Envy (The Deadly Seven Book 1)

by Lana Pecherczyk

Sara spun to find Evan Lazarus standing before closed elevator doors. If they were closed, he must have been there for a while. Long enough to have heard her conversation. If she could feel fear, she might have. The look in his eyes could cut her down.

  Thirty-Two

  Evan couldn’t believe he caught Sara red handed, on the phone to—he frowned. Just who the hell had she been talking to?

  He steeled himself.

  “Who were you talking to, Sara?”

  She stood wide-eyed at the kitchen bench. Dressed to the nines, ready to impress with her light brown hair tumbling down her shoulders, bright lipstick, and in a dress she got from somewhere. Knowing Wyatt, he’d probably gone out to get her new or borrowed items when she rested. He’d been good like that before Sara had died. Wrath was a destructive sin, but he’d curbed it, and channeled it into constructive pastimes. Like being the quarterback on the high school football team, and running track, or becoming one of the world’s best chefs. It had been months since Evan had had a proper conversation with Wyatt. All because of the vindictive, psychopath standing in front of Evan with her mouth agape still holding the damned cell phone.

  The phone pinged. Sara glanced down at it and smiled. Then she turned the force of that snide emotion Evan’s way.

  “You got me.” She lifted her arms in mock surrender. She walked toward him, heels clicking on the floor. “Whatever will I do to get out of this one.”

  “So, you’re admitting it?” he said cautiously, stepping back to avoid her in his space. Why? After all this time avoiding him, why now? Because he’d caught one side of a telephone conversation? Unlikely.

  “Yes. I am.”

  “Admitting what?”

  She sighed dramatically. “You want me to spell it out for you? Fine. I admit that I faked my death. That—”

  “Uh-uh, psycho. Try that again. You didn’t fake your death. You did die.”

  “Fine, whatever, semantics. I died. Happy? I died because I set off the bomb that collapsed that building.”

  “And killed all the innocents inside.”

  She fluttered her lids to half-mast, as though Evan tried her patience, but continued her approach. “Collateral damage.”

  “All so you could have what, a second chance at life? To cheat the illness inside you?”

  Sara stopped. “It wasn’t an illness, it was poison.”

  “I don’t care what it was, you lied. That’s all we need to know.”

  “You should care what it was, because the same poison was in the smoothie I left at Grace’s door.”

  The pressure on Evan’s heart increased. “She didn’t drink it.”

  Sara laughed and then came up to him. She slid her palm up his chest. Bile rose in the back of his throat and he whacked her hand out of the way.

  “Oh Evan. Just how exactly did you think I got sick in the first place? You think I was born with heart disease? No, sweety. All I did was touch the poison, and it permeated my skin and went into my bloodstream.”

  “What the fuck are you saying?”

  “I was at the receiving end of corporate negligence. You know I worked for a pharmaceutical company before I died, what you didn’t know is that they failed me. They promised a new product that was safe for human trials, and it wasn’t. My heart disease was the result. Grace has been exposed to the same toxin. It’s already making its way through her veins, pumping toward her heart.”

  Rage heated Evan’s vision and everything went blurry. Electricity snapped and crackled in his veins. “I’m going to kill you for this. And then I’ll dance on your grave.”

  “But then, Evan, baby, you won’t get the antidote.” She smiled sweetly at him. “I don’t want to hurt you, Evan. Or your lady friend. In fact, I’m the only one looking out for you. They cured me. Do as I say, and they can cure her too.”

  “You’re whacked in the head, aren’t you?” But even as he said the words, he began to power down, and she noticed. She thought she was winning. Let her. He wasn’t through with her yet.

  “The rest of your family doesn’t believe in you. To be honest, they care little for you and your ‘boy who cried wolf’ antics. You’re not an over achiever like your siblings. I mean, you couldn’t even have your debut exhibition without scandal. Don’t you see? You’re simply not good enough.”

  Evan swallowed. “That was before I uncovered your secret.”

  She lifted her brows. “And what secret is that?”

