Chapter 13 #2
“The gaff tape,” Vin growls, and I finally realize he’s not telling Maestro about all the ways I definitely fucked up. He’s picking something small and unimportant, which is a hell of a pivot for him.
Maestro suppresses an eye roll as he scoots between us. He grabs a hold of the kitchen counter, furniture surfing his way to the fridge. He pulls out a mug of likely days-old coffee, a thin layer of coffee creamer separating across the top.
“All I said was that you should have folded the corner down in on itself so you could rip a piece off faster!”
“And you see nothing wrong with giving the person it’s going on a pull tab to their release?”
“I mean, I’d take a pull tab to my release, if you know what I mean,” I say, and mouth a thank you while Maestro is shaking his head.
Vin is unmoved by my gratitude. “Fuck off.”
“That one was a stretch,” Maestro puts in, raising one wild, overgrown gray eyebrow. “And it was barely even funny.”
I can’t help the way my tail flicks in agitation, mirroring Vin like we’re a pair of angry cats. Maestro ignores the tension in the room, and picks up the newly refilled pill container, pops today’s a.m. pills open and empties it out into his wrinkled palm.
Cradling the handful of pills, he asks, “Did you get what you needed from the Steel Spire laboratory?”
I almost wince when I hear him say those words. I’d been so careful not to say them around Lacey yesterday. A touch of guilt sits uneasily in the pit of my stomach from purposefully keeping that bit of information to myself.
“I did.”
Maestro smiles for the first time in a long time. He looks proud, and it feels good, for a moment. He raises his brows, prompting me to go on, before he tosses the entire handful back in his mouth and takes a large swallow of his cold, old coffee.
I lean on the counter, my hands balling into fists against the laminate.
“You were right. The executive level suites and the underground lab are keyed with the same security system. Everyone who has access to the top floors has the codes to get down there, apparently whether they realize it or not.”
Clayton had likely done it for his own convenience, knowing Lacey wouldn’t ever go down to the sub-level. He was probably the only person who knew about both levels and frequently used them.
“Steel has your serum. He’s completely used your setup. There’re some changes, though, he doesn’t dilute the serum in the IV drip,” I say, and bring the pictures I took up on my camera roll, swiping through as he peers over it.
“So, he is making these mutants from adults.” Maestro nods, confirming what we’d suspected since the attacks started. “The mutative effects are accelerated, but they compromise the existing cell structure.”
Lacey was right. Someone needed to follow the fucking ooze. I’d hoped she might realize what Steel’s involvement was at the heart of all this herself, but no dice. She needs to know, but it can’t come from me. She’ll just think I’m jealous.
“He had another one in the slow cooker, but things got a little out of hand; that one escaped,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “Do we want to figure out some kind of recovery effort?”
I’m not thrilled with the blank looks they give me.
“We don’t know that guy,” Vin says, after a beat, and shrugs. “And saving him doesn’t get Maestro’s work back.”
“These mutants are clearly the product of Maestro’s work!” I snap, gesturing at the two of us. “How does this not count?”
“We don’t know that there’s anything we can do to help him. No one’s ever survived the effects of the serum before.”
I try not to grind my teeth. “So, what’s the plan? We’re gonna stop Steel Heel, right?”
“In time.” Maestro nods, waving a hand in a way he probably thinks is calming. I’m immune to Jedi mind tricks. “We need to proceed carefully. If Clayton knows there was a break-in at his lab, he may anticipate our arrival.”
Still, I settle down, stop yelling at my family. I lean against the counter, tail lashing behind me, channeling all my irritation. I don’t usually follow the details super closely, but this is important.
“If the girl has the key, you should be able to borrow her phone and copy the SD card. Then we’ll have access to the laboratory for the raid. We’ll finally be able to reclaim what is rightfully ours,” Maestro says after a few moments.
“Borrow, like we’re going to loop her in on what Clayton has been doing . . . ?” I ask quickly, voicing the little nagging worry, but he’s already shaking his head.
“No, it’s too risky to include her.”
Oh. He means like, steal it and copy it. That’s . . . I don’t know how I feel about that. Not great.
I grit my teeth before insisting, “She deserves to know.”
“You think she’s going to help us move equipment? She’s on his side,” Vin interrupts me with a tone like I’ve got my head in the clouds. You know, the default for how you talk to your siblings.
“And whose side are you on? Because it seems like you don’t care about stopping Steel Heel,” I snarl.
“I care about Dad’s work, only that. Seems like you have a vendetta with him about something else,” Vin says, and my hands curl into fists at my sides reactively. Teeth gnashing together, I have half a mind to dive at him and knock him to the ground.
He thinks I’ve lost sight of what’s important, that I’m being distracted by my feelings for Lacey. I wish he could see that she’s just another person wrapped up in Steel’s bullshit, that she needs help getting untangled. She could help us, and we could help her.
Maestro fixes me with a stern look. “You need to get the security code from her.”
For several heartbeats, I don’t know what to say, how to react.
My dad is staring at me, the light casting harsh lines in the wrinkles of his face.
This is what we’ve been working toward for years.
All that effort, all those long nights simmering in the knowledge that there was no justice in this world if we didn’t make it for ourselves.
But it’s Lacey. I don’t want her to think I was just using her to get to Steel. I like her. A lot. Probably more than I should. No, definitely more. Fuck. Maybe I am losing touch with reality for a dream of her.
When did I forget I was one of the bad guys?
The question sinks in my stomach like a rock, unease worming through my gut. I swallow and straighten, pushing back from the counter. “Fine.”
I scoop up my keys and catch Vin’s eye. He gives me a look like he’s going to keep an eye on me.
As I head back out, followed by Vin, Maestro calls after us, “Stay safe out there, boys. You’re my pride and joy.”