Page 54 of Amethyst Flame
Was I supposed to refuse to help when I was needed? When I was the only one who could do what was necessary? That wasn’t how she’d raised me,ergo…me doing what was right was technically and totally herfault.
I huffed in frustration. That was what I should’ve told her. Dammit. I hated thinking of the perfect thing to sayafterthe moment had passed. This whole situation was on her. But she kickedmeout.
“Imogen,” Dane said, “are you listening?”
I shook my head. The screen was too blurry.
“The work,” he told me, low. “You focus on the work. That’s how you go on. That’s how we keep them safe.”
“This is how I can keep my mom safe,” I repeated. Even if she didn’t want me to. Sucked, but there it was.
“Yes.” He pointed to a molecular structure on the screen. “By memorizing this new dragon so that you can recognize it and its permutations if you see it at BantaMatrix. This dragon is real. It’s out in the world. I got confirmation within the data we obtained last night.”
Since this was ruining my life, I was through playing games with him. “Why did we have to steal the information at all? Why didn’t your commander person—whoever’s in charge of your super-secret spy games—just give it to you?”
His jaw shunted to the side while he thought about it. Then he gave a shallow nod as if answering an internal question. “Officially, I’m off the MoTH investigation. They gave the file to someone higher up the chain. One of the seasoned old guard. And he wants to use his own operators.” Dane sighed heavily. “My final report left out my suspicion that you still have active moths. If he knew about your synergized hive, you’d be down in the lower levels of that Palm Springs compound.”
At my side, Jacob huffed. “Alive or dead?”
Dane lifted his head. “Probably alive. But seriously uncomfortable.”
What the fuck?This just got worse and worse.
Dane was protecting me. Or he was using me. Maybe both? At least he hadn’t turned me in. I didn’t want some seasoned old fart dictating my life. Yeah, he’d throw me in a basement and stick me with needles, but what would they do with my mom, who knew too much? Or Jacob? Or Swann? Even Brianna could be in danger.
“And,” Dane continued, “you should know that recently—around the time of your Las Vegas stunt—I happened upon some concerning intel regarding BantaMatrix’s evolving nanotechnology, which is why I seized upon the internship opportunity. If I bring my suspicions to my superiors, their investigation may lead back to you. It’s better that I—we—know what we’re dealing with first.”
“And then what?”
“Our next steps will depend upon what we discover. But keeping you safe, and by extension your loved ones safe, is my priority.”
He was saying he knew my priorities too. Which helped to clear my head.
“The dragon, please,” Dane said.
I swiped at my eyes. Blinked hard. And leaned forward. “On it.”
Playing dot-to-dot with the new configuration—an arch here and jagged edge there—was not where my mind wanted to go. But my artist’s eye couldn’t help but make sense of the confusion. Almost effortlessly, I visualized a two-headed beastie with a spiked frill, forked tongue, and a skinny whiplash of a tail. The blast of fire from its curling nostrils could incinerate my butterflies with a single puff.
Well, I’d battled big monsters before. My butterflies might be smaller, but they had greater maneuverability.
“Okay. I think I got it.”
Dane selected another config of the same dragon, but, um, one of its heads seemed to be yawning. “Got it.” And another version, both sets of razor teeth chewing its tail. “Next.” My moths mapped all the permutations. Now I’d know them if I saw them in the wild.
When Swann finally called, Dane took over his laptop again and hunkered down with Jacob.
“Oh thank god.” I stepped into one of the empty bedrooms, this one decorated with black and white photos of old Arizona ranchers framed on the walls. Someone’s ratty old pair of cowboy boots lurked in one corner of the room.Ew.
“Sup, Mimo?” Swann said.
The sweet, warm familiarity of her voice made me press the phone to my face as if I could bring her closer to me. “I need your help.”
I could trust Swann with anything.
She must’ve heard my stress because she answered, “I’ll throw the shovels in the trunk and be over in ten.”
I laughed. Actually laughed. I loved her so much. “Thanks, but there are no dead bodies. Yet.”
