“Gone,” Greenwood said.
“He had a bomb in his teeth,” Skylar said. “Who does that?”
“Spies, terrorists, mafia,” MacPherson said. “I ordered the guard who brought him here to check, but it turned out he was Tempest.” She sighed and the relaxation of her face betrayed the sleepless nights and stress that had been eating away at her. “Guess he never got rechecked.”
“I think he’s going to keep his word,” Skylar said. “He said he doesn’t want to die. Tempest would kill him if he went back.”
The general regarded her with narrow eyes. “An organization can be predicted, and given the right circumstances and talent, controlled. A rogue element on the other hand is always a fucking problem.”
“Right,” Skylar said.
“Ma’am, she had nothing to do with his escape,” Ashleigh said.
“Why were you in here, Dr. O’Hara?” MacPherson asked.
Skylar straightened. “I came to tell him your decision on his fate—”
“My confidential decision, the knowledge of which, I assume, prompted his escape?”
“Yes.”
The general nodded. “Please return to the hangar with Devonte and continue your work on pacifying the creature. And Dr. O’Hara…if you jeopardize my mission or the safety of this nation again, I will have you tried right alongside that white-haired son of a bitch.” She didn’t look at Skylar when she spoke, but her seriousness dripped from every word. “Lieutenant, I believe you also have business to attend.”
The two women made their excuses and apologies and exited. In the hallway, Greenwood stopped Skylar.
“I’m going to nip this right now,” she said.
“What?” Skylar didn’t look her in the eye.
“This whole thing. His escape. It’s not your fault.”
“You heard the general—”
“Yes, I did, I also know where she’s coming from. But listen to me, he came into custody with a bomb in his teeth. He planned to escape from the start. We weren’t giving him what he wanted. He’d have figured it out eventually and then no one would have been there to bring help.”
“You would have heard the explosion.”
“Yes, but you called for us before the bomb went off.”
“And it didn’t help at all.”
Greenwood sighed. “But it could have been the difference between him escaping and him being caught. Not your fault he’s as slippery as he is slimy.”
Skylar chuckled at that. “He’s a fucking sleaze.”
“That he is,” Greenwood said, “and you’re better off without him. Now go to the guy who really cares about you and help him feed his overgrown cat.”
“Devonte? No, he doesn’t think of me that way…he thought I was a guy for seven years apparently!”
Greenwood shrugged. “Call it a hunch.”
“You’re in a much better mood now that you and Raymond are official, you know?”
“Don’t you start,” Greenwood said, her icy demeanor returning before cracking again into a laugh. “Get back to the hangar before you actually make me like you.” She gave Skylar an affectionate shove.
“Isn’t that where you’re headed too?”
Greenwood paused for a moment. “Oh, yeah.”
“Give me a five-minute head start so we don’t have to walk awkwardly down the hall together?” Skylar asked.
“That sounds good, now go.”
Chapter 19
The creature was smarter than Devonte had expected, the past two days had proven that time and again. With positive reinforcement in the form of steak or tuna, Akuma was motivated to learn simple commands.
“Stay,” he said, holding up the piece of raw meat in a gloved hand.
Akuma, who had been approaching what he thought was his next meal, paused and perched himself back on his haunches, head cocked to the side. A low rumble, purring Devonte called it despite Skylar’s constant reminder that reptilians lack the necessary organs to actually purr, came from his chest. Devonte assumed it conveyed happiness, since there had yet to be a negative response associated with the noise.
“Good boy,” Devonte said before tossing the meat at the large drake.
Akuma caught it midway and gulped it down without chewing. He let out a satisfied sound, a cross between a bark and a honk.
Skylar pushed her chair back from the makeshift computer desk they’d set up and said, “I have cool news. Can’t say it’s good, but it’s cool.”
“Hit me.”
She walked over and slugged him affectionately in the arm. “Akuma’s regenerative factor is slowly starting to kick in,” she said. “It’s nowhere near the level of his mother’s yet, but I imagine soon enough he’ll be just as hard to kill.”
“But we’re not going to have to kill him, right?”
“The training seems to be going well, so here’s hoping,” she said.
Devonte picked up the small sidearm he kept at his workstation. “There’s also this,” he said, firing at the creature’s side. Akuma recoiled at the noise, but the bullet fell harmlessly to the ground at his feet. “Sorry, buddy.” He shrugged at Skylar. “Bulletproof. His scales hardened.”
“Drawing blood just got five times harder.”
“Ah,” Devonte said, waving his hand dramatically, “I considered the possibility and installed a port beneath his scales before they hardened. Did it while you were out—” he floundered and almost said, “with Kurtis”. Instead he finished with “and about”.
“And you say you’re only good with computers,” Skylar chided, not noticing his hesitation.
“A good programmer plans for weird edge cases.”
“Do you apply computer logic to everything?”
“It’s served me well so far.”
“Even with the ladies?” She gave him a wry smile.
Devonte was glad that his face’s complexion wouldn’t give away his embarrassment. “Not so much.”
“Seems like faulty logic then,” she said, striding over and giving him a smug look.
“Well, I mean, I—”
His sentence was cut short by Akuma letting out a dry choking sound. The two of them wheeled to see the creature writhing and scratching at his throat. A strange whimper filled the makeshift research station.
“Is he choking?” Skylar asked.
“He always gulps down his meals and he’s never choked before.” Devonte rushed to grab his chair and propped it up in front
