Page 85 - DivineSparkRisingFinal

Nicholas Boothman
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Carolina said.
The young woman smiled. “Neither are you.”
Even then, there was something electric about
her. Quiet, but tuned in. Just turned twenty, fluent
in six languages, at home in the shadows, and
utterly unbothered by rules. She’d handed Carolina
a volume wrapped in black thread and said, “This
one hums.”
From that night on, Jinji had been more than
useful. She was essential.
And now they needed her again, but the last
time they worked together, it had blown up.
“You don’t take orders,” Carolina had said.
“Orders slow me down.”
Jinji had leaned back in her chair, boots on the
table, daring her to push harder. “You don’t get me,
Carolina. I don’t play by your rules. I get results my
way, or not at all.”
Carolina remembered walking out then, furious
and certain she was done with the girl.
But now, with everything hanging in the
balance, that same reckless streak was the one thing
they needed most.
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