by K. J. McPike
“Dren Tiply,” he said, triggering the same process with the green laser and computerized voice I’d seen when we entered the lab. The doors slid open, and Dren hauled me inside with Brin carrying Kai in right behind us.
The room was empty, save for a single metal chair to match the metallic walls. As soon as the doors closed behind us, the guards dropped Kai and me unceremoniously onto the floor. I managed to break my fall with my hands, but Kai’s head hit the tile with a sickening thump.
Rushing to his side, I shook his shoulder. “Kai, wake up,” I whispered. “Please wake up.”
He didn’t even flinch.
I fought to keep from hyperventilating as my eyes shot around the room. The only exit was behind the two guards. Even if I could manage to get past them, I couldn’t carry Kai with me.
“Do not think you can escape.” Dren’s silver half moon of a face pulled up into a smug expression as the doors opened again.
Arlo’s towering form came into view, and bile rose up in my throat. He walked toward us at a casual pace, his beady eyes twinkling with malice. His hair and beard were as white as the crisp lab coat he wore, but his face could have passed for twenty.
“Oh my.” He stopped just in front of me, his black shoes inches from Kai’s head. “What have you brought me?”
“Sariah delivered them,” Dren explained, floating to Arlo’s side and nodding toward where Kai lay beside me. “She said this boy took her out of here.”
“Fascinating.” Arlo cocked his head to the side as he studied Kai. “Sounds like a wonderful addition.” He turned his gaze to me with a smile that made goosebumps prickle along the back of my neck. “And what is your story? How did you come to be here?”
My throat twitched. As far as I was concerned, the less he knew, the better. Last time I’d been in this position, he had learned who my mother was by stabbing me with a device that read my DNA. If he discovered the truth about my lineage in this timeline, what would that mean for her?
“Do not be shy,” Arlo cooed. “We will have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
Not if I can help it. I scanned the room again, as if it might magically offer an escape. All I had to work with was the chair in the middle of the floor, and the guards would surely beat me to it. Brin drifted forward to join Arlo and Dren, as if to drive home that I had no chance of fighting the three of them.
“Well?” Arlo pressed. “I do not have all day.”
I considered my options. If I told him about the time travel, maybe it would keep him from focusing on who my parents were. But Delta’s reaction to our changing time had made it seem like a touchy subject. Then again, if Sariah worked for Arlo, he must not have had a problem with her projecting through time.
“If you will not respond to my questions, I have ways of getting the answers I seek.” Arlo kept his face smooth, but there was a threat in his black eyes. “This is your last chance to tell me.”
A gulp slid down my throat. I could only imagine what his ways of getting answers entailed, and I wasn’t in a position to risk finding out. “We’re stuck in the wrong timeline,” I said, realizing I was leaning away from him. “We wanted Sariah’s help getting home.”
Arlo lifted a snow-white brow, looking between the guards on either side of him before turning back to me. “And how did you know she has the ability to move through time?”
Crap. I couldn’t mention Delta. She was in this timeline, too, and I didn’t want to make things worse for her.
“Tsk, tsk,” Arlo clucked. “I do not like that you are taking so long to answer. How am I to trust that you are telling the truth if you have so much time to think of a lie?”
“I-I’m not lying.”
His features pinched. “No. Not yet.”
Kai groaned at my side, and adrenaline surged through me.
“Oops. We do not want him waking just yet.” Arlo reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a silver tube I recognized instantly. I lunged without thinking, knocking the tranquilizer from his hand before he could reach Kai.
It clattered to the floor as cold arms hooked under mine and pulled me back.
“Not so fast,” Arlo said, his voice sounding amused.
Dren dove for the tranquilizer, his astral form scooping it up and doubling back to my side in a single movement. The guard holding me shifted, and I felt a sting just below my jaw.
Within seconds, everything went black.
When I came to, my whole body felt stiff. Fluorescent lights shone overhead, forcing my eyes to a squint. I tried to lift my arm to block out the glare, but something hindered my movement. Frowning, I tried to sit up, but there was a restraint against my chest, too.
What the—
Still woozy, I looked down at my body, finding it covered with a white sheet. The metal wall at my feet sent the memory crashing into me like a truck. Sariah brought us to the lab.
Gasping, I fought against the holds keeping me in place, but they held fast.
“Kai?” I lifted my head, my eyes darting around the small room. A metal cabinet in the corner and a table next to my bed were the only other furnishings. There was no sign of Kai.
Across the room, the double doors opened, and a woman wearing a lab coat similar to Arlo’s walked in. Her neon orange hair was gelled into a point, making it look like a single flame.
“Glad to see you are awake.” She smiled brightly, as if it were normal to find teenagers strapped to beds. “I am Nurse Cora.”
“Where’s Kai?” I croaked. “What did you do to him?”
She shrugged. “Kai is not my charge. You are my charge, and I will take great care of you. I just need to get your tracker in place.”
“What? No. No!”
The nurse ignored my protest and moved over to the corner. Running the card attached to her coat through a reader, she pulled open the cabinet and rustled through its contents. A moment later, she turned around with a device in her hands that looked like a digital thermometer.
