Page 82 of Hell Breaks Loose

Almost like she’s on drugs.

But I know better. This is something inside. In her head.

Like my mother when the dementia took her mind, slowly. Painfully.

“And how do you feel, Rachelle?”

“Spectacular,” she hums, leaning back. “I don’t recommend getting shot, though.”

“Noted. I’ll avoid it if at all possible.”

“How is she?” Rachelle asks suddenly, her mood shifting.

“How is who?” I give her a concerned, confused glance.

“My niece. I know you have her. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I wanted to?—”

“To put her under your thumb instead of mine. Manipulate her. How did that work out?”

“I wanted to train her to understand what we are trying to do and why it’s so important.”

“And as usual, we disagree. She only needed to know enough to lead her to the prize, thereby leading us to the prize. The prize that, need I remind you, you failed to deliver.”

“I needed more time. And now…”

“Now, your minions are making it decidedly difficult for anyone to move around or dig for clues.”

“And she’s back here doing just that, out of both of our control. Unlike my army of compliant soldiers.”

“Indeed. But none of this would have been necessary if you would have kept Devonde in hand. Or at least kept him from destroying half the town.” Let her think Hellena escaped on her own. That she’s not exactly where I want her.

Rachelle’s head flicks to the side in a strange twitch of denial. Her lips move, just barely. Like she’s speaking to someone I can’t see.

Great.

“Everything, the flood, the Ghosts. All of it is part of the plan,” she mutters, blinking rapidly.

“Whose plan, exactly? The Block fought back so much harder than you said they would or could.”

“Clive was one of them! The Seven. How was I supposed to know?”

“Precisely my point, Herald,” I mock, my lips pulling back in a sneer. “When you don’t know, you tell me that instead of lying to me.”

Again, that manic flare of her eyes.

Several seconds of tense silence. But I can tell she’s engaged in another conversation altogether.

I swear, if I didn’t still need her…

“Get the junkies in line. Whatever you’ve given them makes them a liability if they attack us too. From what you said before, they should be unable to disobey. So give them orders. Make them find what we’re looking for. Or find someone who does.”

“They are susceptible to suggestions, not completely mindless. Well, mindless might be closer to the mark, but they have wants. Needs. Instincts that drive them. And what about your end of things?”

“My end? I’ve got people cleaning up the town as we speak. From the sound of things, they’re getting a bead on the Block and their survivors. They have a camp somewhere in the mountains. I aim to find it. Soon.”

“You and your long games.” Rachelle snickers, showing a hint of her old self, the woman I met months ago in secret with that hack, Mayor Vanderbelt.

“Tried and true.”

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