“What is this?” I ask my father when I tear myself away from the microscope. Before he responds, Dad fishes out the glass tray from its slot underneath the microscope lens and scrapes its contents off into an empty test tube.
“You already know what this is, Hayden. The real question is, why is it doing that?”
“It’s never happened before?”
“Not like this. I mean, the composition of your blood has never been … completely human, but something seems to be affecting it right now on an unprecedented scale.”
His casual admission that he’s analyzed my blood before doesn’t escape me. What makes it even worse is that I don’t even remember him collecting my blood. Did he do it when I was too dazed to protest, to question his motives? Either way, it’s another lie to add to my pile under Dad’s name. I feel my alien blood boil in my veins. “All this time you’ve been telling me to forget about Promise, about our home.… How could you keep it all from me? Why?” I skip the transition period and go into full fight mode in one breath. Dad starts to say something, but I interrupt, “And don’t tell me it was all to protect me!”
Taken aback by my anger, Dad steps back, but in the lab’s tight confines there’s no place to maneuver. I flinch at the wave of fear passing through his face, but then his expression softens. I have more accusations ready to be fired, but Dad looks so sad, I can’t bring myself to let them out. Instead, I just say, “I miss Mom.”
His eyes light up. “I miss her, too, Hayden. I love your mother. So much.…” He runs his fingers through his hair, a familiar, absentminded gesture that makes my heart shrink painfully. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect her. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I hid things from you because I failed your mother, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t put you in danger as well. I knew there were risks in removing you from Promise, but the alternative was even scarier.”
His admission turns what’s left of my fury into comprehension. I realize with a start that I came to think of my dad as a one-dimensional character—a mad scientist obsessed with his pointless quest—and not a real person with complex motivations and emotions. And now, hearing the simple truth that my dad loved my mom comes as a world-shattering revelation. “It must’ve been tough for you,” I squeeze out. “I-I’m also sorry. I wasn’t exactly easy on you.”
He smiles sadly. “It’s not like I was father of the year, either. But, you know, every time I screwed up, I kept thinking, All of this will be worth it if I find Ella. If I bring her back…”
My breath catches at his words, but before I can ask anything, Arista stumbles into the lab, an open plastic container the size of a shoe box in her hands. “They’re gone!” she cries out. “The blood vials are gone!”
Swearing, Dad runs after Arista. Left alone, my first impulse is to grab the test tube with my blood and smash it against the floor, the way I’ve done with my cell phone. But the danger of unleashing some unknown calamity in the tent stops me. While I debate whether I should go after them, my eyes land on a thin binder sitting open behind the microscopes.
I leaf through it, past pages and pages of Dad’s familiar writing as he describes his countless experiments with my blood. Growing restless, I compulsively flip to the end—and I’m rewarded with a one-page dossier on Shannon.
As I skim through his file, I lose all feeling in my hands. Probably because all my blood is rushing into my head, hitting my brain hard.
Blue Haven Research Institute:
Shannon T. Reaser Report
Name: Shannon Theodore Reaser
Age: 20
Mother: Abigail Reaser (human/augmented)
Father: unknown (suspected Nibelung, possibly a hybrid)
Strengths: mild-to-medium compulsion; preternatural sense of direction, particularly within the bounds of the Promise woods
Weaknesses: medium-strength blood anomaly; might be susceptible to being controlled by his father due to their shared Nibelungen heritage/blood
38
THE LAST DAY OF “NORMAL”
The binder falls out of my hands.
I need to get the hell out of here. I need to find Del and go. Just go. Drive through these woods till we break through their barrier and leave Promise behind.
And what about Shannon? Did he know about all of this? The Nibelungs? He’s one of them? Has he been lying to me from the moment I first saw him here at the base? I rush to leave but come to a halt at the sight of Shannon standing where the curtain used to be. He’s blocking the way, looking bigger than before.
“What happened?” He sounds genuinely concerned, his voice lulling me into a false state of quiet.
“I really need the truth now,” I say, my plea leaving me even more breathless. To my utter shock, I choke up on some stupid tears.
He steps closer and tentatively puts his hands around my shoulders. I take a step back, bumping into the table holding the microscopes. Strengths: mild-to-medium compulsion …
I spit the words out. “You and I, we’re hybrids. Only half human.”
A dark wave goes over his face. He knows.
The siren outside switches back to its full-on howling mode and the noise of running feet intensifies. Shannon finds my eyes. “It’s time to go, Hayden.”
“Where is it we’re going exactly?”
“Your father doesn’t think you should be anywhere near these woods today. Something’s making our equipment go haywire, and it’s getting worse. Professor Holland’s instructions are clear: I need to take you out of Promise and keep you out till further notice.”
“I’m not going anywhere without Del.”
“Don’t be stubborn, Hayden. This isn’t just about you anymore—if it ever was just about you. There are terrible forces hiding in this town, in these woods, that we don’t understand and that are dangerous. Honestly, I don’t want to stick around long enough to find out what happens.”
