I yank my hand off her forehead and stumble back, grabbing hold of a tower of servers to steady myself. ChinaDoll grins with the lazy smile of the life-hit high. Her flawless skin is even more radiant. Seth is scowling at me. I’m sure I look like death, and the fact that I’m barely standing upright isn’t helping. I try to put on a better face. ChinaDoll floats over to Seth and gives him a small bow of appreciation.
Suddenly the flap of the tent is pushed aside, and Zachariel rushes in.
He looks alarmed until he sees me. “Ah, there you are. I thought you’d escaped.”
Seth is flicking looks of concern back and forth between us. I can’t decide if he’s more pissed that I’m such a miserable wreck after paying out or that Zachariel’s been missing for the last five minutes.
“No such luck,” I say, trying to take the edge off the sudden rise in tension in the tent.
Zachariel slides over to me. He slips his arm around my waist and gives me a not-so-quick kiss. I’m surprised, but before I can react too much, he pulls back.
“Did you miss me?” He gives me a wolfish stare, hamming it up for our spectators.
Given that Zachariel and I are supposed to be lovers now, I play along. “Absolutely,” I say, pulling him back for another, even longer, kiss.
The tent flap rustles, and I break the kiss to peer around him. Seth and ChinaDoll are gone.
Zachariel’s still holding me close.
“Very clever,” I say, “keeping up the lover act and driving them off with copious displays of public affection.”
“Maintaining cover is important.” He smirks. “But who said I was trying to drive them off? I was just looking for an excuse to do this.” He pulls me in for another kiss, this time trickling life energy through his hand at the small of my bare back. I cycle it back with a hand on his cheek. His hands roam my bare skin, and thanks to my skimpy outfit, there’s a lot of it to roam. Everywhere he touches, he’s transferring. It doesn’t take long for me to revive from the payout.
I pull back, slightly breathless. “Can you stick around for the next payout? I think I prefer this method of recovery.”
He grins and steps up the cycling. I’m quickly getting high, which probably isn’t the best state to be in at the moment, in spite of how enjoyable Zachariel is making it. I put a little distance between us, and we stop cycling. I check the tent flap—Seth will be back soon.
“So,” I say, getting back to business. “What did you find out while I was catching glares from Seth?”
There’s a flicker in Zachariel’s eyes, but he just smiles. “It was nothing. I thought that slasher was doing something special, but it turns out he was just the lead of the defensive team.”
“Well… I guess that’s good.” But I frown. It’s disappointing to go through all of the ruse for nothing. Plus something is off. For all his intensity before, it seems strange for Zachariel to be so light-hearted now.
Before I can grill him further, Seth shoves through the tent flap. His glare breaks up our cuddle position. Behind him trails the slasher from the third cube. He’s back in his hooded-cloak uniform, looking for his payout, no doubt.
“Zachariel is our primary collector,” Seth says to the man. “He’ll handle your payout. Wraith, come with me. I have another job for you.”
Zachariel and I exchange a look. “I can do the payout here,” I say. I have no idea what this other job is, but I don’t like the idea of being split up when Seth is calling the shots.
“Hey, that works for me,” the slasher says with a roaming eye for my costume.
Everyone ignores him.
“She won’t have any trouble doing the paying this time,” Zachariel says to Seth.
“Then she won’t have any trouble with this other work, either.” He makes it sound like I’m not actually busted for being wrecked by the payout. And maybe with Zachariel’s boost, that’s even true. I motion to Zachariel that I’m okay.
He ignores me. “I can do the other work,” he says to Seth.
I’m not sure why he’s arguing so hard to keep me here, but it ramps up my alarm bells.
Seth and Zachariel have a brief, but intense, staring contest that heats the entire tent. I’m not sure if I should interfere or not.
Finally, Seth says, “I’ll be sure to tell Moloch she wasn’t able to keep up her end of the deal.”
Zachariel glares at Seth for a moment, then drops his gaze to the floor. Seth nods to me and holds the tent flap open. Zachariel looks decidedly unhappy, but he doesn’t stop me from leaving the tent with Seth.
