Page 55 of Amethyst Flame
I told her everything. I held it together pretty well until I got to the part where my mom kicked me out, which earned an “ouch” from Swann. Understatement of the year. She seemed impressed with Dane’s ruthless handling of the Alex situation but was perplexed that I wanted her to help Brianna.
“This thing is between Brianna and her dad,” she said. “Why not just let them hash it out?”
“Because I don’t trust him. If she chooses to go back, fine. But it’s not going to be because I forced her. And you’d only have to hang out with her for a day. By tomorrow night, this Banta thing will be over, and I’ll deal with her. And she might not even get in touch with me. She might be staying with nice Swann-y friends.” A sister could hope.
Except my phone lit next to my face. I checked my messages, and it was, in fact, the child delinquent.How do I know this isn’t a trick
“Hold on,” I said to Swann so I could answer.
I hate your dad. Why would I help him
“It’s her,” I told Swann. “You up for it?” Silently I begged,Please please please…
“I guess,” Swann finally answered in the middle of an exasperated groan. “Yeah. Sure.”
“Really?”
She sighed. “I mean, how bad can she be if she’s related to you?”
I laughed for real now, as she’d intended, because we both knew the answer to that: Very.
I hooked my sisters up. Bri begged a ride—of course she did—and the pickup address she gave was on the other side of the valley from Alex’s addy and the secret op about to drop in on him, so I held out hope that the scuz hadn’t done anything I’d have to kill him for. I told Bri to sit tight, the most Awesome Human in the World would be there shortly, and I’d meet up with them soon.
Jacob stuck his head in the door. “We need you.”
“I heard that,” Swann said in my ear.
“Yeah.” But I didn’t want to let her go. Not after what happened with my mom. “I’m scared,” I told her.
Jacob, standing there, gave me worried eyes.
“You’ve got this,” Swann said. “You werebornfor this, or those little moths would’ve already chewed you up like the finest cashmere. And your mom will come around. She loves you and doesn’t know what to do.”
“We’ll get pedicures later,” I promised as I nodded to Jacob.Coming.“My treat.”
“Just for fuck’s sake, call me tomorrow as soon as you’re done and we’re good.”
“I will,” I told her and ended the call.
I made to return to Dane’s Mission Control, but Jacob blocked my way out of the bedroom, his head lowering so we were cheek to cheek. I thought he was going to give me that hug he’d offered back at home, but he said, “You know he’s using you to get what he wants. Have you thought about what you’ll have left after this is all over?”
I hadn’t thought aboutafterat all. Today was hard enough. But I guessed it was good someone was thinking ahead. I whispered back, “What are you thinking?”
His cheek grazed mine. “Get what he needs, but also get some for us. You knowI’vegot your back.”
I nodded as if I were the co-conspirator he wanted me to be, but I didn’t know anything anymore.
Dane was ready to walk us through tomorrow’s mission, and with all the questions swirling in my head and gnawing at my heart, I decided to take his advice: focus on the work as he broke it down for us, step by step. Funny how he made it sound so easy…
* * *
The morning foundme at BantaMatrix sitting on a padded chair in the fourth to last row of the lecture hall, listening to some guest speaker drone on about the future of nanotech in medicine while I tried to breathe through a panic attack of epic proportions.
Whoever thought this spy shit was fun was out of their mind. It was one thing to pretend to be an intern all day and totally another to separate from the pack and potentially reveal who I was.
My mom was right—I’d almost died. She had too. Others definitely had. What the fuck was I doing? Who did I think I was?
I checked my watch. Three minutes until go time.
