Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats) (19 page)

woman get herself killed.

He splashed some water on his face and exited the room. After checking to make sure he still had his

wallet, he hailed the first taxi he saw and climbed in.

After negotiating a price to use the driver’s cell phone, Marco dialed up one of his DEFEND colleagues

in Merida, and explained what he knew about Zalika, Jacek, Ekstrom, and the boat, careful to use as many

code words as possible so the driver wouldn’t understand his conversation. When his colleague assured

him he’d get on it, Marco gave the phone back to the driver and tried to figure out how he was going to

play this.

Most people would be angry at Cam’s actions and label it as a betrayal, but he was pretty sure he

understood the why behind it. After what had happened to her cousin, Adella, and now with Zalika and

Jacek, she didn’t want Richard to have any more people to use as leverage against her.

Ekstrom probably had people watching Cam’s movements, and if they saw him and Cam go into a

room together, they would assume Marco was of some value to her, and exploit the weakness.

Hence, the poison. A small part of him hoped Cam’s actions last night meant he was starting to mean

something to her, while another part warned him to not be fooled by desire.

Whatever the reason, once they’d dealt with Ekstrom, he and Cam were going to have a few words.

He’d told her about his powers, and next time, she was going to tell him the finer details of her latent ability, starting with the name of it.

The taxi stopped outside one of the other entrances to the market. Marco took a quick look out of the

window to check for threats before he paid the driver and exited the car.

He made his way inside the massive warehouse-like building that held the Lucas De Galvez market. As

he walked down the packed aisles toward the entrance where Cam would be waiting, he kept an eye out for

anything suspicious. Ekstrom would probably have people watching out for any kind of back up, but

Marco was good at blending in.

The crowded marketplace was filled with produce stands, people selling spices, and even clothes and

shoe vendors, and he admitted Richard Ekstrom knew what he was doing tactically. With a few rare

exceptions for holidays, there were always crowds of people here during the day.

It was hard not to see trouble around every turn, but Marco had been scouting locations for years, and

had yet to see anything that set off warning bells. Still, Cam had said Ekstrom was a master of slipping in and out of locations without being seen. There was a small chance Ekstrom would do the same with Cam.

He wished he’d been able to contact Neena, Aislinn, or Jaxton to get more back up, but he’d just have

make do.

He approached the entrance Ekstrom had mentioned, and scoped out his surroundings. His best bet was

to loiter near the blended fruit drink stand down one of the aisles. A few people stood with their drinks, watching the soccer game on TV. He went over, ordered a drink, and kept one eye on the TV and the other

on the general wares stall Ekstrom had described.

Five minutes later, Cam walked into the building, and started scanning the stalls for one with general

wares. Marco leaned closer to the blended juice drink stall and made a murmur of agreement about the ref’s call for the game on TV. He waited to see if she’d tell him to get lost, but if she’d spotted him, he couldn’t tell.

Marco reached a finger to the west, and waited. Even in this crowded market there were a few things he

could do with his elemental water to help Cam without attracting too much human notice.

Just as he took a sip of his drink, a humid breeze brushed against his legs. He tried to step to the side, but something pushed at his feet. Marco tried to resist, but the force was too strong, and he could do

nothing but walk away from where Cam was standing or risk falling over, and cause a commotion. A

commotion that could end up costing Cam her life if Ekstrom suspected she hadn’t come alone.

As he was pushed farther and farther away from Cam, he wondered if Ekstrom had an elemental wind

user nearby. He tried to think of what options he had when the invisible force pushed him into a dark

corner. He felt a tugging at his ankles before the world went black.

Cam had made it to the market, but Richard the Asshole was late.

Since she’d run a few errands before arriving, Cam had triple-checked the time at first, but she’d

actually been fifteen minutes early. Then she’d realized that not sticking to a meeting time or to a schedule helped disturb the person waiting. It was an old Fed League tactic: If your child or loved one’s life was in danger, each second past the deadline would fray a parent’s nerves, making a takedown easier and quicker

to accomplish.

Precisely because she cared for Zalika and Jacek, Cam wasn’t about to fall for that trap. She was not the

love-blind woman who, at twenty-two, had expected love to be stronger than ambition and selfishness.

Four years later, her eyes were wide open and ready to take on the man who’d nearly destroyed her adopted sister’s life.

She’d heard a few rumors over the years about Richard sealing himself off from the world two years

ago, but even without knowing the “new” Richard, Cam knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a way to save her

friends and take him out. Part of her wished Marco was here to help her, since his elemental water tricks

would be able to take Richard down quicker. But the last thing she needed was another person to be used

by Richard as a pawn, especially as he would exploit Marco’s abilities to help with whatever “end goal” he was working toward.

Not only that, if Richard knew of Cam’s interactions and intimacies with Marco, he would probably

make him suffer just to force her hand.

Even in the Fed League, she’d always put those dearest to her—Richard, her adopted family, and her

sister Kiarra—as top priorities. She didn’t know what the hell was going on between her and Marco, but

given Richard’s somewhat disturbed behavior over the phone, she wasn’t going to risk Marco’s life or

sanity.

So she’d used one of her abilities she’d kept secret from Marco, and pumped him full of the venom

from her claws. Not enough to kill him, but enough to knock him out long enough for her to meet Richard,

and be done with it.

The move had been a tactic, to help her reach her goal. But for some reason, she felt guilty.

Marco had, after all, turned to her for orders and had offered his help. He hadn’t tried to take control,

and when she’d been trying not to let her past catch up with her, he’d noticed her tension and had wrapped his arms around her, and the contact had relaxed her. She had wanted to stay encircled by his strong arms

and watch his water tricks for hours. Then she’d remembered how she’d nearly destroyed Adella’s life, and

Cam refused to be the reason something similar might ever happen to anyone else.