I follow Seth through the dispersing throng of slashers and their admirers. He brings me to the bank of screens, which is now unoccupied, except for the lone slasher that he and Zachariel were both unduly interested in. I have no idea what’s going on here, and I don’t like that. At all.
“Wraith, this is InTense,” Seth says.
I try to control my surprise.
To the slasher, Seth says, “Wraith is one of our new collectors.”
InTense is built wiry, barely as tall as me. But his eyes lock onto mine, like he’s peering into my soul. He doesn’t even glance at my barely-clothed body.
“Hello, Wraith.” His tone is full of power. This is a man who’s used to getting what he wants. I’ve seen his type before, usually under my palm during a collection.
“Hello to you,” I push back, more than a little unnerved.
“Payment is two years.” Seth shifts to give us room, but his stare for me is a challenge.
He wants to see if I can do it. And I sure as hell don’t want to give him the satisfaction of failing.
I turn back to the slasher. “Two years is a lot. Can you handle it… Mr. InTense?”
His eyes blaze a little—they’re blue, but they catch the electric lighting of the cavernous warehouse and sizzle a little more. “I can take whatever you can dish out… Ms. Wraith.”
I’m not sure what kick he’s getting out of this, but I know that soon he’s going to get a lot more pleasure out of our interaction than I am. I grit my teeth and reach for his forehead. He’s still boring into me with that electric stare. I turn my head away, close my eyes, and pulse energy into him.
Two years is a lot. I take it slow at first, because I don’t want to give either Seth or this slasher the pleasure of seeing my face twist up. When I think I can handle it, I open the energy gush more. I try to stop my hand from gripping his forehead, but that’s a lost cause. I just hold on and endure the seemingly endless time in that soul-sucking place. I’m praying that when I open my eyes, Zachariel will have found me. But when I do, it’s still just the three of us. InTense’s lips are parted, and the ecstatic look on his face turns my stomach. I drop my hand.
Seth is watching me.
I manage not to sway. Much.
He turns to the slasher. “The rest of your payment will be wired as arranged.”
InTense pulls in a deep breath, obviously high and in love with it. I instantly recognize the look: he’s an addict. The adrenaline of the slashing, and now the life hit. It’s not just recreational for him. He needs this… badly. My brain is just now waking up to the fact that I’ve paid out double to the uber-slasher who was apparently working on the sidelines: something that doesn’t even make sense. Why would Seth waste his talents like that? And pay him double for it?
InTense lets out the breath, long and slow, then tips his head to Seth. “Keep in touch.”
Then he turns and strides away.
“Are you curious, Wraith?” Seth asks. We’re far enough away from everyone that his voice won’t carry. In fact, in the cavernous warehouse filled with equipment, slashers, and groupies, we’re in the one spot that’s relatively unoccupied.
“Curious as a personality trait?” I ask, still trying to recover from the payout. Plus I’m not in any mood to take shit from Seth. “Or as an emotional state, right now, as to why you’re such an asshole?”
He chuckles, but it’s dark. Like he thinks I�
�m pathetic. Given I’ve just paid out two years of life energy, he isn’t far off. I try to look casual as I brace myself against the console.
He folds his arms over his cloak. “Would you like to know why InTense earned double the payout of our other prime slashers?” A small smile tugs at the edge of his lips.
He’s baiting me. Obviously.
I bite anyway. “Sure. Why don’t you tell me why you have one of Silicon Valley’s top Tech Officers doing routine slash work?”
His grin blooms into something sinister. “I’m glad you understand, Wraith. That way you’ll appreciate even more what we’re doing.”
“I have the feeling appreciate is the wrong word.”
Something worse than the grin creeps onto his face. It’s a kind of satisfaction, like he has me right where he wants me. “The slash is a synchronized attack on thousands of government records, randomly selected, but always netting the same result: debt balances shifted red enough to trigger a review.”
