“A colossal one,” Weldon mutters.
Her reassurance feels like a cool breeze against my warmed skin.
“I’ll let you know when I’m done,” I say, smiling at them despite the thunderstorm brewing in my stomach.
Jaxen pulls me forward, lightly kissing my forehead. “Just be quick. You only have an hour before she’s intended to be escorted.”
“See you soon.” As I head through the doorway, sweat slicks my forehead, cheeks, and the insides of my hands. I don’t know what I’m walking into. Who I’m about to see. Is she still the Katie I know? Still the trusting friend who has a place forever in my heart?
Or is she a stranger?
Is she that girl in the letter her mother wants her to be? She had that letter an entire week before the manor was attacked by the Darkyns. A whole week, and never once, in all the conversations we had and the questions I asked her, did she ever tell me about it.
Why?
I have to find out before she’s forever changed like Chett was. If he was. Her answer could be her saving grace because if there’s a reason for her not telling us something so vital, and I pray there was, then I’ll do anything in my power to keep her from being harmed by anyone.
Even if it means turning my back on Mack and Seamus.
I make the left, passing one of the laboratories that have been shut down. The one where Harper met her fate.
Stopping outside Katie’s door, I watch the small screen showing her on the inside. She’s sitting in the far corner on the provided cot, her knees pulled up to her chest. I know what it feels like to be inside these walls. Inside a cage with no clue as to what’s happening on the outside or when you’ll be released. I know because Clara did the same to me… and it was one of the worst experiences of my life.
With an inhale, I press my thumb against the pad and wait for the buzzing click from the door. Katie’s already on her feet when I pull it open.
“Faye,” she says, relief pouring from her words. She rushes toward me, pulling me in and rocking us back and forth in a tight hug that almost sends us toppling over. “I thought it was another Elite coming in, trying to get answers I don’t have,” she says against my hair, squeezing the air out of me.
I’m stiffer than I want to be when she hugs me.
She lets go.
“I-I knew you’d come for me,” she says, her hands moving aimlessly by her sides. Her slim, wiry build looks thinner. Her long, auburn hair is more dull and stringy than before. “I can’t believe they put me in here. I thought we were safe, but I guess even those with the best of intentions have mean streaks.”
I look her straight in the eyes the only way a best friend can. “Can you blame them?”
Ghosts of truth stare out through her brown, oval eyes. She knows I know now.
Heat radiates from my cheeks and neck as I realize this is really happening. That my best friend is really in this much danger all because of a letter. A letter she lied to me about.
I shuck out of my Watchman jacket and pull the chair in the corner across the room without saying anything. Without giving any mention of why I’m here. I don’t have to. She already knows I’m upset. It’s obvious in the way she drags her feet back to her cot. The way her eyes are furrowed and buried under layers of pain.
Over and over, I practiced what I’d say to her when we finally met up. When I was finally given access to speak with her again, but all of it has left me as I stare across the room at my friend.
At this stranger.
“Why?” It’s all I can get out.
Seeking her mind and aura, I wait, watching for any change in color. For any sign of a lie. I have to tuck away the pain wrenching deep in my gut as I realize just what I’m doing. I’ve never had to pry on her before. Never felt like I needed to.
But I guess there’s a first time for everything.
She stares at the wall ahead of her as the words forming behind her mouth shudder against her lips. Brings her fingers up to chew on her nails, and I’m afraid I may never get the answer I need to justify saving her.
But then, with a brief, relenting sigh, she finally says, “Because I didn’t think you’d understand.”
It’s the first honest thing she’s said to me in a long time. Realizing this feels like a knife to my Achilles heel. Like shrapnel in my bloodstream. Her words have stained the floor between us in betrayal. Of all the things she could have said, admitting it was because she didn’t trust me enough to understand hurts worse than lying.
And it doesn’t help her case any.
