Child of Lies

by Eric Kent Edstrom

  Seeing her old mentor—and the person who had helped her piece together the truth of what the Scions were—brought a lump to Jacey’s throat. “Don’t, Vaughan. It’s not respectful.”

  He switched back to himself. “Sorry.”

  Jacey leaned closer to his avatar, wishing she could touch him. “Please. The Scions don’t even have an instructor anymore. What am I going to do to fill their days? I need your help.”

  “I’ll teach them.”

  He said it so simply that Jacey almost started to agree. “Wait. What?”

  “I’ll teach them. I have access to enough of Socrates’s leftover data that I know pretty much where they all left off in their studies.”

  “You could do that?”

  It seemed too good to be true. If Jacey could get things back to normal—at least, some semblance of it—that would give her and Humphrey time to figure out how to protect everyone from future transfers.

  “But you can’t appear as Socrates,” she said. “You’d need to look like someone else.”

  “How about this?” Vaughan transformed into a tall, gangly man in a strange suit coat and ruffled shirt. His hair fell in long curls over his shoulders. “They can call me Newton.”

  Jacey leaned back and folded her arms. “I’m assuming this Newton character was a mathematician or something? You still have to teach literature and arts, you know.”

  Vaughan smiled and spread his arms wide. “I can handle it. Though I think you underestimate the beauty of physics and calculus.”

  Jacey had heard other Scions talk about such things, but she’d never been allowed to study any mathematics beyond arithmetic. Dr. Carlhagen had focused her training almost entirely on literature and memorization skills. And dance. Which got her thinking about another problem. “With Sensei gone, there’s no one to lead workouts or martial arts training.”

  “Have Elias do it. He’s the best fighter on campus.”

  Jacey winced, remembering just how good Elias was. It was his kick that had put Vaughan in a coma. And Elias had been an outcast ever since. “He’s persona non grata for kicking you in the head. I doubt most of the Scions would tolerate him in that position.”

  Vaughan morphed back into himself. “There’s Sang from Humphrey’s Nine. He’s not the most talented, but he’s solid and probably has the right temperament for teaching.”

  Sang did everything with precision but without much energy. Also, he rarely spoke. Jacey doubted he’d be able to control the more boisterous and aggressive Scions. But there weren’t any other good options. Except . . .

  “What about Leslie?”

  Vaughan stroked his chin and nodded. “Her tai chi forms are very good. Not sure about actual fighting skills, since Sensei never let girls spar with us.”

  That had been another of Jacey’s complaints. She had taken dance with Madam LaFontaine, but the only martial arts training she’d gotten was tai chi. Sensei only had her go through the slow forms, never at speed, and she had never sparred with anyone.

  “I’m going to change that,” she said. “From now on, girls will be trained to fight.”

  “I don’t disagree,” Vaughan said. “But nobody should get any crazy ideas about fighting with hands and feet against people with firearms.”

  He was right, of course. Sensei had succeeded in taking down two gunmen when Captain Wilcox had come for him. But there had been too many of them. And a man with a gun could kill a martial arts master as easily as he could kill a novice.

  “I think I’ll assign Sang and Leslie to teach together,” she said. “Sang for the technique and Leslie for the discipline. And I will tell them to start training the girls.”

  Until Jacey could figure out what to do about the whole mind transfer problem, the Scions needed to stay occupied. Training would help use up their energy, which would otherwise turn toward mischief. After all, she’d been the worst offender about breaking the rules recently.

  Vaughan started to respond, but stopped when Mr. Justin stepped into the room.

  “Miss Jacey,” the butler said, “I just received notice from Chax that Madam LaFontaine has admitted Miss Belle to the medical ward. I’m not sure what—”

  Jacey was out the door before he finished the sentence.

  6

  Revenge Made Her Sloppy

  Belle’s steps rang hollowly in the main medical ward. The windows were shut, and the slow spin of the ceiling fans did little to stir the heavy air filling the huge room. The dark forms of cots lining the walls were mere shadows in the gloom.

  Though she moved quickly, Belle’s heart beat much faster than her exertion demanded.

