"Fuck."
The word escaped my lips the moment we entered the Meridian Biotechnologies conference center. The air vibrated with emotional frequencies so dense they physically pressed against my skin.
Darian's hand tensed in mine. "What?"
"Everyone's here already." I closed my eyes, sorting through the cacophony. "Chen's a fucking mess—anxiety with metallic undertones. Victor's frequencies are polished, rehearsed. There's at least fifteen other people, executives from both companies."
But it was the other frequencies that made my stomach clench. Two distinct signatures hung at the periphery of the chaos—one vibrating with concentrated rage, the other eerily hollow, like a void given form.
"Lilith and Marcus," I whispered. "They're here, but separated. Opposite sides of the building."
Darian's static intensified, wrapping around me like armor. "Smart. Maintains plausible deniability while keeping their feedback loop viable."
We moved through the lobby's security checkpoint. The guard barely glanced at our credentials, already compromised by whatever influence Lilith had spread through the building. The elevator ride to the 32nd floor gave me precious moments to prepare, attune myself to Darian's frequency.
"Remember the technique," Darian murmured, his lips brushing my ear. "If we synchronize perfectly, their feedback loop can't penetrate our defenses."
I leaned into him, drawing strength from our connection. Our disruption technique was untested against Lilith and Marcus together, but it was our only weapon.
"Look at me," he commanded, turning me to face him as the elevator climbed. His eyes were dark amber in the soft lighting, focused entirely on mine. "The client will be watching. Whatever happens, don't break connection with me."
"Your mysterious client who wants everyone dead if this goes south?" I couldn't keep the edge from my voice. "Will I finally meet this shadow puppeteer today?"
His static wavered. "It's complicated."
"It always fucking is with you."
The elevator doors slid open, and the full emotional assault hit me like a physical blow. I staggered, and Darian's arm went around my waist, steadying me.
"Jesus Christ," I hissed. "It's worse than I expected."
The conference room ahead was a battlefield of frequencies—corporate greed, nervous anticipation, calculated deception—but underneath it all ran twin currents of malice so potent I could taste copper on my tongue.
"They're already working the room," I whispered. "Lilith's been here for hours."
Darian's hand pressed against the small of my back, guiding me forward. "Stay anchored to me."
We entered the sleek conference room with its wall of windows overlooking the city. Chen sat at the head of the massive glass table, eyes darting nervously between his notes and Victor Chen—no relation, just coincidence—who occupied the opposite end with smug confidence.
Neither of them was the source of my unease.
I scanned the room, identifying the players. Victor's legal team to the left, their frequencies harmonizing in practiced synchronicity. Chen's executives to the right, their anxiety bleeding into determination. And there—a woman with surgical precision to her movements, seated beside Victor's CFO. Lilith.
Her eyes met mine across the room, and a smile touched her lips that didn't reach her eyes. She looked exactly as Darian had described—elegant, with faint scars at her temples, and eyes that calculated rather than observed. Her frequency projection was subtle, a masterclass in manipulation. If I hadn't known what to listen for, I might have missed how she was influencing the people around her, nudging their emotional states toward compliance.
"Where's Marcus?" I murmured, not seeing him among the gathered executives.
"Separate room, probably patched in remotely," Darian replied, leading me toward Chen. "Maintains their connection without revealing their association."
As we approached, Chen's relief washed over me in waves. "Ms. Voss, Mr. Frost. Thank god you're here." His anxiety had the metallic edge of desperation. "We were about to begin without you."
"Traffic," Darian offered smoothly, though we'd been early to arrive, deliberately taking time to scan the building. "I believe you've prepared the additional materials we requested?"
Chen nodded, sliding a tablet toward us. "The complete stability algorithm documentation. Only copy outside our secure servers."
The true prize. Not just merger terms, but the algorithm that made neural interface technology safe for mass adoption. In the wrong hands—like Lilith's and Marcus's—it could be repurposed to destabilize rather than stabilize, creating a weapon for mass emotional manipulation.
"Excellent," Darian said, pocketing the tablet. "Shall we begin?"
Victor Chen rose from his seat, all smooth corporate charm. "Indeed. Though I wasn't aware you'd be bringing additional... consultants, Chen."
"Ms. Voss is a specialist in interpersonal dynamics," Darian replied before Chen could stumble through an explanation. "Given the sensitive nature of this negotiation, we felt her insights would be valuable."