  “That you’re a mother-fucking clone. That you lie and cheat and kill. That you’ve been using my brother for whatever sick purpose you have in mind. Well, I got news for you. I’ll make you give me the antidote. It ends here.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so, Evan,” Sara crooned.

  Why was she so confident? Why wasn’t she begging for his mercy?

  Sara splayed her hand on his chest again and pressed. “You see, I don’t think you’ll turn me in at all. Not when you see what we have on your new lady love.”

  A stone cold fist squeezed Evan’s heart. “Be careful what you say next, Sara.”

  “So, you remember when you broke into the GODC this morning?” Sara said sweetly, fluttering her eyes at him. “Well, your lady friend got caught on camera. It’s a real nice shot. You wanna see?”

  Rage built in Evan’s veins. A trembling, searing emotion that threatened to break free and crush Sara’s throat right then and there. The electricity, sparked by his rage, zipped through his bloodstream, bringing it to the boil. Evan breathed. In. Out. Let’s try that again.

  “Touch a hair on her head, and I’ll make it my personal duty to end you. Then I’ll end them, making sure you never see the light of day again.”

  “Oh, Evan.” She patted his cheek. “Sweet, baby, Evan. You really don’t get it, do you?”

  He frowned.

  “You could try to take this from my dead body, but I don’t have the original footage, and I don’t have the antidote for the poison. They do.”

  “Then I’ll threaten to kill you unless they give it to me.”

  This made her break into a fit of laughter that made her breathless. When she wiped the tears from her eyes, she cradled his nape. “It’s not about Grace. It’s not about Wyatt anymore.” She laughed. “It’s not even about me or them. It’s about you.” Then she pulled his lips to hers and kissed him passionately, pushing him against the elevator doors.

  Everything inside him froze in shock.

  The elevator doors opened, and they tumbled backward into the car, landing heavily on the floor with Sara on top of him.

  “Evan?”

  Oh, no. Grace.

  “I know how this looks, but—” Evan stared up at her from his spot on the floor.

  “It’s exactly how it looks, isn’t it Evan, baby?” Sara wiggled on him.

  “Get off,” Evan growled, and pushed Sara off.

  She tumbled back into the apartment, giggling. “Oh, Evanikins, don’t be so coy. This is what you’ve wanted. It’s what you’ve wanted all along. Wyatt knew it. Your family knew it, and now she does. Admit it. You want me. It’s why you painted me so much. Well, now I want you.”

  “No.” Evan stood. He turned to Grace. “It’s not true. She’s lying. You know she’s lying.”

  “I—” Grace shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes as they darted between him—the lipstick stains on his lips—and the beast on the floor. “I don’t know.”

  “Doc…” Evan held out his hand, anguish ripping his heart apart. Please don’t believe it. Please. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me.

  Sara stepped behind Evan and placed her hand on his bicep in a possessive gesture. “Evan. Tell her the truth. No need to string her along anymore. You’re with me now. Let her go, let her be safe.”

  The veiled threat in Sara’s voice wasn’t unnoticed.

  Grace’s liquid gaze met Evan’s, and he knew with all certainty that he had to let her go. Just for now. Just until he got rid of the evidence incriminating her. Unt
il he got the antidote. Until he got to the bottom of what Sara wanted.

  To keep Grace safe, Evan stepped back into the apartment.

  Her utter devastation cut Evan in two.

  “It’s for your own good, Grace,” he said, voice trembling.

  She tried to keep it together, tried to hold herself with that confident, proud demeanor he loved so much, but the second she slammed the close button on the door, Evan saw her face crumple and tears fall.

  The doors shut.

  Power generated in his body, amping up to engulf him. Electricity crackled at his hands, over his chest, down his legs. He felt it in his eyes, metal in his mouth, fire in his veins. Evan whirled on Sara. “You better make this quick. Tell me the truth.”

  Sparks skipped over his skin, bringing bursts of light to the dim room. Sara stepped back, humor fled. “They want you, Evan. No one else.”

