Chapter 20
TWENTY
LAURA
Fuck. Fuck. Morgan’s here. What the hell is he doing here? Crushing fear seizes my lungs, smashing the air out of them in one go as if the barn’s collapsing on me.
“Well well, Lisa.” Morgan's smirk behind the neat bristles of his gray beard seems to swell in my vision. “How can Clark and Gibson possibly represent the opposition of our client, the Fassbenders?”
I'm fucked. We aren't representing Ellen, and he’ll fire me for taking clients outside my employment contract with the firm.
But if I say it's pro bono, he can get me for not declaring a conflict of interest. I should have checked whether Clark and Gibson were involved, even though it's not my department.
But I have to try.
“I didn't know. Let's discuss this at the office.”
“No, Lisa, we're going to talk about it now.” Morgan’s smile gets wider, like a shark’s. He puts a hand on Terry's shoulder. “Could you excuse us for a moment?”
“Sure. I'll take some footage of the interior of this thing.” Hefting his camera Terry heads for the barn.
“No you bloody well won't!” Ellen storms, following him, Floss snarling at her heels.
Rain spits from the heavens. Morgan snaps up an umbrella but doesn't put it between us. It puts him in an untouchable cocoon, leaving me in the cold.
I'm alone, just me and Morgan and his horrible smile, in the drizzle of the empty yard.
Until I spot Dom stalking from the machine shed. He's not subtle, he's enormous and purple, and he's marching with purpose. Something about the set of his shoulders makes me think he's on the warpath.
Fuck.
I grab Morgan's arm. “Come on, let's go for a walk and talk about the case.”
He wrenches his limb from my grasp. “I'm fine right here. This won't take long.”
I know I should be focusing on him, but Dom's getting closer, those huge fists like boulders.
“You're right, so how about a drive instead.”
Morgan frowns at me.
“Do you like cars?” I try brightly, pulling him towards my BMW, away from Dom's path, putting my baby between us and the angry alien.
‘Stop!’ I try sending to Dom, shoving it towards him.
But his pace is relentless. He's glaring at Morgan’s back, and any moment Morgan's going to see him.
If the guy would shut up, that is. “Your performance has been shockingly poor recently, and this is the final nail in the coffin,” he pants as we round my car.
If I don't get Morgan out of here, he'll be the one in a coffin. What did Dom teach me about the mind link to reach him? Do I need to be open or closed right now? Cold panic crawls between my shoulder blades.
I'm probably going to get written up, but Dom's going to kill someone if I can't make him stop.
“That's nice, Morgan, but we really need to talk about this later—”
He splutters, “Nice? You're out of your mind. I'll be recommending to the firm that you're terminated, effective immediately.”
My mind goes blank. Just a scream from far away, as if behind several locked doors, slowly getting louder.
Fired. Fired?
“You can't fire me,” I point out, but my voice is muffled even to me.
He scoffs. “As a partner, my voice carries weight. You'll be on your arse before the end of the day.”
No. No, I can't be fired. The inquiry’s only a few weeks in, John or another solicitor might need to utilize my knowledge. I’ve worked on this for literal years, no one else knows as much as I do about the victims, their circumstances, what this means to them.
“You can’t do that,” I say, lungs refusing to draw breath. Accu-care, getting away with what they did, refusing to take accountability. Walking away. Because I wasn’t there to stop it.
‘Law-rah trouble risk help save.’ Nevare’s jumble of thoughts crashes down on me.
‘Danger. Formation delta,’ Arik orders, voice muffled as if he’s very far away.
The crunch of gravel makes me look over toward the machine shed. Dom’s only a few feet from us, the purple of his eyes overtaken by a soulless glassy blue.
‘Scanning all mind waves,’ Nevare says. The flood hits me all at once, Nevare’s power driving jagged shards of thought straight into my skull.
A greedy grin, the glint of money stacked higher than the barn from Terry; a softer, wind-hardened worry from Ellen, wound around a purple-steel core.
