Chapter Twenty

T he kiss between Lucas and Inda seemed to go on and on. Eventually, though, they had to come up for air, forced to breathe in the toxic poison slowly hissing through the vent above them.

Out of sight in the corner, Lucas pressed his forehead against hers and they held onto each other. “Thank you, Inda,” he whispered.

“For what?” Her voice cracked and tears filled her caramel-colored eyes. Tears and regret. “I failed you.”

“No, On?a . You made me fall in love . ” He cupped her face, looking deeply into her eyes. Eyes that he could stare into forever. A tear slid down her cheek and he caught it with his thumb, brushing it away. “I fell head over heels with your nunchucks-swinging, rock-climbing, fearless, totally badass self.”

She choked on a sob. “I fell for you, too, Lucas.”

They held onto each other tightly, preparing for the worst, when Selma’s angry voice echoed through the speaker.

“What the hell is going on, Nathan?” she demanded.

Jumping apart, Lucas and Inda exchanged a confused look. “Why are we still alive?” he asked.

The loud hissing sound filled the room, but…it wasn’t coming into their lab.

“Oh, my God, it’s coming through the speaker,” Inda exclaimed. “It’s in Selma’s room!”

Lucas and Inda stayed low, but dared to look into the adjoining room where Selma faced the opposite window, hands on her hips.

“I don’t understand,” she cried, sounding completely shocked.

“I’m sorry, Selma,” Cross said, his voice cool and unapologetic, “but it never would’ve worked out between us.”

“Holy shit,” Lucas hissed. “He’s testing the Novichok on her .”

“But, I killed Marcus. So we could rule The Agency together.” Her voice hitched and she clutched at her throat, suddenly struggling to breathe.

“Only one of us can be in charge,” Cross stated. “And that, my dear, is me.”

Gasping, Selma collapsed to the floor, struggling to draw in air.

“Tell me what’s happening, Doctor.” Cross’ voice was eerily devoid of emotion. “I want a play by play.”

“Christ,” Lucas hissed. “It’s like he’s enjoying this. I thought they were lovers.”

“They were,” Inda confirmed, brow furrowed. “I guess he loves power more.”

Two rooms over, Dr. Zaitsev shifted, looking uncomfortable. “When Novichok enters your body, your muscles fail rather quickly. Like most nerve agents, it disrupts electrical signals from the brain to the muscles and the rest of the nervous system.”

Selma’s body began to thrash violently.

“She’s experiencing convulsions. Her muscles and heart are failing. She can’t breathe.”

Cross leaned closer to the glass, completely enthralled.

On the floor, Selma clawed at her throat then slumped sideways, going completely still.

Cross glanced down at his watch. “Two minutes, twenty-two seconds. Bravo, Doctor. I’d say that was quite a successful test.”

“Her corpse is quite toxic,” Dr. Zaitsev warned.

“I trust you will take care of it accordingly. I have things to do, but I’ll be in touch.” Turning, Cross began to walk away when Dr. Zaitsev stopped him.

“Mr. Mills?”

“What is it?” Cross asked, sounding irritated.

Lucas saw Dr. Zaitsev point to something and Cross swore under his breath.

“Oh, fuck.” Lucas and Inda dropped down out of sight, but it was too late.

There was a soft click as the speaker in their room flipped on. “I know you’re in there, Ms. Diaz…Mr. Sheridan. The question is why?”

“How the hell does he know?” Inda asked under her breath as Lucas’ gaze swept the room.

“Fuck me,” he groaned, spotting the small camera positioned in the corner of the room. How had he missed it? And why hadn’t it started looping? Unless it ran on a separate feed that he’d missed. “I’m sorry. Shit. ”

She laid a hand on his arm, her eyes communicating so much. Reminding him that her team was coming. But Selma had died in under two and a half minutes. If Cross decided to fill their room with Novichok, things would not end well.

◆◆◆

They needed to keep him talking. Inda tapped out a quick morse code message to her team using her comms, praying they understood, then stood up to face Cross Mills. No point in hiding any longer. They stared each other down through their observation windows, glaring at each other over Selma’s dead body in the middle lab.

Lucas came up, too, standing tall by her side. She’d briefly debated trying to shoot the window out to the hallway, but the glass looked thick and was very likely bullet proof. It’s secure for a reason, she thought, gaze dipping down to Selma’s lifeless corpse.