  “Why?”

  “Your new power has unlocked the riddle they’ve been trying to solve for years.”

  “You want to replicate this?” He opened his hands like claws. The power skipped between his fingers. “You want my power?”

  “They do.”

  “Why?”

  Anger flared in her eyes. “Why? Why? Are you fucking kidding me? You were theirs in the first place. You were supposed to wipe the world of sin and give it a fresh start. Humans are destroying this planet. You were the remedy.”

  “We won’t be a party to mass genocide.”

  “This world is broken, Evan. I’m living proof. It wasn’t bad enough that I was sick through no fault of my own, but the Syndicate had to come along and prey on my weak, envious need to survive and live a life like yours.”

  “You always had a choice, Sara. You could have chosen a natural death. You didn’t have to take everyone else with you.”

  “You can say that, you with your magic blood, but you’ve never had your life expectancy cut to ribbons because of someone else’s mistake.” The vehemence in her tone shifted her features into something ugly. “I hope they win. I hope they use you to create more like you. I hope all the sin in the world is wiped out, because until it is, weak people like me will always be played for fools. We will always be the ones who suffer. Now, are you coming with me, or do I have to make good on my threat? One click on this phone and your precious doctor and her crime goes to the police, to the news network, to everyone, and the antidote stays hidden forever.”

  Evan’s teeth ground. He had no choice. For now, he’d have to go with her. He powered down.

  “Good boy.” She strode back into the kitchen and unsheathed one of Wyatt’s sharp cooking knives. She deftly flipped it in her hands. One false move and it would have sliced her palm in two. The action was a display of her new prowess with the weapon. “This is for extra motivation. You renege on your promise, and I’ll gut you. They’d prefer you to be alive, but to be honest, they can collect biological samples even when you’re dead. Just look who you’re talking to.”

  “Shut up,” he said. “Let's make this clear. I’ll go with you, but I want her unharmed. I want you to send the antidote here immediately.”

  “Ugh. Like I said, we don’t care about her except to leverage you, so as long as you’re a good little boy, she’s already forgotten about. I’ll make sure you get what’s coming to you once you’re delivered.”

  Evan glanced at the elevator longingly.

  Sara hit the down button. “Don’t even think about telling your family. Not that they’d believe you anyway, but this little charade is to protect them too. The Syndicate will keep you alive because they need you. They don’t need the rest of your family. Got it?”

  He nodded. For now.

  “Good. Now, let’s go to the garage and pick a car. We’re getting out of here.”

  Thirty-Three

  Grace was going to be sick. What she’d seen had assaulted her eyes in a way she’d never thought possible. How could he?

  Silent tears dripped down her face.

  Eyes don’t lie. Eyes saw the truth, no matter what it is. That’s what she liked about being a surgeon. You open up a person to see the internal organs with nothing else blocking you. No sonograms, no digital imaging techniques, no ultrasounds. Nothing between the problem and you. Truth.

  How could she have been so blind?

  The elevator door opened to a floor she didn’t remember calling. Where was she? She stepped out and looked around. Plain, carpeted lobby. Flower arrangement to the side, two open archways leading out of the room, the smell of violets, raised voices still in the midst of a heated argument. She was back in the common apartment. The one she’d just left. It looked so foreign to her.

  She pivoted and slammed her fists on the closed steel elevator doors, screaming in frustration. She just wanted to get out of there. How the hell did you get out of there!

  Footsteps thudded closer.

  “Grace?” came a voice she recognized. “Where’s Evan?”

  The one who’d berated her in the restaurant. The one who’d also been so damned blind. She turned to face Wyatt and the wrath inside her flared, making him flinch.

  “What’s happened?” he asked.

  “We’ve both been so blind.” She wiped the tears from her face. “So blind. I want to go home. How do I get out of here?”

  He stepped into her personal space, gripping her shoulders. A vein bulged in his forehead. “What happened?”

  “Get away from me. I want to go. I have a patient to see.”

  The rest of the peanut gallery thundered into the room.