Her sickly sweet smile didn’t budge as she walked back to my bedside.
“Get that thing away from me!” I fought my restraints until the leather bit into my skin, but they didn’t give.
“This will not hurt much,” Cora promised, undeterred by my pathetic attempts to escape. Holding the device to my forearm, she pressed the largest of its three blue buttons. Something shot out to pierce my skin, the sting followed immediately by a shock of electricity that shot all the way to my fingertips. A green glow flickered beneath my skin twice before fading.
“There, all finished,” she purred. “That was not so bad, was it? Now stay put, and I will be right back with your meal.”
I didn’t even have time to protest before she was headed back toward the double doors. She entered a code into the keypad and walked out to the hallway without another word.
I frowned after her. She hadn’t needed a face scan to get out. Maybe there was a chance I could get out, too—if I could see the code. And once I figured a way out of these stupid restraints.
I flexed my fingers, and a bubble of pressure formed where the tracker hid beneath my skin. My stomach rolled. Even if I managed to escape, they would be able to find me unless I cut that thing out. The thought made my stomach heave again.
Cora returned, carrying a tray with a bowl on top. “Time to eat.” She set the tray on the table beside me and hit something on the side of my bed, making the top half of the mattress shift upward. Soon, I was in a sitting position with the strap in place against my chest.
Still smiling, Cora sat at the foot of my bed and dug a spoon into the bowl of gray mush. She put it in front of my mouth, and I turned away. Whatever she was trying to feed me, there was no way I was going to eat it.
“Now, now,” she scolded. “You need nourishment. How else will you keep up your strength?”
“I’m not—“ She shoved the spoon into my mouth before I could finish my sentence. The mush tasted like overly sweet, cherry-flavored ca
ndy, and I wanted to gag. I spit it out, feeling a twisted sort of satisfaction when some splattered onto her cheek.
“Well, that was not very nice.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand and held another spoonful against my mouth.
I sucked my lips between my teeth, pressing them together as hard as I could. They could strap me to a bed, but they couldn’t force me to cooperate. If I never got out of here, I would make them regret keeping me.
“I will not ask you again.” Cora’s deep blue eyes challenged me, the first break in her cheery demeanor. “Eat.”
I held her gaze, still refusing to open my mouth.
“Okay then.” She stood, turning to set the tray down on the table. Pulling rubber gloves from her pocket, she slipped them on without a word. She took the spoon in one hand and forced the fingers of the other into my mouth, invading my tongue with the sharp, chemical taste of rubber. I bit down hard, and her yelp echoed off the walls.
She jerked her hand back, staring at me with her mouth hanging open. A second later, she regained her composure. “Well, I guess I will have to feed you a different way,” she said. I watched her move toward the cabinet again, but before she could reach it, the doors opened.
Arlo walked in, and I felt my heart kick into overdrive. “Where’s Kai?” I demanded, which only made him smile.
“Not so fast,” he said, wagging a finger. “I have some questions for you first.”
I bit back every vulgarity I wanted to scream at him. I knew he still had Kai somewhere, and I wouldn’t put it past him to use that against me. For now, I would have to play nice.
Suddenly, I regretted not cooperating for Cora. I looked over to where she stood smoothing strands of orange back into her pointy hairstyle. Would she tell Arlo I’d been difficult? What would happen if she did?
“Tell me how it is that you read as Xiomara Vauhn’s child when I know that is impossible,” Arlo said, pulling my focus back to the moment.
I didn’t know how to respond. He must have used the DNA testing device on me while I was unconscious, but the result wouldn’t make sense when the version of Mom in this timeline didn’t have any children. If he wanted me to explain, maybe I could use it to my advantage.
“I’ll tell you if I can see Kai,” I tried.
Arlo responded with a dramatic sigh. “I see you are not naturally cooperative. Shame. Just remember that I gave you a chance.” He turned around, and something about his demeanor sent a flurry of panic through me. Had I just given him an incentive to hurt Kai?
“Wait,” I called.
But he only shook his head as he moved toward the doors. Entering a code into the keypad to open them, he peeked into the hallway. “Come in, Sind,” he said to someone I couldn’t see.
Cora clasped her hands and waited in the corner as a narrow, stoic-looking guy entered the room, his fire engine red hair slicked close to his head like a helmet. Though I was glad they weren’t going to hurt Kai, the look on Sind’s sallow face told me he was planning something for me.
Something painful.
“We’re from the future.” The words tumbled out of my mouth as I looked back at Arlo. “That’s why my DNA matches Xiomara’s.”
Arlo waved a hand, dismissing my words. “Now it is too late.” He turned to Sind and tilted his head in my direction. “I need to know her origin. Go through everything if you have to.”
Sind’s eyes settled on me like lasers, and my mouth went dry. The next second, white-hot pain seared my skull. Agony stole away my senses, and I couldn’t tell if I was screaming; I couldn’t even tell if I was breathing. All I knew was that my head was ripping open.
When the torture finally stopped, sweat poured down my face. I gulped the air, afraid to look at Sind again. What had he just done to me?
