She tasted sweet. So impossibly sweet for someone who’d lived her life surrounded by poison. Genetics had obviously sped our attraction, but I would’ve been drawn to her regardless of Eva. Quanta had grown to be manipulative, but it wasn’t her nature; she’d learned to do what she had to do to survive. In her drawings and the few glimpses I’d had into her mind, I’d sensed a deeply vulnerable, artistic, even loving soul. The Seligo had tried to strip her bare, but at her core, Quanta was still Quanta and she hadn’t been broken by her past.

Cassie was going to love her. I could imagine the two of them barricading themselves in Cass’s workroom, giggling and plotting pranks—

My chest contracted at the thought. It was a beautiful vision. Quanta must be rubbing off on me because I’d never been one to fantasize when the odds were so dire.

But the future was the future, and I could worry about it when I could guarantee that we’d both get one.

Quanta had exhausted her power and herself before Darren drugged her. On the positive, she was getting the rest she needed. When she came to, there was every chance she’d be recovered enough for another timewind.

Getting to her, though…

I tugged against the plastic ties again. I wasn’t going anywhere.

The cold reality made my pulse roar in my ears.

Now that I knew about Darren’s research they’d have to kill me. Although I was sure they’d take their time finding out my intentions first.

Bloody hell.

A slow torture really was the best I could hope for. The longer I stayed alive, the better chance I’d have of seeing Quanta again.

As unlikely as that was.

Neither of us was going to have a bright future alone.

A change in air pressure announced someone entering the room. Footsteps hit the tile and a stool rolled toward me, wheels loud against the floor.

Doctor Nagi took a seat next to my chair.

“I’m disappointed, Altair.” He coldly assessed me as he stuck a membrane to my strapped-down arm. “You would’ve been a fine successor.”

My muscles corded. He wasn’t wrong. A different path and I might’ve been as cold as he was. But I’d chosen a different way.

“I noted a few abnormalities in your genome.” Nagi pulled a small tablet from his pocket and started flipping through the display. “You don’t seem terribly surprised at that news.”

My nerves rattled, but I forced myself to take a breath. I could show some of my cards—hell, most had already been tipped—but I couldn’t risk revealing all. If the worst happened, and I couldn’t get to Quanta, the things I knew could end the Shadow Ravens.