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Chapter 81

EIGHTY-ONE

XERO

I pull into the courtyard of St. Anne’s Church, shaking with impotent rage. Jynxson and his team are still trapped under the rubble, but there’s no sign of the bastards who took Camila.

Every drone we sent after the helicopter was shot down, leaving us blind. All we know is that they’ve gone west.

The Spring brothers retrieved Relaney Cymbal, along with two other men from number 11. All three had been shot with tranquilizer darts, which explained why they were unmoving. Ms. Cymbal is now en route to Simon Memorial Hospital, while the men found with her await us inside the church.

Amethyst hasn’t said a word since we lost sight of my sister. If she blames herself for Relaney’s abduction, then she’ll be even more devastated about Camila.

St. Anne’s is the late Reverend Thomas’s workplace, which backs onto the Parisii Cemetery. It’s a gothic stone building hidden within a copse of weeping willows. I ordered the Spring Brothers to move them to the altar for questioning, because I plan on using a former member of X-Cite Media’s place of worship to send a message to Father.

She places a hand on my shoulder. “Xero, are you alright?”

“Ask me again after we’ve found Camila.” I turn off the engine.

My emotions are on lockdown. I’m far from okay, and my little ghost wouldn’t believe a platitude. While Dolly won’t recognize Camila, Father might. The best-case scenario is that he’ll use his own daughter as a hostage. I don’t want to consider the worst.

If Charlotte told us the truth about the daughter she had with Father being used as a Lolita assassin, then Camila’s potential fate is too chilling to contemplate.

Amethyst stares at my profile for a few seconds before opening the door and stepping out into the darkened courtyard.

Cold rage powers my steps as I stride toward the church. I push open its wooden door and step into the gloom.

The Spring brothers meet me on the aisle, avoiding my gaze as they mutter about needing to join the search for my sister. At the altar, they’ve set up a makeshift interrogation space. Dolly’s accomplices hang from the ceiling by ropes, their naked bodies swaying under the weight of their guilt. Next to them is a table laden with instruments.

Moonlight filters through the stained-glass windows, casting multicolored shadows on the two captives. Their heads are bowed, their limbs immobilized by shackles.

Amethyst’s steps falter. She claps both hands over her mouth and suppresses a gasp.

I turn to her, my brow furrowing. “What is it?”

“Those two are from the asylum,” she whispers.

“These are the men who hurt you?” I snarl.

She points a trembling finger at the pair. “The one with the long black hair is Seth. The other one is Barrett.”

“Tell me everything,” I say through clenched teeth.

She swallows hard, her voice quivering. “Those two strung me up so Delta could cut into my skin. Another time, they strapped me to a chair for forced feeding.”

Her face tightens with disgust. “Seth came to my cell with a bottle of water. When I went to the door, he stuck his dick through the hatch and came all over my water bowl.”

A red haze clouds my vision. I stride to the altar, my thoughts raging like a violent storm. These bastards will die screaming for what they did to my little ghost, but I have to keep them alive long enough to gather information on Camila’s location.

“Wake up,” I yell.

Neither man twitches.

I grab a knife from the table and slash their bellies deep enough to jolt them into consciousness. They jerk backward, filling the church with screams.

“Look at me,” I yell above their howls.

Barrett, the one with the shaggy brown hair, is the first to speak. Recognizing his sharp features from the graveyard video makes me want to stick the knife into his throat.

“What do you want?” he asks through ragged breaths.

“Where did Dolly take Camila?”

His eyes widen. “I don’t know any Camila.”

“Dolly took my sister. I want to know where she went in that helicopter.”

Barrett’s gaze darts to Amethyst, who stands at my side. Realizing she’s not his boss, his face leeches of all color.

I grab his jaw. “Look at her one more time, and you’ll lose an eye.”

He stiffens. “Look, man. I don’t know what’s happening. One minute, I was standing in that woman’s living room. The next, I’m being strung up in some fucking church.”

“Where did Dolly come from?” I press my blade into his chest.

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I swear.”

“Try again.” I slice off his left nipple.

“We never stay in one place!” he screams.

“Not good enough.” I slice off the right.

Barrett sobs, his features crumpling. “Ask Seth. He’ll know.”

I glance at a long-haired man, who stares at me with cold, black eyes. He was the man who attended the mixer with Dolly and appeared more loyal to Father than to his X-Cite Media colleagues. He’s another one from the graveyard video I recognize, but I wanted to leave him intact for Amethyst.

