“Nice to finally meet you face-to-face,” he continued as he strolled forward to stand just in front of his four guardians. She noticed a large wooden crate behind the spot he’d just vacated. Probably for her. Because if she was out of the natural light, her powers would be useless. “An impersonal phone call just isn’t the same. Nor were you really in any condition to chat the last time I saw you.”

She just smiled in response, keeping a lid on her burgeoning hatred for him at the moment. It was more than satisfying to finally confront the mastermind behind all of this. She nearly twitched in anticipation of ending this once and for all.

“You’ve made quite a mess out here,” he said genially. She watched him leisurely glance around at the crowd of bodies that littered the courtyard like confetti.

“You’ve made quite a mess yourself,” she shot back, her gaze locked on him. The rain increased its pounding from the sky. Much like her psionic energy pounded against the walls of her mind. Itching to be set free.

“No, your brother did.” His voice turned cold and condemning. “Dr. Kane created a revolutionary formula. But instead of exploring its full potential, he hoarded it like a spoiled child.”

Harper seethed at his words and wondered why she wasn’t cutting him down right that very instant. Maybe she just wanted to hear why he’d done it. Why someone would choose to destroy the lives of others. Though in the end, it wouldn’t really matter.

Jeff would die. And so would she.

“Ms. Kane, you are the proof.” He sauntered toward her. His unhurried steps ate up half the distance that separated them before he stopped.

“Proof of what?” she couldn’t help asking as she shook violently inside, just waiting for the right moment to open the gates of her emotions and allow her fierce power to rip his world apart.

“That the formula has a higher purpose,” Jeff answered. He didn’t appear to be afraid of her. He should be.

“And what’s that?” Harper decided to humor him.

“Vengeance,” Jeff stated simply.

He had that right. She did plan to use it for vengeance. What higher purpose was there?

“You want to avenge your brother’s death,” he continued, holding her captive with his words. “He was an unfortunate casualty.”

“Casualty?” She fumed at the term, taking a threatening step forward. “He was gunned down in cold blood. I was there. I saw it.”

“It didn’t have to end up that way,” Jeff countered in a sensible tone. This man was insane. He acted as if Bobby had asked to die. “Your brother assumed the worst and pulled his research. He didn’t take the time to find out the real intent of my program. Instead of joining my team, he shunned it. His research was important for more than just his beloved plants.”

The man was talking in circles. Trying to confuse her. Maybe trying to buy some time, because he knew he was running out of it. And yet, why was she allowing it? Why was she holding back?

“Get to the point,” she demanded, heat simmering just under her skin, tingling and ready.

“The point is, Ms. Kane, the serum you have inside your body can be used for more than just a trivial payback for a tragedy,” he said, taking another step forward.

Motion flickered in her peripheral vision. She chanced a brief glance to her right and saw a solid line of men form on the roof of the building. Weapons all trained on her. A look to her left revealed the same thing. If she looked behind her, she knew she’d see them, as well. She was surrounded.

“My intention is not to create monsters,” Jeff said, his hard voice commanding her attention. “My intention is to create a superior soldier.”

Harper’s eyes narrowed. She knew this. Knew what he was trying to do and the lethal experiments he administered. Knew their horrific results. She would be one of the failed statistics.

“Ms. Kane, you could be the ultimate weapon.” Jeff’s intense eyes bore into hers as his voice sank into her mind, unbidden and unwelcome.

What on earth was he talking about? She didn’t want to be a weapon. She wanted to be herself. She wanted her brother back. Her life back.

“You have an extraordinary power that can be used for good,” he said, pressing on, moving another pace closer. “An invincible power. Think of all the injustices of the world. You could seek vengeance globally. Right all the wrongs.” Jeff was now just a mere body length away from her.

Uncertainty flooded Harper’s mind, bringing with it an unsettling rush of confusion. She had come here to right the wrong. To seek vengeance for the injustice. Precisely as he said.

“Just like your brother would have wanted.” Jeff’s words were quiet. But they thundered louder than a sonic boom.

Was he right? Harper searched deep inside herself, hoping to find the answer buried deep in her soul. Needing the answer.

Is that really what Bobby would have wanted?

No.

Bobby had given his life to stop this. To keep his precious formula secret. Whatever his reasons, her brother hadn’t wanted Jeff Donovan and his team to succeed.

That was enough for her.

Bobby had died to stop them. And she’d do no less to stop them, as well.

“No.” Harper’s voice was low and still. The quiet calm before the deadly storm. “That’s not what my brother wanted.”

She was going to kill them all. Starting with Jeff.

Chilling, bitter ice raced to her mind. Then in an instant, vibrant heat scorched her vision as she called upon all the hatred and resentment she felt for this man and what he’d done. Her body blazed unmercifully, her flesh barely able to contain the inferno that seared every fiber inside.

She grabbed his neck. Her grip a searing vise. Sizzling flames prickled in her muscles as her mind began to launch flares of energy through her arm, just waiting to unleash.

Through high-powered binoculars, Rome watched Harper face off against Jeff in the middle of the rainy courtyard. Damn it all. She was supposed to wait for him. Lowering the glasses, he slammed his fist into the moist soil, the mud sucking at his fingers. Damn it.

“That your girl?” someone to his right asked. “She’s quite a looker.”

Rome clenched his jaw and turned his head, narrowing his gaze at the trusted special forces operative to his right. Holding a similar pair of binoculars, he was watching the scene unfold, as well.

“She was supposed to wait,” Rome growled, shifting his attention back to Harper while he yanked his hand out of the muck with a muted glorp. The operative chuckled.

What the hell was Harper doing?

He, along with the planned reinforcements, had arrived precisely on time, only to find Harper not at their meeting point. He’d hoped to talk her out of her personal vendetta. But all they’d found were blaring cracks and heavy thuds that had drawn them to the sheltered hill above the courtyard, where they watched her use her powers to easily dispose of all comers. Rome’s team had been markedly shocked, but curious at the same time.

Upon meeting up with the trusted group at a more distant rendezvous point, Rome had explained the situation. But to see it in action…he knew that was a different story.

The special forces team had all been wholly impressed with the scientist’s noble creation and believed in the project and the universal environmental vision that accompanied it. They all wanted to be a part of assembling a worthy group to complete Bobby’s revolutionary work with plants.

It was exactly what Rome had wanted to hear. And he had thought Harper would be more than thrilled to hear the team’s intentions.

But now, the only thing Harper was doing was throwing her life away. Giving in to the hatred and revenge she so deeply believed she needed. Rome knew that she did need vengeance, but not this way. Not by becoming a cold-blooded killing machine.

Knowing the extraordinary kind of person Harper was, he couldn’t believe that her brother would’ve wanted that.