At the sound of Stell’s approach, his head drifted up. “Director. Has my trap yielded any results?”

Stell hesitated. “Not yet,” he lied. There was no reason for Eli to know about Vale’s escape, and a dozen reasons to keep him in the dark.

Especially considering what he was about to do. “Have you been considering the problem of Marcella?”

Eli rose. “My assessment hasn’t changed.”

“I’m not asking for your sentence,” said Stell, “I’m asking for your method. How would you dispatch her?”

“How would I?”

“You do still believe you are the best equipped for the task.”

A ghost of a smile. “I do.”

“Let me be very clear,” said Stell. “I don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to,” said Eli.

Stell shook his head. What was he thinking? “We still don’t know if you can even defeat Marcella.”

Eli smiled grimly. “Haverty spent a year trying to find the limits of

my regeneration. He never succeeded.”

“Her power isn’t the only problem,” said Stell. “After all, Marcella is not acting alone.”

“Neither am I,” pressed Eli, gesturing at the cell, at EON. “The hard part isn’t killing three EOs, Director. It’s collecting them in one place, and then separating them so they can’t work together. Do that, and your agents can take care of the other two EOs while I see to Marcella.

I assure you, under the right conditions, defeating them is more than possible.”

Conditions.

Stell slid Marcella’s invitation through the fiberglass slot. “Will this work?”

Eli took the card, his eyes dancing across the words.

“Yes,” he said, “I think it will.”

IV

THE NIGHT BEFORE

V

MERIT

VICTOR needed a drink.

He spotted a bleak stretch of low buildings, bland, forgettable, a bar sandwiched between them, and started across the street, digging his cell from his pocket.

Mitch answered on the second ring.

“We were getting worried. What happened with Dumont?”

“It was a trap,” said Victor flatly. “He was only human.”

Mitch swore. “EON?”

“Indeed,” said Victor. “I got away, but I won’t risk leading them back to the Kingsley.”

“Is that him?” called Syd in the background. “What happened?”

“Should we leave?” asked Mitch.

Yes, thought Victor. But they couldn’t. Not now. The movement would only draw EON’s further attention. They’d set their trap at the hospital, lain in wait. They’d gotten Victor to come to them, which meant they hadn’t been able to find him. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. Did they already know about Sydney? What would happen if they found her instead?

“Stay in the apartment,” he said. “Don’t answer the door. Don’t let anyone in. Call me if you notice anything or anyone outside.”

“What about you?” asked Mitch.

But Victor didn’t have an answer to that question yet, so instead he