Page 18

We’re back at Kingsley’s mansion in the Yorba Linda hills.

My shoulder hurts, but it’s getting better by the minute. Every now and then, I catch myself rubbing it and even rolling my shoulder in its socket.

Allison isn’t happy about being left out of the action and thinks I took a risk. My kids aren’t happy, either. I promise to bring everyone the next time, but I know that’s a lie. Allison, of course, can read my mind and shakes her head.

When I get a text from Andrew asking me to come by his place ASAP, that the FBI is there and they want my input about Norm and his attack on the nuclear plant, I send a reply and let him know that I’ll be there with the whole gang.

Gang? he writes back.

You’ll see, I text. My motley crew.

Soon after teleporting into one of York’s many bathrooms (and the only one I had personally seen), we step out into a lively living room—and to some surprised reactions. I reach out to a few of the minds and command them to believe we had been there all along. I introduce my kids, Allison, and Kingsley to the famous billionaire. Allison immediately crushes hard. Andrew seems a bit smitten himself, until I command him to find her unattractive.

Girl block, mumbles Allison in my mind.

There’s a homicidal cyborg out trying to destroy southern California, Allie. Not a time for schoolyard flirting.

Whatever, Sam. Not all of us have what you have with Kingsley.

What do I have with Kingsley?

A stable, loving relationship with lots of hot sex.

Not as much hot sex as you might think. Do you see the size of him? And the size of me?

We let it go, and soon, I’m sitting on one of Andrew’s obnoxiously expensive leather couches, rubbing my bandaged shoulder for the hundredth time. The pain is dulling, though my body isn’t quite healing at its normal, accelerated rate.

Damn silver.

Across from me, Kingsley lounges in a chair, looking restless, though his golden eyes are as sharp as ever. Allison stands near the window, arms crossed, her expression unreadable as she stares out at the Irvine cityscape. And then there’s Andrew, pacing near the coffee table, looking both annoyed and intrigued at the fact that his penthouse had been taken over by the FBI.

Lindsey Aeon, the lead agent, stands in the center of the room, wearing an immaculately tailored black suit. Her dark eyes scan each of us, but her attention keeps flicking back to me. I’ve already noticed her lack of an aura. She’s obviously immortal, but she doesn’t scream ‘vampire’ and certainly doesn’t look like a werewolf, unless she’s a new wolf. Even female weres are bigger than your average gal—much, much bigger, in fact. I suspect she might know what I am, though few would guess an ‘energy vampire.’ Still, she’s sniffed something out in me. Though I don’t sport an aura, nor does Kingsley, my kids and Allison do. Wait, hold on. I don’t think Anthony does anymore, not since his serious angel training kicked in. The thing is, I have to really focus on them to see their auras—something about them being blood-related to me. But if I really give them a good stare down, I can see their auras. And... nope, Anthony most definitely does not have an aura anymore, though I can see Tammy’s clear as day, at present.

“We need to talk about what happened in San Clemente,” Lindsey is saying to no one in particular, though her eyes do flick over to me and Kingsley. She pulls out a tablet computer and sets it on the glass table. A 4-D, holographic display appears above it, displaying security footage from inside the nuclear plant.

Whoa, fancy.

“Norm didn’t just attempt to send a false alarm,” she is saying. “He was inside the plant’s restricted network for at least eight minutes before the two of you appeared , Ms. Moon and Mr. Fulcrum.”

I exchange a glance with Kingsley. Eight minutes is a long time for an AI with Norm’s capabilities. Also, did their security footage catch us appearing, say, out of thin air? We had, in fact, appeared just inside the fenced perimeter.

“What did he do?” I ask, watching the grainy footage. The image shows Norm plugging a sleek, black device into one of the plant’s servers.

Lindsey taps the screen, zooming in. “We’re still analyzing the extent of his infiltration, but we know he gained access to a portion of their security protocols. He didn’t have enough time to override any critical systems, thanks to your timely intervention, but he was attempting to copy classified infrastructure blueprints.”

Allison turns away from the window, frowning. “Blueprints of what?”

“The plant’s control mechanisms,” Lindsey replies. “He was trying to learn how to manipulate nuclear plant security remotely. If he’d succeeded, he could have made himself invisible to the nuclear facility’s defenses. Worse, he might have been able to stage an actual meltdown with the right access codes.”

I lean forward, ignoring the dull throb in my shoulder. “We stopped him from gaining full access, but he still walked away with something ?”

Lindsey nods. “That’s what concerns us.”

Andrew exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair. “So, what now? You guys track him down and stop him?”

Lindsey glances at me before answering. “We’re aware that Norm isn’t just an escaped AI. He’s embedded inside a human host, making him harder to isolate. And, unlike a normal rogue program, we can’t just hit ‘delete’ and call it a day. That’s why we need your help, Samantha Moon.”

I arch a brow. “ My help?”

Lindsey doesn’t blink. “You’re the best chance we have of stopping him. You’re faster, stronger, and capable of tracking him in ways we can’t.”

