Page 7 of Resolve
It can’t be.
He wouldn’t have left unless he’d won. Unless Raegan...and Jack and Aiden...
Dane shakes, his expression muddled with fear, anguish, and anger.
Charles waves his hands, and the zombies and debris on the floor sweep to either side to clear a path for him. The Guild members dodge or move around it. Cibrina and the others are grouped in the middle of the room, only a short distance from him, and I notice a GE agent standing behind Charles, who must’ve arrived with him.
All the other agents are dead.
I have to get everyone out.
But I also have to go back to find Raegan, Aiden, and Jackson.
Damn it.
“Still cleaning up, I see,” Charles begins, his voice carrying easily in the vast room. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your Guild Master is dead. He threw himself in front of a bullet not meant for him.”
Gasps erupt in the room, and Dane throws me a stricken look. I shake my head. We can’t believe a word he says.Iwon’t believe a goddamn thing unless I see proof of it.
Aiden’s alive.
He has to be. So are Raegan and Jackson.
“I’m here looking for a colleague of yours. Dane.” He strolls forward, approaching Cibrina and the others. He stops in front of her. “You haven’t seen him, have you?” His smile stretches as he zeroes his gaze on her.
My muscles tense, preparing to launch myself at him if he touches her. Dane shifts behind me, then grunts softly.
“Sit down and stay quiet,” Reid whispers. To both of us, I think. “He’s trying to lure you out.”
That’s fine. Dane can stay here. I’m not going to sit still and watch Charles hurt anyone in the Guild while I’m here.
“No,” Cibrina answers, her voice remaining calm and collected.
“Hm...” Charles lifts his hand as if he’s going to touch her face, and the others in the group shove forward to get between them.
“He’s not here,” Silas snaps, and the GE president looks between the others before landing on Silas. He drops his hand.
“I see. You think I’m the bad guy, don’t you?” He steps away, turning to address more of the room. “But who’s really the villain here? Your Guild Master killed his predecessor, then took the Guild for himself. He pockets money from your pay, controls the jobs you take, and trains you to take the lives of other people like you.”Charles places his hand over his heart. “I’ve always instructed my agents to never kill. To avoid harm as much as possible.”
I clench my jaw to restrain the urge to go out there and beat the shit out of him. But with my gift in his veins, it wouldn’t do anything more than prove I’m here and that Dane might be, too. If he’s not hurting anyone, then it’s not worth that risk.
“Between the Guild and GE, who has murdered hard-working gifted people and who hasn’t taken a gifted life?”
Of course, he’d word it that way, considering all the non-gifted families they’ve murdered to kidnap the gifted children. But I’m sure even this is a lie. What about those gifted we’d seen comatose in beds? How many have died in training or experimentation? Or from defiance?
He even killed Harvey, though most of the Guild doesn’t know it yet.
He continues, “Are you sure you’re on the right side?”
Silas scoffs. “Do you hear yourself? You kidnap gifted kids! I’ve seen and rescued some of them, asshole!”
Charles smiles. “Are we not the ones rescuing them? Giving them a chance at a better life, free from living job to job. Paycheck to paycheck, just to give the money to your Guild Master. People like us—we’re not meant to steal and beg for scraps.” He gives Silas a knowing look and the latter looks away.
This bastard has our files. Only a handful of us know where Silas came from, what he’d been doing illegally with his gift just to make ends meet for his family. How he’s always putting every penny he makes into an account to support them.
Vera.
When they’d attacked the Tower and she’d hacked the network,triggering Dane’s virus to shut everything down. Once it was back up, there was no stopping her from grabbing whatever information Charles wanted.
