“Oops,” Kinzer said, his tone laced with sarcasm.
Hayde’s body continued convulsing and shifting about as he cried out, “Fuuuuccckkk.”
Kinzer pushed to his feet and approached Hayde. “Be glad that’s all I did, you motherfucker. And if you betray us, if you do anything that so much as makes me suspect that youmightbetray us, I won’t hit this button. I’m gonna rip off your fingernails and teeth and torture you…until the pain is too much for you to bear, and then I’m going to make you hurt a little more before I finish you off.”
“Fair enough,” Hayde said through his teeth.
“And if that time comes,” Quintz added, stepping up beside them, “I’ll help you. But in the meantime, keep in mind that he’s likely the only one we have who knows where the hell Janka is. So he’s too valuable for us to lose.”
“Good,” Kinzer said. “Now that we’re on the same page”—he grabbed Hayde’s jaw, forcing him to look at him once again—“you’re going to tell us where Janka is and anything else you know about what’s going on.”
***
Hayde was dying on the inside. It hurt to be near Kinzer, to hear how much he wanted to hurt him, to punish him for what he believed he’d done.
If only he could be honest. If only he could tell him that he was lying, that Maggie had asked him to keep her secret as her last request, and that it was the only reason Kinzer thought he’d betrayed him. Hayde had done all this for Kinzer, put his own life at risk, used all his contacts so he could locate Janka, hoping he would be able to give the information to Kinzer.
But how could he explain why he’d done what he’d done?
He’d learned so much about Janka’s plans from raiding Taldon’s place. Among the information he’d discovered, he learned Janka intended to unleash his Morarkes on the Colosseum of Parasonia on Treycore’s Day of Judgment. He also found out that Siege planned to use the opportunity to rescue Treycore and then activate a powerful weapon against the Christ. Janka and his emissaries had identified key members of Siege, had their photos and identities, and planned to assassinate them during the chaotic monster invasion, eliminating Siege’s operatives along with influential political leaders present within the colosseum.
From the documents he’d discovered at Taldon’s, it was evident that someone inside Siege had betrayed them and handed their plans over to Janka, putting them all at risk. Hayde had shown up at the colosseum to help them, not just to survive Janka’s plot, but to hand over what he knew about Janka’s plans. However, he had been met with a surprise when he saw Kinzer present.
When he’d seen Kinzer and his confidants trying to escape the Morarke attack, he knew he had to get the intel about Janka’s whereabouts to them, but he couldn’t let Kinzer know about the secret he kept for Maggie.
As much as Kinzer wanted to kill him in that moment, Hayde wondered what Kinzer must have thought of him after he’d saved his life from that Morarke that had clearly been set up as a trap to keep them from getting back to their hideout.
It didn’t matter what he thought, Hayde told himself. All that mattered was helping Kinzer get to that asshole Janka so they could slit his fucking throat.
“Janka’s in Washington State,” Hayde said.
“How the fuck do you know that?” Kinzer asked. “I know for a fact you two weren’t exactly on speaking terms at the end there.”
“Let’s just say I have some friends who knew he was building a facility, a tower, in Washington State, where he was to hold the Christ.”
It was what he’d discovered going through Taldon’s files. He’d studied, learned the blueprints by heart so that he would be able to help them.
“And you’ll take us there?” Quintz asked.
“I’ve got better than that. I can show you the exact floorplan of the place.”
“What else do you know about what Janka’s up to?” Kinzer queried.
“He’s got a kill switch for the Morarkes at the tower, in case they wind up turning on him the way they did with the Leader. Activate that, and all the Morarkes go bye-bye.”
“So now tell us why you were at the Colosseum of Parasonia today, if you weren’t there for Janka?”
“I knew Siege was planning to attend to rescue Treycore.”
“What does that have to do with you?” Kinzer asked.
“I was going to help them.”
“Help?” Kinzer asked. “Now why don’t I believe that?”
“Believe whatever you want to believe, but you know I don’t side with Janka. I have my own interests.”
“Which are?”
