“Please don’t.”
“Why? Your boobs delivered the nectar of the gods.”
“Now you’re making it worse.”
“Your bra is the stuff of legends.”
“Don’t make me regret my choice.”
“I will take over the world.” He leaped for the bed, missing, and face-planted on the floor. Snores quickly followed.
I leaned over, scooping him up. He curled onto my pillow, mumbling in his sleep. I curved around him.
Even when I felt myself losing grip on reality, crumbling under the force of the outside world, he brought me back.
With so much to think about, my brain gave in to Sprig’s rhythmic breathing, caving under my exhaustion, and I let myself join him in slumber.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What the hell?” Croygen’s whisper floated over to my bed, waking me up. Sprig stirred next to me. “I thought you’d be waiting in the vent, screaming at me for being late.” His feet softly landed on the counter.
“We’re not going, Pirate.” Sprig climbed my arm.
“What? Why?” Croygen snuck over to the bed. I laid on my side staring into the darkness. “What happened?”
“Because, ass-bandit, Bhean isn’t feeling well.”
“Excuse me? This coming from someone who licks his own ass.”
“You’re just jealous.”
“Yeah. Kind of.”
“I can’t go.” I finally spoke. “I’m done with all of it.”
“What? Why?” Croygen hissed. When I didn’t respond, he crouched closer. “What changed, Zoey? Does Rapava know? Did he threaten you?”
“No.” I sighed, sitting up, placing Sprig on the bed. “Not exactly about that. His threat was more about keeping me in line.”
“A vague threat is keeping you from discovering more? What happened to the Zoey who said she’d do whatever it takes? Are you really giving up that easy?” Croygen sat next to me. “I didn’t swipe the nurse’s cell phone camera for nothing. Come on, we can’t stop now.”
“The threat isn’t vague,” I barked, more anger rolling from my words than I expected.
“Then what was it about?”
I jumped to my feet, emotion shooting up through my legs. “He has my sister.”
“What?” both Sprig and Croygen exclaimed.
“My sister is alive. She’s been here the whole time.”
“Holy honey-stuffed cannoli! You didn’t say anything earlier.” Sprig put his hands on his hips.
“Sorry. I was still processing.”
I told Croygen and Sprig a rushed version of everything about my sister and what transpired in the room, catching them up.
“Shit! He has her here, experimenting and mind-controlling her, and now using her as leverage to keep you in place?” Croygen massaged his forehead.
“Pretty much.”
“He’s making you look like a shiny turd, Pirate.” Sprig hopped on the table, crawling up my arm to my shoulder. “Though a turd just the same.”
“Again coming from someone who flings his own.”
“I might look like a monkey, but you know I’m a sprite, right?” Sprig sat back on his legs. “We only fling our poo on the summer solstice.”
Croygen ignored Sprig, leaning against the wall and rubbed a hand over his mouth in thought.
“I can’t go down there.”
His lids narrowed. “You’re giving up?”
“I have to.”
“Why?” He threw up his arms. “I thought you wanted to end DMG. To stop the torture and experimenting.”
“I do, but…”
“But what, Zoey? Is one life worth all the others here?”
“Yes!” My reaction was instant. “You don’t understand. She is my sister.”
“You think she’ll be better off if you stop?” Croygen pushed off the wall, leaning over me, getting in my face. “She’s simply going to end up another freak, like your monkey here.”
“Hey!” Sprig retorted.
“Or dead.” Croygen snapped, then turned way, proceeding to the table. “But it does save me from having to protect your ass tonight.” Croygen jumped up. “I guess I can leave since I’m not needed here anymore… Oh right, I can’t really get out of here. Another trapped rat to be dissected and tested on.” The way his boots hit the counter, I could sense his anger.
I wanted to stop him, to explain, but I couldn’t. He was right. Still, I could not put Lexie’s life in peril. He slipped the panel back on and withdrew into the darkness.
I circled the room like a captive lion. Lexie. I still couldn’t believe she was alive. The longer I went without seeing her, the more I doubted what I’d seen. My heart wanted to explode with happiness, but at the same time fear swelled through me that she wasn’t real. Not the girl I raised anyway.
I spent time rehashing our encounter and her withdrawn, vague attitude, which was far from the girl I knew. The little sister I raised was vibrant, funny, and blunt. The change was thanks to Rapava’s mind-control injections. Like acid, rage burned holes in my esophagus at the thought. I wanted to kill him, to douse him with a mind-controlling substance and shove needles into him as I dissected him. I wanted to do everything to him he did to us.
Sleep stayed away and during the dark hours of the night, I realized a very unsettling truth: Croygen was right.
Playing by Rapava’s rules would not help her. Or anyone here. Her existence would not be better if I stopped uncovering the truth. If anything, her life would be harsher. None of us deserved this. This was no life. And like Kate and Daniel both said, it was up to me. I would need to be even more careful, but I would not stop. Not till he was dead and this place was gone. We would get out of here—escape the walls imbedded deep underground.
My thoughts also went to Lexie. I recalled all the times she may have hinted at knowing more about my involvement with the secret government division. I could see it now, in the tiny things she’d say, the random comments. Why didn’t she ever tell me she knew? Why did she keep it from me?
