Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
A loud crash of glass and metal made Oakley’s ears ring, yet he remained still.
A gun cocked.
Oakley heard the woman gasp and the others yell in panic.
“Please don’t. We’ll make it work, I swear it. Don’t kill her. I beg you, none of us will stop until you have the Ravens you want.”
“I swear we can do it, but we need Dr. O’Reilley. She’s the behavioral specialist.”
“Then show me. Wake him up,” the asshole ordered.
Next came the sound of rapid typing and shaky breathing. Several seconds passed before a new voice murmured.
“Sir, according to the monitors…he’s already awake.”
The quietness stretched out, a tense, suffocating silence.
Oakley opened his eyes, his vision immediately adjusting to the harsh lighting. He blinked a couple of times before he narrowed his eyes at the figures around him.
His head throbbed as he filtered through every sharpened detail of the four people standing near the hard surface he was strapped to.
Then, Oakley locked eyes on the one he believed had all dominion.
In his peripheral, he saw the scientists retreating. He could hear the director’s increased heart rate and smell the scent of fear. The sensation of his target caught in his trap made something satisfying stir inside him.
He curled his lip slightly. Not quite a snarl, just enough to make the director tighten his stance.
Trepidation rolled off the scientists, the stench of fear clinging to their skin like sweat.
“Umm, I guess it’s… It’s… His metabolism is far higher than we calculated,” the woman stuttered. “The sedation amounts aren’t high enough.”
The director masked his alarm better than the scientists, smothering his reluctance beneath an iron tone and steely posture.
“Valor,” the director said with smooth control, “can you understand me?”
Oakley didn’t answer, watching and fucking with him before he answered, “I understand you.”
Something like satisfaction flickered in the man’s gaze, as if the response was what he’d been hoping for.
“Excellent.” He smiled before he began to circle him like a stalker. “You understand that Valor is your name?”
“No, it’s not, but I’ll answer to it…for now.”
The director smirked. “Very well. And how do you feel?”
Oakley exhaled and allowed a rumble to escape his lips.
“I feel stronger.” He swept his gaze over the scientists, watching them stiffen. “I feel ready…for what phase did you mention? Phase two.” Oakley tested his restraints. “Are you going to let me out of these or—”
The director scowled. “We’ll let you out when it’s time for you to be—”
Oakley flexed and yanked at the cuffs. The metal table groaned and the leather straps snapped like tattered yarn.
The woman released a cry of alarm, but Oakley held one hand up in a display of civility. “No need to be alarmed. I simply felt that time was now, John.”
The director stilled before his lips curled into something resembling a smirk and a sneer.
“You know my name, I see. You’ve been observant.”
“I know more than you think.”
Mr. Director cut his eyes to the scientists, who appeared even more perplexed, before he turned his attention back to him.
“And what else do you think you know?”
“I know enough to suggest you should be worried about your own problems rather than threatening the lives of your staff.” Oakley’s face was emotionless as stone. “You’ve eliminated one scientist. You can’t afford to lose more.”
He saw the precise moment the director’s amusement morphed into something else.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your phone conference didn’t go as smoothly as you’d hoped last night, did it, John?”
Oakley could hear the imperceptible cracking of knuckles from where the director was clenching his fingers behind his back.
“What conference?” He chuckled, nervousness edging his laugh.
“You know exactly which one. Your office is two levels above me. You have a vent on the floor.”
The director blinked, his smile slowly falling away along with his boldness.
“The phone conference with your donors who are getting rather impatient.” Oakley glanced toward the scientists, who looked stunned and a whole lot confused. “They don’t think I’m worth the investment.”
No one moved.
Oakley smiled, slow and cunning. “They’re considering eliminating your funding, which, in turn, means…eliminating you.”
He let that sink in, watching the director’s shoulders rise toward his ears.
“I could hear the fear in your breaths, in the way you paced your office for an hour after the call ended.”
The environment shifted, crackling.
Oakley slid off the table, stood on two strong legs, and arched his back, giving it a good, long stretch.
“You’re losing control over the Blacks.”
Oakley didn’t know exactly who “the Blacks” were, but they were two people who’d been giving the director’s organization considerable concern.
“Your funders think you’re wasting their time and millions on more engineered men you can’t control.” Oakley pinned the director with a cold glare. “And you’re starting to believe that too.”
It took several tense seconds before the director released a villainous laugh. The sound crawled down Oakley’s spine, but he controlled his reaction with ease.