Maybe he’s right. Maybe he’s wrong. Either way, I don’t really have a choice, since I refuse to face drug charges. Refuse to go to jail. Refuse to let those women on that list continue to suffer without ever knowing that they’re not alone.
I need to stay out of jail. I’m going to have to figure out a way to make this work.
Somehow.
I ball my hands into fists.
Dammit, everything is so screwed up.
I hate Travis Marilellie.
I hate everyone in his group.
Hate. So much hate. How do I get rid of it?
“That’s all I have to do?” I ask. “Just get information on my dad’s drug dealings?”
Everette and Agent Dickhead trade a look, then Everette looks at me.
“We’d like you to find out some specifics if you can,” he says. “Like, if he’s behind the making and selling of sweet kissless haze currently plaguing the town.”
Fuck. I remember hearing about that drug on the news last night and how it was the cause behind the increase of greysteles in the city.
Could my dad be behind the creation of a drug so ruthless? The sad truth is that, yes, he very well could be.
“There’s also one more thing you should know before you agree to this.” Everette ignores the glare Agent Dickhead gives him as he takes a shaky breath then rests his bronzed metal arms on top of table and leans closer, lowering his voice. “We have reason to believe that some of your ex-colleagues are behind the underground trafficking of body parts.”
A vile taste floods my mouth. “You think some of the people my dad works with are stealing body parts?” I recall what I saw on the news, how there have been reports of a group stealing body parts to sell and leaving the victims as greysteles. “Wait, do you think my dad’s part of this, too?”
Worry is crammed in Everett’s pretty blue eyes as his lips part. “We do, and we also think—”
“Everette,” Agent Dickhead warns. “I told you we were going to wait a while to release this information to her.”
“I didn’t agree to anything,” Everette snaps, causing Agent Dickhead to glare at him. “She deserves to know.”
“Know what?” I ask. When they both remain reluctantly silent, I slam my hand against the table. “Tell me!”
Agent Dickhead shakes his head but doesn’t argue as Everette’s lips part.
“We don’t believe your dad is behind the body part trafficking.” When I start to relax, he adds, “We do believe, however, that he worked with the men who are behind the trafficking until he pissed them off. We’re not sure why, but we received an anonymous tip the other day about an incident that occurred between someone your dad cares about and some of the sons of the people who run the trafficking ring.” He pauses, as if waiting for me to say something.
“Okay …” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Everette trades another look with Agent Dickhead, this time his face etched with puzzlement, which only deepens when he looks at me. “Well, we don’t have any proof that the incident happened, but we thought maybe you did.” His gaze drops to my chest for some crazy reason.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Will you stop checking out my chest?”
“I’m not,” Everette insists, his gaze rising to mine, his forehead creased. “You really don’t know?”
I shake my head, lost. “Know what?”
“About your …” He stares down at his mechanical fingers. “About your heart.”
I press my hand to my chest and feel it beating a steady rhythm. “What about it?”
Agent Dickhead sighs. “Wynter, were you or were you not out in the restricted forest almost two months ago to this day?”
I gulp. “How do you know about that? Did the squad put it in my file or something?”
Agent Dickhead shakes his head. “No, but our anonymous tipper mentioned you were.”
“Okay …” I rake my fingers through my hair, unsure whether to be afraid or relieved that they found out my secret on their own. “Did this anonymous tipper tell you why I was out there?”
Agent Dickhead nods. “To send your father a warning.” I start to nod to confirm, but he continues, “By harvesting your heart.”
My jaw nearly slaps the ground, and my heart nearly stops beating. Wait. No, it doesn’t. It continues beating without so much as skipping a beat.
“That’s not true at all.” I press my hand to my back and feel the raised scars hidden beneath my shirt. Scars I can’t remember getting. Just like I can’t remember how or why I woke up in the restricted forest. “I’d know if I had a mechanical …” I remember the rumor I heard just over a month ago about the greystele that has the mechanical heart.
Could that be me? Did Travis and his friends harvest and replace my heart after I passed out?
