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“No.” She bites her lower lip and thinks.
We reach a stoplight, and I take a moment to tap out a request on my phone, knowing whatever I say will be done.
It better be.
The person on the other end will die if he doesn’t do it.
“Then what?”
“I felt sad for him.”
The light changes and I turn right, headed for an old state route that will take us east. Avoiding major highways will be critical for this trip.
Trip.
I’m taking her on a long journey, one she cannot fathom.
“Sad? Why would you feel sad for a man who betrayed you?”
“You say he betrayed me, Cam, but he betrayed the cause. Betrayed the prophecy. Betrayed humankind. He did not betray me because I am not just one person. I am the embodiment of all that is meant to be.”
The brainwashing really worked, huh?
“Of course,” I say, shining her on as we reach another long stretch of small ranch houses, then mini-malls. Sunbaked and beige as can be, the difference between the concrete and the dead-grass front yards is hard to spot. Overhead, a large jet takes off, but we’re not going to the airport.
Not this one, at least.
And no planes for a while.
My plan takes form, even as I pivot. The Basher was never part of my expectations, but nothing about this operation has gone according to any schematic I could have drawn up. Who sent The Basher? Why would anyone want her dead? And how did Jason and Malcolm not see this coming?
Someone’s gone rogue.
And the only way to out-rogue an agent of chaos is to cause even more mayhem.
A little shriek comes from her as I take a corner too hard.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“I – I left with nothing! Just Winnie.”
“I’ll take care of everything. Where we’re going, you’ll have everything you need.”
“You – you wear the tattoo. The mark. You speak of the prophecy. You tell me you’re my husband, and yet you seem so callous. So negative.”
“I am.”
“Why? We – we are meant to be together. You said so. The Mother said so. My training has been all about, well.. you.”
Those big, beautiful, trusting eyes look at me. I focus on the road, mind racing.
“I am but a few days away from fulfilling my destiny. Once we are together, everything changes.”
“Everything changed already, Princess.”
“What do you mean? I am so confused. No one prepared me for what just happened back there.”
