Tears fell from her eyes as well. “Then I’m coming with you. We do this together.”

  Occam flung his head back, as though exasperated, and looked at Belle.

  “We do this together,” she repeated, trembling. “Like we’ve done everything. If you go down, so do I.”

  Sam pulled her against him. She wrapped her arms around him. His heart pounded against her chest, matching the rhythm of her own.

  “Maybe one of us can survive him,” she said, muffled against his shoulder. “But if not, he won’t survive both of us.”

  Occam sighed and stepped away from the door. He wouldn’t let June die, but maybe he wouldn’t let Sam die, either, if she begged him.

  Sam drew back. He wiped his eyes and looked at Occam. “Take us to Robbie.”

  Occam gestured dramatically into the hallway. “Right this way, fearless heroes.”

  June felt like anything but.

  Occam led them through the vampire floor, Belle at his side. June clung to Sam’s hand. She had faced certain death before and come out on top. She could do it again.

  The vampires watched them pass. Logan smirked at them, standing in the doorway of the lab.

  Occam led them to the elevator they’d come up in. They filed inside the car and the doors slid shut.

  “Here we are again,” June said softly. “Part of me wishes we could let this place crumble.”

  Occam stared at the numbers above the door. “Robbie will know you’re approaching as soon as we step out. I would strongly suggest you not go running at him with guns blazing. He’s certainly going to know your intentions.”

  Sam wrapped an arm around June’s shoulders. “I don’t suppose we can disguise our thoughts from him? He’s too powerful for that.”

  “You’re not powerful enough for that.” Occam huffed. “Let me do the talking, all right? It’ll at least keep him from immediately crushing you like a bug.”

  June stared at the doors. A creeping sensation washed over her, like she could feel Robbie’s mind reaching out and gripping her.

  The doors opened to a darkened hallway. Occam stepped out.

  “His office is here.” He looked back at them. “Come on, you’re so eager to die.”

  They followed him out of the elevator. June’s vision and hearing sharpened with the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Despite Occam’s suggestion, she drew her gun. Even if she was being bludgeoned to death by a telekinetically levitating chair, she would do her damndest to crack off a few shots at him.

  They strode down the hallway, she and Sam holding hands again. Occam and Belle walked in front of them.

  Someone stepped out of a doorway and June jumped. Not Robbie, a man she didn’t recognize. He fumbled for a gun on his hip.

  “What are you doing in here?” the man demanded. One of Robbie’s two remaining lackeys.

  Before he could pull his gun, Occam whipped one of the blades from his pocket and flung it at him. Like in the parking garage, it embedded in the man’s throat. He scrabbled at it, choking and stumbling backward.

  June made a mental note: if she survived this, she was going to learn how to use a blade.

  Occam walked up to the man and yanked the razor out of his throat. The man crumpled to the floor. Occam turned to Belle, giving the blade a quick swipe with his tongue.

  “Go find the other one,” he told her. “Make him regret his life choices.”

  Belle rushed down the hallway.

  Occam motioned with the blade. “Come on. We’re expected.”

  They continued down the hallway, stepping around the gurgling, shuddering man on the floor.

  Occam led them to a set of wooden double doors and stopped. “Ready to make an entrance?”

  Sam let go of June’s hand and gripped her arm. He pulled her toward him and kissed her, hard. She clutched his hair and kissed him with equal intensity, squeezing her eyes shut. Heroes had to sacrifice.

  Occam made a disgusted sound. “Maybe you can just repulse him to death.”

  They broke the kiss and June stepped back, taking Sam’s hand again. “I doubt Robbie is repulsed by much. That’s the advantage of being the most repulsive thing in the city. Let’s make sure he doesn’t offend anyone else.”

  Sam smiled. “You did it.”

  “Did what?”

  “You said you always wanted to say something cool and inspiring. There you go.”

  She grinned.

  Occam pushed the doors open.