  A nervous response, she thought. She didn’t know what was going to happen when she saw Vaughan.

  She approached the steel door at the back of the room, put her hands to the latch. She paused a moment, willing her pulse to slow.

  It refused.

  Hands trembling, she opened the door and stepped into a corridor with rooms to the right and to the left. At the end of the hall stood another door, which she knew led to the transfer room.

  Belle quietly stepped to the third holding room on the left. Vaughan’s room. She unlocked the door, slipped in, and flipped on the light.

  Squinting against the piercing brightness, she went to Vaughan’s side.

  Vaughan didn’t wake up. An IV bag hung from a stand next to his gurney, the tube snaking down to where it connected to a needle stabbed into a vein on the top of his right hand.

  Belle had seen Jacey adjust the drip before and did likewise, turning it off entirely. Vaughan’s eyes fluttered open, and he shifted his eyes to stare at her. His vision seemed bleary. He didn’t recognize her. But then his pupils shrank and his brows came together.

  “Belle?” His voice was raspy, and he licked weakly at his dry, flaking lips. “Why are you here?”

  Belle didn’t answer right away. She didn’t know how to answer. All she knew was that she had loved Vaughan since they were Dolphins. Even before that.

  Vaughan had always been closer to Jacey. The thought made Belle’s shoulders tighten. She didn’t understand why everyone thought Jacey was so great. She was always breaking the rules and strutting around with that smug look on her face.

  But now, impossibly, Jacey had rejected Vaughan and turned her lascivious eyes on Humphrey.

  And the story Jacey had concocted about Vaughan—that his mind was gone, replaced entirely by Carlhagen’s—was beyond belief. That whole transfer thing might work on weak-minded people like Sarah and Dante, but on Vaughan?

  Not a chance.

  Belle believed Dr. Carlhagen had tried to overwrite Vaughan. After all, Vaughan had acted very strangely that night when Sarah had jumped to her death. He’d certainly said some awful things to Belle then, too.

  Surely all Vaughan needed was a bit of rest. He was the strongest Scion, and if anyone could fight off Dr. Carlhagen, Vaughan could.

  He gazed at her with those lovely, intense eyes. His face was perfectly symmetrical except for a prominent vein on one temple. And Belle thought he was more beautiful for it.

  She placed her hand on his forehead, tentatively at first. He closed his eyes and sighed.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “My head is killing me. But my mind is clearing. Belle, I’m—” He clamped his mouth shut.

  Belle waited. She knew that he remembered the horrible insult he’d thrown at her. It had to be eating him up, because Vaughan was generous and kind.

  And then he proved it. “I’m sorry for what I said to you. After Elias knocked me out, my thinking has not been that clear. And Dr. Carlhagen was playing very strange games with me. He had me strapped to a bed in the hacienda, and he kept coming in and telling me all the horrible things he was doing to you and Jacey and Humphrey. It just made me crazy.”

  That was so Vaughan, to be thinking of everyone else while he suffered. If this boy before her were still Dr. Carlhagen, he never would have apologized.<
br />
  “I forgive you,” she said softly, allowing her face to match her words.

  “Would you unstrap me?”

  Her hands went to the strap around his chest and started loosening the buckle. She caught herself and stopped. “I should probably talk to Jacey about it first.”

  The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying.

  Vaughan’s eyes widened, and he laughed humorlessly. “Since when have you ever listened to her?”

  Belle wanted to let Vaughan go just because of what she had said, but she had to be careful. Acting out of emotion could make things worse. Over the past few days, she had done some impulsive things, and they had all gone very poorly, including her attempt at punishing Jacey.

  Lashing the girl with the thornskipple branch had been so satisfying. Jacey had certainly deserved it. But Belle realized the mistake in it. She shouldn’t have reveled in it, shouldn’t have made it personal, because then it wasn’t justice. It was revenge.

  Revenge made her sloppy.

  She resolved that at the next opportunity to punish Jacey, she would remain cool, would box in her wrath and not wallow in it.

  At least, not until it was over.

  She folded her hands behind her back to keep them from caressing Vaughan’s hair. She had to be logical. She had to make sure.