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly, but his frequency remained controlled. Too controlled. Someone had warned him about my abilities. Lilith's influence was evident in his emotional signature—artificially dampened, with subtle undertones of suspicion directed at me.
"How fascinating," Lilith spoke, her voice carrying the precise timbre of friendly interest while her frequency projected something entirely different. "I don't believe we've met, Ms. Voss. I'm Lillian Hayes, special counsel for Helix Dynamics."
She extended her hand, and I knew instantly it was a trap. Physical contact would give her direct access to my frequencies, a chance to breach the protective barrier Darian and I had established.
I smiled tightly. "A pleasure, Ms. Hayes. I prefer not to shake hands—germaphobe." The lie rolled easily off my tongue.
Frustration rippled through her frequencies, quickly masked. "Of course. Perfectly understandable."
We took our seats, Darian positioning himself between me and Lilith, his static shield at maximum intensity. Under the table, his fingers found mine, interlacing our hands to maintain our connection.
For thirty minutes, the meeting proceeded with superficial normality—discussion of merger terms, asset valuations, market projections. But beneath the corporate theater, a different negotiation unfolded in frequencies only Lilith and I could detect.
She was good—better than I'd expected. With subtle projections, she influenced the room, building consensus for Victor's less favorable terms. Executives who had been skeptical began nodding along. Chen's team grew increasingly unsure, their frequencies wavering between conviction and doubt.
I squeezed Darian's hand, our prearranged signal. He nodded slightly and cleared his throat.
"Before we proceed further," he said, interrupting Victor's smooth presentation, "I'd like to address some concerns about the Helsinki trial data."
The room went silent. Victor's face tightened. "That information is proprietary and not relevant to today's discussion."
"Actually," I interjected, focusing my abilities to counter Lilith's influence, "it's directly relevant when eight test subjects died due to neural interface instability—the very problem Chen's algorithm solves."
Shock rippled through the room. Chen's team hadn't known the full extent of the Helsinki disaster. As their frequencies shifted toward alarm, I projected calm certainty, countering Lilith's subtle pushes toward dismissal.
"That's completely unfounded," Victor snapped, but his frequency betrayed him—spiking with panic and anger.
Lilith's eyes narrowed, and suddenly my head exploded with pain as she abandoned subtlety for direct assault, projecting a concentrated frequency that felt like icepicks driving into my temples.
I gasped, grip tightening on Darian's hand. We'd anticipated this—the moment when Lilith would reveal her true capabilities. What we hadn't expected was the sheer force of her attack, amplified by a connection I couldn't yet detect.
"Ms. Voss, are you alright?" Chen asked, concern evident in his voice.
"Fine," I managed through gritted teeth. "Just a migraine."
Darian's static enveloped me, dampening the worst of Lilith's assault. Under the table, his other hand moved to my thigh, strengthening our connection as we implemented our counter-strategy.
I closed my eyes, focusing on our synchronized frequencies, finding the exact harmonic that would disrupt Lilith's projection without alerting her to our capabilities. When I opened my eyes again, I projected confidence directly at Chen's team while Darian's static created a barrier against Lilith's influence.
"As I was saying," I continued smoothly, "the Helsinki data clearly shows that without Chen's stability algorithm, neural interface technology is catastrophically dangerous. Which makes me wonder why Helix is so eager to acquire it without addressing these safety concerns."
Victor slammed his hand on the table. "This is outrageous! You're deliberately sabotaging negotiations with unfounded accusations."
But the damage was done. Chen's team was now radiating resolve rather than uncertainty, their frequencies aligning with our projection rather than Lilith's.
Lilith's eyes met mine across the table, and the mask of corporate pleasantry dropped. Her frequency shifted, becoming a probing tendril that tested our defenses, searching for weaknesses.
"Perhaps," she said carefully, "we should take a brief recess to review these... concerns."
Victor nodded stiffly. "Fifteen minutes."
As the room emptied, Darian and I remained seated, maintaining our connection. Only when the last executive had filed out did Lilith approach, dropping all pretense.
"Impressive," she said, her voice colder than her public persona had suggested. "Darian always did have an eye for talent. But you're not just countering my projections—you're synchronizing with him. How fascinating."
"Where's Marcus?" Darian asked, his voice deadly calm.
Lilith smiled, the expression never reaching her eyes. "Closer than you think. He's been looking forward to this reunion for years. Though I advised against sentimentality."
My senses strained, searching for Marcus's frequency. There—faint but growing stronger. Moving toward us.
"You won't get the algorithm," I said. "Not today, not ever."