  The room beyond looked like the office of some high-ranking official in some fancy government mansion. An enormous room, with bookshelves lining the walls and swanky furniture. Windows looked out on the nighttime city. Gigantic paintings hung around the room—one depicted Eric Greerson, another the man they’d met at the beach, Michael Paulson.

  Robbie was certainly expecting them.

  He stood in the middle of the room, facing the doors. His presence filled the air like pulsing radiation.

  He was dressed startlingly normal: a pair of black pants and a white dress shirt. This made June’s brain short out. She expected something more—armor, spikes, a dragon’s spines, something. Not business casual.

  The dark, ragged scar traversed his pale face. His eyes were as white as his shirt.

  Anthony sat on a couch behind him, clutching the cushions. His eyes flickered like a strobe light.

  “What are you doing here?” Robbie demanded as Occam strolled toward him. “How the hell are you here?”

  Occam spread his arms. “Vampires, Robbie.”

  Robbie jerked his head toward a huge desk sitting across from the couch. Papers were scattered across it. A phone sat there.

  “No use calling your lackeys,” Occam said. “We already made snacks out of them.”

  Robbie jerked his head back around to face Occam and gritted his teeth. He then stepped sharply to the side, looking at the two of them.

  “You.” His voice was venomous.

  Sam let go of her hand. “Me, Robbie.”

  Chapter 26

  The doors slammed shut behind them, and June jumped. She fought the urge to lift her gun, because if she did, Robbie might rip it away. Not that he couldn’t take it from her side, but it was less a focus down there.

  “What is this?” Robbie demanded of Occam. “Haven’t you tormented me enough? I don’t want anything to do with your precious siren.”

  “She wants to do with you, though. I brought you your brother.” Occam gestured to Anthony. “Aren’t you grateful? It’s a family reunion.”

  Robbie whipped his head around to look at Anthony, like a snake sensing prey. Anthony scooted across the couch.

  “Did you know about this?” Robbie asked him.

  Anthony shook his head, but then suddenly, began to choke. He gripped his throat, his eyes popping wide.

  “Robbie,” Occam said. “Come now, let’s not be hasty. I’m not here to mess with you. I have a proposal. Hear me out before you strangle anyone.”

  Robbie turned back to Occam. Anthony sagged against the couch, drawing heaving breaths.

  “I completely understand.” Occam held up his hands. “You could kill all the humans in this room with a thought. You could tear their skulls from their faces. You could throw them out the window. I get it. Hell, I even appreciate it. Now me, you’d have to wrestle with a bit.” He smiled knowingly. “You couldn’t take me out so easily. Maybe not at all.”

  “You’re arrogant,” Robbie said. “Getting in my way once again, for no reason.”

  “Yes, Robbie, I’m the arrogant one. I’m not the one who commandeered an entire building and plan on blowing it up.”

  “What do you want?” Robbie strode over to him. “Why did you bring them?” He pointed at Sam and June.

  “To sweeten the pot. To make you consider my proposal more seriously.”

  June narrowed her eyes.

  “What proposal?” Robbie sneered. “There’s only one thing I want from you, Occam. And you and your kind certainly went out of your way recently to make sure I didn’t get it.”

  “Yes, you want to be king of the world. I can make you king of the world, forever. And I will, for half.”

  June stared at the back of Occam’s head, her breath stilling.

  Robbie reared back, crinkling his brow. His white eyes shone. “Half?”

  “Half of this city. I want to be king too.”

  June’s bewilderment turned to horror.

  Occam thumbed over his shoulder. “I know you don’t like to share your toys, that’s why I tricked them into coming here. I figured if I handed them over, you’d be more inclined to say yes.”

  Robbie focused on them.

  “You son of a bitch!” Sam lurched forward.

  “Occam,” June said. “How could you do this? You don’t care about this fight! You don’t want power.”

  He looked at her, affecting a pout. “I lied I’m afraid. It’s something I do.”