“So you decided to lie to me?” I say, feeling the hurt bleed from my nose and eyes. “Pretend that your mother wasn’t writing you when you were sitting on a letter that could have potentially helped us?” I stand up, my blood boiling as the faces of all those we lost take to the stage in my mind. “I asked you, Katie. I asked you if you had heard from her, and you straight up lied to my face!”
She flinches. “I didn’t know what else to do. I was scared, Faye. I was in shock. I didn’t even have a chance to tell my dad—let alone you! And now… now he’s gone from me. Forever.”
I turn my back on her as Jonathon’s face appears in my mind, trying to slow my rapidly beating heart. Reel in my emotions. Tuck them neatly away, so I can focus on the matter at hand—getting the truth from Katie before she’s changed. Before Seamus and Mack have their way.
I turn back around, slowly, and carefully let my words out. “You knew damn well what to do, Kat. Tell someone. But you didn’t. Why?”
Her eyes meet mine. “I told you… I was scared.”
“That isn’t good enough, Kat.”
Her shoulders roll in defeat. “I don’t know what else to say.”
My stomach ties into knots as I realize I may never get the answer I need.
“If you want me to help you out of this, then you have to understand. You knew she went to Clara, and yet you didn’t say anything. She sent you a letter, Kat. Which means she knew where we were. You put everyone in jeopardy. Everyone who saved yours and Chett’s life. That’s how you repay them? By breaking their trust?”
She scowls at me. “They never trusted me. It was obvious from day one. Even my dad looked at me differently because of who I was partnered with.”
I suddenly feel exhausted. “That’s your grand excuse? Because you were looked at differently?”
She shrugs, and I’m having a hard time keeping it together. Keeping my emotions in check. How can she be so placid about this when the very core of who she is hangs in the balance? I feel everything bubbling up like a geyser about to explode inside of me. All the repressed emotions. The disappointment. The hurt. The betrayal.
She jumps back when I yell, “You could have possibly helped us! You probably would have prevented that awful night from ever happening. She clearly stated in the letter where she wanted you to meet her, and I’m sure she wasn’t alone. We could have intercepted your mother. And maybe that would have been enough to save Jonathon!”
Her head snaps in my direction, her expression glacial. “Is that all?”
“Not even close.” I pace, my lips pressed so tight they hurt. I can’t believe her. Can’t believe she actually withheld this information from us, knowing the danger everyone was in. The faces of all those who lost their lives tread the path I’ve willingly carved into my mind so I won’t forget.
“Are you a Darkyn?”
Her eyes press into a hard line. “If you have to ask, then we were never really friends.”
I stop in front of her, lean down, and then grab her legs. “If we were friends, you wouldn’t have withheld this. You would have told me about the aunt you had who’s a Darkyn. In fact, you would have told me about the whole line of family members who have joined the Darkyns.”
Her eyes meet mine, filled with fury. “Some things are better left unknown. I didn’t tell you for the exact reason that Chett and I have been separated and locked up. Because of his past. Because of who his aunt
is and who my mother chose to follow. I knew Mack wouldn’t understand. I saw the way you all looked at Chett. The way he was followed around like someone was just waiting for him to turn.”
I’m floored.
“When it should have been you we followed,” I point out, feeling my heart pound in my throat. “We’ve been friends forever, and never once did it come up in all the secrets we shared that you had family in the Darkyn Coven.”
“It wasn’t a topic I was proud of,” Katie says, her face fighting so many different emotions. Things I can’t even begin to understand. “That part of my family has nothing to do with me. I’ve never met them, and I never plan to.”
“But it was easy for you to keep it from me. From your best friend. Is that where all those dark magic spells came from in your Grimoire?”
Her eyes narrow on me, and then she turns away.
My hands form into fists against my thighs. I’m so tired of this. So sick and tired of feeling
“Are you a Darkyn?”
“That again?”
I feel myself sway a little, so I take a seat in the chair across from her. “They’re sending you to the correction facility in an hour, Katie. Now is not the time to be pigheaded.”
