Sure enough, in the middle of the smoke and debris cloud, a holographic sign sputtered. The cloud made the lights look even more solid, but she could read the words, "SiSec Manufacturing."
"I'm getting you out of there." He dragged his hand across his jaw and stared out across the city. "Tonight. I already have you out?—"
"No." She tugged at his arm. "Sin, you need to get Stabiltrol. Tonight. As much as you can."
He caught the side of her face and made her look at him. "You, Rissa, are my angel. You come before all else, even me. That's two fucking bombs, and there's no way I'm taking you back to another location that's already been targeted." He paused, holding her eyes for a little too long. "We're doing this tonight. You can either help or make me kidnap you. Your choice."
She jiggled her head in agreement. "Then we're doing this tonight," she agreed.
Letting her go, Sin stepped back and pressed the spot just in front of his ear. Rissa heard him push out a tense breath, but the man only paced for two steps before turning back to her.
Then, "Davis." Sin paused. "Yeah, I know. OutLink's at risk too. I need to get her out. Is it ready?" Another pause. "Then fucking make it ready!" Sin paused yet again. "Ok. She's got at least twenty minutes, and probably a while longer. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And OutLink will come looking for her, so we need this quiet." The next pause was longer, and then, "Thanks, Davis."
When Sin disconnected his call, he turned back to Rissa. "Ok, I have you a safe house. Let's go."
But she merely clenched her hands at her sides and raised her chin. "I will go with you, Brother Sin, but I have my ownconditions. We need to get Stabiltrol, and we need to do it now, because as soon as the news announces which buildings were destroyed, there will be a run on it." She pulled in a breath. "We need to get it first."
"Riss…" he tried.
"No," she snapped. "Of all the problems I've been given, this is the one that's actually worth solving! We are going across town. We will pass a pharmacy. This is what you need to do to protect those who are too weak to protect themselves, and I'm helping, Sin! You don't want to take me back, so this is my condition. Either you agree or I stay here."
He just lowered his head and shoved a hand into his hair. "Then you're really leaving me no choice. There's just one problem. I'm a priest, Riss. They don't just give that away, and I'm not exactly rich."
She simply smiled. "I know."
Chapter Forty-One
Rissa knew Sin was a good priest. She'd seen it time and time again. She wanted to be a good partner to him, and being selfish wasn't a part of that. No, she didn't want to go back to OutLink, but at least she knew what happened there. She could predict what came next, and it was easy to avoid their monitoring now.
This? Watching the world blow up around them while standing in safety? It felt wrong. It felt disconnected, and that was the one thing Rissa had been trying to stop. She didn't want to watch the world from the outside anymore. She wanted to do something, just like Sin did.
Yet he stood before her shaking his head as if he couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Most likely, he was doing his best to balance his need to help others with his responsibilities to her, but right now, she needed to convince him they could do both. That they could care for thewholeflock. Finally, he dropped his head and sighed.
"So how do you plan to get Stabiltrol?" Sin asked her.
Rissa's eyes flicked to the ground for a moment as she ran through the possible options. One stood out. "Do you have a GoPay card?" she asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"I need a network." She turned to the stairs, knowing he'd follow and intending to talk on the way.
When she reached for the door, his hand slammed against it over her shoulder, stopping her. "What are you doing, Riss?"
"I'm helping you." She looked up at him. "I need that card. Less than a block away is the Market District. There are plenty of pay-per-minute hook-ups there. You'll buy me a few minutes, and I'll load that GoPay card with enough money to buy two crates of Stabiltrol."
"Stealing?" he asked. "Really, Riss? You want me to condone that?"
"I'm taking my back pay from OutLink," she corrected. "I haveneverreceived a check. They billed me for Stabiltrol I wasn't getting so they wouldn't have to pay me. Think of this more like justice."
"And security will trace it right back to you, and then they'll wipe your damned mind!"
She leaned back and grunted in frustration. "Seriously, Sin? You think I'm stupid? I'll alter the card to be assigned to a Carl Strata. It will be coded with your imprints for forty-eight hours, then it will have a corruption in the file. I cannot be traced, and any server I connect to recognizes my brain as simply an extension of its own resources. That's how we're made, Sin. I can get you the money to buy enough Stabiltrol for at least two hundred people!"
The tension vanished from his stance. "Really?"
She grabbed the handle of the door. "Yes. You will keep me safe and I will keep others safe. Unlike you, I am not bound by precepts, so this is a more efficient use of our time. Now let's do this. I need the number on your card."
He released the door and dug in one of his pockets, pulling out a thin and immaculate wallet. Beside him, Rissa's concentration was on jogging down the stairs and over to the elevator. Pressing the button, she waited, all but forcing him to keep up. Sin handed her the small dark strip of plastic right before the doors opened.