I gasp. Her bond with Ilia. Another image, from knee-height, wondering if I can get my teeth into Terry’s leg. Floss.
And then a hand clasped in mine. Opposite, the slick suits of Accu-care, all men, all their smiles sharp, triumphant. My lungs seize.
He’s not just ignoring us—he’s in on it.
I rip away from the images. “You’re working with Accu-care.”
His reddened face blanches. “The fuck you say?”
“You’re working with them. Somehow, you… there was some kind of deal, and… You’re deliberately fucking up the trial.” My head swims, lurching, more images bombarding me. Screams in my head ring out, intensifying into a screech as jarring as microphone feedback.
I slam my hands over my ears, but it doesn't help.
“Are you mad? You’re the one fucking up this trial,” Morgan says.
“I… I…” Is he right? Nothing’s gone right since I got mixed up with the Parthiastocks. With Dom.
Morgan snorts. “You’re emotional. Out of control.”
I want to scream. No. I'm not emotional, I'm always in control. He’s made some kind of deal with Accu-care, but I’m not going to let them win.
This fucker’s going to pay.
‘Threat,’ Nevare snarls. ‘Threat to Law-rah.’
‘Destroy all threats,’ Arik says, matter of fact.
Destroy all threats. So easy. If I remove Morgan, there won’t be any back-handed deal with Accu-care. No more shit at work to get in the way of the inquiry.
‘Blade,’ Nevare whispers. ‘Psychic energies in a single blade. Cuts. Destroys.’
Energy channels inside me, stinging like pins and needles deep in my bones.
‘No.’ A whisper of Dom's voice, breathless underneath the screaming.. ‘You’ll die, Law-rah. Don’t do this.
‘I’ll kill him for you.’
That shocks me out of it. Shit, what was I about to do?
I shake out my arms and legs, the mounting pain peaking before it gets snatched away, probably by Dom.
Gasping, I come to myself. Sweat drenches my back, cold in the breeze. Morgan stares at me, lips curled.
And Dom, right behind him. Raising his hand to Morgan’s neck. ‘Law-rah, I'm coming. Hold on.’
Gathering all my fear and anger, I shove it at Dom. ‘Get away from me!’
He halts. At last, thank fuck.
I was so close to killing someone, a human being. What have these aliens done to my head?
I glare at Dom. ‘Get in the shed.’
He blinks, confused, the emotionless blue being replaced with a trickle of purple. ‘Law-rah, what—’
“Get away from me!” I shriek.
Morgan flinches back, real fear crossing his red face.
And Dom, Dom stumbles back a step. I almost feel sorry for the lost expression on his face.
Almost.
The lean-to is closer to the BMW. He hides in there, hunkered over their beds, but I can still feel his gaze on me. Hear my desperate rejection echoing in the bond, vibrating with it.
Morgan regains his composure, straightening his collar and tie. “You're done, Lisa.”
I'm not done, not yet. This can’t be happening. He’s going to ruin the inquiry, but I don’t have proof.
Cold rain dribbles down my shoulders and back. My hair's probably a mess. The screaming in my mind fades in and out in time with my thudding heartbeat.
Morgan's smirk cuts me like a knife. “Nice lipstick. What a slutty shade.”
My alt persona lipstick. I hadn’t had time to take it off.
The cold becomes fire. My head jerks up and I slug Morgan in the jaw.
He goes down in a tangle of umbrella and a splash in the yard.
My fist aches, quickly removed as Dom accepts my pain.
“You bastard,” I yell. “I’ll prove you’re fucking around with Accu-care, and then you’ll be taken off the inquiry and fired.”
Morgan's face turns purple. “Wha… of all the… you—”
I don't wait for him to marshal his thoughts. I storm toward the house, past Ellen and Terry who stare open mouthed. I can't stop or I won't be able to contain this anger, I have to get away from it.
And away from the alien who's ruined my life.