Page 19 of Gathered Sparkle

“I trust you,” he mumbles, his voice thick with the trance, and I almost laugh out loud.

I wish Koen could see this right now.

“Good. You want to tell me everything you know and only the truth, okay? Where is Levi Lane?”

“Two rooms down,” he replies instantly.

“Is there anyone with him?”

He shakes his head on my shoulder. “I was supposed to watch him. I went to grab my phone.”

“All right.” A rush of relief floods me.Fucking perfect.“You want to help me get him out of here, okay? I am your friend, Levi is your friend, and everyone else who wants to keep us here is not. You’re playing for our team now.”

“Like… a SWAT team?”

I almost snort.The little security guard wants to be a SWAT?

Whatever helps him feel important right now.

“Yes, like a SWAT team.”

“Can I be the breacher?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.“What’s a breacher?”

“The guy who kicks down doors.”

“Sure,” I swallow a groan. “You’re the guy who kicks down doors. The important thing is that Levi is in danger, and you andI are going to get him out of here through the back quickly. Got it?”

“Got it.” He nods against my shoulder again.

“Good boy,” I murmur, patting his shoulder. “Wake up.”

His eyes flutter open before he blinks, focusing on me. I brace myself, ready to bolt if something goes wrong and the coercion doesn’t stick, but he simply turns, walking over to the security console. He types, and after a few seconds, all the monitors go black.

I hadn’t even thought about the cameras.

He turns back to me and smiles, genuinely believing we’re on the same team.

I don’t know why Koen makes such a fuss about this mentalist thing.

Seems easy enough to me.

“Come on,” Simon tells me, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room, leading me two doors down the hallway. The corridor is empty, eerily silent, until he raises his foot and kicks the door we’re standing in front of. The sound of the impact echoes loudly in the quiet hallway.

“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss, flinching, but the door doesn’t budge.

“I’m the breacher. I kick down doors.”

“Don’t you have a key?”

He pauses, looking a bit sheepish, then nods. “Yeah.”

“Then fucking use it!”

Okay, maybe the mentalist thing isn’t so easy after all.

Simon quickly fumbles for the key, pulling it out and sliding it into the lock. The click echoes through the hallway, and he pushes the door open.

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