Panicking, I stick my hand down my shirt and knock my knuckles against my chest. When I hear a clank, the breath rushes out of me.
“No, no, no.” I push my chair away from the table and jump to my feet. “This isn’t happening.”
Everette stands up quickly and raises his hand at Agent Dickhead when he starts to reach for his Taser. “Let me handle this,” he tells Agent Dickhead then steps toward me. “Wynter, just calm down. It’s not as bad as it seems.”
“Not as bad as it seems?” I glare at him. “I don’t have a fucking heart anymore …” I shake my head. “No wonder I’ve been such a coldhearted bitch lately.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.” He cautiously makes his way toward me, the gadgets in his arms craning as he raises his hands in front of him. “I’ve had these for over a year, and I’m still pretty much the same person I was before, despite what society thinks.”
“But those are just your arms,” I point out. “Not your heart … It’s like the center of everything that makes me me.”
“That’s not true at all.” He lowers his hands to his sides. “And it wasn’t just my arms … Part of my face … and my brain had to be replaced.”
My gaze travels to his head. “Your brain?”
He nods, seeming uneasy. “It has a few computer chips in there now and some metal plating.” He dares another step closer to me. “And while I might be a bit different, I still am who I am at the center of it all.” His lips quirk to a sad smile. “Just ask Reece. He’ll tell you I’m just as much of a pain in the ass as I was before the accident.”
I want to ask him so many questions. I want to run. I want to scream. I want to get my old heart back. Instead, all I do is nod.
“Oh.” Tears burn my eyes.
Tears of sadness.
Tears of rage.
Tears of vengeance.
Suddenly, I find myself saying, “All right, I’ll do it. I’ll help you find out intel on my father.”
I feel like I’m sealing my fate right then and there.
Concern fills Everette’s eyes. Apparently, he’s thinking the same thing.
I’m about to go down in flames.
But maybe some good can come out of this. Because, if I can manage to convince my father to let me work with him, I can maybe find out exactly what happened to me the night my heart was literally stolen.
And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to get the goddamn revenge I’ve been craving.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Everette whispers lowly, inching even closer to me. “You can say no, if you want to.”
I lift a brow. “And go to jail?”
He drags his metal hand across his face then huffs out an exhale. “I guess I see your point.” He drops his hand to his side as he examines me. “Maybe you should ask for some time to think about it first?” He ignores the glare Agent Dickhead gives him. “You’ve got to be upset after what I just told you, and it’s probably not the best time to make decisions.”
I numbly shake my head. “I feel fine.”
“Wynter …” he sta
rts.
“No, I want to do this,” I cut him off. No matter how much thought I give this, I’ll still arrive at the same conclusion. I’m going to do this. I’m going to go undercover and get the intel. And get my revenge on everyone who hurt me.
Get revenge for everyone on that list.
Another thought occurs to me.
Fuck, what if these people harvested body parts from the women on that list? What if they harvested something from Willow? Wouldn’t she know and have mentioned it? Then again, I was clueless, and they harvested my fucking heart.
I need to track them down and talk to them. In fact, I’m going to do it the second I get out of here.
“Good.” Agent Dickhead steps around Everette and moves in front of me. “After we get the forms filled out and the digital contract signed, I’d like you to have a health evaluation before we release you on your mission.”
I nod, disregarding Everette’s withering stare. “Sounds good to me.”
Agent Dickhead smiles, but it’s anything but friendly. “Everette will also be working with you.”
“How exactly?” I wonder. “I mean, does he know any of these people?” As soon as I say it, I recall how I heard him talking to Travis.
Was that what this was about? I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or not.
“We’ll give you more details after you sign the contracts.” Agent Dickhead hands me a hologram. On top of the screen reads the following:
Code name: Rebel
Mission name: Revenge
Corporation: Rebels Revenge Inc.
How fitting.
And below that is the contract that, if I sign, I officially become part of the team that is going to take down my dad and the people who hurt me that night.
The people who stole my heart.
