Chapter Thirty-Four
My empath half brother is offering to consult for the police. It’s pretty rare to get an empath to do this, but he knows what
I do and he wants to help.
I know you’re concerned about his pacifism but trust me: He doesn’t need to be cold to be tough, and he doesn’t need to be
cruel to be strong.
—Three-year-old internal memo from Detective St. James to Lieutenant Parson
A few blocks away from Lumen Field, icy raindrops pelted the sidewalk as a stoplight finally changed from red to green. Across
the street, the walk sign lit up, the subtle chirps signaling it was safe to cross. With his hands in his pockets and his
shoulders hunched against the falling rain, Alex stepped off the curb into the crosswalk.
And then immediately hopped backwards, back onto the sidewalk, as a white BMW coupe made a sharp right turn. It screeched
to a stop directly in front of him, blocking the crosswalk.
As Alex furrowed his eyebrows, the passenger window lowered itself. He bent down and found himself looking directly into Gretel
Macy’s eyes.
“Hey, Mr. Grayson,” she said pointedly.
The city rushed around them as they regarded each other, raindrops turning the pavement a slick and darker gray, the crosswalk
sign changing from white to red numbers counting down, cars honking as they were forced to swerve around Gretel’s Beamer.
Alex’s hair was dripping into his eyes, his glasses streaked with droplets that obscured his view. But Gretel’s expression
was closed off and would have been difficult to read even without the rain. “You know who I am?” he finally said.
“Yes. And I know what you are.”
Not a lie. “How?”
Gretel leaned forward and turned on her hazard lights. “Vivian Marist dropped some hints about empaths that she thought would
turn me fully to Stone Solutions’ side.”
Another car swerved around Gretel, honking irritably. Alex pulled off his wet glasses. “And did it?” he said as he cleaned
them with the hem of his shirt.
“My parents are dead because of Stone Solutions.” The hazards clicked like a metronome as raindrops fell in a steady staccato
on the Beamer’s roof and hood. “Speaking of Stone Solutions, I just saw the breaking news,” Gretel said. “Charles Stone was
taken into custody for securities fraud. Rumor is he tried to flee to his helicopter on site, but the police were able to
catch him before he could escape. Did you have something to do with that?”
Alex shrugged his damp shoulders. “It was a team effort.”
Up ahead, a cop car was tearing down the road with its lights on. Alex hunched, sliding his glasses back on as the cruiser
blew past them, turning left in the direction of the stadium. “What do you think he did?”
“Funneled money into a shell company to fund who knows what kind of twisted schemes, all the while planning to hide his actions by replacing it with the new money coming in from S.B. 1437,” Gretel said.
“Stone is going to lawyer up, of course, and he’ll probably argue that he deserves whatever funding he steals for his anti-empathy work.
But the other shareholders are pretty pissed, so it’s going to be a battle of money versus money.
I hope they bury him.” Her gaze was still on Alex.
“I read that there were more empaths at Lumen Field. What happened?”
“Stone Solutions got them.” Alex’s glasses were already spotting with raindrops again. “They’re going to be locked up, and
I don’t know where.” He tried to shrug again, like that didn’t tear at him. “Wherever they go, it won’t be safe. We’re always
going to be a target.”
“I guess you are.” There was real sympathy in Gretel’s voice. “But maybe empaths can find empathy in others, too.”
At the curb, another car honked twice as it was forced to make the wide turn. Alex rubbed at his dripping hair, scattering
droplets. “Maybe the pacifist empaths still can,” he said. “But that’s not me anymore. Didn’t Vivian Marist tell you we’re
dangerous?”
“She did.” Gretel leaned closer. “But Charles Stone murdered my parents, just like you lost yours. You’re not the same person
you used to be because of it—and I’m not the same person I was before either.”
Oh.
There was a new clicking sound as the Beamer’s locks disengaged. Gretel nodded at the passenger door, the tiniest smile playing
on her lips. “So are you getting in or what?”
Alex huffed, almost a laugh, his mouth also curving in a hint of a real smile for the first time in what felt like years.
And then he was ducking out of the rain and into a heated passenger seat as warm as a Texas evening while the BMW pulled away
from the curb and onto the road.
The afternoon had darkened and given way to a wet evening around Lumen Field.
Reece sat alone on the curb in front of the stadium, gaze fixed on the hands clenched tightly together in his lap.
The football players had left, all of them confused at their sudden rampage but none thralled or suffering any lasting harm.
Several people in Stone Solutions uniforms were still milling nearby, but so far no one had put cuffs on Reece.