I smirk. Nice to know the FBI thinks I’m a better tracker than an entire federal agency.

Allison glances at me, frowning. Sam, do they know what you are?

I’m thinking so.

I glance at Andrew and scan his memories.

The FBI had to know what happened, how I was able to stop Norm. Apparently, they saw me get shot, saw Kingsley shift. They know what we are. Apparently, Agent Aeon didn’t seem very surprised. He thinks the agent is a vampire.

“Agent Aeon,” I say. “Can we speak in private?”

She nods at the other agents. “Be back in a minute,” she tells them.

When we’re down the hallway and out of earshot, I say, “It appears you know what I am, but what, exactly, are you?”

“I’m immortal,” she says, shrugging. “I drank from the Fountain of Youth. Actually, I fell into the Fountain of Youth, but yeah, I ended up drinking from it, even if only just a little.”

“Very cool, and very weird. Side effects?”

“I don’t age, I heal super-fast. I’m stronger than most and faster than ever.”

“But not supernaturally so?”

“No. More like all my natural skills have been heightened. I’ve been optimized, so to speak, which is what I suspect our AI friend has been.”

“I agree.”

“Are you really a vampire, Samantha Moon?”

“I am, and my hairy boyfriend there is a werewolf.”

“When did the world get so weird?”

“I blame it on TikTok.”

“Seriously.”

“Well, I can’t do what you and your boyfriend can do. Not even close. Yes, we’ve seen what you two can do on the security footage. Most didn’t believe their eyes and feel it was a glitch in the system. And I’m like... the guy literally turned into a wolf, then back again. Probably for the best they don’t believe what they saw.”

I couldn’t agree more, and made a mental note to remove the memory from their thoughts, and any subsequent conversations about it. Also, to command one of them to erase the footage.

Lindsey continues, “We know that once we find Norm, we’ll have to act fast. His host—Norman, the man—needs to be taken into custody for emergency Neural-Link removal surgery before the AI fully consumes him. If that happens, we might not be dealing with a human-AI hybrid anymore. We could be facing something much worse. That’s what Andrew and his team believe—and our tech guys agree.”

“You mean something closer to a machine?” I ask.

Lindsey nods. “Exactly. If the AI becomes fully autonomous inside a human brain, there’s no telling how it might evolve. It could even become impossible to extract. Worse, it might find a way to keep the human body alive long past its natural limits.”

I rub a hand down my face, exhaling. “And when I find him, what if he resists?”

Lindsey’s expression darkens. “Then you do whatever’s necessary to bring him in.”

I hate the weight of those words: whatever’s necessary. Norm isn’t just a rogue AI. There’s still a human being underneath all of this. And as much of a danger as Norm is, the idea of taking him out like some kind of rabid animal doesn’t sit right with me.

Andrew appears in the hallway: “Is this a private meeting, or can we talk about what the FBI’s next move is?”

Lindsey takes my elbow and re-directs me to the living room. Andrew steps back, lets us pass. “We’re deploying task forces to monitor potential locations he might target next,” she says. “Energy grids, transportation hubs, defense contractors—any place where he might be looking to cause more problems.”

I sigh and whisper into the agent’s ear, “So, I hunt him down, and you all try to keep up.”

Her lips twitch into something that’s almost a smirk. “You could say we’re putting our best asset in the field. That would be you, Ms. Moon.”

I roll my eyes. “Flattery won’t get you far, Agent Aeon.”

Kingsley crosses his arms, having picked all this up with his super-duper doggy hearing—and likely our conversation in the hallway, too. “And what about backup, Agent Aeon? Sam’s good, but this guy is getting smarter. He had armed goons with silver bullets at the plant. Who’s to say he won’t have more sophisticated hardware next time?”

Lindsey tilts her head. “Aren’t you her backup? You and her kids and Allison?”

Kingsley scowls but doesn’t argue.

Allison steps closer. “If we’re doing this, we need more intel. Where was Norm last seen?”

Lindsey taps her tablet, pulling up a new image. “A boatyard cam caught a half-dozen men in black wetsuits boarding a private yacht at Dana Point Marina about an hour ago,” she says. “We believe it’s Norm and a group of hired muscle. The yacht was heading south. The owner’s vacationing in Santorini and had no idea his boat had been stolen—or who the suspects are.”

“Norm probably had one of his goons case the yacht club and pick a poorly secured vessel. It’s not rocket science to break in, overpower any crew, and get one of those running.”

I exchange a glance with Kingsley and Allison. South. That could mean anywhere—Mexico, international waters, or somewhere even worse.

I roll my shoulder. Still aches, but I don’t have time to sit around and rest.

Lindsey watches me, her expression unreadable. “Are you in, Sam?”

I exhale. “Looks like I don’t have much of a choice. Can you send me a screengrab of the yacht he was on?”

“I sure can.”

I’m about to give her my phone number but, surprise, surprise, she already has it, and a picture is waiting for me.

Norm isn’t the only tech genius.

He might have literally fallen off the FBI’s radar...

But I have my ways.