Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
And now that it’s here, I realize I’m terrified.
Come on, Nova. You’ve got this.
My not-quite-British internal monologue is stubbornly sticking around. Most of the time I find my inner voice irritating. But when I put Mercer’s face to it, the voice changes to his, and then… it’s nice.
Like he’s with me.
I don’t care how vulnerable Mercer was all these years—and I have plenty of reasons to believe Patricia abused him in the worst kind of ways while he was on that drug—he is the strongest of us all.
And if he says I can do this—and he does say that, every single night—then I can do this.
So I square my shoulders, tip my chin up, and look down my nose at Eliana the way Mercer might. “Let’s go.”
She smiles her smarmy smile, turns her back to me, and walks to the door.
I follow. It’s evening right now. Sunday night—my Friday—and the sunset sky is the color of a bruise.
The limo door opens from inside as I approach.
Patricia smiles at me. Then scoots over on the seat and pats it. Inviting me inside.
I know this is a bad idea, but if these people wanted to kill me, or kidnap me, or beat me—they’d have done it already.
She is here to see what we have.
I imagine, that at first, they didn’t think we had anything. But then again, they can’t be naïve enough to underestimate Mercer.
He was their evil minion, after all. They gave him everything he needed to get this job done.
And I do mean everything.
I get in and the moment my legs are inside, the door closes behind me and the locks engage.
I do not panic. Not outwardly. But inwardly I’m desperately hoping that someone in the house noticed the fucking limo in the parking lot.
My smile comes out automatically and I play my part in this ending. “What can I help you with, Patricia?”
“I think you have something of mine, Nova.” She pauses to smile at me. “And I would like it back.”
Her voice—her accent—it throws me for a moment. Because I forgot that she and Mercer talked alike.
My heart beats fast when I wonder if she is the voice in my head.
But Mercer is there, like always, calming me with his practical words. Even if it was, dear Nova. I’m here now.
“What would that be, Patricia? Because if it’s Mercer, you’re not getting him back.”
She scoffs, looking down and shaking her head a little. When she composes herself, and looks back up, her voice is calm. “He was a pet, Nova. Just like you were a pet to Locke, and Locke was a pet to Mercer. No. I’m not here for him. I’m here for your file. It seems to have gone missing.”
“Wherever could it have gone?”
“Don’t play with me, Nova.”
“Why not? Isn’t that your thing? You and your people? I thought you liked the game? Oh, I’m sorry. No. You only like to play against children.” I nod my head to the blacked-out window. “Is that why you have Eliana now? Is she the new Mercer.”
“She is my biological daughter.”
I actually laugh. “Of course, she is. Well, I’m bored.” And to my surprise, I realize that I am. I’m so done with this. “So can you just get to the point?”
“I’m here for something else as well.”
I know what she’s going to say. We’ve war-gamed this meeting with Patricia for two months. We practiced every night and this scenario came up often.
She wants Veda.
I huff out a breath. “OK. I’m seriously done here, so I’m going to get to the point since you can’t seem to manage it. You’re not getting Veda and you’re not getting that file.”
“We already have the file, dear. I would just like your copy. And your word that you won’t—“
I cut her off. “Well, you’re not getting either of those things. Let me tell you how this is going to go. You’re going to forget about us.”
“Darling.” She chuckles. It’s disconcerting. “That’s not likely. Not likely at all.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong.” I reach into the front pocket of my jeans and pull out a pill case. This was Travis’s idea. And I have to admit. It’s a pretty fun way to fuck with her.
I open it and Patricia’s chuckle builds. “You can’t be serious?” She blinks at me. “You are serious.”
“Like a fuckin’ heart attack.”
“It won’t work on me, dear.”
“Why not?”
“Because you have to build up a tolerance. That’s why it takes so long. Didn’t Mercer mention that?”
He did actually. But I pretend to be confused.
“No? He sent you here to fight his battles though, didn’t he? Ill-prepared, too. He always was a coward.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “That’s… like… truly funny.” My expression drops out of the laugh and I go very serious. “Here’s something you might not know about this drug, Patricia.”