Page 35 of Amethyst Flame
I went around the front of the SUV and climbed inside.
Dane had his bland expression on as he released the parking brake. “Another conquest?”
Yeah, from Dane’s point of view, it must seem like I had a lot of interest—first Brayden, then Jacob, and now Tall Will—but not a single one was interested in me for me. Well, Brayden was dead now, so he didn’t count. I’d merely been a brief Freezie stop on his doomed quest for treasure. And Jacob seemed to be crushing on Dane now. I looked back toward bachelor number three.
“That would be one William Teller,” I said. “He’s in my intern group and glommed onto me yesterday even though I did my best to make a bad impression on everyone.” And now that I had a moment to think about it… “He might be sketchy.” I recalled his random nanotech comment. And, worse, he’d seen my eyes go purple. “He’s probably sketchy.”
“I’ll look into him.” Dane turned out of the parking lot onto the main road.
“Yeah, that’d be a good idea. And my group leader is on my ass, too. She had me demonstrate how to work an electron microscope today.”
Dane glanced over as he came to a stop at the intersection. “You know how to work an electron microscope?”
“Hell no. I faked it using my moths.”
His gaze darkened. “You exposed yourself?”
He made it sound like I’d flashed my tits at everybody. “No.Ugh.I faked like I was qualified to be there, which I’m not. And I don’t want to be. And if you don’t like what I do when I’m singled out to show the geniuses how I’m just as genius as they are, then you should’ve sent Jacob. I’m risking my goddamn life in there.”
Okay, maybe that rant had been building for a while.
Dane was silent as he accelerated again, switched lanes, and started to pick up speed.
After a long time, double-O-asshole sighed. “I’m sorry. I understand how much pressure you’re under.”
Had he actually apologized and empathized? “Whatever,” I mumbled.
“Who is this group leader who’s giving you a hard time?”
“Her name is Selma Oluwa.”
“I’ll check her out too.”
Silence filled the Kidnapper again, and I stewed—or maybe sulked—while gazing out at the dirty, pale blue sky. Only when Dane took the exit onto I-10 did my brain start working again. Because…
“Where are we going?”
“To Palm Springs.”
“Come again?”
“I need you to help me get inside a high-security research lab outside of Palm Springs.”
“Um…” I searched for a response. “How about no?” I’d had enough of research facilities today. And this right here was why I’d named the Kidnapper the Kidnapper. Clearly I hadn’t taken my own warning seriously.
“Imogen, I have reason to believe there is a sample of the dragon configuration at this research facility.”
That thing he’d shown me at his weird rental house? “Well, if some other place has it, then what am I doing the internship for?”
“You’re covering one possible source, and now we need to investigate another.”
“But-but—I’m tired,” I whined. “And I’m hungry.” And now that I listened to myself, I realized that activating my hive today had made meveryhungry. “And Palm Springs is like four hours away, which means we won’t get there until midnight.”
“We’ll be there by nine-thirty,” he said in his dry tone. “And I’ll stop to get you food on the way.”
“AndI have work tonight.”
“This is your work. The Frozen Zone is only your cover.”
