Page 6 of Amethyst Flame
Jacob was supposed to be on my side. He was supposed to have my back. And I’d kind of been hoping he’d have the rest of me, too.
The moths were stinging in my system. I liked the hot sparks. I needed that sweet burn right now to keep my shit together.
What the fuck had he done?
“In what way, specifically, did you ‘tweak’ the source code, Jackhole?”
“I’m trying to get ahead of the tech, Mo,” he said in his patronizing tone.
Eye roll. “You mean catch up. Cuz the tech already exists.” I opened my hands in a magician’s assistant flourish to show off my hot bod. “Obviously.”
“But that’s my point,” he told me. “Banta isn’t the only company out there working on nanotechnology. I’ve got a list of a few dozen that are right on Banta’s heels. And who knows what’s going on in other secret labs?”
Jacob had me there. I’d been worried about the same thing. If Banta could turn me into a real-life EldWitch, then someone else was undoubtedly experimenting with the same. Mom was worried about it, too. The parentheses creases between her eyebrows had gotten deeper in the past few months.
“What did you do, Jacob?” If he didn’t start spilling, and now, I would be forced to use those moths on him.
He took a deep breath and frowned. “A friend of mine from MIT is doing some work in the field, and I asked him to look at the code I wrote.NotBanta’s code. But stuff I wrote based on it.”
Oh dear god. As if there weren’t enough mad scientists already in this mix. “And…?”
“And he stole it.”
“You mean he stole the code that you shouldn’t have written in the first place.” Just so we had it straight.
Jacob ignored that and went on. “His nanotech isn’t nearly as advanced as what Banta created, but with my code—”
“—your negligent and dangerous code,” I put in.
“Withthecode, his tech is now operational.”
So…it was happening. The tech was out there, whether in moth form or with some other buggy acronym—HoRNeT? RoACH? MoSQuiTo?—and with it the mad scramble for who could make the fastest buck and who would control the infestation. It seemed Jacob had wanted in on that action.
“Well, fuck.”
“Yeah.” Jacob hung his head. Wouldn’t look at me.
I had a long history of not dealing with reality. Logging on to Legendelirium was my usual coping mechanism. Vegas had been built on the lure of endless diversion. I could find a million different ways to hide my head in the sand here, even without going out into the desert.
But…he was right: The world was changing, and he had the opportunity to ride the first wave. We both did.
Yeah, he should’ve talked to me before fucking with the code and then showing anyone anything, but he’d stood by me when my life had gone to shit. He’d put himself on the line. Risked a lot for a girl he hardly knew. Really, other than the blond hair, he wasn’t like Brayden at all.
I heaved a sigh. “So you want me to set fire to his ass, or what?”
He looked up, eyes wide. “You aren’t pissed?”
“Oh, I’m pissed. You messed up, but you’re coming clean about it and trying to make it right with me, so I’ll get over it. Are we cleaning up your mess, or are we here to make him pay?”
He gave me a sheepish half-smile. “Both?”
I shrugged. “I can respect that.”
“I…hoped you might.”
We locked gazes, and the sparks that zinged through my blood were one hundred percent Mo-generated.
A scarlet flush crept up his neck, skipped his face, but set his pokey ears on fire.