Her face is blotched and ruddy. Her eyes widen with fear as she immediately sobers. “They wouldn’t…”
I stare at my hands, conflict battling inside me. “They can and they will, so I’ll ask you one last time. Are you a Darkyn?”
With lips pressed firm, she finally answers, “Absolutely not.”
I believe her the moment it comes out. There’s nothing but honesty in her eyes and aura. She’s nothing but a person who withheld a secret out of fear. A secret that may cost her who she is.
“I need you to prove it then,” I say, willing her in my gaze to give me something—anything that can save her—because I’m not so sure I can this time.
Panic tornados through her eyes. “You… you’re the Everlasting, Faye. You’re close with Seamus and Mack. Why can’t you just talk to them and tell them this was all a misunderstanding? They’ll believe you!”
Shame colors my cheeks. “I can’t,” I say, my voice octaves lower.
She scowls. “You can’t, or you won’t?”
Anger pumps through my heart as I lift my finger in the air. “Look, I’m steps away from being hauled off to a cell and locked away myself. I have my own issues and mistakes I’m dealing with, which all, conveniently enough, circle back to you.”
She flinches. “Me?”
I look off to the side, chewing the inside of my cheek. I know it’s not her fault I blew up and nearly choked Seamus to death, but I can’t help the small part of me that blames her. Had she told the truth, neither of us would be here.
“Just say it,” she says, her arms crossed as she looks away from me. “I can practically hear your thoughts screaming at me, so just say it already.”
I inhale and close my eyes. “When I found out about your correction, I lost it. I almost killed Seamus.”
She looks at me in shock.
“I just lost it, thinking you were locked up. And then… to find out it was all because of your choice to keep something so important from me… from us…” I stop. Sit in the chair, putting my head in my hands.
Seconds die between us.
“I’m sorry, Faye. I should have told you. I should have trusted our friendship. I’ll do anything. Just… just don’t let them change me,” she says desperately.
I pull her into a hug, realizing we’ve all changed somewhere along the lines. All withheld something we were ashamed of at some point… but that doesn’t mean we should be punished. It doesn’t mean we should be changed.
I draw back, searching her eyes. “I have an idea, but I need you to trust me. I need you to do everything that is asked of you. Maybe then, they’ll see you’re on our side. If they see you accepting the change—”
She pulls away from me, unable to hide the panic and disgust from her eyes. “You’re not suggesting I go through with it, are you?”
I stare at her for a moment. Look over my shoulder at the blinking red light, and then turn back to her. “Yes,” I say, looking as clearly as I can at her. “Show them you’re sorry. Do you trust me?”
She watches me for a moment, her eyes lost in confusion, and then she says, “Yes.”
KATIE DOESN’T SCREAM AS JAXEN and Weldon escort her down the hallway.
After explaining to her what I plan to do, I called the others in. Together, we called Seamus and Mack and told them that to prove Katie’s innocent and on our side, she has agreed to be used in order to gain Intel on the correction procedure.
But even with the guarantee Jezi and I made her, telling her we wouldn’t let anything happen to her mind, a small part of me feels like I’m stuck in a corner with a monster hovering over me, and that monster is the unknown of what we’re about to face.
“Should I alert them that we’re here?” Jezi asks, walking in stride next to me as we follow them down the endless hallways of the correctional facility.
“That won’t be necessary,” a tall, tenuous-looking man says. We all stop, taking in the scientist who will deliver Katie’s change with a thick swallow. Though his skin is sickly pale and peppered with bruises the color of plums, there’s an air about him that suggests otherwise. A cunning look in his slim, rounded blue eyes stained yellow with age. A quiet, slippery visage in the way he holds his hunched-over form.
“Are you Dr. Nefarum?” Jaxen asks, holding Katie firmly in place.
A part of me wants to grab her and run. Pry their hands off her so I can hold her and tell her everything will be all right. But the other part… the dark parts where demons grow inside me under the power that was gifted to me… that part does nothing to help her.
