Chapter 18
Eighteen
Founder’s Tower, NYC
Late morning sunlight filtered through the wall of glass behind Benoit Jeffries, spilling across the pale stone floor of his Manhattan office like liquid gold.
Beyond the gleaming expanse, Central Park unfolded in a patchwork of crimson and gold, its trees turning with the season.
The beauty of it—clean, organized, contained—was a satisfying contrast to the chaos he felt closing in.
He stood with his back to the room, his hands clasped behind him, perfectly still in a Brioni steel-gray suit tailored to precision. The silence was sharp—deliberate. He needed quiet to focus on his target. It was one of his vulnerabilities.
His phone vibrated once in his pocket, breaking his concentration. With a sigh, he reached for his phone. He didn’t need to check who it was. He already knew.
Benoit exhaled slowly, pulled out the device, and pressed it to his ear. “Report.”
Lyle’s voice crackled through the line, low and tight. “Eric has gone off-grid. He slipped out last night.”
Benoit’s gaze didn’t move from the view. “And?”
“I’m pretty sure I know where he’s headed,” Lyle continued quickly, like a man trying to dodge a bullet he saw coming. “He’s going north. Toward a cabin in upstate New York. Belongs to one of Aeto’s old teammates.”
Benoit’s eyes narrowed.
“Do not engage,” he instructed. “Do not speak to Eric. Observation only. I’m sending coordinates. I’ll meet you there in two hours.”
There was a pause on the line. Then: “You’re coming? Yourself?”
Lyle’s voice betrayed more than surprise. It held fear. It should.
“Eric said—”
“I don’t give a damn what Eric said.” Benoit’s voice cut like a scalpel—clean, controlled, lethal. “Be ready. Send Andre to scope the cabin. He is not to be seen. There will be security.”
Lyle was silent for a breath. “Understood.”
The line went dead with a soft click.
Benoit slid the phone into his jacket just as the double doors to his office opened behind him.
He didn’t turn.
Soft leather shoes crossed the marble. Two sets. One measured. One softer.
“Do you really think this is wise?” came the voice he’d been expecting—quiet, sandpaper-rough, and carefully controlled.
Benoit’s jaw flexed. Slowly, he pivoted to face the man and woman.
Robert stood to the left—older, broad-shouldered, his silver-streaked hair and lined face a reminder of a different era, one that had stained both of their hands. His gaze, however, was unwavering.
To his right, the third and final piece of the group entered. Andrea glided into view in a tailored navy pantsuit, every inch the elegant killer she was. Not a hair out of place. Not an emotion on her face.
Benoit’s eyes met Robert’s first—fire to ice.
“And yet, here you are,” Benoit said smoothly, stepping away from the window. “Despite your reservations.”
Robert didn’t flinch. “You should have them as well if Kiki is with Aeto and his brother.”
Andrea’s gaze flicked between them, unreadable. “You’re sure about this? About Kiki being with them?”
“You should be asking Robert that question—again, my dear. He is the one who let her slip through his fingers. If anyone knows where Brie is, Kiki will. They were very close. Plus, it’s time to bring her home now that we’ve found her,” Benoit said with a faint smile.
“If what Eric has foreseen, she has a weakness that can be exploited.”
“And what have you seen?” Andrea asked.
“Enough,” Benoit replied, glancing from her to Robert.
He didn’t want to lay all his cards on the table. While he was powerful, he was nowhere on the same level as Kiki. Brie wasn’t an issue. Her talent lay in helping and healing. Her heart was too kind and fragile to harm another, even if it meant her own life.
Eric could be an issue, but Benoit knew how to handle the other man. The key was to neutralize him before he used his talents against those around him.
But, Kiki. Kiki was their prized child that escaped. The experiment they couldn’t replicate. The enigma that might change the world.
He pursed his lips before responding with a shrug, “If we can’t retrieve her alive, we’ll study her corpse.”
