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I covered my mouth. “You get them pregnant. Then you inject them with the venom. And the babies…” I dropped my hand. “What happens to the babies?”

“When the women are bitten, their fetuses become hybrids. The venom in the mother gives me access to the entire unborn brain as it develops in the womb. This allows me to mold their minds before they’re born, whether they are male or female. And unlike other animal hybrids, they will be fertile.”

His plans for propagating a new race seemed ill-devised if every cured woman could only conceive one child.

“How do you know? Have any been born yet?”

“No.” He rubbed the scarred flesh on his chin. “Did you know I can read Dr. Nealy’s thoughts?”

The random change of topic had my head kicking back. “How can you read his thoughts? What thoughts?”

He lifted a shoulder, his gnarled mouth crooking up in a sinister smile. “I know everything he knows.”

My breath caught. “That’s how you found my house.” Through countless conversations with Michio, I’d explained every detail of my home to him. The location, the pool, the Japanese Maple out front. “And the Lakota… That’s how you knew where they were.” My heart squeezed painfully. “Why did you kill them?”

He sighed. “You won’t appreciate my methods unless I start at the beginning.” He strode to the door, waving at me to follow.

I drew a deep breath and shuffled after him, my legs kicking at the wrap of fabric. His six spiders and Michio formed their three rows of three around me, and we headed back the direction we’d come, presumably to the room with the shackles.

The Drone’s gaze traced the tiles of the corridor as he set the pace, his long-legged strides eating up the floor beside me. “When I visited you in Georgia, I could’ve taken you then. I’d planned to, in fact, but I learned a number of startling things that night. Things that altered my entire campaign.”

I dug through my memories, trying to figure out what he was talking about, and came up blank.

He slid a hand into his pocket. “I discovered I could read Dr. Nealy’s thoughts that night. You see, I hadn’t bitten anyone who had lived long enough to demonstrate the effects. I saw him move and heal like me, and through his thoughts, I learned about Elaine in the mountains and the woman you’d cured right there in Georgia. But the most enlightening bit of knowledge I gleaned that night pertained to the prophecy.”

The march of boots around me punctuated the heavy beat of my heart. Why the hell did he care about the prophecy?

“It’s just a hokey premonition. Doesn’t mean anything.” The lie rolled smoothly off my tongue, but I couldn’t stop the trembling in my hands.

Beside me, Michio showed no outward signs of listening, but the Drone had said he could perceive everything. Was he moaning and screaming and mentally clawing inside his skin? My chest collapsed, aching for him.

Our group turned and entered the room with the shackles and mattress. The cage had been removed, and a stool sat in its place. The last man in shut the door behind us.

I did not want to be confined again, but if I fought my way out, I knew I would be fighting Michio’s possessed body.

I placed a hand on his forearm, seeking solace in the sinewy muscle and familiar olive skin. Maybe it comforted him, too, and for a fleeting moment, I imagined he was fully aware and in control, poised to stand by me, ready to protect me.

“I’ll give you two options.” The Drone lowered to the stool and braced his elbows on his thighs. “You can willingly lie on that mattress and lock yourself in. Or I can use Michio’s body to force you into the restraints. His fists will connect with your face. His boots will bruise your ribs. His grip will tear your skin. It will hurt you, but I assure you, it will hurt him far worse.”

Anger surged through me, shredding my throat and rushing out in unfiltered, furious words. “You’ve talked a lot of shit, goddammit! But as far as I can see, Michio is gone. Gone! Where the fuck is he? Because when I look in his eyes and—” I choked, reaching up to cup Michio’s face then dropping my hands and turning away, my chest heaving. “I can’t see him. Not a flicker or a glimpse of the man he was. He’s not fucking in there!”

Silence stuffed the room, pressing against my chest. It was a hopeless situation, one that ended with me in chains and whatever the Drone had planned next. Rape? Pregnancy? A baby with fangs? I didn’t know because we hadn’t finished the conversation.

“I’m here, Nannakola.”

The voice floated over my shoulder, lifting the hairs on my arms. Michio’s voice.