“I am,” Nefarum says with a slight bow of his head. His eyes move to Katie. “And you must be the patient I’m seeing today. Katie Coccia, is it?”
Katie shrivels in their arms, shrinking back from the doctor.
“Come,” Nefarum says, turning in the doorway, his lab coat billowing out from the movement. “Put her on the table.”
Jaxen looks over at Weldon, throwing questions his way with his eyebrows.
Weldon looks back at me.
I nod.
Together, we fall in line and make our way into the room that looks exactly like all the others. Computers running analytic programs. Vials bubbling. Some spinning in machines. Others set in a case filled with different-colored liquids. The walls are sterile white. The atmosphere is just as barren.
Jaxen picks Katie up by the waist and sets her on the steel table. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he asks, leveling his gaze on her.
Her eyes find mine across the room, searching for courage. I nod, and then she lies back, letting them strap her down without a peep.
“That was easy,” Nefarum says with a note of displeasure in his voice. “Most patients have to be put to sleep.” He sets down a needle filled with something I’m sure he was referring to with a look of regret on his face.
This isn’t right. Nothing about this is right.
I take a step toward Katie, but Weldon intercepts me, putting his hand on my hip to stop me in place as he says, “Listen, Dr. Nutsa—”
“Nefarum,” Jezi quickly intercedes.
I bite back a smile and notice Jaxen doing the same out of the corner of my eye.
Weldon smirks at her, and then turns back to the doctor. “Whatever. Listen, we’re here because we’re supposed to be trained, so let’s skip the small talk and get down to what’s what, and how this whole thing works.”
Nefarum watches us, disenchanted. “Hasty, aren’t we?”
Weldon shrugs with a humorous glint in his golden eyes. “Call it what you will.”
Nefarum moves to a wall covered in computer screens and types something into a keyboard. Four of the screens light up with an image of Chett Carter struggling against the very same table Kat
ie lays on. “Let’s start with someone familiar to you. Chett Carter,” he says, his voice trilling with the contentment of knowing more than we do. “For instance, you take a boy raised by filthy witch haters, and you’re asked by his aunt to change him. To make him a better version of himself. One people can relate to. A version people can find good in. Where do you begin?”
Jaxen and I exchange glances.
“Is that a trick question?” Weldon asks.
Nefarum turns to a table and picks the needle back up. With a slow smile, he hands it to Weldon. “Go on—administer the serum,” he says as easily as if he was asking Weldon to give Katie a hug.
My stomach clenches as Jaxen stiffens beside me.
Weldon stares at Nefarum for a moment. I see the doubt in his eyes. The questions brewing. “What is it?” he asks. This time, the humor is gone from his tone.
Nefarum’s head tilts to the side as a slow smile spreads across his thin lips. “Belladonna mixed with sedatives and inhibitors that loosen up the mind and allow it to become receptive.” He moves toward the table and stops in front of Katie’s head, placing his hands against her temples ever so gently.
I don’t like how he licks his lips as he peers into her scared, wide brown eyes.
“Here,” he says, “just below the ear.”
He’s running his finger over her shuddering skin.
I imagine breaking that finger clean in half.
Weldon steps up to the table. Looks me dead in the eye, giving me the option to stop him.
I don’t.
Katie closes her eyes as Weldon injects the serum in the hollow spot just beneath her ear and neck. The moment he pulls the needle out, her eyes roll back into her head, her hands going lax.
Stay strong, I tell myself, knowing this is for the greater good. This is Katie’s way of redeeming herself.
“Come,” Nefarum says, waving his hand out to Jezi to pull her in. “This can’t be done with science alone.” He puts Jezi’s hands where his had been and steps back, watching his work. “I’m going to play a series of images now. You’re going to watch them while you’re connected to her, planting them deep into her psyche. When the images cease, you’ll close her mind up, and then disconnect. She’ll view a tape recorded by the High Priestess Evelyn Carter herself—”
Everdeep (The Night Watchmen Series Book 4) Page 3