Page 56 of Violet Spark
“I’ve got her covered,” Dane told me, low to my ear. “Stay focused. Stick with the plan.”
Alling chuckled. “Well, she didn’t reallygiveit to me so much as I forced her to unlock her phone so that I could text you from hers.”
If Brayden had stolen the moths, then maybe Alling was doing damage control by trying to buy them back. If the tech got out, BantaMatrix would lose the edge and the wealth that went along with it. Which had to be why Alling had been willing to murder Brayden and kidnap my mom.
That, or Alling wanted the moths for himself.
As two other big dudes got out of the back seat of Alling’s car and stood in a loose line behind him, I looked up at Dane. “You said my mom was in custody.”
The muscle in Dane’s jaw twitched.
Oh, I got it now. Dane had meant that my mom was inAlling’scustody. And Dane had known. He’d known all along.
“Steady,” he murmured. “Your million rides on this. And so does your mother’s life.”
He’d also known I’d freak if he told me. So he’d played me. He’d burned my whole life down to get me here, jobless, friendless, powerless.
He straightened toward Alling. “Do you have the payment?”
Alling lifted a metallic cylinder—smaller than a cell phone, definitely not big enough to hold ten million dollars—while speaking to me. “Lovely woman, your mother. She says you don’t talk to her like you used to. That you used toexchangethe smallest details of your life. But not anymore. She’d like thatgive and takeback in your relationship.”
It seemed like…Daddy was offering me a side deal right here in front of everyone. Dangling my mom as bait, the same way I’d been bait for him to come here now.
But my mom for…what?Me?Because I had nothing else to give.
I smiled at him but between my clenched teeth said to Dane, “Gimme my glove.”
“No,” Dane said. “You have to trust me. You’ll be back with her tonight.”
Trust Dane?Yeah, no. My mom was even less important to him than I was, and being reunited with her in an unmarked grave somewhere wasn’t inmyplans. He wanted the moths for himself or his agency or whatever the hell was ten times more important than he thought I could possibly imagine. He’d never intended to cure me. Probably couldn’t. And no one else was coming to save me.
“I’ll blow Alling away,” I told him. My left hand burned behind my back, not so numb anymore. “Let me blow him away, Dane.”
I needed the glove, and this was Dane’s chance—hisonechance—to make it right with me.
Dane gave a tight shake of his head. “It’s too great a risk. You can’t control it.”
Okay, so yeah, I’d fucked everything up, ruined my life, put my friends and Mom in danger, and was powerless to do anything about it, but given a choice between a million bucks and my mom, I’d choose my mom every day. And Alling had her.
I looked up at Dane. “And you can’t control me.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IGAVEALLING A SHALLOW NOD.Deal. My mom for whatever he thought I could give him. Without the glove, I wasn’t worth much. But of course I still had my bug infestation.
Alling’s gaze widened slightly, registering my agreement.
Dane gripped my arm harder, tugging me to him. “Imogen, no!”
Alling lifted the cannister higher, his thumb on top, as if it were a trigger. One flick, and a familiar violet light fountained up like a roman candle.
And the world went bright, glowing purple…at least to me. It kinda reminded me of the magical haze that preceded my avatar rising whenever I logged on to Legendelirium. Minus the sparkle and swirl.
Beside me Dane flinched, both of his hands lifting to protect his eyes. The headlights of the SUV went out, the engine falling silent. Inside, Jen and Carlo had put their hands to their faces.
I looked over to find that Alling and his guys were squeezing their eyes shut too.
If anything, I could see better. And what was really weird, I knew where things were that I shouldn’t have been able to see.