All those things could only be answered by her. And I had no idea when or if I would ever get the chance to ask.
The next day, Dr. Rapava told me that after I trained, I could have a short visit with Lexie. Peter pounded my ass, yelling I was not concentrating.
Yeah. No shit.
Finally he let me go, walking me to the room where I waited, impatiently, for Lexie.
The door opened, Rapava stepped through first. Lexie shuffled in behind him, crutches under her arms, a blank look in her eyes.
Rapava’s mindless drone.
“I’ll give you a few minutes to catch up.” Rapava scanned both of us, like he was doing me the biggest favor. He stepped out and closed the door.
My arms wrapped around Lexie’s slender body and squeezed her tight. I never wanted to let her go. “I’ve missed you so much.” I stroked the back of her head. “I am so sorry. If I’d known you were alive…here…I would never have left you. Ever.” I pulled back. “You understand this, right?”
She nodded, but it seemed to be more of a reflex.
“Lexie, do you know who I am?”
“My sister,” she responded formally. “We were in foster care together. You raised me.” Her words were remote, monotone, as if she were merely stating facts back to me but did not actually remember them.
My hand went to her face, searching her eyes for a hint of life. “Do you remember what I got you for your last birthday?” I needed a connection to see how deep this mind-control drug went. Did she still have her memories?
Her eyebrows crinkled, then smoothed out. “You got me an automated dog.” She pressed her mouth together, looking at the floor. He voice became softer. “Because I really wanted one. And Joanna wouldn’t let us have a real dog.”
“What did you get me for mine?” Hope caught in my lungs and I sucked in. I dropped my hand from her cheek, clutching her arms.
Her gaze went distant. “Red nail polish.”
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because I told you Daniel would see your red nails and think about sex,” she replied. Her voice never fluctuated. Robotic.
Disappointment weighted my shoulders and my arms dropped away. She had all her memories but relayed them back like she was looking through a plate of glass. No emotion. No connection.
“When did you find out I was lying to you? When did you first come here to meet the doctor?” I asked.
Lexie looked up, but her eyes never really focused on me.
“Lexie?”
“I don’t remember.”
Lexie had a memory of a steel trap. She could recall things I wished she’d forget. This felt odd.
“What happened the night of the fire? When did they get you out?” I heard Rapava’s side, I wanted to know hers.
“I don’t remember.”
“What about your legs? When did you get them operated on?”
Her lips turned white. “I don’t remember.”
He was messing with her brain. Big time.
“Do you remember anything about the night of the fire?”
“Marv and Hugo got me out. Just in time.”
My heart squeezed with physical pain as she regurgitated exactly what Rapava told me. Tears slid under my lids. I pulled Lexie to me, wrapping my arms around her. I didn’t care if she wanted to hug me back or if she felt anything. I needed to hug her, to have her safe in my arms for a moment. She was alive. That’s what was important.
Similar to the day before, she was stiff as a board against my snug embrace. I continued to hold her when I sensed something happening. It was slight, but I felt the muscles along her back and shoulders give way under my touch. She lifted her arms, hugging me back.
I gulped, swallowing my emotion, not daring to react, too afraid to move and break whatever moment we were having.
One by one I felt her fingers grip the back of my top, her shoulders relaxing. I reacted, not able to stop myself. My head darted back to look at her. She blinked, really taking me in.
“Lexie?” I whispered.
She held her breath, then slowly nodded. “Zoey…” Her arms came back around me, pulling me to her. “Oh my god, Zoey.”
A dam burst in my chest, a sob echoing up. “Lexie.” I repeated her name, feeling for the first time like I had my sister back—at least a glimpse of the feisty twelve-year-old I knew.
“Zo-ey.” She struggled to get out my name. “It’s not what you think.”
“What’s not?”
The handle of the door clinked and began to open.
Lexie glanced over her shoulder, her face showing signs of fear. Then she gripped me tighter, her lips close to my ear. “They started the fire. Lightning never struck the neighborhood,” she rushed. “They killed Joanna.”
“What?” Her words sent a pool of sewage into my gut. Started the fire? Killed Joanna?
“Time is up, Lexie.” Rapava entered and grabbed Lexie’s shoulder, pulling her away from me. His face was etched with angry lines. “If your sister keeps progressing and doing what I ask, you will be able to see her tomorrow.”
Lexie kept her eyes on the floor, swaying on her crutches.
“You would like that, wouldn’t you, Lexie? To be allowed to see Zoey again?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied. Even I could hear the fear in her voice. Rapava frowned, and his fingers clasped around Lexie.
“Let’s go.”
“No.” My mouth opened, leaping forward along with my body.
Rapava’s eyes darted to me, full of warning.
“It is your decision, Zoey. How much do you want to see her on a regular basis?”
“You can’t keep her from me. She’s my sister.” I could feel my will rising up, big enough to escape the room.
“Actually, she’s not. She is not your blood relation, nor did you ever adopt her. She belongs to the government. You have no claim on her.” He tugged on her arm, and she hobbled after him, out of the room. “Liam will escort you back to your room.”