I hurriedly read the contract then electrically sign my name, feeling as though I signed it in blood. Then I hand the handheld back to Agent Dickhead and follow him out of the room with Everette at my side, knowing this is all going to eventually come crashing down on me the moment my heart starts to feel reality.
Then again, maybe that’ll never happen. After all, my heart is just a piece of metal now. A cold piece of metal and machine. Maybe that’s why the idea of getting revenge sounds so appealing. Maybe I should’ve been freaked out a long time ago over how much I wanted to taste their blood. But since I can’t, I’m going to make them pay, one by one, something maybe they should’ve thought about before they took my heart and shattered my soul.
Coming Soon!
Keep an eye out for volume 2 in the Rebels Revenge Inc. Series, coming Aug 2018!
About the Author
About the Author
Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.
Also by Jessica Sorensen
Other books by Jessica Sorensen:
Rebels Revenge Inc:
Rebel: Volume 1
Untitled: Volume 2 (coming soon)
Ultraviolet:
Ultraviolet: Season 1, Episode 1
Ultraviolet 2: Season 1, Episode 2 (coming soon)
Unearthly Balance:
Captivate
Untitled (coming soon)
Cursed Hadley:
Cursed Hadley
Enchanting Hadley (coming soon)
Chasing the Harlyton Sisters Series:
Chasing Hadley
Falling for Hadley
Holding onto Hadley (coming soon)
Rebels & Misfits, Wynter & Everette:
The Secrets We Carry
Untitled (coming soon)
Bad Boy Rebels:
Meeting the Bad Boy Rebels
Sweet Lies & Kisses (coming soon)
Hacker Rebels:
Discovering Alexis
Disocvering Us (coming soon)
Capturing Magic:
Chasing Magic
Untitled (coming soon)
Tangled Realms:
Forever Violet
Untitled (coming soon)
Curse of the Vampire Queen:
Tempting Raven
Enchanting Raven
Untitled (coming soon)
Unraveling You Series:
Unraveling You
Raveling You
Awakening You
Inspiring You
Fated by Darkness
Untitled (coming soon)
Unexpected Series:
The Unexpected Way of Falling
The Unpredictable Way of Falling
Untitled (coming soon)
Shadow Cove Series:
What Lies in the Darkness
What Lies in the Dark
Untitled (coming soon)
Mystic Willow Bay Series:
The Secret Life of a Witch
Broken Magic
Untitled (coming soon)
Standalones:
The Forgotten Girl
The Illusion of Annabella
Confessions of a Kleptomaniac
Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl
The Heartbreaker Series:
The Opposite of Ordinary
Broken City Series:
Nameless
Forsaken
Oblivion
Forbidden (coming soon)
Guardian Academy Series:
Entranced
Entangled
Enchanted
Entice (coming soon)
Sunnyvale Series:
The Year I Became Isabella Anders
The Year of Falling in Love
The Year of Second Chances
The Coincidence Series:
The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden
The Redemption of Callie and Kayden
The Destiny of Violet and Luke
The Probability of Violet and Luke
The Certainty of Violet and Luke
The Resolution of Callie and Kayden
Seth & Greyson
The Secret Series:
The Prelude of Ella and Micha
The Secret of Ella and Micha
The Forever of Ella and Micha
The Temptation of Lila and Ethan
The Ever After of Ella and Micha
Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always
Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always
The Shattered Promises Series:
Shattered Promises
Fractured Souls
Unbroken
Broken Visions
Scattered Ashes
Breaking Nova Series:
Breaking Nova
Saving Quinton
Delilah: The Making of Red
Nova and Quinton: No Regrets
Tristan: Finding Hope
Wreck Me
Ruin Me
The Fallen Star Series:
The Fallen Star
The Underworld
The Vision
The Promise
The Lost Soul
The Evanescence
The Darkness Falls Series:
Darkness Falls
Darkness Breaks
Darkness Fades
The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):
Ember X and Ember
Cinder X and Cinder
Spark X and Spark
Unbeautiful Series:
Unbeautiful
Untamed