Without saying more, he pivots and strides away.
“Ren will live,” Sebastian comments.
We whirl to him.
“And how do you know that?” Sofia asks.
The man twirls his penknife. “They told me.”
“And why would they tell you and not us? You’re not family.” I cross my arms.
Another sardonic brow lift. “Mob. Lawyer.” He smirks.
“And how do you think Ren got a heart transplant,” he snaps his fingers, “just like that?”
I blink. Sofia’s mouth drops open.
From the bits and pieces I gathered, Ren’s heart gave up during surgery. It turned out he had a congenital issue all along and was on the transplant list, which explained his pills and his strange wheezing and chest-clutching these past few months. When Blake was declared brain dead from oxygen deprivation because the bullet severed his trachea, they had to act fast.
Because he was an organ donor.
“You think they just hand out hearts like candy?” Sebastian mutters. “There’s a mile-long list. Tons of red tape. Ren wasn’t even remotely at the top. But the massacre helped.” He smirks.
“Sebastian McEntyre,” Sofia whisper-shouts, “don’t smile when you say ‘massacre.’”
Sebastian’s smirk vanishes. “Hospital was in lockdown. I came as soon as I heard. A heart’s only good for a few hours, you know? A little leverage, a small threat here and there, andboom!”
He stiffens. Sofia freezes, her nostrils flaring.
The reason for the sudden solemnness hits me.
Boom.
Aleksei’s word.
Their friend betrayed them. He fed Ren bad information about a conspiracy within The Six to kill Elias, which sent Ren on a hunt for clues while Elias was planning the hospital siege. Our best guess was, Aleksei thought Ren could thwart his misguided revenge plans.
And now, Aleksei vanished after trying to stop the events he’d started.
No one’s heard from him since.
It must be heartbreaking to lose one of their own this way.
“Will you look for him?” I ask. “Aleksei, I mean.”
The duo doesn’t answer me, but I can tell they’re conflicted.
“I’m a psychopath. I don’t have feelings,” Sebastian says. “So it doesn’t matter to me. Aleksei’s just another person passing through.”
“Liar. You feelsomething,” Sofia whispers. “Or else you wouldn’t convince the hospital to give Ren the heart.”
She nudges Sebastian, a soft smile curving her lips.
He scoffs. “Don’t think too much of it. He’s just more useful to me alive than dead.”
Silence falls—heavy and suffocating.
My heart clamors to be beside its partner.
