Page 20 of I Will Mend You

Reverend Thomas wheezes. “Please… I’ve told you everything I know. Just take me back to the hospital.”

“We didn’t find a membership link on the site,” I say.

“That’s because it’s invite-only. Anyone who rents enough videos gets vetted before getting a chance to join the inner circle.”

My throat clenches. Thank fuck I kept the recruiter alive. I make a mental note to have Harlan Still re-interrogated.

“You’re still a member, right?” I ask.

“That’s right,” he replies.

“And you said auditions were running for the next video?”

He nods.

“Then you’re going to send a message to Delta and tell him you want to be his next star.”

NINE

AMETHYST

I roll onto my back, my eyes widening at the sight of Xero. He wears the tuxedo from last night at the Ministry of Mayhem, or was that the night before? I have no idea how long the drug at the airport rendered me unconscious. They could have trafficked me as far as Australia.

“Xero?” I whisper. “What are you doing here?”

He leans against the padded wall, tall, and strong, and alive. “Why don’t you tell me, little ghost?”

I bite down on my bottom lip, but it’s numb. I’m not even sure how I’m moving my mouth. “You’re dead.”

He nods. “Keep going.”

“And you’re haunting me for revenge?”

“Is that what you think?”

My throat tightens. There’s no such thing as ghosts. “You’re a hallucination. Just like Mr. Lawson and the others.”

His brow rises. “Which others?”

“Sparrow and Wilder?”

“Anybody else?”

“I don’t know if I hallucinated Jake. You were always trolling me with his corpse.”

He grins, his eyes sparkling.

“Why would you even do something like that?”

“Amethyst.”

I flinch. He hardly ever addresses me by name. At least not since escaping death row. “Yes?”

“You’re in the worst trouble of your life.”

I nod, my breath quickening.

“Do you understand what’s happening?”

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