“He was a threat, trying to escape. We learned who he is working with. Who he was meeting in Mexico. We had to know if we could trust him.”
“There is always a choice.” Her hands massaged his temples. Pax found himself sinking down onto her lap.
“Not when it comes to men working with our enemies.”
“Magda, he saved my life. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. I don’t believe he knew what they wanted of him.”
“With respect, Dama X, you give the man too much credit. The problem and downfall of our sex.”
“Hold on, mi cariño. It will pass,” Dama X said, but her words overlapped Oracle’s comforting ones, which seemed to come from dreams he drifted in and out of until he wasn’t sure what was reality any more.
“Shit. The other agent’s gone.”
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Victor Vivas on a never-released documentary
__________________
“I go by Lucinda now. I left Lucy behind when I left the states,” the woman corrected Oracle in a pleasant way, as if they were old friends reuniting after a long absence. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“Lucinda’s flight arrived earlier than expected,” Reyes explained.
“Lucy . . . I mean, Lucinda, why are you—?” Oracle started but couldn’t finish. It was more than the shock of Lucinda’s presence. The buzzing energy returned with a distracting tingle along her skin.
“Didn’t Glor tell you?” An intake of breath followed by hard-soled flats smacking against the tile floor. “Oh, I see, judging by Gloria’s resting guilt face she didn’t. We’ve been discussing your situation for the last few months.” Was that the secret Gloria kept away locked from me in her mind?
She managed to move her clenched jaw enough to ask Gloria, “What is she talking about?”
“Lucinda, Oracle doesn’t know—”
“Know what?” She was not letting Gloria off about
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She hugged herself so Lucinda wouldn’t notice her shaking.
“A bit of Tezcatlipoca remained inside you after your encounter with him. It made you sick and anxious. Just like a virus,” Lucinda continued. “I treated the illness with a genetically watered down version, a vaccine, to help you fight it off. I theorized your power would grow as a side effect and it did. It also ate away at your fear, boosting your confidence. A win-win if I ever saw one.”
“He’s inside me?” Oracle dug her nails into her arms. She wanted to rip the flesh off. Tear into her veins to remove each granule of this wicked god infused in her blood.
“Hold on for a second,” TimeTrap spoke up. “You’re saying the Aztec god that Ari—the dick-villain-of-the-year—tried to raise is inside of Oracle? This same ancient god who wanted to destroy our world? Because I thought you were supposed to be smart but you’re now seeming a little . . .”
Lucinda must’ve shot TimeTrap a vicious look because she quickly added, “I didn’t say it.”
“When Ari died, the god passed back over into his world and into that in-between, Eden-like place Surefire mentioned in her report,” Lucinda explained.
“How did you see that report?” Oracle