My mouth drops open. I clamp it shut. “You’re manufacturing debt.”
“Not only that.” His black eyes catch some of the electric blue light and seem to flash. “We’re doing it randomly but simultaneously. It’s obviously coordinated. Undoubtedly planned. And yet it could hit anyone, young or old, weak or strong, rich or poor.”
He’s going to kill thousands of people. Randomly. I don’t ask the obvious: why on earth would you do such a thing? Because I know why: Gehenna is all about collecting the most life energy it can for the likes of Moloch and Ishtar and Seth to live forever. As far as I can tell, Zachariel is also in on that plan.
I feel sick, but I swallow it down. “People just not dying fast enough for you, Seth?”
He laughs that dark chuckle again. “As smart as you are, Wraith, I thought you would have understood without me having to spell it out.”
My insides hollow out. I’ve missed something. I go back over his words: random, coordinated, could hit anyone. My eyes go wide. “It’s a terror attack.”
“A very effective terror attack.” He says the words, I swear, with positive glee. “It hits people right at the heart of their fear: the idea that they’re all just one bad recordkeeping mistake away from a collector walking into their lives and cashing them out.”
His love for this idea is palpable… I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who dreamed it up. But I still don’t entirely get why he’s doing it. “You want people to mistrust government records?”
He smirks. “They already mistrust government records.”
“So why then?”
“Because it shows—viscerally and devastatingly—how debt collection must be stopped,” he says through the grin. “It must be brought to an end or any citizen on any day could be vulnerable.”
I frown. “Okay, you’re straight crazy-talking now. I thought Gehenna wanted more debt collection.”
He smirks, and I have a sinking feeling, like I’ve fallen right into his rhetorical trap.
“But it won’t be Gehenna who is responsible, Ms. Sterling,” he says. “Obviously, this is the result of some anti-debt-collector group. One that feels debt collectors are inherently evil. One that wishes to see the end of all debt collection as we know it today.”
Oh my God. “Lifetime.” It comes out as a whisper.
“They will rightfully be called out and vilified as the newest terror group of our time.” I’ve never seen the man happier than he is at this moment. “It will help that there will be substantial evidence indicating their own tech people were involved in the slash.”
He’s planting evidence. To indict Lifetime. To destroy it in a way that would thoroughly discredit my father’s organization far more than I ever could by simply being a debt collector. Lifetime may not know of Gehenna’s existence, but Gehenna obviously has had Lifetime on their radar for some time. Which makes me realize… Seth is cold and calculating, but I don’t think he’s legitimately crazy. Something doesn’t add up here.
I lean away from him. “Why are you telling me this?”
The rapture in his face at the idea of bringing down Lifetime dims a little, but only because he’s now focusing intently on me. “Because I’d very much like to see you try to stop it.” There’s a cruel smirk on his face that digs into my chest.
“You want me to stop it,” I repeat dully. This is a trap, a carefully laid trap, just for me.
“You’re the hero, aren’t you? The kind who won’t embrace what you are because you’re too consumed with believing debt collectors are fundamentally flawed. When, in fact, we are precisely what we’re supposed to be. And as Moloch has no doubt told you by now, we’re destined for greater things. If you can’t see it now, you will. Eventually. Although I would much prefer that you didn’t live that long.”
I understand now what Seth meant by that kind. The problem is, he’s absolutely right. I am that kind. And yet… he’s put me in an impossible position. Which, I’m sure, is the source of the shining happiness on his face.
“So, please,” he says with high indulgence, “do try to stop the destruction of your father’s legacy non-profit that reviles all debt collectors. Please go ahead and reveal yourself, so Moloch will know your true nature. I would rather have one tiny fraction of our plans be momentarily stalled than allow you to worm your way further into Moloch’s good graces. Or Ishtar’s, for that matter.”
He’s completely setting me up. And telling me all about it. There can only be one reason for that: he thinks I will lose no matter what I do. My only chance is to outsmart him, except I don’t know half the game they’re playing and even less idea what the smart move is.
