Page 179 of Dead Beat

Reed folded his arms. “If this is some sort of gambit, it’s a bad one. I don’t like to throw my weight around—”

“You threatened to take my mom’s house away.”

“Your mother wouldn’t have that house if not for Lethe.”

“My mom wouldn’t have had to spend her savings on doctors and scared-straight programs if Lethe or any of the societies had bothered to tell her why her kid was such a mess.”

Reed cast a frustrated look at Darlington. “You told me you had her in hand.”

“I never said that. I told you I had come up with a compromise that would make everyone happy.”

“And?”

“I lied.”

Reed blew out an exasperated breath. “Alex, through an accident of birth, you have been given a gift, and I have guarded that secret.” The owls above him screeched. “I am asking you to use that gift. And if you really have done something as reckless as closing the nexuses, you’re going to have a lot of angry, powerful alumni to answer to. You are in tremendous danger, and you’re going to need protection.”

“He’s not wrong,” said Darlington.

“Thank you for showing some sense. Tell me what it will take for you to create a new nexus and we can begin to build a brighter future for both of you.”

Alex crossed her arms. She wanted to make sure Reed understood what he was asking of her. “Do you know what creating a nexus requires?”

“I do,” said Reed. “There is an ethical way to pursue this.”

“Funny way to describe murder.”

“The passing you provide can be a real mercy. We’ll find someone nearing the end of his life or even someone already sentenced to death.”

“Someone who won’t be missed?”

“Please be reasonable, Alex. You have an extraordinary ability that could help countless people. Someone will have to lose his life to make that possible. We are far beyond juvenile ideas of morality.”

“This is all just her trying to raise the price,” said Girard. “She doesn’t mind violence. You should have seen her in my office. She’s a bully and a thug.”

“Oh, I’m not above murder,” said Alex. “For both fun and profit. I just don’t want to do it for you.”

Girard made a sweeping gesture. “See? She’s on a power trip and we’re over here playing nice.”

“Oh golly,” Alex said. “Now I’ve done it. He wants to take the gloves off.”

Reed looked disappointed. “Is that the only language you understand? The language of threats and violence?”

“Do you speak it?” Alex asked, genuinely curious.

“Such bravado.” He shrugged. “We have power. We have reach. We have resources. I have helped to topple governments, Alex. You think I can’t wipe you, and your mother, and all your friends from the map? If you think Detective Turner can protect you, you should know I own his boss and his boss’s boss. I don’t enjoy making threats, but this is the reality you need to face.”

Girard nodded. “You have to understand your place in all this.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” said Alex. “I know who you are. The Brothers of Orpheus. The Sons of Grigori. The sacred order of men who overestimate their worth. Another group of secret-handshake fucks who think they know better than everyone else.”

Her father’s notes had been an extremely interesting read.

Reed’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know where you got that information or what you think you know, but you will shut your mouth on the subject.”

Darlington’s horns emerged. “Hear the lady out, won’t you?”

Girard yelped.