Page 185 of The Company

Sister.

That’s the only word that counts.

I hang the phone up and practically collapse back into the pillows. Which parts are true? Which of the things he just told me are true and which are a cover for whatever it is he’s planning?

I look over at the phone and sit up in bed with an idea. I can call James myself. I have his number. I reach for the receiver when there’s a knock on the door.

Fuck. “Yes?”

It opens tentatively and Vincent peeks his head through. “I heard the phone. Who was that?”

“Nick,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Vincent eyes them for a moment before meeting my gaze. “He said you called him last night.”

Vincent opens the door all the way and comes inside, closing it behind him. He smiles at me as he walks over to the bed and takes a seat. He sits close enough that our legs touch. “I did. I’m worried about you. I’m worried about Tet’s influence on you. I’m worried about what he told you.”

“Told me about what?”

“Anything. Everything. Everything he says is a lie, Harper. Everything. He can’t help it. His life is all about lies. Lies keep him alive. He’s nothing but the product of a dozen years of lies and secrets. He’s killed hundreds of people. He’s overthrown governments. He killed his own brother, for fuck’s sake, Harper. That’s got to bother you. Even if you think he had a good reason.”

I start to say something, but I stop with my mouth hanging open. It makes me appear stunned instead of on the verge of defending him.

“I know,” Vincent says, “it’s horrific. It’s horrible what they had him do. But Harper, he chose that life. You have to understand this.”

“And you chose this one,” I say flatly.

“I didn’t choose. He did. He chose for me by choosing to be Six. I was always the control—”

“Wait. Control. Is that your code?”

“Code?” He looks at me funny.

“Your code. You know, from the Company.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have any code.”

Right. Secrets. But control. It’s both a noun and a verb. And the way Vincent used it, it sort of means—

“Harper?” he growls. “Are you listening to me?”

Come can be a noun and a verb too, but—I have a private chuckle—the only noun it can be is semen. “I’m listening.”

“What did Nick say?”

I eye him suspiciously. “You know what he said. You practically told him to call me and tell me these things.”

“I told him to call you. That I was worried about Tet’s influence. And I had every right to be worried, because yesterday, just before you called him, he tried to kill Nick by blowing up a cabin they were in.”

I look away. “What?” He was with Nick? “Why would he do that?”

“He doesn’t need a reason why, Harper. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”

We’re all cold out here.

“—he’s insane. He’s got some secret vendetta programmed into him from years ago and he’s acting it out. He failed his last psych evaluation. After he killed his brother, he failed his psych exam. They had a hit out on him—”

“What?”

“Yeah. They had a hit out on him, but the assassin got cold feet. If she had done her job—”