“And Eric? What are you going to do about him? You don’t think he’ll just stand by and let you kill her, do you? He always had a soft spot for Brie… and because of her… Kiki, even if they did leave him behind,” Andrea retorted.
“He’ll serve his purpose,” Benoit replied. “One way or another.”
Robert folded his arms. “And if he doesn’t?”
Benoit’s smile vanished.
“Then I’ll take care of him myself.”
Silence.
Andrea stepped forward, her heels clicking softly on the stone. “Do you need support?”
Benoit turned back to the window, his reflection shimmering faintly in the glass.
“No. This part,” he said, his voice like steel, “I do alone.”
The scent of roasted garlic, seared meat, and herbs lingered in the warm cabin air, mingling with the crisp tang of pine wafting through the crack of the open window over the sink.
The men—his team—sat sprawled around Angel’s long wooden kitchen table, plates pushed back, forks resting on empty dishes, half-full mugs cradled in calloused hands.
Laughter echoed off the cedar walls. Familiar. Easy. A balm Nikos hadn’t realized he needed.
Markos leaned back with a grin, one arm hooked over the back of his chair as he nudged Cole with his foot. “Pretty sure the last time you made breakfast, half the team had food poisoning.”
“Burnt eggs and toast doesn’t mean poisoned, it means adventurous,” Cole shot back.
Angel turned and placed a tray with a coffee pot, mismatched mugs, and a teapot with a bear curling around the lid. “Replenishment. Herbal tea—for the mentally stable,” he said dryly.
Lucas snorted. “You keep drinking that stuff, one day you’ll turn into a flower.”
Angel smirked. “I don’t need caffeine jitters when I’m aiming at a target with your life on the line. I might shake at the right moment. I’ve plugged enough holes in your ass to know what a baby you are when you get shot.”
Chuckles rolled through the group. Nikos allowed himself a relieved smile, one hand wrapped around Kiki’s. Her presence beside him felt like an anchor, a center in the chaos he knew was coming.
But as the laughter faded, a quiet weight settled in the room. The air shifted. The silence wasn’t awkward—it was filled with the understanding that things were about to get serious—quickly.
Lucas leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “So… how sure are we that this Eric guy and these Founders are coming?”
Nikos hesitated, his gaze flicking to Kiki.
She met his eyes with steady resolve. No fear. Her fingers tightened in his.
Kiki turned to the group and spoke softly, “They’re coming. The Founders won’t stop now that they know where I am. You should know, that they will kill anyone who gets in their way—and I will stop them if they try.”
Markos’s jaw tightened. Angel straightened in his chair. Cole’s grin faded.
“There are some things I can’t tell you,” Kiki continued, looking each man in the eye. “Not because I don’t want to—but for your safety. And for the safety of others.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by things?”
Kiki didn’t flinch. “The kind that makes me the most dangerous person on this planet.”
A beat of silence.
Cole snorted. “You obviously haven’t seen us in action, darlin’.”
“I have,” she said quietly. “Eight years ago. You came to rescue Markos.”
The room stilled. Markos nodded his head, his eyes narrowing when the other men released a rumble of disbelief.
“I was there,” Kiki said simply.
Angel sat up straighter. “How can that be? You were just a kid.”
Markos stared at her. “I was as good as dead. Four days later, I walked out without a scratch on me. No one could explain it.”
“That wasn’t me,” Kiki replied. “Healing isn’t my gift. Helping you escape—now that was.”
Lucas asked, his voice low, “Then what is your gift?”
She hesitated, looked at him, then back at the table. He understood that she needed to be the one to share who she was, not him. This was about trust—and whether she was willing to give it to the others.
“There are three of us like me—different, changed,” she said. “Plus at least one of the Founders. I know that for sure.”
Markos leaned in. “How do you know?”
Kiki looked directly at him. “Because I feel them. Like static on your skin. Like a vibration in your bones. I know who’s out there.”
Angel tapped his fingers against his mug. “And the other two? You mentioned Eric?”
Kiki nodded. “He can feel the residue of what has happened in a room—almost like seeing ghosts. He can also make you see things that aren’t there. Anticipate what you’ll do before you know it yourself.”