  June tensed, clutching the gun tighter. She backed up to the door, but there was nowhere to go.

  “I would like to rule this city,” Occam said. “Think about it, the vampires in charge? No more lies, no more science done on our behalf. No more Rose Bellevues. That would please me greatly.” He stepped up to Robbie and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “And you’d be one of us.”

  Robbie’s sightless eyes were still focused on Sam and June.

  “I’ll turn you.” Occam spoke close to Robbie’s ear. “I’ll heal you. And then we can have some fun with these two. I know I’d certainly like to have some fun with her.” He looked June up and down.

  June backed up farther against the door.

  “And I’d love to have some fun with him.” Robbie focused on Sam.

  “So what do you say?” Occam asked. “You, me, forever?”

  Robbie pulled away from Occam and glided toward them. Sam backed up too. June considered putting the gun to her head.

  “It’s true I don’t like to share,” Robbie said. “But I think this city is big enough for both of us.”

  Robbie herded them away from the door and into the room, between the desk and couch. June’s gun flew from her hand and bounced across the carpet.

  Occam stood back, watching with a smug smile. She should have run from him long ago. She never should have listened to anything he said, much less solicited his help.

  She sought an escape. Another door across the room, between two bookcases. Getting there would take a few seconds—if it was even unlocked—but Robbie would need only a few seconds.

  “Robbie”—Sam stepped in front of June—“This is between us. Let her go, and you and I can do this one-on-one. You already said you don’t care about her.”

  “I care about her,” Occam said.

  June moved from behind Sam. “Sam, no…”

  “One-on-one?” Robbie tittered. “How long do you think you could last?”

  Sam winced, gripping his side. He doubled over.

  “Stop!” June pleaded.

  Robbie stared him down. “All I need to do is apply pressure in the right place, and our one-on-one will end. Do you still want to fight me, Sam?”

  Occam chuckled. “Robbie. You should leave the torture for after I turn you. I guarantee it will be much more fun.”

  Sam sagged and then stood upright, breathing hard. June clutched his arm.

  “You’re right,” Robbie said. “I’m tired of his over-confidence. Every time he thinks he has some sort of upper hand, I show him otherwise. I don’t know why he’s still flinging himself at me.”

  “Because you can’t do this.” Sam was still wheezing. “I can’t let you do this. Even if I die trying, I have to stop you.”

  “Do you love the Institute so much?” Robbie opened his arms. “This place that would have destroyed all of us, given enough time? That would have taken our powers from us and given them to others who don’t deserve them? What attachment do you have to this place that makes you want to stop me from putting an end to it once and for all?”

  Sam took his hand off his side, standing up straighter. “I have no attachment. I would love to watch it burn. But I know what that burning means. What it means to your followers. If I allow you to go through with this, they will be unstoppable.”

  “That’s what you fear? That we’ll burn down the city? That all your followers will do the right thing and finally turn to me? Maybe you should have thought of that long ago, Sam. Maybe if you were stronger and smarter, you’d be in my place right now.”

  “What do you think is going to happen?” Sam gestured toward the windows. “If you take this city, there’s still a whole world out there. Your crazy ideology isn’t going to reach beyond the city limits. They’ll take you and all your followers down with you.”

  “You think so? A bit hard if I’m invincible.”

  “You won’t be invincible. You will still have weaknesses. They’ll drop a fucking bomb on your head if they have to.”

  Robbie laughed, high and tittering.

  “You’re a monster,” June snarled. “Nothing but a soulless, heartless monster! You’re not representative of our people. The only thing you’re going to do is set our kind back centuries.”

  Robbie strolled toward her. She stood her ground. He started circling her. An electric tingle danced across her skin, his power palpable.

  “What makes you think”—he passed by her shoulder—“our kind were ever meant to mingle with the normals? That we’re supposed to put on some sort of good face so they accept us?”

  She clenched her jaw, staring at Occam.

  “They only want to kill us.”