  “Jacey and Humphrey say you are Dr. Carlhagen,” she said.

  Vaughan closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. “Dr. Carlhagen did try to overwrite me. I can feel him fighting to take control.” His eyes popped back open and his lips thinned. “But I’m winning. I’m in control.”

  “I believe you.”

  “So you’ll release me?”

  “Not yet.”

  There was another reason not to let Vaughan go without talking to Jacey first. Having Jacey as an ally, at least on the surface, would be more effective than having Jacey as an enemy. It would give Belle more freedom of movement until the time came for her to act.

  So why not let Jacey manage things until a new martial arts master showed up to take charge? The whole mess with Livy in the pit and Jacey negotiating with the helicopter gunmen had given her credibility among the other Scions.

  Belle tightened the strap. “I’m sorry. I would love to let you go, but I can’t do it yet.”

  He started to object, but she put a finger over his lips and bent close to him.

  “Don’t worry. I will set you free soon, but right now there’s no place for you to hide. Jacey would send the entire campus after you, and you’d be back here in an hour or less.”

  “But we could escape,” Vaughan said, his voice rising in pitch and volume. “I know where the keys to the Jeep are kept, and I know how to open the front gate.”

  Belle took a step back. “How do you know all this?”

  “I—I guess I sometimes see Dr. Carlhagen’s thoughts, his memories.”

  “Oh,” Belle said, taking another step back. She supposed that made sense, though it chilled her to think of it. A little thrill zipped down her spine at the thought of running away with Vaughan. “Where would we go?”

  “I just need to speak to the AI. They believe I’m Dr. Carlhagen, right? I’ll have them summon Captain Wilcox.”

  “The AI is loyal to Jacey now. Madam LaFontaine has struck some kind of deal with her to preserve the status quo.”

  Vaughan uttered a series of vile curses, a clear case of Dr. Carlhagen fighting to the surface. With visible effort, he calmed himself, brow smoothing. “We’ll go to Mother Tyeesha’s. I can contact the outside from there without going through Madam LaFontaine’s filters.”

  A footstep sounded in the hall. Belle spun and found Jacey swinging the door open. She stood in the doorway, tall, blond, and curvy. The girl seemed incapable of keeping a sultry look off her face. Perhaps it was her full lips, or her aqua eyes, or the habitual way that she cocked her head to one side. Even more brazen, she now wore her hair down. It was typical of Jacey to so blatantly flaunt school dress code.

  “What are you doing here?” Jacey demanded.

  Belle uttered the exact same words at the same time. She straightened and turned back toward Vaughan’s bed. “It’s obvious isn’t it? I came to check on Vaughan.”

  “That’s not Vaughan. That’s Dr. Carlhagen.”

  Jacey stomped into the room and gave each of Vaughan’s straps a sharp tug. “I almost fell for his act, you know. He pretended to rescue me from the pit and took me into the medical ward. I was so relieved to see Vaughan alive and well, so relieved to be out of the pit. Do you know what he did then?”

  Belle wanted to run out of the room, wanted to plug her ears to keep from hearing. But the girl pressed on with her hateful story. “He kissed me, said he loved me, took advantage of the fact that he had stripped the gown from me before putting me in the pit, took advantage of my weakened state, of my fear and my relief of being rescued. I had to fight him off or who knows what else he would have done.”

  The way Jacey said it made it clear that she knew exactly what he would have done. Belle had witnessed some of the altercation, which had happened just outside the room they were currently standing in. But Dr. Carlhagen had been in control of Vaughan then. Once rested, Vaughan had resurfaced. Anyone who truly knew him could see it on his face.

  Belle said, “Vaughan is back in control.”

  Jacey’s eyes narrowed. “Dr. Carlhagen is trying to trick you the same way he tricked me.” She flipped her hair back with one hand, even more annoying than her old habit of tossing of her ponytail when she was angry.

  Belle would have rather swallowed a baby gecko whole than to say what she said next. But she could see the future forking in many different paths before her. Outright defiance of Jacey’s authority would inevitably lead her to place greater controls over the medical ward, making it harder to free Vaughan.

