Damian said, "Then what changed?"
Kamal's eyes lowered briefly.
"Olivier became stronger with each passing year." He looked toward the windows as if the answer waited somewhere beyond Wrohan's polished glass. "And I did not understand why at first."
Arik looked at the man and knew, with the cold certainty of instinct, that whatever came next would be something he would hate hearing.
"Say it, Kamal."
Kamal's jaw tightened.
For the first time since the call had begun, he looked almost unwilling.
Then he said, "They kept Goliath alive because they were waiting for the poison to become neutral."
The secure room went very still.
Arik's fingers curled against the table.
Gabriel's expression emptied.
Damian did not move at all, which somehow made him more dangerous.