She only hoped she’d made the right decision. Richard wasn’t the man she’d once known, and no

matter what had happened in the past, he might kill her. Hopefully, the only old Fed League contact she still trusted, the one she’d contacted before coming to the market, would pull through and help her.

Cam scanned the crowd and counted two male blond heads further down the aisle where she was

standing. One was tall enough to be Richard, but as she caught a glimpse of his face, she dismissed him.

She was about to check the time again when a familiar voice said behind her, “Follow my lead, and I’ll

guide you to where we need to go. Don’t make a fuss.”

Richard Ekstrom had arrived.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gio had put off calling his father for as long as possible. He knew if he waited any longer, James

Sinclair would get suspicious.

So, even though he hadn’t been as successful with questioning Dr. Evans as he’d liked, Gio pressed the

call button on his tablet screen in his room and waited for his father to answer.

After three rings, his father’s face appeared. “Hello, Giovanni.”

Gio nodded. “Father.”

“So tell me what you’ve discovered about the elemental earth user.”

“They keep her constantly sedated, so I can’t accurately gauge how her abilities have changed. They’re

working on creating a safe room to test her limits, but it’s still weeks from completion.”

“Why does she require a safe room?”

“The researchers here think she can manipulate elemental earth without putting her hands to the north,

and they’re concerned that the usual dampers won’t work.”

Sinclair leaned back in his chair. “And you mentioned another accidental discovery in your email?”

“Yes. You’ve been curious about how elemental magic is changing, but I think there’s more to it. A man

here suddenly gained the ability to heal with a touch.”

“What did you find out from him?”

“It took some convincing, but the man with the healing ability—a researcher here named Evans—thinks

the ability is related to genetics. Much like how we don’t test for certain diseases until the symptoms show up. Evans believes there are others, and they should be found and quarantined.”

“But the condition is genetic, which means it shouldn’t be contagious.”

“Yes, but while the man here has the ability to heal—which isn’t something to be overly bothered about

—he reckons there are other abilities that could be dangerous.”

“Is there a way to test for these anomalies?”

“Evans was less than forthcoming, but I believe so.”

“Has the staff there released much information about this man with a healing touch?”

Gio shook his head. “No. The staff are loyal to Evans. I could barely get them to talk to me.”

His father paused a second before he said, “If I were to put this project into your charge, what would

you do?”

Giovanni sat up a little straighter. He’d given this a lot of thought, in case he was asked this question.

“I’d create a section in one of the AMT research facilities specifically for studying and pinpointing the cause of these changes. I’ve learned firsthand how the various AMT research facilities don’t communicate with

each other. But if everyone’s together, they can easily exchange information.”

“Did you have a location in mind?”

“Yes. There’s a research facility not far from here, on mainland China. It’s not an AMT compound, but

it’s pretty well isolated, and I’d like to check out the facilities to see if they could accommodate a new project.”

“Then do it. If you run into any complications with regard to access, let me know and I’ll sort it out.”

Giovanni nodded and Sinclair continued. “I’m going to send Ramirez to oversee the elemental earth user

and the new healer in your absence.”

“May I make a suggestion?” Sinclair waved his hand and Giovanni said, “I’d like to take Evans with me.

He’s started to open up to me, and bringing in a new person like Ramirez would be counterproductive with

him.”

He knew his father usually didn’t like being questioned, but Giovanni was careful to only question him

when he had a good reason.

He resisted letting out a breath when his father finally replied. “Explain.”

“Evans is a scientist. Ramirez’s methods rely on various types of physical persuasion, and I don’t think

those methods will work with Evans.”

Sinclair smiled. “And you’ve figured out what works, I take it?”

“Yes, Father. I appeal to his need for logic.”

“Fine, but I’m having two of my men accompany you.”

Gio barely resisted a frown, but he knew his father had spotted it—James Sinclair was very observant.

His father continued. “I trust you to scope out the facility, son, but you’re new to this. Bodyguards will ensure both your safety and your success.”

Since there was nothing else he could do, Giovanni nodded. “Is there anything else?”

“No, just make sure to keep sending me daily reports.”

“Yes, Father.”

The screen went blank, and Gio stood up. He’d managed to convince his father to let him take charge;

but there was still another obstacle that might prevent Gio from visiting the AMT facility on mainland

China.

He needed to persuade Dr. William Evans to go with him.

Gio left his room and nodded to one of the guards patrolling the corridor. Since he’d been given a

temporary access card, he weaved through the halls and soon arrived at Evans’s quarantine room.

Evans was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. At least he was no longer tied to a chair. That had to count for something.

Gio tapped on the glass, but Evans didn’t acknowledge his presence. Gio moved to the speaker box,

pressed the button, and said, “Dr. Evans.” Still nothing. “Dr. Evans, since I know you can hear me, at least listen to my proposition.

“I’m going to leave soon for a different facility, one I hope to use for research. I know you were quite

dedicated to eradicating elemental magic, but I think your skills could be used better on a different task.”

Evans moved a little on the bed, but didn’t take his eyes off the ceiling. Gio took the reaction as a good sign. “I want to set up a dedicated team to research these unusual abilities and devise ways to contain them, maybe even eradicate them. Is that something that might interest you?”

Evans still didn’t rise from the bed. Gio decided to make it more personal. “If you join me, you can find

a way to eradicate your own, Dr. Evans, so you’re not constantly reminded of the
Feiru
who killed your fiancée. Unless you enjoy reliving what has to be the most painful memory of your life.”

The other man rose from his bed. His voice was quiet when he finally replied. “You know nothing of