he brings both hands up and holds my face within them, reclaiming my gaze.

“I would never kill you,” he says with determination and sincerity. “I know my brother has probably filled your head with nonsense—he wouldn’t be Niklas if he didn’t try to hit you where it hurts the most—and I’ve known for a while that you still have concerns, but I could never hurt you”—his fingers put pressure on my cheeks—“I don’t expect you to simply believe me, just like that, and never think about it again, because you’re not na?ve. You’ve been through too much to put your full trust in someone so fully and so easily—not even me—and I accept that. But look into my eyes, Izabel”—his hands squeeze my cheeks gently—“look into my eyes and tell me that you don’t see a man who would do anything for you. Tell me, with that uncanny ability you have to read others, that you don’t see a man who is in love with you, who would kill for you…and a man who would die for you.”

I swallow hard; the backs of my eyes are beginning to sting.

Victor’s lips fall on mine.

When the kiss breaks, he’s smiling faintly at me; his long fingers combing through the hair down the side of my face.

I smile back, giving him my answer.

“Oh Vic-tor,” Nora’s singsong voice streams through the speaker system, “you can’t avoid this forever. Clock is ticking.”

We turn around to face the screen together.

“I’m really looking forward to your confession, Faust.” She smiles up at the camera.

I look over at him. He’s still staring into the giant glowing screen, a deeply contemplative look at rest on his handsome face.

“I hate to say it, but she’s right, Victor—there isn’t much time.”