“How about you, Seth?” I ask.

He remains silent, glaring back with defiance. His breaths come out in labored gasps, yet the pain in his abdomen isn’t enough to break his spirit.

“Your loyalty to the man who left you for dead is commendable,” I sneer. “But my people found you already unconscious, abandoned by your supposed ally.”

Fear flickers across his features before they harden.

I can’t help but grin at his naivety. “You think I’m lying? Our drones found three motionless figures in that house. Dolly and her accomplice left you both there to die.”

Beside Seth, Barrett whimpers.

Amethyst steps forward. “It’s true. I saw the footage. And before Grunt died, he told me Delta leaked videos with your faces to make you wanted by the police.”

Seth pales at the revelation, while Barrett breaks down into harsh sobs. Despite the overwhelming evidence against them, Seth keeps a stoic mask.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.

“You weren’t his elites, you were just his puppets,” I reply.

“You’re wrong.” He swallows, his throat bobbing. He’s the kind of asshole who doubles down, even when they know they’ve lost the argument.

I scoff. “You’re still under Delta’s spell. Did he recruit you from the outside world, or are you a former child assassin?”

Seth turns his head, refusing to meet my gaze. His silence speaks volumes. No one shows such bravery in the face of interrogation without training.

“What about you, Barrett?” I turn to the sobbing man. “Are you also a trained killer?”

He shakes his head, loosening tears that stream down to his mutilated chest. “No,” he chokes out between ragged sobs. “I’m just an adult movie star.”

“Who Delta left behind to get tortured to death by his enemies?” I ask, my brows rising.

He shivers. “What do you want to know?”

“Where can I find Dolly and Delta?”

“If I knew, I would tell you?—”

I cut him off with a fist into his gut wound, relishing his pained howl. “Explain.”

“Delta never stays in one place for longer than a few days,” he screams. “He has hideouts all over town.”

“What are you doing?” Seth barks, his eyes flashing with fury.

Satisfaction thrums through my chest at the confirmation. Ignoring him, I ask, “Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” he stammers. “Apartments, mostly.”

“Start with the last one.”

“It overlooked the wrought iron gates of Beaumont Park.” His words come out in a frantic rush. “Eleventh floor, but they would have already moved.”

I turn to Amethyst, who’s already typing out a message on my phone. “Send it to Tyler.”

She nods.

I turn back to Seth, who glares through eyes burning with hatred. His stubbornness isn’t just stupid—it’s suicidal. He’s about Amethyst’s age, which means I might not have met him if he resided at the underground facility. Either way, he’s completely brainwashed.

“Delta isn’t any kind of father figure worth protecting,” I say. “Many of the girls killed in those movies were former assassins like Dolly who became too old to be Lolitas.”

Seth gathers saliva in his mouth and spits, but his aim is off, and it lands on the altar floor. “You’re just jealous. Delta valued his adopted sons more than the bastards who were disappointments.”

The insult barely lands with a sting. I’ve had years to come to terms with Father’s Machiavellian antics. He’s affected so many people, I can’t take anything he does personally. Despite this, a laugh rises in my chest. It’s half-grief, half-madness, and all fury for Camila.

“You’re still defending a man who left you to die?” Losing interest in Seth, I turn back to Barrett. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

Barrett’s entire body convulses. “Are we… Are we really going to die?”

Cold fury settles over my spirit, and I give him a smile that could freeze fire. If he thinks this information will absolve him for hurting Amethyst and all the other women who suffered at the hands of X-Cite Media, then he’s deluded.

“Delta discarded you like trash. You can decide if you die tonight or in a few months, after your body gives up from torture.”

He shivers. “I overheard Dolly tell Locke they could hide out in a property Delta’s company owns.”

My eyes narrow. “X-Cite Media?”

Barrett shakes his head. “Hades Holding Company. I don’t know what kind of building it is or its whereabouts in Beaumont City. All I know is that it’s empty.”

Satisfied with the leads, I step back and sweep an arm towards Amethyst. “I’m going to start researching Hades Holdings. Feel free to mutilate them, but leave Seth for last.”

Amethyst nods, her pretty features twisting with malice. I take my phone from her and turn away, leaving the altar echoing with screams.

I would sit back and watch the show, but I have a sister to rescue.

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