Amnesia, the man he now knew was Charles Stone had said. Amnesia would have to be an inevitable component of reversion, because how could the pacifist stand to know what was done
under corruption? The empath would experience a full and instant breakdown.
Reece felt pretty damn close to a full and instant breakdown now, knowing he’d been corrupted, thinking about what he might have done—
He forced his gaze up from his hands to Grayson, who was maybe thirty feet away and still talking to a very posh-looking blonde
woman in a white puffy coat. He could only see Grayson’s back from this angle, but just the sight of that familiar figure
helped Reece’s blood pressure return to something approximating normal.
Except normal blood pressure didn’t change the thoughts looping in Reece’s head. He’d been corrupted, and maybe he didn’t
remember anything, but it was a good bet he’d done more than finally watch R-rated movies. Surely he deserved to be locked
away wherever Stone Solutions wanted to put him? But if Reece was locked away, who was going to help Grayson navigate an onslaught
of two years of buried emotion—
“Reece!”
“Jamey.”
And despite his shaky limbs, Reece was on his feet instantly. He’d made it three steps when Jamey appeared from behind the
neighboring SUV, sprinting toward him.
“You asshole,” she said, and grabbed him in a giant hug.
He hugged her back, his eyes burning. “I’m so sorry—”
“Shut up,” she said, and squeezed him tighter. “Evan said the reversion gave you amnesia—that you don’t remember any of it?”
“Nothing since the dock in Vancouver,” Reece admitted as they pulled back.
“Good,” she said fiercely.
“How is that good?” he demanded. “I know I was corrupted. I’m certain I hurt people. Stone Solutions wants to lock me up—”
“No they don’t.”
Lie. “Jamey,” Reece said with a huff. “You know it’s pointless to lie to me.”
She frowned. “You still hear lies?”
“Yes.”
“Then listen to this truth.” And then she leaned in, hand on the back of his neck, pulling their foreheads together. “The
corrupted version of you saved my life.”
Not a lie. Reece blinked. “I did?”
“Yeah, you did, and Evan’s life, and a store’s worth of AMI shoppers, and that’s just what I know about.” She ruffled his
hair. “I’m not saying you were the good guy in this story. But maybe in the real world, the heroes and villains are never
as clear-cut as we’re told to believe.”
She pulled back again, though not far. “Just believe me when I say Evan and I have strong opinions about what happens to you,
and all the other empaths too.” Her lips softened into a small smile. “And not just opinions. We both have strong feelings about it.”
Reece’s gaze went to Grayson’s back again, where he was still speaking to the blonde woman and gesturing more emphatically
than he used to. Reece’s fingers twitched at his sides, wanting to reach for him. Grayson had feelings now. Reece had barely had a taste, just a glimpse of the most complex and colorful tapestry he’d ever seen, before they’d been forced to part. Every cell craved the chance to dive back in.
But it had to wait, because Grayson was busy, and now Reece got to see Liam, who’d just arrived. “I can’t believe how much
I missed your sarcasm,” Liam said, and hugged Reece as tightly as Jamey had.
Reece hugged him back, throat gone thick again. He’d never had a brother. Maybe someday he’d get to have Liam. “But I bet
you didn’t miss me running my mouth to the press about my sexual flexibility.”
“I’m sure your new boyfriend will be excited to hear all about it,” Liam said dryly, which made Reece squawk. Liam turned
to Jamey and kissed her hello. “Where’s your phone? I promised Diesel we’d call when I found you. He went with Aisha to the
hospital.”
A few minutes later, Jamey had Diesel on speakerphone. “Aisha’s got her cast and is demanding to be released already,” he
said. “She wants to go with the empaths.”
“Go with the empaths where?” Jamey said.
“Evan didn’t tell you yet?” Diesel said. “He’s insisting Stone Solutions hand over their fancy empathy-proof corporate lodge,
Orion.”
Reece, Jamey and Liam all turned their heads in Grayson’s direction, where he was still talking to the blonde woman. “And
Stone Solutions is going to agree to that?” Jamey said skeptically.
“With Cedrick Stone still catatonic and Charles Stone arrested, Vivian Marist is fully in charge,” Diesel said. “Apparently
whatever was done to Evan in the Olympic Mountains has given him some pretty savage leverage.”
The blonde woman, Marist, did look a bit pale. Reece frowned. “What happened to Evan?”
“Reece!” Diesel said in surprise. “I didn’t know you were there. I heard we’ve got you back!”
“You’re trying to distract me so I don’t press for details,” Reece accused.
“Yes, but I’m also genuinely happy,” Diesel said. “You hanging in there?’
“Are you?” Reece asked. “I’m so sorry you got pulled into all of this because you’re nice enough to be my friend.”