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Abby laughs, the musical notes in her throaty voice sounding sensual. “Good news, though. Your father’s assistant is twenty-eight, female, and cute. If you do that lip-bite and wink routine for her, she’ll fall for it.”

I bark out a note of laughter. “Lip-bite and wink routine?”

She puts a hand on her chest. “I mean, I see right through it. But she just got dumped by the guard she was having mediocre weekly sex with. She’s ripe for your charm.”

“You think I’m charming?”

She laughs louder this time. And longer, eventually wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

“No, I do not. My point is, your side of this op is getting this woman in bed, getting some, and then having a conversation with your father. It’s not even hard.”

I grin, resisting my urge to crack a joke.

“Let’s say I’m successful, which is likely. I get the information. What will I tell my father when I bring Abby into his office?”

“Oh. About that.”

Tanaka takes a small bag from his pocket, pulling open the drawstrings. He opens the bag and something clinks onto the surface of the table.

I give him an incredulous look. “Really?”

He slides one ring over to me and the other to Abby. “I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Let’s-Bring-These-Bastards-Down.”

25

“An enforced moral code—whether I agree entirely with it or not—has proven to be the most effective means of controlling the population.” Electronic message from New America President Soren Whitman to Vice President Aldous Thatcher

Amira

I go limp with relief when I see that Evander’s chest is still rising and falling as he breathes. He doesn’t look good, but he’s alive.

Jane seems worn out, but she got me here quickly. I tied her up outside where she has grass to graze on. Hopefully she’ll be okay until I can pay more attention to her, when I get Evander in a better place.

“Hey.” I brush my fingers over his cheek, which has a short beard. “Wake up. You have to drink some water.”

He groans and grimaces, murmuring. “He’s fucking dead ... I won’t let him.”

I tip a bottle of water up to his lips, letting a couple of drops splash onto them. His eyes fly open.

“It’s me,” I say softly, leaning over him so he can see my face. “I need you to drink some water.”

He tries to reach out to me, but his hand drops back to the ground. “Thought you left.”

“Just to get medicine. I’m back now.”

He groans again. “I’m not gonna make it. Get the map. In my bag.”

“Yes, you are. Drink this water.”

He pulls his brows together in a scowl, his exhale raspy. “It’s infected. Go.”

“Fake wives don’t abandon their fake husbands.” I cup the back of his head and lift it, putting the water bottle against his lips. “Drink.”

I manage to get a few sips of water into his mouth. When I wipe the sweat from his face and press the back of my hand to his forehead, it’s even hotter than before.

“I have lots of medicine and some books.” I unpack the two books from the bundle and hold them over him so he can see the titles. “This will be a lot easier if you can tell me what to do.”

His eyes are tortured as he says, “It’s too late.”