“You know what, Shannon?” I enunciate slowly, as the clarity of what I have to do lights a freaking lightbulb in my head. “I’ve been obsessing over you for years, wondering what kind of person you’ve become and whether you would like me. But honestly, now that I know the answers to my questions, I’m rather disappointed.”
He’s still processing that when I lunge at him, hoping for the benefit of a surprise attack. He yells out in surprise, but I spin past him and I’m already out the door.
In the commotion outside, I see Dad standing by one of the packed Humvees. He’s talking to some bulky military guy and doesn’t see me sneak out. I decide not to wait around for Shannon to emerge from the tent and make my way to another Humvee parked to the tent’s right. A quick look around and then I’m inside, sinking deep into the driver’s seat.
The universe was kind enough to leave this monster of a car unlocked for me, but my luck runs out where the keys are concerned. Okay, here comes the end of my attempt at being heroic and rescuing Del. I sit still, listening to the siren scream its warning. Is it as easy to hot-wire a car as they make it look in the movies? Is a Humvee like a regular car in that regard? Does it even require a key?
“Looking for these?”
Shannon throws the keys onto my lap and takes the passenger seat. He shuts the door with so much force, the car shakes. In the brief moment between the door opening and closing, I hear the wind howling something scary. Through the car’s reinforced windshield, I see giant trees bending under the pressure of a monstrous wind.
“What are you waiting for? I’ll explain everything I know later, but once your dad realizes you’ve gone rogue and taken me with you, he’ll send his little army after us. Go!”
I don’t need to be told twice. Blushing at the thrill, I shove the key into the ignition and send the Humvee roaring.
I wish I could see Dad’s face as he waches me steal a military car and escape from the research base, but as we leave the base behind, no one runs screaming after us.
“Where are we going exactly?” Shannon asks once we’re on the
road back to the Manor. “I think I deserve to know what the plan is, since I’m risking my career to help you.”
“Risking your career? Weren’t you the one telling me just minutes earlier how all of this is bigger than selfish me?”
“Point taken. Watch out!”
The hit comes from the left. But I don’t even see what it is that hit us. Must be the wind, because there’s nothing out there. Just wind and dust. Right? Another push sends me flying into Shannon, but I manage to keep one hand on the wheel. I get a lungful of Shannon’s scent. The woods in the morning, after rain. Disorienting.
“Hold on!” I scream as the car gets another shove, this time from below. The force of the last push must have cracked a window, because I can hear it now, the roaring of the wind, the incessant rattle of rain. Whatever’s hiding in the woods of Promise is either trying to prevent us from leaving or is eager to kill us. Either way, this is a full-on elemental assault.
When the car more or less stabilizes, I say, “Can you get in touch with Santiago? I need to know where Del is so I can go get her.”
I keep the car steady on the road while Shannon pulls a satellite phone off his belt. “It doesn’t always work,” he warns. “Depending on the muon count, the signal can be blocked. But sometimes we get lucky.” He brings the radio to his mouth. “Santiago? This is Shannon. Come in. Over.” No response. Shannon tries again. I feel his eyes on me. He tries one more time. My hopes of finding Del fade.
Shannon brings me some calm when he says, “We had to evacuate quicker than planned. Last time he got in touch was to say he was safe and Del was with him, but they didn’t have enough time to drive up to the research base. I’m sure he’ll get her out.”
I can see the Manor from here. Its walls glow with a weird light, and it takes me a moment to figure out why. It’s the runes etched into the Manor, making it a safe haven for me. “What the hell?” Shannon asks as he notices the eerie light of the runes.
“My mother’s magic.”
He’s about to say something else, but the wind turns into a minihurricane outside, shaking the Humvee like it doesn’t weigh almost eight thousand pounds. “Come on!” I shout as I wrestle the door open. Shannon joins me outside, and together we dash for the Manor.
Once the front door is closed behind us, I look around. The lights in the Manor are flickering on and off, and the window shutters are going nuts outside. At every other moment, the house shakes, as if a bunch of rocks are attacking it from all angles.
I feel weak all of a sudden and reach for the wall to steady myself.
“When was the last time you had anything to eat?” Shannon asks. I hear the genuine concern in his voice.
“It doesn’t matter.” I struggle out of my jacket. I consider taking off my mud-encrusted jeans and throwing them in the corner but change my mind. I’m not there yet with Shannon.
“I’m serious, Hayden,” he goes on calmly. “You look like you’re going to drop any moment now.” Without waiting for my response, he proceeds to the kitchen, leaving me alone with my tired thoughts.
39
A DIFFERENT SLANT OF LIGHT
I can hear Shannon going through the cupboards, looking through Dad’s meager trove of supplies. I hate to admit it, but he’s right: I am starving. I can’t even remember the last time I had a real meal, and the exhaustion’s making me see stars.
What’s going on outside the Manor is another story altogether. It’s pitch-black and, when I poke my head out the front door, my jaw wants to drop in shock and awe; chunks of hail are coming down. I jump back inside as a particularly nasty piece lands next to my feet. I slam the door closed, shuddering in disbelief.
