Akshay’s left eyelid flickered. “He’s always been a disappointment to the family. I used to think he’d be at my side as I took us to greatness, but he never quite achieved what he should have.”
While Ena respected Akshay Patel’s desire to avenge his wife, that he’d insult a member of the family to an outsider lessened his standing in her eyes. “Yet you used him to get to Silver.”
“Why not? He was available and in the right area.”
“And disposable,” Ena guessed.
“That, too. It was worth the gamble—and it’ll be worth other gambles in the future. If I take down Silver, I crash EmNet for long enough that certain other measures can be taken and will be far more successful than if Silver’s pulling in help more efficiently than any computer program.” He aimed the gun at her head. “Sorry. Can’t risk you telepathing the information.”
He pressed the trigger.
Or he tried to.
Grimacing, he tried until the veins in his temples began to pound, the finer blood vessels in his eyes bursting to give them a crimson tint. Ena poured herself another cup of tea with tranquil precision. “It doesn’t matter how hard you try,” she said in the same tone she’d used the entire conversation. “You won’t break my hold.”
Akshay Patel spoke through gritted teeth. “I have a natural shield.”
Not answering, Ena drank her tea.
Sometimes, the win came from perception rather than reality. Akshay Patel thought she was a telepath, which she was; however, she also had just enough of a strange little power for it to be useful. A power so erratic in its appearance in the population that it had no official subdesignation. Not quite telekinesis, but on the spectrum. She could affect a specific number of elements, including those used in the manufacture of weapons.
The human CEO thought she was controlling his mind. What she was actually controlling was the weapon itself—it was repelling Akshay through a little subtle manipulation on Ena’s part. “You’ll give yourself an aneurysm if you keep attempting to break free.”
Akshay finally threw aside the weapon. But rather than giving in, he jumped up from his seat, his hands reaching out as if to strangle her. In his eyes, she saw the moment he realized he could move freely. Ena shot him with the stunner she’d kept in her lap. His body spasmed as he fell to the floor, his limbs twitching with residual energy.
Looking down at him from the table, she held the bloody tawny brown of his gaze. “You’re about to die. You know that and so do I. Will you protect your co-conspirators?” That he couldn’t have gotten to Silver on his own wasn’t in doubt.
To cut off electricity to an apartment building that secure with that many redundant systems would’ve required help from various highly placed sources. The Patels might control a large number of energy systems, but they had no footprint in Moscow. Kaleb held the controlling interest in the largest energy company, and the smaller ones serviced areas that didn’t overlap with Silver’s apartment.
Akshay Patel simply could not have arranged for the power to be disrupted in a company under Kaleb’s banner unless he had someone on the inside. Even then, he’d need a second person inside the building itself who could override the redundancies.
Ivan would take care of unearthing that individual, but as for the employee at the energy company, Ena had requested Kaleb check the records to see if any of his hires had connections to the Patels. He’d telepathed her the results ten minutes ago, having found three employees who’d previously worked in businesses held by the Patel Conglomerate—not an unusual circumstance in the same industry.
Crucially, however, none of the three had been on duty the night the power went out in Silver’s apartment. Kaleb had seen that, dug further, and discovered that the workers on duty at the time of the blackout were all long-term, experienced, and skilled. One of those employees had a wife who’d received a six-figure payment into her account immediately prior to the incident.
That employee was Psy.
Yet Akshay Patel made it a point not to have Psy contacts. “Do you think your co-conspirators would be as loyal to you?” she asked conversationally when Akshay didn’t speak, his eyes boring into her. Hate foamed in their depths.
A spasm crossed his face.
“The pain will continue to increase,” Ena told him. “The muscle spasms will eventually cause you to lose control of your bladder, then your bowels. You’ll begin to drool. A second blast on the same setting will ensure you lie in your own waste for hours before your brain finally shuts down.”
She took a sip of tea. “Or you can answer my questions, and this ends with me putting a shot directly into your brain. You’ll die before you know it. And it ends with me and you. I won’t go after your son or daughter.”
Fear crawled across his face. “You wouldn’t,” he managed to grit out between spasms. “They’re children.”
“Silver is the child of my child.” Ena let him see her implacable will. “Like for like. Except I’ll be successful in my extermination efforts.”
“Y-you’re a monster.”
“Perhaps, but I’m a monster who’s giving you a choice. Will you sacrifice your children to protect your co-conspirators?” Ena knew the choice she would’ve made, though no one outside the family could ever know that. The Mercants were safe and successful partially because others believed that while they worked together as it was more effective, they were snakes who’d swallow one another should it come down to it. “You have ten seconds before the offer is off the table.”
Water shone in the human man’s eyes, his will broken. “Don’t let my family find out I died this way,” he said, his vocal muscles having relaxed enough for him to form the sentence.
“Give me what I want and your body will be discovered in a vehicle, broken beyond repair as a result of a single vehicle crash.”
A shudder that didn’t seem controlled, rather the product of the voltage still arcing through his body. “No faces, no names. Consortium.”
Ena was unsurprised at the words, but she wasn’t certain she believed them. “I thought you were against interracial cooperation.”
“Don’t have to like them to use them,” Patel said, his breathing starting to turn jerky. “Consortium is short-term. Psy in charge pretends to be evenhanded, but she’ll betray us all to hold on to power.”
Ena’s senses went on high alert. “She? The head of the Consortium is a woman?”
“No faces, voices distorted, that’s how it works.” His chest spasmed, his hands drumming against the floor before he brought himself under control. “But her software glitched for a couple of seconds once. I record everything. Went back and listened. Woman.”
It was far more information than anyone else had about the individual behind the Consortium. “How did she contact you?”
“Hard-copy letter. Inviting me to join because I’d been public in my distrust of Trinity.”
“Did you keep the letter?”
“I keep everything.” His eyes held hers, his will impressive given the hit he’d taken. “Bottom left drawer of my satellite Amsterdam office.”
Ena put down her cup again. “Do you expect me to take this on faith? Your son’s name is Vahan, isn’t it?”
A shuddering panic. “Please. Don’t hurt my children. I’ve told you all I know.”
“How do you communicate?”
“Internet. Throwaway e-mail addresses. A defunct chat room about entertainment stars.” He gasped a breath. “If we need a comm conference, we leave a message there, with the current channel settings. Different every time.” He gave her the web address without prompting. She didn’t look it up, in case there were safeguards in place tracking where a member was logging in from.