“Any particular reason why you chose the woman you were having an affair with to test your deadly neurotoxin on?” Inda asked, facing off with Cross. “That was pretty low. Even for you.”

Cross actually had the gall to chuckle. “Selma thought she was running things. I had to send a clear message to let the others know she was not. Only one person sits on The Agency throne—me.”

“Did you tell her to kill her husband?” Inda asked.

“Of course. She would’ve done anything for me.”

His arrogance will be his downfall, Inda thought.

“I have to say I’m surprised to see you here, Mr. Sheridan,” Cross continued. “I thought you were working for us.”

“Not anymore,” Lucas stated, standing taller.

“Hmm. Probably not your best decision. Ex Nihilo will chew you up and spit you out.”

“You’re the one who had Orlov killed,” Inda said, taking back control of the conversation.

“That’s right. Selma wanted Orlov, I wanted Dr. Zaitsev. So I sent a team to take care of Orlov the moment the good Doc here told me he could successfully duplicate a batch of Novichok. Unfortunately, Zane and River managed to escape.”

Thank God for that, Inda thought. As if he knew they were talking about him, Zane’s voice crackled through her comms.

“Hang in there, Bruja,” Zane said. “We got your message. Pharaoh and Demon are searching for the duct controls as we speak. The whole system is hardwired and I can’t hack it from here.”

Inda discreetly tapped back “hurry.” She wasn’t sure if Lucas had caught on, but then he glanced over after hearing Zane. The relieved look on his face spoke volumes. She almost lost Lucas once and she’d be damned before she let it happen again. No fucking way. Especially not after telling her he’d fallen in love with her.

All she had to do was keep this asshole talking. And what did a narcissist love more than anything? Talking about himself.

“Wow,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m impressed with how you’ve managed to control the situation. For a while, I thought you were a pawn, just like my team. Merely Merlin, our handler.”

He seemed to preen under her praise, even though it was all fake. “I know how to adapt and how to take charge. It’s what made me such a good operator,” he bragged.

Inda wanted to vomit. She’d had enough.

“You may have been a good operator, but you suck ass as a father,” Ryland said, his voice loud and clear over the speaker.

Oh, shit. Inda swallowed hard. Where the hell were he and Saint? They must be close.

Caught off guard, Cross swore under his breath and quickly moved over to the door, unlocking it. “Release the Novichok into the third room,” he ordered Zaitsev. “And fucking hurry!”

While Cross slipped out into the hallway, Inda made eye contact with Dr. Zaitsev. “Don’t do it.”

But he shook his head, looking terrified. “I’m sorry. I have to.”

To her horror, he hit several buttons and ran out of the first lab. A loud hissing sound filled the air and Inda hit her comms. “Get us out of here!” she yelled. “They just released the gas!”

Lucas grabbed her hand and they ran over to the door, pounding on it. Above them, there was a swift snap and they looked up to see the vent shut.

“It should be closed, Bruja,” Pharaoh stated. “Can you verify?”

Inda slumped against Lucas who wrapped an arm around her. “It’s closed,” she said, voice full of relief. “But we’re still locked in here and Cross is on the loose.”

“Roger that. Demon is working on the lock.”

“Damn, these guys are good,” Lucas murmured and pressed a kiss in her hair.

“They really are,” she said, and a moment later the lock clicked.

“You should be able to get out now,” Pharaoh told them.

“Affirmative,” Inda replied, shoving the door open. She and Lucas stepped into the hallway and immediately shut the door behind them. Just in case. They weren’t taking any chances after seeing how Selma had died.

They headed toward the staircase and ran right into Ryland and Saint.

“Where the hell is he?” Ryland growled, his normally easy going manner completely gone and replaced by a man on a mission.

“He took off after he heard your voice,” Lucas said.

A muscle flexed in Ryland’s cheek and his hand tightened around his pistol. Inda knew how badly he wanted to confront his father, but she also knew it wouldn’t end well. And, right now, Cross had the upper hand.

“We need to get out of here,” she said. The moment the words left her mouth, the fire alarms scattered along the hallway began to flash and the loud shrill of an alarm filled the air.

“What the fuck?” Saint hissed.

“Get out of there now!” Zane yelled through their comms. “Someone just locked the entire lab down!”