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He must never know their location.
SIXTEEN
XERO
Less than an hour after the sedative wears off, I exit my car and step into the sun-drenched parking lot of Newton Crematorium. It’s a simple brick building that backs onto the Parisii Cemetery flower gardens. The only thing that stops it from looking like a church are its tinted windows and the tall chimneys rising from its roof.
I left Jynxson in the infirmary to distract Isabel, who’s likely to stop me from entering what could be enemy territory. The only people in the world who can shed further light on my twin theory are the Salentino twins, since they knew of Amethyst before she even visited Dr. Saint.
The disguise I’m wearing is enough to make me look different from the mugshot that went viral, but not so drastic that I arouse suspicion. Dark blond hair tint, a light covering of bronzing lotion, and iris-darkening contact lenses to alter the pale blue to something less memorable.
Footsteps hurry after me as I reach its entrance. I turn around and lock gazes with a furious-looking Camila.
“Don’t tell me Isabel sent you here to drag me back to the infirmary,” I say.
“She just wants to make sure you take your meds,” Camila snaps.
Nodding, I let her accompany me through the entrance into a white reception area where two bouquets of lilies sit in elegant vases on a mahogany desk.
A door opens to the right of the desk, and a hard-faced woman in black steps out. Her gaze skips over Camila and settles on me.
“I’m here to see Aria and Elania Salentino,” I say, meeting her stare.
“What’s it regarding?”
“It’s about their dead sister-in-law and missing niece.”
I could have phrased it better, but I’ve lost days in my search for Amethyst. Everyone thinks she’s some kind of sleeper agent who tried to kill me before taking out her mother and boarding a plane to join Father.
They’re overlooking the footage of her trying to escape in a straitjacket because her face is obscured by a mask. While we’re waiting for Father to give Reverend Thomas an address, I plan on proving she’s a victim who needs our help.
The door on the left opens, and a dark-haired man steps out holding a gun. He wears the somber suit of a mortician, but his face, marred by a broken nose and jagged scars, has the look of a gangster’s hired thug. He’s supposed to be menacing, but that shit on his face is a sign of slow reflexes.
“Who the fuck are you?” he growls, pointing the gun at my chest.
I raise my palms. “Easy now. I’m here because my girlfriend was abducted.”
He snorts. “The bosses don’t have any niece, and I don’t know any girlfriend. Now, I suggest you leave.”
My jaw clenches. Any other day, I would spend time entertaining this low-level grunt, but my entire strategy depends on speaking to Amethyst’s aunts.
“Take me to the Salentino sisters, and I’ll overlook your confession of being a forty-year-old virgin.”
He swaggers toward me, his lip curling. “Watch who you’re talking to, pretty boy, or I’ll?—”
My fist lands on his nose, making him stagger backward, but not before he tries to land a kick to my crotch. I sidestep, delivering another punch to his gut. He doubles over, and I snatch the gun.
A bulldog of a man charges out from the same doorway, brandishing a pistol. Camila rushes to his side, her foot connecting with his kneecap. As he stumbles forward, she disarms him and points his weapon at his head.
“Do I need to search every room in this building to find the Salentino sisters, or is one of you going to take us to them?” I ask.
Bulldog’s lip curls, his beady eyes darting to the forty-year-old virgin still clutching his gut. “Neither of them are here, but you can leave a message.”
“Tell them Dolly is back in town, and she’s dangerous.” I fold my arms across my chest.
The door on the right opens, revealing Aria Salentino, a woman in her mid-thirties with cropped black hair, wearing a man’s black suit with a matching shirt buttoned up to the throat. Despite the cuts she’s etched into her brow, nothing can detract from her delicate bone structure.
She motions for both men to stand down. “And who the fuck is Dolly?”