"Such confidence." Lilith tilted her head, studying me like a curious specimen. "You think your little disruption technique will protect you? We've had years to perfect our capabilities. Your bond with Darian is... new. Untested."
The door opened behind us, and a wave of concentrated rage washed over me—so powerful I nearly blacked out. Marcus Reeves stood in the doorway, his physical presence so much more imposing than the frequency signature I'd detected.
He resembled Darian only in the broadest strokes—similar height, similar intensity—but where Darian projected control, Marcus radiated barely contained fury. Scars marked his face, a jagged line running from temple to jaw, mirroring the internal scars his frequency revealed.
"Hello, brother," Marcus said, his voice surprisingly soft for someone broadcasting such rage. "It's been a long time."
Darian stood slowly, positioning himself between Marcus and me. "Five years, three months."
"You counted." Marcus smiled, the expression not reaching his eyes. "I'm touched."
The air between them vibrated with unspoken history, frequencies clashing and merging in patterns I couldn't fully decipher. Through our connection, I felt Darian's emotions—guilt, regret, determination, and underneath it all, a surprising thread of hope.
"This doesn't have to end badly," Darian said quietly. "The neural interface technology—you know what it will do in the wrong hands."
"In the wrong hands," Marcus repeated, moving closer. "Like the hands that created ECHO-7? That turned people like us into weapons? Those wrong hands, Darian?"
Lilith circled to stand beside Marcus, though I noticed she maintained physical distance from him—their feedback loop already active but carefully modulated.
"You betrayed him," she said to Darian, her tone conversational. "Left him to die. And now you want cooperation? Touching."
"That's not what happened," Darian replied, his static flickering with emotion he couldn't fully suppress. "I went back for you both."
"Too late," Marcus spat, his frequency spiking dangerously. "Always too fucking late."
I stood, moving beside Darian. "Whatever happened before, this is about now. You're planning to weaponize neural interface technology for mass emotional manipulation. We can't let that happen."
Marcus's eyes shifted to me, his frequency probing, testing. "You're the detector. The one who hears emotions as sound." His head tilted. "Interesting choice of partner, brother. She's your perfect complement, isn't she? The only person who could help you counter us."
Lilith's eyes narrowed. "Which is precisely why she needs to be eliminated."
The attack came without warning—a synchronized assault as Lilith and Marcus activated their full feedback loop. Their frequencies merged, amplifying each other in a devastating wave that slammed into us like a physical force.
Pain exploded behind my eyes as their combined projection targeted the connection between Darian and me. Under normal circumstances, it would have shattered our bond instantly, leaving us vulnerable to whatever emotional manipulation they had planned.
But we were ready.
I grabbed Darian's hand, focusing entirely on our connection. His static expanded, wrapping around both of us as I synchronized my frequency to his. The technique we'd developed created a dissonant harmony—our frequencies aligned but deliberately out of phase with Lilith and Marcus's attack.
The conference room shimmered as our abilities manifested visually—Lilith and Marcus's frequencies appeared as crimson lightning crackling between them, while Darian and I generated a blue-white barrier that absorbed and diffused their assault.
"Impossible," Lilith hissed, increasing the intensity of her projection.
The pain was excruciating, but through it, I maintained our defense. Darian's hand tightened on mine, his static becoming more focused, more powerful as we pushed back against their attack.
"You didn't just learn to counter us," Marcus said, voice strained with effort. "You've evolved your abilities."
"You're not the only ones who've been practicing," Darian replied.
Our counter-pressure built, the dissonant harmony of our frequencies creating interference patterns in Lilith and Marcus's feedback loop. I could feel the moment their connection began to falter—see it in the flickering of the crimson energy between them.
But instead of pressing our advantage, Darian did something unexpected. He stepped forward, pulling me with him, maintaining our connection while extending his other hand toward Marcus.
"We don't have to be enemies," he said, his voice cracking with genuine emotion that broke through his static. "You saved my life during the escape. There must be some part of you that still—"
"Don't," Marcus snarled, but his frequency wavered, uncertainty bleeding into his rage. "You don't get to appeal to brotherhood now."
"Marcus," Lilith warned, sensing the weakness in their loop. "Focus."
But the damage was done. The perfect synchronicity of their feedback loop faltered just enough for our disruption technique to gain traction. I pushed harder, sending targeted frequencies that created constructive interference with Marcus's emotional signature while Darian's static dampened Lilith's projections.
The crimson energy between them sputtered and fractured.
