“If he were disappointed, you wouldn’t be his First.”
“I’m his First because Paul’s dead.” Torn to bits and left in the snow. Johnathan had been on the ground just long enough to confirm it was him. The remains had been too shredded to do it visually, so Johnathan had had to rely on scent.
Seung kneeled in front of Dr. Dante. He shook his head.
“The workmen just got done repainting the walls.” Frost thrummed his fingers on the wheel. “Did them in Dove gray. I love Dove gray. It goes with everything.”
“What are you? Fucking Bertha Steward?”
“I think you mean Martha Stewart.”
“Whatever. Why are you concerned about the color of the goddamned walls?”
“I’m not concerned about the color. I’m concerned about the bloodstains that are going to wind up on them when the first fight breaks out.”
“I can keep my men from acting like wild dogs, trust me.” The fact Frost thought otherwise stung.
Frost rolled a look up. “Your men aren’t the problem. It’s you killing them when they sniff around Dr. Dante’s door that I’m worried about.”
* * *
Seung walked up to Reese, but he couldn’t quit staring at the walking talking—had been ripped to pieces—man as he went around to the passenger side of the pickup truck.
Johnathan…
Reese frowned. “His name is Paul Dekker. He’s a mercenary. And he’s—”
“Dead, I know.” She knelt. “Johnathan is Paul’s twin brother.
Reese clenched his eyes shut. “This is a nightmare. I’ve fallen asleep, and this is a fucking nightmare.” The scar on Reese’s shoulder flared, burning hot enough to make him wince.
“When did it start hurting again?”
It took Reese a minute to realize what she’d said.
“It’s never stopped.”
“But it’s worse now.” And she said it like she already had the answer.
“How do you even know?” Sweat dripped, rolled down Reese’s face. “About…it.” He wiped away the rivulets before they could get to his eyes.
“Johnathan showed me the videos.”
Reese furrowed his brow. He couldn’t have heard that right. “Videos?”
“Paul had cameras in the bunker.”
A vice squeezed Reese’s throat.
“He wanted his father to witness….” Seung dropped her gaze a moment. “He wanted to prove to his father and Johnathan he was right about everything.”
The air thinned. “What the fuck did he want to prove?” How much of a monster he was? How he could brutally mutilate Reese in some sick attempt to prove to him death and dead weren’t the same?
Or how he could ruthlessly destroy an innocent man in his attempt to achieve the impossible?
Because if Nash Kelli had known how to give up the ichor, he would have. But he couldn’t, so Paul had forced them to watch Luca die.
But Reese didn’t need to tell Seung because, according to her, Johnathan had shown her thevideos.