Page 136 of I Will Mend You
“One second.”
The line goes silent. I stare at Becky’s photo, remembering our last encounter. Dolly and I sat in the back seat of Dad’s car while he parked outside her house. Becky came to the door with our cases and several boxes of arts and crafts. I didn’t notice the car that pulled up behind us until Kappa, our instructor—who Mom called Charlotte in the diary—stepped out. She walked past us to Becky, took the items, and loaded them into the trunk of Kappa’s car.
“Are you okay?” Xero asks.
I inhale a deep breath, trying to shove away a slew of memories. “Becky was really nice. She once took Dolly and me to volunteer at a shelter and got us to hand out cereal bars to the homeless kids.”
“You remember that?” he asks, his brows rising.
My hand finds the back of my neck, and I chuckle. “You’d think memories would just download like files, but it’s more like fishing them out of a black hole.”
The corners of his eyes crinkle. “What else do you remember?”
Before I can answer, Tyler’s voice fills the speaker. “Rebecca Taylor works for the Sacred Hearts Adoption Agency, run by a woman named Charlotte Banks.”
The name hits me like a punch to the gut. We both shoot to our feet. “Charlotte?”
“Show us a picture of her,” Xero growls, his voice tight.
Seconds later, Tyler pulls up a photo of a beautiful blonde with her hair swept up in a chignon. She smiles into the camera, but there’s no mistaking those cold eyes. Memories crash through my mind like a tsunami, making my eyes sting. SeeingCharlotte brings back a torrent of terror that’s never left my body, even when I had no memory of her cruelty.
“That’s her,” I choke out. “The instructor who always praised Dolly and not me. The nanny who haunted my nightmares and tried to drive me insane. The bitch who murdered my baby brother.”
As I hyperventilate, Xero holds my shoulders. “We’ll get her. She’ll pay for everything she did to you and your family.”
I stare into space, trapped in nightmare after hellish nightmare. Somewhere on the edge of my consciousness, Tyler asks for instructions. Xero demands more information on Charlotte and her adoption agency. The words filter through the fog, but I’m consumed by a burning need for revenge.
SIXTY-SEVEN
XERO
Just as we make a breakthrough with the bath, Amethyst’s childhood monster appears and hampers our progress.
She freezes, her eyes turning glassy. I place a hand on her shoulder, and she snaps out of her fugue with a clap of anger. Her fury fills the room, crackling like a live wire. It blazes in her green eyes, burning brighter than the night she attacked me in her sleep.
“Amethyst?” I grip her shoulders, concern tightening my chest, but she shoves me aside with surprising strength.
Fists clenched, she paces, each step radiating barely contained violence. “That bitch is still alive,” she hisses, her voice filled with venom. “I want to go to her house now and cut her into pieces.”
Pain twists inside my gut like a coiled serpent, each movement constricting my breath. I would give my little ghost the world, but Charlotte is a valuable lead. “Amethyst,” I murmur, my voice low. “We can’t rush. She knows the facility’s location.”
She stops, her wild eyes locking onto mine, blazing with rage, desperation, and grief. “She killed my baby brother,” she screams. “Right in front of me.”
Guilt gnaws at my conscience for putting the mission before her immediate revenge. I can’t let that deter us from our goal. Stepping closer, I bear the intensity of her emotions and grasp her by the arms. “You remember the Three Fates Therapeutic Boarding School? That facility might still contain children groomed to become assassins.”
Blinking, she releases tears and stares up at me through glistening eyes. Breathing hard through her parted lips, she whispers, “What?”
“We need to rescue those girls,” I say.
It takes a moment for her to register my words before her defiance crumples into devastation. She collapses against my chest, her body shaking with sobs. “You must hate me for being so selfish.”
I wrap my arms around her back, holding her so tightly that her anguish bleeds into my heart. “I could never hate you.” I punctuate the words with a kiss on her temple. “You’re brave, resilient, and the strongest woman I know.”
We stand together in silence, our hearts beating in sync. I long to assure her we’ll take down our enemies, one by one, but promises only stretch so far. Charlotte is within reach, but capturing her now risks alerting the facility she’s been compromised. I can’t jeopardize Father and the instructors moving the children elsewhere.
“Give me three days,” I murmur into her damp curls. “Three days of tailing her. If she doesn’t lead us to the facility, we’ll raid her home.”
Amethyst pulls back, meeting my gaze with watery eyes. “Promise?”