“Has anyone told you what an asshole you are?” I ask, opting for the blatantly obvious. “Because, if not, let me be the first.”
His smirk only grows.
God dammit. I am so screwed in this. And then I have the horrible realization that Zachariel knows all of it. He came here and talked to InTense… he knows. He has to. But he didn’t tell me. So, clearly, I can’t even count on him to help. Just as I’m realizing this, Zachariel exits the tent on the other side of the room and strides toward us.
I turn to Seth, taking a leap and going intuitive with my strategy until I figure out how to play this right. “Sorry to disappoint you, Seth, but I’m not quite as heroic as you think. Lifetime was my father’s organization. They hate everything that I am. Now that he’s dead, I owe it nothing.”
He arches an eyebrow. He’s not buying this bullshit at all.
“You are still an ass for cashing out all those people, though,” I say, and that has the full measure of my venom in it. “How exactly do you manage to sleep at night?”
He leans close to whisper his response, since Zachariel has almost reached us. “I rest very soundly with the souls of thousands singing me to sleep. Something you’re never going to experience again, Wraith.”
Zachariel’s scowl makes Seth lean back. The smirk is tempered now.
“Everything all right?” Zachariel says, his gaze jumping between the two of us.
“Absolutely perfect,” Seth says, his eyes flashing and daring me to contradict him.
“Are we done here?” I ask Zachariel, but it’s really directed at Seth. “Because I’m ready to go.”
Zachariel just frowns, but Seth sweeps a hand out for me to lead the way.
As we leave the underground slasher party, my mind is already spinning all the ways I can fix this. Seth has handed me the perfect opportunity to foil one of Gehenna’s plans… even if he thinks it’s small, I know it’s not. We’re talking thousands of lives here. I can’t stand by and let that happen… and yet I know the price will almost certainly be my life. And that assumes I can actually do something to stop it. I have a feeling Seth wants me to try, not that he expects me to succeed. I’d be shocked if whatever InTense has set in motion is easy to undo.
But Seth is right when he says I’m that kind: if it’s possible to stop him, I will.
The two hou
r drive back to Sacramento is even more deathly silent than the ride out. Zachariel keeps throwing looks of concern my way. He even silently offered his palm—a way to boost me out of the blackened eyes that are probably still shadowing my face—but I just waved him off. He’s not my friend. I don’t have the mental bandwidth to unravel exactly how he fits in this scheme, but I know that stopping Gehenna’s terror attack is something I have to do on my own. All while somehow convincing Moloch that I had nothing to do with scuttling their evil-genius plan to kill thousands of people and Lifetime all in one untraceable records slash. If I can even accomplish it.
I need help, just not from Zachariel.
I bring up Wyatt’s messages and re-read them. He’s worried about Sterling, but he hasn’t said anything about Lifetime… although I’m sure Lifetime’s board has their hair on fire about my testimony before the Committee on Collection. I tap out a reply, just to let him know I’m alive… then delete it before sending. I close my palm screen. Involving Wyatt is just going to bring him into the dangerous circle in which I’m now traveling. I sorely need his help, but I can’t take that risk. I stew on it some more, but can’t come up with anything even close to a plan.
By the time we return, I’ve decided that going all in on the cover story that Zachariel has seduced me into Gehenna with hot kisses, as well as appearing tempted by Moloch’s dangled offer of eternal life, is the only way to play this for now.
Once inside the junkyard hideaway, Seth strides ahead to Moloch, who is waiting for us in the main room. Zachariel hangs back, his frown still directed at me. But that’s not going to work for my cover story of being his lover. While Seth checks in with Moloch, I pull Zachariel to the side, but still in plain view of Moloch and Seth. Before Zachariel can say anything, I bring him in for a kiss. I weave my hands into his hair, cycle life energy through our tongues, and generally try to make it as convincing as possible. By the slightly breathless way he holds me after the kiss, it must have convinced at least his body that I was serious.
The Debt Collector (Season Two) Page 17
