Rose Brooke’s Reviews > Vengeful > Status Update

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?
(Dude goes from calling her a nuisance, to being like “oh no! What if they killed her instead!?”)

Stell’s gaze went to the slim silver briefcase the board had given him, the collar nested inside. Agent Rios was still standing there, silent, waiting. Stell rose to his feet. “Prepare a transport team for tomorrow.” Rios raised a brow. “For which prisoner?” “Cardale.”

She hesitated before she hit Call, not because she had any lingering doubts, but simply because the words would carry weight, consequence, and not just for Victor. Putting him in EON’s path meant endangering Sydney, too. But June would be there. She’d keep her girl safe.

Marcella's smile shone. "Haven't you heard? I am the mob now." She rapped her nails on the linen tablecloth. "No, you want to deal in kind, don't you? A more relevant currency? You want ... EOs."
"You would hand over your own?"

"I don't do anything," said Jonathan bit-terly. "It just happens. Someone tries to hurt me—hell, I try to hurt myself-and it's there. Shielding me."
"Well, bully for you," said June, Leaning back on the counter.
Marcella made a small, displeased hum.
"I don't see how that helps me."
Jonathan stared into his glass. "I can share it."
Marcella's blue eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Marcella's lips twitched. "Maybe it should. People with powers like ours, why should we hide? The life I had is gone. There's no getting it back. I'd rather make a new one. A better one. One where I don't have to pretend to be weak to survive."

Dominic scanned the screen. Beside his photo was a kind of profile, basic details—age, birthday, parents—along with facts about his life—address, schooling, etc.—but there was an error. Dominic’s middle name was listed here as Eliston. His real middle name was Alexander.

"My name," said the man, adjusting latex gloves, "is
Dr. Haverty."
Something glinted in his hand, thin and silver and sharp. A scalpel. "I promise, what's about to happen is in the interest of progress."
-Dr to Nick

“What have we done?” Eli muttered to himself. But it was Victor who answered. “What makes you think we did anything?” He looked up and saw the thin blond ghost leaning back against the fiberglass wall. “The number of EOs,” said Eli, gesturing to the shelf, “it’s skyrocketed over the last decade. What if we did something? What if we tore something in the fabric of the world? What if we set something in motion?”

Eli tested his theater on the families as if they were an audience, and used their feedback, the immediate, constant feedback, to tweak his performance.