Page 173 of I Will Mend You

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.

“You weren’t his elites, you were just his puppets,” I reply.

“You’re wrong.” He swallows, his throat bobbing. He’s the kind of asshole who doubles down, even when they know they’ve lost the argument.

I scoff. “You’re still under Delta’s spell. Did he recruit you from the outside world, or are you a former child assassin?”

Seth turns his head, refusing to meet my gaze. His silence speaks volumes. No one shows such bravery in the face of interrogation without training.

“What about you, Barrett?” I turn to the sobbing man. “Are you also a trained killer?”

He shakes his head, loosening tears that stream down to his mutilated chest. “No,” he chokes out between ragged sobs. “I’m just an adult movie star.”

“Who Delta left behind to get tortured to death by his enemies?” I ask, my brows rising.

He shivers. “What do you want to know?”

“Where can I find Dolly and Delta?”

“If I knew, I would tell you?—”

I cut him off with a fist into his gut wound, relishing his pained howl. “Explain.”

“Delta never stays in one place for longer than a few days,” he screams. “He has hideouts all over town.”

“What are you doing?” Seth barks, his eyes flashing with fury.

Satisfaction thrums through my chest at the confirmation. Ignoring him, I ask, “Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” he stammers. “Apartments, mostly.”

“Start with the last one.”

“It overlooked the wrought iron gates of Beaumont Park.” His words come out in a frantic rush. “Eleventh floor, but they would have already moved.”

I turn to Amethyst, who’s already typing out a message on my phone. “Send it to Tyler.”

She nods.

I turn back to Seth, who glares through eyes burning with hatred. His stubbornness isn’t just stupid—it’s suicidal. He’s about Amethyst’s age, which means I might not have methim if he resided at the underground facility. Either way, he’s completely brainwashed.

“Delta isn’t any kind of father figure worth protecting,” I say. “Many of the girls killed in those movies were former assassins like Dolly who became too old to be Lolitas.”

Seth gathers saliva in his mouth and spits, but his aim is off, and it lands on the altar floor. “You’re just jealous. Delta valued his adopted sons more than the bastards who were disappointments.”

The insult barely lands with a sting. I’ve had years to come to terms with Father’s Machiavellian antics. He’s affected so many people, I can’t take anything he does personally. Despite this, a laugh rises in my chest. It’s half-grief, half-madness, and all fury for Camila.

“You’re still defending a man who left you to die?” Losing interest in Seth, I turn back to Barrett. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

Barrett’s entire body convulses. “Are we… Are we really going to die?”

Cold fury settles over my spirit, and I give him a smile that could freeze fire. If he thinks this information will absolve him for hurting Amethyst and all the other women who suffered at the hands of X-Cite Media, then he’s deluded.

“Delta discarded you like trash. You can decide if you die tonight or in a few months, after your body gives up from torture.”

He shivers. “I overheard Dolly tell Locke they could hide out in a property Delta’s company owns.”

My eyes narrow. “X-Cite Media?”

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