  “Wyatt,” Evan’s mother said. “Can’t you see she’s traumatized?”

  He blanched and let go. “Something happened. She’s not talking.”

  “Grace,” Mary came closer. “I’ll take you out and call a car. You can explain on the way.”

  “No. I need to know now!” Wyatt boomed. “I felt your wrath. I know something happened.”

  “They’re gone!” Grace shouted. Happy now? “My phone call ended, and I went to find Evan. I saw him take the elevator up to the fourth floor.”

  “My level,” Wyatt murmured.

  “When I got there, I caught them kissing. She said they were meant to be together. That they always have.”

  Wyatt roared and punched the elevator beside Grace’s head, making her yelp and cover her ears. The dent he left was scary deep.

  “Wyatt!” Evan’s father shouted. “Enough.”

  Wyatt had the sense to look apologetic, but Grace was done. The person who’d called her was Taco’s aunty. He’d not gone to the clinic like she’d requested and his condition had worsened. They were desperate.

  She was too. “Just tell me how to get out of this place. I have a patient that needs me.”

  Mary flattened her lips and swiped her hand over the down button on the elevator, activating her biometric key. “I’ll see you out.” When they both went inside the car, Mary held up her palm to Wyatt trying to enter. “Just me.”

  The dented doors scraped closed, separating them from the crowd of eyes boring holes into her.

  “This isn’t like Evan,” Mary said softly. “I hope you realize that.”

  Grace bit her lip. “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Believe in your heart. Don’t give up on him.”

  Except, he’d given up on her. He said he’d never leave her, that wild horses couldn’t take him away.

  The doors opened to a bright, glossy tiled lobby that led to the street. Floor to ceiling windows banked on both sides. One looked into the restaurant Heaven, the other into the darkened nightclub Hell. One was busy with hopeful patrons, eating breakfast and starting a new day. The other empty, dark and desolate. Grace swallowed and walked to the exit.

  Grace unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the solid surface. A sweeping gaze across the cold, empty living space didn’t make her feel better. Her indoor plants were dying. The box of her father’s cl
othes still sat on the kitchen bench. Even the smoothie hadn’t been disposed of properly and had soured the room. Fresh tears burned the back of her eyes and she squeezed them shut.

  None of that now. Taco needed her.

  Grace took a deep breath and went to find her medical kit. She found the bag in the closet, next to a box of her mother’s belongings and checked to see that she had enough supplies. She’d restocked recently at the clinic, including taking a dose of antibiotics. Excellent.

  She tied her hair back and washed her face. After she saw Taco, she’d come home, tidy up and water her plants. Then she’d call Lilo to see how she went after missing dinner with Donnie. Then… well, she was sure she’d come up with things to do. Only a few days left of her forced leave then she’d be back at work.

  Two-seconds later, Grace went out the door and strode up the hallway to the stairwell. Two levels later, and she stood at the front of apartment eighty-three, knocking.

  The door opened and it was Juliet, Taco’s aunt, clearly at her wits end. She wore a sweaty fast-food outlet uniform. Her long dark hair was tied at her nape. Only twenty-years-old herself, she hadn’t quite been ready for the responsibility of parenting two recalcitrant young boys, but she did it. She had to. Working two jobs to make the rent and help put the boys through school was hard. It was people like her who had been affected by the bombing that made Grace want to get the insurance claim approved.

  Stiff chance of that now.

  “Hi Juliet,” Grace said. “I’m sorry I was delayed. Where is he?”

  “Thank God, Grace. He’s been in and out of sleep. He’s got a high temperature, and he won’t eat. I’m really worried. He’s all floppy. I had to leave work early, but they need me back.” Her bottom lip trembled. “If I don’t return, I might lose my job. I don’t know what to do.”

  Okay. This sort of panic, Grace could deal with. She could do a medical drama with her eyes closed. “You’ve done an excellent job in calling me. Take me to him, and I’ll take it from there.”

  Juliet’s shoulders dropped in relief. “He’s in here.”