I run up to my room and clean up as much as I can, changing into practical and sturdy jeans and my beloved Hunter hoodie. I keep my green Docs on in case I need to crush some Nibelungen feet in the near future.
I come back downstairs to find Shannon in the kitchen, making spaghetti. He’s wearing a set of clean clothes. When he notices me staring, he explains, “Your father keeps some spare uniforms in his panic room. We’re welcome to use them whenever we need.”
“I don’t know what’s more disturbing, that my father has a panic room or that he welcomed his staff to use it as their personal closet.” I try to hide my surprise at learning Dad has a panic room built in the Manor, but Shannon must feel my confusion.
“So you found his secret office but not the panic room.” He has his back to me as he stirs the pasta, but I still hear a teasing smile in his voice.
“What’s the panic room for, anyway?”
“For a night like this. That’s why we’re eating. This might be our last chance to have warm food before we hole up in there and wait this out. Promise … it has a mind of its own. Haven’t you noticed by now?”
“Oh, I’ve noticed a great deal. For example, I noticed how you lied to me about your alien origin.”
“I helped you. Doesn’t that redeem me?”
“I guess,” I admit hesitantly, and we both become quiet. I find that I enjoy watching him cook. Shannon’s hands move with the precision of someone who knows what he’s doing.
To be useful, I scavenge through the fridge for fresh produce. There’s not much (an avocado and some packaged greens), but I get enough for something that resembles a salad.
“Try not to cut yourself,” Shannon says over his shoulder. “I don’t think anything monumentally bad will happen if you do it in here, far from the woods, but with this place you never know. Even after all these years of observation and research, we know very little about the Promise anomaly. We also don’t know enough about the creepy miracle that is your blood.”
Once my “salad” is ready, I begin setting the table, but I can’t find matching plates or cutlery. Shannon gets a plate decorated with washed-out green leaves while I end up with a kiddie plate commemorating the Moomin characters in all their Scandinavian glory. I don’t even remember being into Moomins as a kid.
“Dibs on the Moomins,” Shannon calls out. A memory: Shannon was into Moomins. The reason we have this plate is because Shannon used to spend so much time in the Manor, he was practically living here.
“My memories are still patchy,” I say. “I remembered just now that you liked Moomins and I didn’t care for them that much.”
“You were more of a Labyrinth girl.”
I snort softly but stop when I notice he’s staring at me. I run my fingers over my hair, then make an effort to keep my hands calm. I wait for him to look away, but he doesn’t. To make matters worse, he says, “I’m making you nervous.”
“Nope.”
“I do. I like it.”
“Well, I don’t. And no, you’re not making me nervous.”
He looks away, smiling like he knows better, and for a brief moment I forget that these woods are (possibly) trying to kill me.
Our simple meal’s ready and the pasta is served onto our mismatched plates. Shannon sits down within arm’s length, facing me. To distract him from the blush building on my face, I ask, “Where did you learn to cook?”
He shrugs. “It’s just pasta. All I did was drop it into a pot of boiling water.”
“Well, thanks for feeding me.”
“You’re welcome.” He looks down, avoiding my eyes. Who’s making whom uncomfortable now? I make a point of staring at him until he looks back up and smiles. An uneasy feeling passes over me; the shape of his lips reminds me so much of Gabriel Diamond. I get a cold shiver all over my body.
“What are you thinking about?” Shannon asks.
“I don’t really know how to answer that without scaring you,” I say in between bites of spaghetti.
“Try me.”
“I’m thinking about our bloodlines. And about that whole nature versus nurture debate. And about a certain man named Gabriel Diamond who’s the only male Nibelung I know of. You see where I’m going with this?” And if I’m right about this, it makes Elspeth Shannon’s half sister.
�
�The lunatic from the bookshop. Yeah, I always suspected as much, but there’s no proof. Your father’s been keeping Gabriel and his daughter under surveillance, but it’s no use. They’re here one moment, gone the next—like they can turn invisible at will or are capable of tricking our equipment.”
“It’s compulsion. I have it, I’m told. Your file said you have it.”
Oops.
“My file?” He puts his fork aside. I’ve got his undivided attention now. “What else did my file say?”
Double oops.
“I take it you didn’t know you had a file.”
“Not the kind of file you’re talking about, no.”
“I saw it by accident. In my father’s lab at the research station. It said your compulsion ability was mild. Or something along those lines.”
“Anything else?”
“That you have a preternatural ability to find your way around these woods.”
“Okay. That sounds useful, I guess.”
I sigh. “One last thing … It said that you could be controlled by your Nibelungen father, because of the blood you share.”
“The same goes for your mother and yourself, then.”
“My mother’s dead.”
“Not according to your dad.”
I turn the focus back to Shannon. “How does that make you feel, though? That this nonhuman is your father and he’s been living in this town all this time and hasn’t … approached you?”
Shannon’s voice is flat. “He’s the one who drove my mother to insanity. He’s the reason I’m a freak. I grew up thinking I was a changeling. Like those old fairy tales, where a goblin leaves its own baby in place of a human kid? When your dad returned here and I joined the Institute, I learned that I wasn’t that far off in thinking that.”
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