“A trade for what?”
“The Egg. And your chance to go free — without being gunned down in a firefight you cannot possibly win.” His eyes cut to Lefty’s hand. “In exchange for that detonator. For her life.”
Every muscle in my body freezes.
No.
He cannot actually be considering this. Allowing these monsters to walk out of here, after everything they’ve done. All the people they’ve hurt. All the chaos they’ve caused.
“Conor,” I breathe. “Conor, no, you can’t—”
His eyes cut to mine. “I can. And I will.”
Lefty’s scoff pulls our attention back. “You expect me to believe you wantthis…” When his hand contracts around the small remote, I nearly have a heart attack, thinking he’s about to kill me with a careless jerk of his fingers. “Badly enough to make that trade? Badly enough that you would let us walk free?”
Conor’s jaw is clenched tight, but he gives an affirmative nod.
Lefty’s eyes are wary. He shakes his head at Conor, clearly suspecting a trap. “You would give up theNécessairefor so little? For onesukawith a big mouth…”
“Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s worth,” Righty grunts.
“Maybe he’s going to try to pass us off a counterfeit replica,” Lefty hisses. “But if he thinks he can fool us so easily, perhaps we should show him how serious we are…” His eyes cut to me and he waves the detonator again. “One push…”
I try not to flinch when his finger starts to descend over the red button.
“Enough.” Conor cuts in sharply. “No counterfeits. No tricks. You have my word.”
“And why would we trust the word of a Fed?” Righty sneers.
“Vlad, let’s just kill them both. This is a scheme to stall us. They will never let us go.” Lefty’s right hand tightens on his gun. “Better off taking them out now, then as many as their friends as possible.”
Righty contemplates this plan for a long moment, then nods. “Okay, bother. We fight to the end. Side by side. No surrender.”
I watch their fingers sliding toward the triggers and know we’re about to die if we can’t somehow change their minds about going out in a blaze of glory.
“Wait! You’ll never get back in Alexei’s good graces without the Egg!” I yell desperately. “Remember what he said — this is youronechance. You know you’ll never get another.”
The Evanoffs glance at each other, hesitating.
“But if you take this trade… you could go home. Not just that, you could return the Egg to Alexei. He would welcome you with open arms. You would be heroes.” I swallow hard, struggling to maintain an even tone. “Or… you can kill us right now, then die yourselves… and be remembered by no one as anything except failures.”
The air is thick with tension. Righty and Lefty are staring at each other and I know my words have had the intended effect. They’re hesitating. Not only that… they’re actually considering taking this deal.
“My offer,” Conor says softy. “Expires in thirty seconds.Decide.”
Lefty’s head shakes. So does his voice. “One life in exchange for the pricelessNécessaire? For something worth a limitless fortune? It’s absurd. Ridiculous! I cannot believe any man in his right mind would ever make that deal.” His eyes cut to me, full of disbelief and indecision. “No one girl is worth that much.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then, after a moment, Conor says very simply, “That depends entirely on the girl.”
My heart clenches.
One girl, for a limitless fortune.
“Your thirty seconds are up,” Conor informs them.
The Evanoffs glance at each other. They’re suspicious, but they’re also desperate. And the chance of walking out of here with not only their lives but also the Egg… the chance to restore their position by Alexei’s side and return to Russia as heroes…
It’s too good to pass up.