  Belle dropped her gaze and looked at her own feet, pretending to be chastised. She wasn’t as good of a faker as Jacey, so she couldn’t summon tears on command. She made an effort to turn the corners of her mouth down. “I know you’re right. It’s hard for me to accept that Vaughan is gone. I had to see for myself.”

  Jacey’s body lost its tension, and she touched Belle’s shoulder. “I showed you the video of the dogs. You know how mind transfer works. There’s nothing left of Vaughan.”

  “But Sarah fought off Janicka,” Belle said. “At least somewhat. And Vaughan—he’s so much smarter and so much more capable than Sarah ever was. He’s a fighter.”

  Jacey’s eyes shifted to Vaughan. He’d been watching the exchange carefully, eyes darting between Belle and Jacey.

  “Jacey’s right,” Vaughan said to Belle. “Perhaps you shouldn’t trust me. I’m not feeling one hundred percent myself. I thought it was the sedative, but maybe it’s best to keep me under observation for a while longer.”

  If Jacey had been suspicious before, her eyes narrowed to mere slits. “You can’t fool me, Doctor.”

  “I’m not trying to fool you,” he said. “I wish I could convince you somehow.”

  “The only thing that will convince me is when we put you in the transfer machine and the AI re-overwrites you with Vaughan.”

  Jacey’s lips broke into a smile when she saw Vaughan’s face fall, mouth opening with a look of horror. She stepped closer and put her face close to his. “That’s right, Doctor. The AI retained Vaughan’s full brain scan at the time of your transfer.”

  Vaughan’s face turned thoughtful, sorrowful. “I’d always known you to be full of compassion, always thought you were the opposite of Belle in that regard. But now I’m beginning to wonder.”

  His eyes shifted to Belle’s, and his face looked so sad. “I was beginning to see this lovely girl in a new light. It’s a shame that will be erased in the blink of an eye.” He looked away.

  Jacey turned up the IV drip, and Vaughan’s eyes instantly unfocused, and his mouth fell open. His breathing slowed.

  “Come on,” Jacey
said. “We’re meeting with Humphrey in the hacienda.”

  “Why should I care?”

  Belle instantly regretted her tone. Pretending to be Jacey’s ally was going to be harder than she thought. “I mean, why do you need me there?”

  Jacey went to the door and held it open, waiting expectantly for Belle to leave. “We Sharks have many decisions to make.”

  Belle wanted to refuse, but she decided it best to bide her time and not raise too much conflict. She left the room, and Jacey locked the door behind her. Together they left the medical ward and passed back into the quad.

  The breeze had picked up, bringing warmer air with it. Golden sun broke over the eastern peaks, casting morning shadows across the campus. A curly-headed girl emerged from Girls’ Hall and scurried toward the bell tower. It was Livy, the Dolphin from Jacey’s Nine.

  Jacey’s demeanor changed when she saw the girl. Her face softened, and a fond smile played on her lips. Why Jacey adored Livy, Belle would never understand. Maybe it was because the new Dolphin was as willful and disrespectful of the rules as Jacey.

  They stepped over a fallen limb and continued up the gravel path to the hacienda, skirting along Dr. Carlhagen’s prized bougainvillea hedgerows.

  Jacey looked at Belle and touched her arm again. “We worked together once. When we thought Vaughan was dead, we searched the campus for his body, and then we cooperated to force Nurse Smith to let us into the medical ward.”

  Belle winced at the mention of Nurse Smith, remembering another time she’d let her emotions take charge of her body. She’d felt so powerful, so full of righteous fury when she’d struck that woman’s face.

  Belle pulled away from Jacey’s touch. “You said there are decisions to make.” She barely made it a question, but Jacey must have heard it as such, for she stopped to glance at the quad. The path to the hacienda had taken them high upslope, giving them a wide view of the campus below them.

  Jacey said, “There are thirty-six Scions here. Only a dozen of us are thirteen or older. And then there are the little ones at Mother Tyeesha’s compound. That’s another thirty-six. The great destiny we were promised was a lie. We are just a farm, really. A farm for human bodies. We have to plan, Belle. And we don’t have much time. The next Progenitor will arrive in less than twelve hours.”