Project Maigo(46)

“Sage relationship advice from an old, single man,” I say.

“The ladies don’t come to me for advice, son,” Woodstock says. His grin turns wicked. “They come to me for—”

Part of me is relieved by the sound of approaching feet that interrupts Woodstock’s sentence. The other part is horrified when I turn to find Collins, just a few feet away, arms crossed. She heard. I know she heard. But I don’t say anything yet. She has company.

“Endo,” I say, climbing off the wall and standing. “You’re awake.” He’s more than awake. He looks good. As usual. Like he’d suffered little more than the loss of a good night’s sleep. I look around his shoulder, carefully avoiding Collin’s eyes. “Alessi isn’t with you?”

It’s a strange question, I know, but the two have been inseparable since we first encountered them in Hong Kong.

Endo squints at me. Collins’s brows furrow deeper. They have both misunderstood my interest. Like I need any more help tightening the noose around my neck.

“She’s coordinating with Cooper and Watson,” Endo says.

The casualness with which he uses their names bothers me, like he’s just part of the team and always has been. It’s the familiar tone. He hasn’t earned it.

Woodstock clears his throat at me.

Right. Honesty. No TV romance.

I turn to Collins. “I—”

“—have no choice,” she says. “I know. Your new best friend—” she glances to Endo, “—told me all about it. To stop the monster, you have to understand the monster. Know your enemy. I get it.”

“It’s more than that,” I say. “We won’t just know her, we’ll understand her. What she wants.”

“Where she’s from,” Endo says.

“How to stop her,” I add, knowing that if Endo expressed this sentiment, it would be, ‘How to control her.’

But that’s not my goal. If she leaves the human race be, I’m content to leave it at that. I don’t see the need to pick a fight we might not win if we can avoid it. And I sure as hell don’t agree with using her as a weapon. Maigo tearing apart Boston in search of her murderous father, isn’t all that dissimilar from the American use of atomic bombs in World War II. Or our assaults on Iran and Afghanistan. Or Vietnam. Korea. How many innocent people have we killed to execute the villains we’ve targeted? I’m not opposed to just wars, I just don’t think our judgment is any better than Nemesis’s. The best solution is to appease her violent nature.

Or destroy her.

So as much as I’m playing along, I have no intention of trying to control her. And that’s why it’s going to work. Endo felt a backlash from Gordon that was strong enough to put him in a coma. But he was trying to control the man. I’m aiming for a dialogue. If that’s even possible. Who knows, maybe my head will explode. I just think it’s worth the risk.

“Well, then, since we’re all on board,” I say. “How do we get this done? It’s not like we can call Nemesis on the phone and invite her for dinner.”

“Actually,” Endo says, a gleam in his eye that says I’m wrong. “I think we have confirmed that there is one way to draw Nemesis out of hiding.”

Collins, Woodstock and I stand silent, waiting for his revelation, because we sure as shit don’t know what he’s talking about. But then Collins groans and turns her head to the sky. “You can’t be serious.”

“What?” I ask, feeling stupid for not figuring it out.

“You’re the bait,” she says.

“Not exactly,” Endo says. “Nemesis is not interested in harming you. Her intentions seem to be the opposite, in fact. She will come if you are in danger. In mortal danger. To save you.”

I turn away from the others. I’d rather watch Scrion’s body be dissected than look into Collins’s eyes. Not because she’s disapproving, but because I might change my mind. “I need to be in mortal danger.”

Endo nods.

“Still sounds like a worm on a hook to me,” Woodstock says.

“We can’t do that here.” Despite the charred remains of the city coast, the area is still densely populated. “And we can’t travel to a remote location without wasting a lot of time. Who knows how long it would take her to follow us, or even if she would? So there’s really only one place we can do this, right?”

I know he’s come to the same conclusion already, so it’s no surprise when Endo steps up next to me and says, “Correct.”

Looks like Boston gets to be Nemesis’s Tokyo after all. “To Boston, then.”