“The girl has quite the story.” Sind turned to Arlo and recounted the last three months of my life in disturbing detail. His voice stayed flat and emotionless as he shared all of my recent traumas and hardships: Mom’s disappearance, my first discovering I could astral project, everything that had happened with Kai, getting to Kala, losing Salaxia, and finally getting trapped in the past.
I fought to keep my composure as I relived it all through his explanation. I refused to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
Arlo moved to the side of my bed, his linebacker-sized body blocking Cora and Sind from view. “There were five of you?” he asked.
I pressed my molars together, blinking against the sting in my eyes.
“I asked you a question,” Arlo reminded me. “You would do well to answer it.”
“Yes,” I snapped. “My youngest sister…she’s…” I couldn’t say it. But I didn’t have to; Sind had already disclosed everything. At this point, any questions were overkill—probably part of some twisted game to make me suffer more.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Arlo said, stunning me into silence. All I could do was stare at him. Was he trying to be compassionate? “It is a heartbreaking thing,” he went on. “Her ability could have been so useful to me.”
A shriek tore out of my throat. “How dare you talk about her like some tool!”
“Temper, temper.” Arlo clicked his tongue. “I see taming you will be a project. But you forget that I have your friend at my disposal. It would be a shame if he suffered because of you.”
My mind flashed back to when Salaxia shared Kala’s thought about no one at the lab having leverage over her. This must have been what she meant. If stepping out of line meant loved ones would suffer, it was no wonder everyone here cooperated.
“Cora.” Arlo smiled at the nurse standing in the corner. I’d almost forgotten she was there. “Have you put in her tracker?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He rubbed his palms together. “I must go. It seems I have more semmies to bring in and two workers to investigate. Sind, I trust you know where to find them.”
“I do,” the boy replied.
Arlo’s smile grew as he stared me down. “Your memories have been quite useful. I cannot wait to meet the rest of them.”
My breath caught as I registered what he was saying. Sind had gone through all my memories, including what I knew about The Hill. They were going to find the others.
I fought my binds so hard the bed scratched across the floor. “Leave them alone!” I shouted. “If you hurt them—”
“Give her a strong dose,” Arlo said, unbothered by my cries. “And pull more of her blood.”
“No!” I cried, straining in vain. “Please!”
But Arlo and Sind just walked away as Cora stabbed a needle into my neck, making everything slip back into a haze.
Chapter 21
Placement
When my eyes slid open again, it was impossible to know how much time had passed. The blank metal walls of my prison gave nothing away, offered no distraction from the tempest of questions swirling through my mind.
What was happening with my family?
Had Arlo found The Hill?
Did he bring my siblings and our friends to this miserable place?
Were they tied to beds like I was?
My throat stung more with each thought. This couldn’t be how our story ended. After everything we’d had to endure, it wasn’t fair to put us through this, too.
Something rustled beside me, and I jolted. Turning my head to the side, I saw someone with short blonde hair sitting cross-legged on the floor with her back to me. She wore a yellow jumpsuit like the one Kala had been wearing when we first pulled her out of the lab. From this angle, I could just make out the edges of a white cloth peeking just past the woman’s knees.
“Hello?” I rasped. She looked over her shoulder, and my heart nearly burst from my chest. Though she was significantly younger and didn’t have the dyed-blue hair I was used to, I recognized the rest of her round features instantly. “Delta!”
She whirled around on the floor, barely managing not to topple over in her haste. The circular clo
th beside her came into view, and I recognized the black geometric pattern topped with brightly colored stones.
A crystal grid. I’d seen the Delta from my timeline use something similar to manipulate astral energy.
“H-hello,” this timeline’s Delta stammered. “How do you know my name?”
Oh, right. This version of her wouldn’t know who I was. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “I must have heard it somewhere.”
A line formed between her faint brows. Sorry you’re in here. That time, her mouth didn’t move.
I sucked in a breath, remembering that her ability was to project thoughts, just like Elliot’s.
Don’t respond to my mental communication, she instructed. Just know that I don’t want to be a part of this, either. They are using my cousin as leverage.
I knew the cousin she was referring to was Brendan. He was the test subject Mom had fallen in love with—the boy whose death had set everything in motion with XODUS.
“This won’t take long,” Delta said, aloud that time. She pulled a retractable blade from the pocket of her jumpsuit and flicked it open.
I couldn’t help but stare at the knife in her shaky hand. “What are you doing?”
“Just a quick ritual.”
“For what?”
“To take some of your astral energy.” She pointed to the clear, baseball-sized stone in the center of the cloth on the floor.
“What?” I shifted, forgetting for a moment that I was strapped down. “No! Why?”
“I am not here to discuss why.” She locked eyes with me and thought, Arlo wants to find a way to channel semmie powers so he doesn’t depend on you. He wants me to try and put some of your energy into stones in the hopes that he may be able to use your abilities himself.
Wait. What? Arlo coveted semmie abilities? Was he trying to turn himself into some kind of all-powerful being? He already seemed to have everyone at his beck and call. If he had limitless power at his disposal—