"It's easy," he assured her as he offered his arm. "Just pray a whole lot. It's pretty much how I get through most things."
"Sounds more like you refuse to take credit for being a good man," she muttered as they headed into the middle of the walkway.
Thankfully, the men decided not to follow.
Chapter Thirty
Once they were back in the car, Sin asked, "Do I want to know what that was about in there, Riss?"
She glanced back at Zan, then gave Sin her full attention. "A protein is a thing made out of smaller building blocks. That makes bends in the structure. The shapes of those bends determine the effects a protein has, biologically speaking."
"And?" Sin pressed. "Tell me if you can't talk about it."
"And," she went on, "I showed you an image of an active protein bend the other day." She clearly meant the one Zan had downloaded. "I find it interesting, though, how the biological side isn't the only one. Also, did you know that most proteins have many, many important parts to them? Almost like a puzzle."
The piece. She was talking around the coding that made it difficult for her to talk about a contract. Rissa was telling him this was related to the same drug she'd been smuggling. The one Ingénues had been dying for.
"Is there anything else I need to know?" he asked.
She smiled. "I don't often fail, Sinclair."
Often. Not never. She'd said 'often,' which made him think she'd just given them a less than perfect answer to their little problem. Sin wanted to ask if it would work or what she'd done, but he had a feeling he still wouldn't understand, even if she spelled it out for him, so he decided to simply trust her.
"So we're still good?" he asked instead.
"Yes," she said proudly. "We're still good."
Only then did Sin pass Rissa the drive Benedict had given him. Like she had with the cable, the Ingénue reached under her hood to insert it into one of her many data ports. Glancing over, he watched as her eyes lost focus and then slowly closed. A moment later, she blinked them back open.
Withdrawing the drive, she held it out. "This should not fall into the wrong hands," she said softly.
"Zan." Sin gestured to the drive. "Can you get rid of that for me? Wipe it, fry it, or smash it. Don't really care, but the Praetor said to make it disappear."
"Can do," Zan said as he took the tiny device from her hands.
"So how long will you need to answer that?" Sin asked, daring to look over at her.
"I already have," Rissa said, but there was no pride in her voice. "Tell the Praetor that the answer is no, unless he is willing to sacrifice many lives."
"He wouldn't," Sin snapped before his mind could even catch up.
"I know," Rissa assured him. "And thus, the answer is no."
"Do I want to know the question?" Sin asked.
For a little too long, she sat quietly, staring at her clasped hands in her lap. Then, "He wants to know if there's a way to stop the conflict within the church."
"And we can't," Sin realized. "So how do we make this better?"
"We help those who cannot help themselves," she breathed, the words almost too soft to hear.
But the guys did, so Zan asked, "We, huh? You do know the only priest here is Sin, right?"
Rissa turned, her silver eyes narrowed. "A division in the Legion is not only a concern to priests. It will affect everyone on Tyche. It will change our government and our laws. Dependingupon which side wins, it could even mean dividing people into castes."
"Oh," Zan mumbled.
"And there's no way to stop it?" Sin asked.
