Define Normal

Chapter Twenty-Six

“You should’ve just died of natural causes when you had the chance.”

I looked down at the man lying on the white, sterile bed in front of me. His eyes were open wide but the tubes in his throat were keeping him from speaking. I glanced at the monitors as they started beeping furiously.

“You’re scared of me?”

He nodded slightly.

“So you remember me?”

Another nod.

I let out a sigh and gave my head a sad shake. “Should’ve lied about that one.” I frowned. “Or not. I’m still going to kill you.” I pulled on the tube connected to the IV, pumping fluids and nutrients into his veins. He was about to get something besides nutrients. “Even if it wasn’t me, it would’ve been someone else, you know that right?” He nodded slightly, resignation lighting his dark eyes. “Lots of people wanted you dead. You made way more enemies than friends in this life.” I brought the needle closer to the injection spot but paused feeling a small stirring in my chest, something like guilt breaking through the never ending coldness that had settled over me for the past two months. “Still, I would’ve preferred to avoid this whole situation.” I shrugged and placed the needle into the receptacle. “Sorry,” I muttered, pressing on the syringe and dispensing the lethal solution, watching as it moved through the tube and into his veins.

Bertrand Fernandez was dead before I left the room.

“So, did you do it?”

I ground my teeth together as I moved swiftly through the crowded New York streets.

“Jade, you there?” Honour said in my ear. I turned down the volume on the cell phone.

I made a noncommittal sound.

“Oh good, I thought I lost you for a second there.”

“What do you want?”

“Did you do it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so proud of you! I’m throwing you a party when you get back. I scored some tequila! Let’s get dee-runk!”

“I’m hanging up.”

“What? Wait, tell me about it. I’m bored. Was it hard to get to his room? Were there guards? Were you seen?”

“I’m almost at the hotel,” I said, spotting the building half a block away.

“What? That fast? Did you take a cab?”

“No.” I let out a long breath, feeling bone tired and irritated. “It wasn’t like I had to perform a complicated surgery. Everything went exactly as planned, the whole operation took a total of six minutes.”