"Fuck!" Lilith stepped back, breaking physical proximity to Marcus as their feedback loop collapsed.
Without their combined strength, we had the advantage. I maintained pressure on Marcus's frequencies while Darian focused on countering Lilith, our abilities working in perfect complementary harmony.
"The tablet," Lilith snapped at Marcus. "Get the algorithm."
But Darian was faster, positioning himself between Marcus and the tablet we'd placed on the conference table. "It's over, Lilith. You've lost this round."
For a moment, violence hung in the air—Marcus's rage a tangible force, Lilith's cold calculation seeking another angle of attack. But both recognized the tactical reality: their advantage was gone, at least temporarily.
"This isn't finished," Lilith said, smoothing her expression back into corporate pleasantry as footsteps approached the conference room. "Not by a long shot."
The door opened as Chen and his team returned from the recess, unaware of the psychic battle that had just played out. Victor Chen followed, his face tight with controlled anger.
"Ms. Hayes," Victor called. "A word, please?"
Lilith cast one last venomous look at us before turning with perfect composure. "Of course."
Marcus remained, his eyes locked with Darian's. "You think you've won something today, brother. You haven't. You've just delayed the inevitable."
"It doesn't have to be this way," Darian said quietly.
Something flickered in Marcus's frequency—a momentary softening, quickly buried beneath renewed anger. "Yes. It does."
He turned and walked out, leaving us standing in the wreckage of their failed attack, the air still vibrating with residual frequencies.
Chen approached us, oblivious to what had just transpired. "Is everything alright? You both look... strained."
"Fine," I managed, though my head pounded with the aftermath of Lilith's assault. "Just intense negotiations."
"Speaking of which," Darian said, smoothly transitioning back to business, "I believe Victor's team is about to withdraw their offer."
Sure enough, minutes later, Victor returned without Lilith, his frequency broadcasting defeat poorly masked by corporate dignity. "In light of recent... revelations, Helix Dynamics is withdrawing from merger discussions at this time."
Relief flooded Chen's frequency, though his expression remained professionally neutral. "I understand. Perhaps in the future, when the concerns raised today have been addressed."
The meeting broke up with handshakes and empty corporate platitudes. Through it all, Darian and I maintained physical contact, our connection humming with shared awareness that this was merely round one.
Only when we were alone in the elevator did I allow myself to sag against him, exhaustion hitting me like a physical blow.
"They're stronger than we anticipated," I murmured. "If our disruption technique hadn't worked..."
"But it did," Darian said, his arm tightening around me. "And now we know what we're up against."
The elevator descended in silence as I processed what had happened. We'd won the immediate battle—protected Chen's algorithm, disrupted Lilith and Marcus's feedback loop. But the larger war was just beginning.
"They'll try again," I said as we reached the lobby. "They're not giving up on the neural interface technology."
Darian nodded, guiding me through the revolving doors into the bright afternoon sunlight. "No. But now they know we can counter them effectively. That changes their calculus."
I squinted against the light, head still throbbing from the psychic assault. "Did you mean what you said to Marcus? About not being enemies?"
His static flickered, emotion bleeding through. "Yes."
"Even after everything they've done? Everything they're planning to do?"
Darian was silent for a long moment as we walked toward his waiting car. "He's my brother, Emira. And he saved my life once. I have to believe there's still something there worth saving."
I thought of the moment Marcus's frequency had wavered, the crack in his hatred when Darian had reached out to him. "Maybe. But Lilith's influence runs deep."
"I know." His voice hardened. "Which is why our next step is to separate them."
"How? Their feedback loop—"
"Is powerful, but not unbreakable." Darian opened the car door for me. "We just proved that."
As I slid into the leather seat, a thought occurred to me. "Your client. The one with the assassination contingency plan. We succeeded today. The algorithm is safe. So the contingency's off the table, right?"
Darian's expression remained carefully neutral as he joined me in the car. "For now."
"That's not reassuring." I studied his face, trying to read past the static. "Who is this client, Darian? What aren't you telling me?"
He sighed, something in his frequency shifting. "The client is the reason I found you in the first place. The reason I've been tracking Marcus for years. And after today's confrontation..." His eyes met mine, uncertainty flickering in their amber depths. "I think it's time you met them."
The car pulled away from the curb, carrying us toward answers I wasn't sure I was ready for. But one thing was certain—our connection had proven stronger than even we had anticipated. Whatever came next, we would face it together, our frequencies aligned in dissonant harmony against the storm that was coming.