Page 63 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“It couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
“Away from prying eyes.”
“Sparx?”
“I mean, yeah, but Tornit is just as culpable.”
“Alright then.”Callie moved to the side so that Sesi could step in.The door slid shut behind them.Callie’s heart began thumping loudly.This is what she wanted right?Why was she so nervous about it?Her eyes searched her guest.
Sesi stood cool.Confident.One corner of her plush lips in a permanent upturn.The darkest eyes she had ever seen outside of a DocPod job.Shorter than her, but with a wide stance like she owned the room.It was Sesi, but her face wasn’t displaying the emotion she wanted it to.That’s why her pulse was racing.
After the few moments of silent scanning had passed, Sesi spoke.“I need your help with Talia”
“What?”This was not where Callie thought things were going.
“Look.She cares about you.I care about her…”
“You came here to talk about Talia?”Callie interrupted.She couldn’t help but feel a little rejected.She hoped her terseness would cover that up.
Sesi sighed and fell back against the wall.“You’ve adapted to fit in really well with us, but you’re still new here.Talia is a lot more fragile than she seems.She’d try to kill me if she knew I told you that,” she added with a flick of her eyes.
“So, explain it to me then.”
Sesi lifted an eyebrow.“I’m not going to talk shit about Talia.”
“You just did.”
“Talia is about to get her wish.”Sesi looked down at her hands, rubbing the pads of her fingers together.“And she’s going to be a mess when it happens.”
Callie wasn’t sure what this had to do with her.
“And right now,” Sesi looked off into the corner of the room, “I’m the only one she trusts to come to in the aftermath.I need you to be the one to pick up the pieces this time.”
“She doesn’t trust me.Not like she trusts you.”A tinge of jealousy crept into Callie’s voice.
“She will.And she won’t have a choice.I won’t be there.”
Callie frowned.
“Why?”
“Because they want me in exchange.At least, part of me.”
Callie huffed and shook her head.“Unbelievable,” she muttered.“Just my luck that I fall for someone who’s still not over her ex, andsurprise!”Callie threw up her hands with as much sarcasm as she could muster.“Her ex isn’t over her either!”
“We’re not together.We’re done.”Sesi said, almost like she believed it.
“No, you’re not.You don’t offer to die for someone you’re not in love with,” Callie spat.
Sesi’s eyebrow twitched.She wasn’t going todiefor Talia, only offer her womb.Callie’s point still stood, though she wasn’t going to let it lie without a rebuttal.
“And you don’t kill people to protect someone you’re not in love with,” Sesi spat back.
For weeks, the thought of giving Talia what she desperately wanted had kept Sesi awake.For weeks she had planned exactly how she would do it.How she would leave one camera on.One that would lead Black to find her.Bring him to her doorstep, ready to negotiate.
Sesi relished the control.She savoured the thought of knowing that she had accounted for every variable.That she had calculated the trajectory of every piece falling into place.
This was not that.