  Her hair shifted and she flinched. He hadn’t physically touched her.

  “They want to steal from us, hurt us, terrorize us. Why shouldn’t we do the same to them?”

  “Because we all have to live on this planet,” she said. “And we can’t make any progress if we spend all our time terrorizing each other.”

  He stopped in front of her. Up close, through the milky white of his eyes, she could barely make out his irises.

  “Do you know how I’ve spent my life?” he said. “Mistreated, feared, tortured, taunted. Always someone pushing me around for being different—for being paranormal, for being deaf, for being too weird, for being too bookish, too smart, too anything. I didn’t fit their mold, so they wanted to beat me down and get rid of me. Do you understand why that creates a ‘monster?’”

  “Yes.” Tears slipped from her eyes. “I know what it’s like.” She held out her arms. “Do you think I look like this because I want to fit in, or because I finally gave up trying to be one of them?”

  He gazed at her, silent.

  “I know what it’s like.” She lowered her arms. “I never fit in anywhere. I watched people I cared about suffer because of me. I suffered because of me. I was always the weirdo. I will always be the weirdo. I just embraced it, finally. If I was going to be strange, I was going to be as strange as I could possibly be. But I sure as shit didn’t go on a killing spree.”

  He still gazed at her. He was like an alien being, studying her, trying to figure her out.

  “I know what it’s like to be dying from it too.” She pressed on. “I know how it makes you afraid and desperate. I know how it feels to know this thing that sets you apart is also going to eat you alive. It’s not fair, and it hurts, and it feels like if there is a God, He hates you and wants you to suffer.”

  The room was intensely silent. She couldn’t even hear her own breath or feel her heartbeat. She was caught in the white of Robbie’s eyes, in the strange, intense otherness of his face. Yet he wasn’t so strange at all. Behind that grotesque mask was something frail and vulnerable and human.

  Maybe she could reach that human.

  Robbie shifted closer to her. He spoke lowly. “I see much of myself in you. I know you understand me.”

  More tears fell from her eyes.

  “But unlike you, I have the will to fight the thing inside me that’s trying to destroy me. I have the will to fight the ones outside who destroy me. I’m not hampered by a conscience that would only stay my hand when it needs to move.”

  She closed her eyes. If a human being was in there, he was buried much too deep.

  “What about your brother?” She opened her eyes. “I can’t imagine hurting my own brother.”

  Robbie sneered. “We may come from the same mother, but our similarities end there. He’s always been far too complacent. Never trying to use that amazing, rare power he has. And I was always willing to tutor him.” He turned and walked over to him.

  Anthony cowered.

  “Look at him. Look at what he is. This is not my brother.” Robbie spat on him.

  Anthony yelped.

  Sam looked down at the desk. He glanced at June.

  Robbie turned. “Yes, Sam. Those are the locations of the explosives. Even if you could get to each of them, do you think you could disarm them? My men have been in here for years, putting down the foundations for this. It’s extremely complex, and several of my men are—were—” He glared at Occam. “Very intelligent engineers and explosives experts. Tell me, Sam, do you think you know more than them?”

  Sam didn’t reply.

  “I’ve spent years putting the right people in the right places. Gleaning information, deploying spies, worming through their infrastructure. This has been in motion for longer than you can imagine. A few snips on your part are not going to put an end to all my careful construction and planning. If you want to try.” He motioned to the doors. “Go right ahead. We can pretend it’s a game. See how many bombs you can defuse before Occam turns me and I come after you.”

  Sam looked across the room, toward the doors. He didn’t move, though.

  “Did you think teaming up with my brother would give you some advantage? Ah, but you have a soft spot for brothers, don’t you? I thought when I had yours killed, it would stop you from making that treaty with Aaron. I have to give you credit, you were tougher than I thought.”

  Sam glowered at him. “You’ve taken enough from me, Robbie. You might take my life, too, but I’m going to make sure you suffer before I leave this world.”