“Sounds delightful,” Cole muttered dryly.
Angel narrowed his eyes. “And what’s the likelihood that they know we’re here? I mean, it’s not like my lake house has a giant neon ‘Come Get Me’ sign.”
Before Kiki could answer, another voice did.
“No… but it might as well.”
Every man shot to their feet. Chairs scraped, some toppled over as the men moved into a defensive position. Weapons drawn in a blink and steadied on the man standing with his hands raised in the doorway of the kitchen.
Nikos studied Cosmos Raines. The billionaire tech nerd stood completely calm, as if he hadn’t just slipped past one of the most secure systems in the country.
“I was hoping for a warmer welcome,” Cosmos said in a dry voice. “RITA was supposed to have warned you.”
He stiffened when Kiki placed her hand on his arm. “Nikos, Cosmos is okay. He’s been like a guardian angel to me over the past eight years,” she murmured.
Cosmos groaned and shot her a wry smile. “Annnd… so much for my anonymity. I should have anticipated that you’d know,” he retorted dryly.
Nikos exhaled slowly and gave Cosmos a wary nod. “Where in the hell did you come from and how did you know where we were?”
Cosmos shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “My assistant, RITA, can be very persistent, and she’s great at finding people.”
“But… how did you get by my security?” Angel growled, aiming his pistol at Cosmos’s chest. “You set off nothing?”
Cosmos shrugged. “I didn’t exactly want to have you all shooting me before I explained.”
Before anyone could respond, a shimmer lit the space beside him. A tall, curvy redhead in fitted military fatigues appeared, folding her arms.
“I decided the element of surprise might be the best course of action,” RITA’s sultry voice cheerfully retorted. “Hello, boys. I’m RITA, Cosmos’s really intelligent technical assistant. Hi, Kiki. It’s wonderful to meet you in person.”
Lucas let out a strangled sound. “It’s official. I’m defecting if that’s your team.”
Kiki stifled a laugh when RITA winked at Lucas.
“I was afraid they might be a little trigger-happy, and I promised Terra I would keep you from getting shot,” RITA cheerfully retorted before she turned back to Lucas. “Sorry, handsome. I’m married,” she added with a brilliant smile.
Cosmos ignored the banter. He looked at Angel. “My wife and daughter would be very upset if you shot me.”
Angel’s finger twitched on the trigger, before he lowered the weapon with a muttered curse.
Cole crossed his arms. “How do we know you’re not one of them?”
“If I were, you’d already be dead,” Cosmos said coolly. “And so would she.” He tipped his head toward Kiki. “But we don’t have time for philosophical debates. They’re coming. And they’ll bring a shitload of weapons and men with them.”
Nikos stepped forward. “Tell us something we haven’t already figured out ourselves. I doubt having just you and a shimmering hologram is going to be of much help.”
Before Cosmos could speak, the air behind him shimmered again—thicker this time. A vertical ripple of energy parted reality like water, and an enormous figure stepped through.
A broad, muscular Black man in tactical armor surveyed the room with piercing eyes. Two beings flanked him—tall, humanoid… but not human. Both were dressed in black leather with eyes that glowed silver.
Every weapon in the room lifted again.
Nikos moved instinctively to shield Kiki.
She pressed her hand against his chest to stop him. “It’s okay,” she murmured, staring—wide-eyed, but not afraid. In awe.
A small smile curved her lips as she slid her hand down to grasp his.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “They’re here to help.”
Nikos wondered when the world got so crazy—and knew it was the minute he had set eyes on Kiki. This wild, wonderful, gifted, woman had shredded everything he thought he knew about the world—and he wouldn’t change a thing.
As he studied the three men who had stepped through some kind of futuristic gateway, he knew with gut-deep certainty—that whatever was coming, whatever battle lay ahead—they weren’t alone.
They had each other.
They had hope.
And they had something the Founders couldn’t anticipate—help from another world!