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“There’s something else too.” He holds up an envelope. “This is what I really came for.”
I reach out for it. He jerks his hand back. “Give it!” I order, lunging toward him. “My father left all of this for me.”
“Not all of it.” He sighs, turning the envelope around. One. Name.
Kane.
Shut up. “No…” Eyes drop to the name. Jump back up to him. I gasp. “Explain.”
He wears a reserved expression. Pained. Tired. “That day I saved you from him. That was not our first encounter. He left something for me that will get us out of this mess. Or at least give us leverage.”
I step away from him. “If that wasn’t your first encounter with him… then it wasn’t your first encounter with me either.”
He nods. How many secrets are you keeping from me?
My frustration pressurizes in my gut, morphing into something ugly, something angry with clenched fists and burning flesh. I scream. This is my limit. I spin around and scream again. His hand touches my shoulder. I swat it away.
“How can I trust you?” I shout at him, throwing my hands in the air. “All I’ve ever wanted is to know you! But you keep everything from me. I swear on my life if you don’t tell me why right now, I’ll—I’ll just—”
“When you first met Dessin, what did you feel?” he asks, voice rough and demanding.
I blink. The thirteenth room. His white shirt, white pants. He knew my name. He knew everything. He smiled. His smile was kind. His eyes were warm. He wouldn’t hurt me. I trusted him.
I look down. “You know how I felt,” I say through my teeth.
“You felt safe with us. You trusted us despite everything you were told about him. Despite how he treated everyone else around him.”
“So? What does it all mean?”
His eyes are pleading. He reaches out and takes my hands before I can pull away. He kisses my knuckles softly. I close my eyes. A shiver of memorable pleasure pulses through my soul. And it shows up again, that sense of trust and safety.
“Because you have trusted me long before that moment in the asylum. You just don’t remember it.” He’s holding my hands against the sides of his jaw.
What? “Oh, god.” I gasp. I’ve known him long before. How? The holes in my memory. The beating from my father. “I don’t understand.”
“Skylenna, I shouldn’t have even told you that. But I can’t live with myself if you don’t trust me. You have to know. There’s a plan. There’s a reason I can’t share with you how I know you. How I knew Jack. I made a promise. There’s a plan in place. This envelope—” He waves it in the air again. “It’s part of the plan. I swear to you, you’ll know everything soon. Everything. But we have to get your friend back. Okay?”
I’m numb. I can barely nod. Ruth is the only thing more important than me being enlightened by the missing memories of my past.
27. The Ambrose Trust
Kane and I take a moment alone against an ancient angel oak tree, sitting on separate sides of its thick trunk. I stretch out my legs, holding the wooden box on my lap, running my thumbs along its rough edges.
The box is heavy, like its purpose is to be a glorified paperweight. I tap at the gold lock attached to its opening. “It’s locked,” I holler over my shoulder.
I hear him dig into his pocket. He passes me the small golden key, reaching his arm around the tree to hand it to me. What if I get a letter too? What if he explains his illness to me?
I unlock the box, set the lock down on top of my left thigh, and lift the lid to unveil a heap of shiny objects. I lean down and narrow my eyes to get a better look. So many colors, red, green, gold, silver. Glittering under the sun. They sparkle and wave hello to their new owner. I recognize some of the gems. Rubies and emeralds. Diamonds. Gold and silver. He left me valuables. But for what? What am I supposed to do with them? Find a jeweler and get them attached to earrings and bracelets so I can finally look like a respectable woman in our society. Kane and I don’t need diamonds where we’re going.
I sigh, using my index finger to push a few diamonds aside, mixing them with the green tint of the emeralds. I hook my finger around a chain. A golden chain. Attached to something heavier and bigger than the gems piled up among each other. A circular gold piece. Two rings hanging on either side of the thick locket. Oh, it’s a necklace.
I hold the locket in my hands. The ring hanging on the right has a marquise cut diamond on it. Are these wedding rings? I see the line opening on the side of the locket. My fingernails dig in to open it. Clink. Open. An oval photograph. My father’s face. Violet’s face. Babies. Two of them. It’s our family photograph. I feel my lips part ways, sucking gusts of air through my open mouth.
The photo is black and white. But I know that cheekbone. That dark hair. He’s kissing Violet on the cheek. Her mouth is open like she’s laughing. She’s wearing a white gown in a bed. Was this just after she gave birth to us? They each hold an infant. The two happiest people on earth. What the hell happened to them? I’ve only ever known them as the two coldest people on this earth. How can one photo hidden in a locket tell me otherwise? I caress the back of the locket as I try and imagine how different their lives were before we were born. How long were they together? Did we ruin their marriage? Their minds? I feel a rough texture on the back of the locket so I flip it over. Words are engraved on the back. Words I never expected to read.
You will
always have
