Page 103 of Intense
Troy finally speaks, voice hoarse.
“I’d die loyal. They saved me. Just get this over with.”
They. Perhaps The Preacher isn’t simply one man. I let the words hang between us. I look him dead in the eyes and stare. Seeing what I can read. He doesn’t look away.
He isn’t bluffing.
He isn’t going to give me the answers. It’s a shame I can’t crack open his skull and get to his brain that way.
Then I reach down and roll up his sleeve. The tattoo’s there, the PR that Abigail had, inked into his inner forearm. Poorly done. Rushed. Like a brand, not a choice.
“Pity,” I whisper, tracing the edge of it with my scalpel, just enough pressure to make him sweat, not scream. “You didn’t even get a good artist.”
I use some pressure, enough to break the skin.
“I have a very steady hand; I’ll do a better job.”
He cries out as I slice around the mark, all the way around, and then cut it clean off and dangle it in front of him.
His face turns grey.
“There. Your alignment has gone. You’re a free man, no brand. Now tell me what I want to know.”
“Fuck. You. Dr. Quinn.”
I let out a dark chuckle.
“Fair enough.” I shrug.
Running my palm along Nyx’s smooth scales, I give her the permission I know she’s been waiting for. “Go on, girl.”
Nyx slowly winds her way down his shoulder, across his chest. Her black eyes meet his.
And he cracks, just a little.
“Preacher... said you were too close. Too curious,” Troy pants, voice breaking. “Said you needed to be stopped in your tracks. It was meant to be a warning shot, not a war. We didn’t know you’d fight back.”
I stare at him. “You should have.”
Nyx curls tighter around him, squeezing just enough for him to gasp. I don’t stop her. She never goes further than I want her to. That’s our agreement. Our bond.
“How did you frame me? Who hacked my hospital systems?” I press.
My anger starts to rise, and Nyx curls tighter.
When I finally step back, he’s trembling.
“That is all I will tell you. My loyalty earns my place in heaven. I can’t.”
I let out a laugh deep from my belly.
They really do brainwash these people.
“Loyal even in death?” I echo.
Troy nods.
So I look him in the eye and deliver my final diagnosis. I have his cell to hack. I have confirmation it was them after me specifically.
