Enemies(38)

I have only met him once, Gavrikov said, and it was when he was still a child. He is young, only a little older than you.

“ … power rests with me,” Rick said, “because when the day came that my old man died, the Ministers of Omega—some of the most powerful metas in the world—knew who the natural successor was. I’m the Primus because I’m the most powerful man on the planet; I’m not the most powerful man on the planet because I’m the Primus. You see how that works?” He finally looked over at me. “Of course you do. You know how it works because when you were at the Directorate, you were never the one with the power. It was always Winter, and he jerked you around like a dog on a chain.”

I felt myself bristle in sheer rage. “Wolfe?” I whispered in the back of my throat, my mouth closed. “Do you know what he is?”

I heard Rick let out a little giggle. “You know what I’m saying is true, don’t you? That it’s always been about power, and you’ve never been in the driver’s seat. It’s always been about who’s yanking your strings, whether it’s through a paycheck, through threats and coercion, fear and intimidation—these are the things that drive people. See, what you have to decide is who’s going to have power over you. Because it’s going to be someone. You’re a pawn, after all, and there’s no practical way for you to exert agency over your own dealings. You tried the Directorate for a little while, saw what they’re all about. But now you’re with the big boys. And as long as you know your place, we’re not going to have a problem. All right?”

I felt the streak of fury run through me right to my core. “You think you … what? Own me?”

He laughed, a long, cackling one that pissed me off even more. “I don’t own you. I don’t have to own you. I have power over you. That means you’ll sell yourself out anytime I need you to, just like everyone else—to survive, to get what you want, whatever that might be.”

“You think so?” I stared at him coldly.

“If you’re smart,” Rick said, and he pursed his lips in an infuriating smile, “you’ve already figured out who has the power here. If it takes a while to accept it, that’s fine. But you will accept it. Once you do, you’ll find that being a loyal servant of Omega doesn’t go unrewarded. A hell of a lot more rewarded than you were at the Directorate, I can promise you that, anyway. But the converse of that is punishment—”

“Wolfe,” I whispered again, “what is he?”

Don’t know, came the rasp finally, but let’s find out. I blinked at the response, trying to figure out what he meant until the follow-up came a moment later.

Kill him.

I was out of my seat a second later, already flying over the desk. I don’t know if you could say I was proud that he didn’t have a chance to register surprise, but he didn’t even respond facially before my fist connected with his cheek and sent him flipping out of his chair. I followed right after him, landing on his belly with my knee. I heard all the air rush out of him as I did so, and I didn’t waste a moment of time in punching him twice more. I heard the shattering of his face as I smashed his jaw and broke the bones around his eye.

“Who has the power now?” I shouted as I slammed his head to the marble floor, cracking the tiles and his skull. I heard the door open behind me and I stood suddenly, grabbing the chair that he’d been sitting on from where it had fallen when I had knocked him out of it. I stood and held it above my head, the rollers above me and the leather back in my hands. It weighed a hundred pounds, easy, and it felt light in my grasp as I let it hang there.

I saw the others rushing back in now—Bast, Janus, Karthik—he was already going for his gun, but he’d never make it in time—Madigan, and Kat. Madigan was the only one I had to worry about, and she was the last coming into the room. Everything was in slow motion, and I saw Janus reaching out a hand to me, shouting at me to stop, to not do it, and I suspected he’d be toying with my mind any second.

I brought the chair down with all my meta strength and it dashed Rick’s—I never did catch his last name, did I?—brains out all over his pretty marble floors, a spray of red and grey matter splattering as the frame of the chair shattered from the impact.

There was a collective gasp around me as I took a step back from what I’d done and surveyed the room. They’d assembled in a little half-circle centered on me and I could tell they were all about a second from action. Karthik was raising his pistol and Madigan’s hands were already up. I had held onto the arms of the chair as a weapon, and I flung them at Eleanor and Karthik, catching each of them in the torso and sending them flying back, impaled. I wanted to feel bad about it, but I wasn’t going to do it now.