Page 178 of Victorious

A strange feeling, like a chill, rolled over him. The words were not an order, yet, but his body reacted to the displeasure in the EO’s voice. Eli’s hold was beginning to slip.

“We’ll talk more when you return to EON,” said the voice. “In the meantime, do whatever Noah says.”

That was a command, one that sank like a stone through Eli’s stomach.

“On your feet,” commanded Noah.

Eli glared. But he obeyed.

The EO was about to turn and march him back through the woods when Victor started walking toward them. Noah kept a firm grip on his collar, his camouflage extending over both of them.

Victor stopped ten feet away and stared into the trees.

“Not a word,” hissed Noah, and Eli felt his jaw click shut, could only watch as Victor looked straight ahead at him. Through him. As June jogged up beside him, and asked him what he saw, and he said nothing. As Victor turned, and left, never knowing he was there.

Only once the three of them had climbed into the pickup truck did Noah force Eli to turn and walk away. And Eli followed, not because he had no choice, but because he knew exactly where Victor was headed.

And he’d be there to meet him.

XXIXNOW. THEN.

90 MINUTES BEFORE THE END

JUNE rode with her feet up on the dash while Victor drove.

In the backseat, Mitch’s hands flew across the keyboard of the stolen laptop as he tried to hack into EON. Victor didn’t have much hope. Mitch had been trying and failing, ever since they locked their system down.

June, meanwhile, was staring at him.

“What?” asked Victor, eyes on the road.

“You got your powers back.”

He flexed his fingers on the wheel. “How can you tell?”

She shrugged. “You look different.”

“So do you,” he shot back. She did, but despite the new shell—this one a lanky brunette—he would have recognized her instantly. He’d been caught off guard back in the bar, when she showed up posing as Mitch, but only because of the serum dulling his senses.

Victor had learned over the years to recognize a person’s energy. The electrical current, the way it flowed through them, had subtle variations, the result as unique as a fingerprint. At a distance, they might seem alike, but up close, the differences were obvious.

Or at least, they should have been.

But Victor thought of the EON agents in the park. How, beneath the wrongness shared by all four bodies, their underlying signature had felt the same. He remembered the way he’d blown their fuses. The way they’d gotten right back up again.

It shouldn’t have been possible.

It wasn’t—unless their bodies weren’t their own.

Gabriel, he thought, recalling the voice that taunted him over the comm.

“I’ve enabled them to serve a purpose.”

What exactly did that mean?

“Tell me everything you know about the man in charge of EON.”

June chewed the inside of her cheek and looked out the window. “I never found out,” she said. “I had a lead, but…” she trailed off.