“You’ll heal my daughter or I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
She reached for his wrists with renewed strength and yanked them dDownward, separating herself from his touch. It repulsed her. His entire being vibrated with the stench of evil and death. It nearly overwhelmed her.
“You’re too late for that,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve wished for my death many times. Threats have no meaning to me. How much is your daughter’s life worth to you?”
Clearly he hadn’t expected this. He took a step back, eyes narrowed in rage and surprise. He seemed at a loss for words and then he slammed his gaze back into hers and made a visible effort to collect himself.
“Money? Is money what you want? You’d sell your ability to save a child’s life?”
The judgment and condemnation in his words pissed her off. Dangerously so. She had to remain calm. She couldn’t allow her own volcanic rage to erupt.
“After everything you’ve done to ensure that I was brought to you, after the countless days of agony and pain that were brought on me as a result of your experiments to make sure I was qualified to touch your daughter, you dare to come at me with this holier-than-thou put-down because I would bargain with you?”
She gave a derisive laugh.
“You hold none of the cards, Mr. Farnsworth, and if you think you do, you’re as deluded as your ego is. Kill me. Go ahead. I dare you. Then who will save your daughter? Torture me. Spend days trying to make me desperate enough to give in to anything. Your daughter doesn’t have those days. But I don’t care. You can’t do anything to me that hasn’t already been done. It’s not possible to endure more than what I’ve already endured. While your conceit and arrogance tell you that you are all mighty and powerful, just remember that your daughter could be dead in the next hour or the next day. And then you stand there like a pompous jackass and presume to call my ethics into question. Do you think I give a shit what you think of me, you worthless, dirt-eating worm?”
Hancock chuckled, which only served to enrage Farnsworth further.
“She’s right, Farnsworth,” Hancock said in amusement. “Did I tell you she threatened to kill herself if I didn’t cooperate with her demands? I saw into her mind. I assure you she isn’t bluffing. She’s just crazy enough to blow her own brains out to spite you.”
Farnsworth looked between Grace and Hancock, sucking in air through extended nostrils. Then he visibly collected himself and turned away, walking toward his desk. He turned back, calmer now, and he stared at Grace with a calculated gleam.
“All right, Miss Peterson. What do you want? Money? You can have all that I own in exchange for my daughter’s life. I’ll make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.”
“You have no idea what I dream about,” she said bitterly.
“Then tell me. What do you want?”
“Peace.”
Farnsworth’s brows drew together in confusion.
“I want a life. I want to be free. I want to be able to have what your kind takes for granted. Freedom from looking over my shoulder every damn minute because some f**kwad wants to use me like a lab rat. I want my freedom, and I want your guarantee that when I heal your daughter, you will cease to pursue me. You’ll call off Titan, and moreover, you’d do well to make damn sure I stay safe, because if I don’t?”
His eyes narrowed in fury. “You dare to threaten me?”
Grace eyed him calmly. She needed him to believe what she was about to say. And honestly who was to say she couldn’t do it? She’d certainly ;d certanever tried. Given what she could do, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that she could do the complete opposite.
“You’ll grant me everything I want, or I’ll suck the life right out of your daughter.”
He whitened. His jaw clenched and he seemed speechless.
“Let me just explain how my ability works,” Grace said in a quiet tone. “I absorb an illness or an injury from the affected person. I take it from them and make it my own. They leave happy and healed. I’m crippled by their affliction, and then I have to take the time to heal myself. But just as I take the illness or injury, just as I give life, my life, to the person I’m linked with? So too can I take their spirit, their life, their very soul. And I don’t have to be standing next to her, so if you think you can hide from me, if you think you can take her some place I’ll never find her, you’re dead wrong. Once I link to her, I’ll be able to locate her anywhere and I’ll take what it is you treasure so much.”
Farnsworth stared her down, almost like he was trying to see into her mind. Evaluating whether she was telling the truth. She met his gaze unflinching. Then Farnsworth looked to Hancock as if for guidance. Hancock shrugged and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.
“I’d say you have yourself a standoff, Farnsworth. In some circles, this might be called checkmate. I believe she has you by the balls.”
“And while you stand here being outraged that I would actually give a damn about my own life and my own future, your daughter is upstairs dying,” she said. “So I’d suggest we come to an agreement pretty damn fast. Or maybe your ego is worth more than your daughter’s life.”
Farnsworth whitened and he leaned over, slapping his hands on the polished surface of his desk. For the first time, she absolutely believed the conviction in his voice.
“There is nothing. Nothing more important to me than Elizabeth. You think me an evil man, Miss Peterson. You’re right. I’m a bastard of the first order. But I love my daughter and I’ll do anything at all to save her. So give me your conditions. I’ll do whatever it takes to gain your cooperation.”