Page 140

So very logical,I thought.So very rational and scientific.

“I just don’t see any other explanation,” Black went on in that neutral voice. “Jem wouldn’t do this. We allknowJem wouldn’tdo it, not without some kind of coercion. And we know it’s not vampire venom, not on its own. Again,youwere the one to point that out, doc. And I don’t think you’d disagree that humans couldn’t have done this on their own, either.” Black’s shoulder rose in a shrug. “It had to be Brick, but it couldn’t be venom, not by itself… which is why Brick teamed up with Rucker’s company to use the implants.”

“I don’t disagree with your logic,” I said. “But, Black, you’re smart enough to make the evidence fit, and I don’t think itdoesfit.”

His lips tightened, but he kept his expression otherwise still. “Then what doyouthink fits, Miri? What are you trying to say?”

I frowned, biting the inside of my cheek.

WhatwasI saying? I didn’t think Jem would do any of this, either. I’d said that from the beginning, like Black just said. Black and I were essentially agreeing, weren’t we?

No,a voice whispered in my mind.No, we’re not agreeing.

“Anyway,” Black went on, glancing down at the few bites of pastry left on his plate. “Jem and the girl seem to be getting along bizarrely well, all of a sudden. Looking at the two of them today, one would think they were working together. How do you explainthat,doc, unless Brick is manipulating them somehow? And how else could he do that, apart from those implants?”

Black leaned closer, a faint smile on his lips. “Or are you now thinking Jem staged that whole thing back in San Francisco? Maybe Aura was in on it with him? Maybe they planned together how she’d sneak naked into Nick’s room?”

I turned to stare at him. There was more teasing than sarcasm in his voice, but I’m sure my stare got visibly icy, anyway.

“You know something’s not right here,” I said. “Nothing feels right about any of this. I know you feel it, too.”

Black’s expression slid back to careful neutrality, right before he looked away. His flecked, gold irises trained on the landscape as it moved swiftly past the window.

“I do,” he conceded, then added firmly, “But I agree with Nick.”

“So you think that explains all of it?” I asked. “Jem’s got a chip in his head? It’s as simple as that? Brick’s just controlling him, like some kind of robot?”

Black didn’t react to my tone, not visibly, at least.

His expression remained calm, difficult to read.

“I think there’s something here we don’t understand yet,” he conceded with maddening reasonableness. “And, most likely, something important we don’t know.”

I aimed my eyes back out the window.

“I thought that’s more or less what I’ve been saying.”

“Maybe.” Black smiled at me, and stuck a piece of pastry in his mouth. He chewed. “But I think you also think I’m seeing vampires everywhere right now, because of PTSD.”

I looked at him, and didn’t drop my eyes.

“Maybe,” I admitted.

“And maybe you’re right,” Black conceded again. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not right about what I’m seeing, too.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Just because you’re paranoid, that doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you?” I quoted at him, clicking softly.

“Maybe,” he smiled.

I knew Black had Alisha and her support staff back in San Francisco scan every figure who appeared on the station platform, both before and after Jem and Aura’s train left theGare de Lyonstation. There’d been no sign of Brick, or of any recognizable vampires; there’d been no one suspicious at all who boarded their train. I was tempted to point that out to Black, butwe’d been around and around with this conversation for too long already.

He was right. There was something we didn’t know yet, something that would fill those gaps, explain all the things that didn’t make sense.

Maybe that’s where we needed to leave things for now.

Black watched me think from where he sat across the table from me, sipping a glass of very oaky red wine. He didn’t say anything, though I was reasonably certain he’d heard at least some of my thoughts.

“I don’t know where Brick is, doc,” Black said next. He let out a sigh, voice serious. “I’ve got Alisha checking the cameras. I’ve got our team on the buddy system, even you and me. No one’s out of sight, even for a minute. The infiltration team is keeping an even closer eye from the Barrier.”