Page 26 of I Will Mend You

“Tell Delta you want to invest,” I say, my breath coming out a painful rasp.

The reverend whimpers. “But I don’t have that kind of money.”

“We’ll make sure it’s in your account.” Jynxson gives him a playful shove. “Now, write a request in your own words.”

He wipes a trembling hand over the parts of his face not concealed by bandages and starts typing.

“If you use any hidden messages or codes to even suggest you’re being coerced, I’ll remove more than just your good eye,” I snarl.

“How will you tell?” he whispers.

“You don’t want to find out,” I wheeze.

Jynxson and I close in around him as he taps out a message to Delta. Sweat slides down his face, splattering onto the keyboard. I grip the back of his neck, putting on the pressure until I’m satisfied with the wording, andhe clicks send.

“What now?” he asks, his voice still trembling.

I ease my grip, feeling my own body starting to weaken. “Now, we wait.”

“Time for you to return to your hospital bed,” Jynxson says.

“Oh, thank God.” The reverend slumps forward with a sigh.

Jynxson slaps him upside the head. “Not you, padre.”

I grind my teeth. We finally have a concrete lead, and Jynxson wants me to return to the infirmary. I know better than to bicker with an ally in front of a hostage, but his devotion to following my sister’s instructions grates on my nerves.

“Let’s take him down to a holding cell first,” I say through clenched teeth.

“Wait,” Thomas says. “I did everything you asked. You have no reason to keep me here any longer, and I’m still injured. Please, let me return to the hospital.”

I haul him to his feet, the effort making me gasp for air. “That wasn’t part of the arrangement.”

The smaller man looks to Jynxson for a trace of mercy, but all he finds is cold indifference.

“But I’ve served my purpose,” he cries. “Somebody, help?—”

A fist to the back of his skull cuts him off, and he slumps onto the floor.

“What’s the plan?” Jynxson asks. “Impersonate him online until we get the address of the shoot?”

“I want to keep him alive until we know for sure he’s given us everything,” I rasp, forcing back the sensation of flames burning my respiratory system to ash. “A man like Delta won’t be so easy to track.”

Jynxson grunts. “He might make a good Trojan horse for the drinks mixer.”

“Or an explosive one.”

He snickers.

We remain in place until someone from Tyler’s team comes in to take control of the computer, and another operative drags the reverend to a holding cell in the catacombs.

By the time we’re done, my lungs are screaming, each breath a painful rasp. Tight bands of defeat close in around my chest, forcing me to sway on my feet.

I don’t put up a fight when Jynxson bundles me into the back of the van. This side-quest may have set back my recovery, but Reverend Pervert gave me a better understanding—however horrifying—of my girl and why she did what she did. And now I finally have a lead on finding my way back to my Amethyst.

ELEVEN

AMETHYST

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