He stepped out, walking alongside Lexie, a threatening grip on the back of her neck.
Liam stepped up, holding the door with his shoulder. “Come on. I have better things to do than babysit you.” He motioned with his head for me to leave.
Drawing in a deep breath, I followed him. Until we disappeared around the corner, I kept looking over my shoulder, trying to get a last glimpse of Lexie.
“They started the fire. Lightning never struck the neighborhood. They killed Joanna.” Lexie’s claim swirled round and round in my head. DMG purposely set our house on fire, killing Joanna. Why? To get to Lexie?
I never loved Joanna, but she had been in my life since I was eleven. There was a level of caring somewhere there. I dreamed about moving out and never seeing her face again, but I certainly never wanted her dead. Rapava killed the only parent figure I had even really known, burned the home where Lexie and I grew up together. Rapava took this away and more. The fire he started at our house jumped to the neighbors, burning the whole neighborhood down.
He probably ordered it to be done without even a thought to the lives he could take.
Sacrifice a few to save the masses.
My fear of Rapava only deepened. There really wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do.
We were in greater danger than I thought.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After Liam returned me to my room, I paced and plotted. Sprig was absent. I had no doubt he was probably being tested upon. I needed to act now, to get into the protected room. Whatever was behind those doors was my prize. Either I got the information I needed soon, or we needed to escape.
On both counts, Kate was my only hope.
Hours went by and still Sprig did not return. It didn’t help my nerves, but soon I fell back on the bed with exhaustion.
The endless roundabout thoughts in my head drew my lids closed. I needed a break. Just for a moment…
“Zoey!” A man’s voice bellowed my name so full of fear and agony it sent a chill down my spine.
Bolting up, my lids popped open, my lungs gasping for air.
The sound of the doorknob twisting jerked my head quickly to the door. Someone was coming in. I fell back down, slamming my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. My heart pounded from the strange dream, mostly lost to me now, except for the way my name rang in my head. I turned over, keeping my head facing the opposite wall, hoping whoever entered would think I was sleeping and leave me in peace. It was a struggle every moment to keep up my façade—to pretend Rapava wasn’t the devil and my sister’s life didn’t hang from a thin thread. I felt close to breaking.
“Hey! Did you hear me? Get up,” Liam’s deep voice commanded. “Rapava wants you.”
I didn’t move.
“It wasn’t a question. Get up now.” Irritation rolled off his tongue, whipping me in the back.
Silence.
“The thought of touching you disgusts me, but I will pick you up and carry you there.”
I grunted in response. Today I wasn’t in the mood to play the good little soldier. The chance to cause Liam distress would probably be my only perk of the day. But I also couldn’t afford to hurt my progress and lose my visits with Lexie.
I dragged myself up, retying my boots. I swear some days they were the only thing propelling my feet forward. I snuck a glimpse into Sprig’s cage. He was curled in the corner, fast asleep. Blood and wounds dotted along his arms and sides. As I watched his tiny body roll up defensively, I felt like kicking down the doors of this foul place in my rage.
Liam escorted me down the hall and into the elevator. He slid a card into a slot and pushed the last button. I subtly glanced at the card in Liam’s hand before he shoved it into his pocket. It was a red-coded card. We were going to the bottom floor.
The elevator descended, levels below the surface. I gulped, my nerves coming alive and waking me up.
Why would he need me here?
The horrors on
this level were enough to haunt me forever. Rapava requesting I come down here? Not good.
We rode the elevator in silence. Liam stayed as far away from me as he could, but still close enough for him to grab me if necessary. After losing Sera, his reactions toward me were more negative, as though “fae” was a disease he could catch.
The doors beeped and opened.
“Move.” Liam kicked at the heels of my boots. I bit my lip so as not to snarl at him. Liam turned us along a familiar long corridor, and we moved to the secure doors at the end of the hall. My breath caught in my throat. Was I going in there? Was I finally going to see the terrors behind the door? Was I ready?
“Here.” Liam’s finger pushed me to a door right before the divide. One I hadn’t noticed the night I was down here. This door also had a key code safeguarding it. Liam tapped a code into a panel at the door. He was fast, but I caught the two last numbers: four and nine.
When the door lock released, he opened it and nodded for me to enter. The room was dimly lit. Dr. Rapava stood waiting for me on the far side of the room. The room reminded me a lot of others I had been in. A room within a room. The outer room was arranged like chemistry class: beakers and test tubes covered the shelves and tables. The inner room’s windows were covered with automatic blinds, keeping me from seeing what was on the inside.
“Thank you, Liam.” Rapava nodded at him, taking a few steps toward me. “You may wait outside. I don’t think this will take long.”
Fear bristled my skin, but I kept my expression blank. Foreboding and anxiety locked my limbs, as though I could never be ready for what was coming.
The door clicked behind me, locking as Liam shut it, leaving me alone with the doctor.
“Don’t worry, Zoey.” Rapava waved me over to him. Neither his voice nor face held any sort of softness, making his words hard to believe. “I merely need your assistance.”
I swallowed back the fear, schooling my face. “How may I help you, sir?”
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