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“It won’t be the last time.”
We exchange looks as her group of warriors that came to our aid turn their horses around. But before she fades into the trees, her horse stops, and she pivots back to us.
“I forgot to mention, the one you seek is in the Red Oaks!”
The one we seek… The one we seek…
Dessin and I stare at each other absentmindedly until his eyes flare with understanding.
“Judas.”
It was hard leaving Ambrose Oasis, but this might be our only leg up over Aurick. And we need to do this our way.
Judas has always known something more than the rest of us. Maybe it’s nothing, but there’s a knot in my gut that tells me he’ll give us everything we need.
The seven of us—I’m sorry—theeightof us, including Knightingale, trek through the forest to get back to the Red Oaks. I keep my pace close to Niles while Dessin scopes out the area ahead with DaiSzek.
I’ve been waiting to tell him something, searching for the right moment, but this kind of news doesn’t have a right moment. It’s terrible and grim and a vortex created to suck him into a hellish place. The least I can do is be here to hold his hand while he processes it.
“Do you remember the first time you opened up to me in the asylum?”
Niles looks down in thought. “The time you got hosed down like a dog for me? I’ll never forget it.”
My heart stumbles in my chest. I’ll never forget it either.
“You said it was hard for you to live in a world that has the kind of love that Charles had for you.” I take a deep breath, trying my best to keep my voice even.
“We’re not in the asylum anymore.” Niles shoots me a glare. “We don’t have to dig this up again.”
I wish to God I could listen to him now, let this go, leave it in the dark cave of his mind to decay. But he deserves to know the truth, no matter how painful it may be.
“You know how Kane and I are a part of this vile experiment that only works on twins?”
He slows his pace. Nods.
“Aurick told me they’ve experimented on a child that wasn’t a twin before. Just once.” I keep my voice deathly low. With a tone so serious, so glib, Niles keeps his eyes firmly on me as if he knows. Heknows. And he’s praying to God that he’s wrong.
“He told me it was you, Niles,” I whisper, the ache in my throat clamping down on my windpipe. “He told me it was you.”
His throat bobs, and he redirects his stare to the path ahead. “So what does that mean then?”
I wish I could stop here.
“It means… they abducted Charles like they did with my parents. To pump them full of Mind Phantoms, so they were compliant.”
I look over at his angelic face, the chiseled cheekbones, the beautifully coiffed honey hair, and that stoic lift of his chin. He’s preparing to protect his heart. He’s placing on his mask and hoping it blocks out any pain I’m about to deliver.
“Aurick said his father took Charles and filled him with more Mind Phantoms than any subject has ever been given. But—it wasn’t enough.” My voice breaks, and I have to look away to keep the tears in check. “Charles fought it. He never gave in.”
“What?” Niles stops his feet from moving another inch and turns to me with a look of pure shock.
“They had to take you instead. The Mind Phantoms made you believe that horrid reality of what you thought Charles did to you.”
“Let me go!”Niles’s younger voice shrieks through my mind, overwhelming my senses.
“It—it never happened?”
I shake my head. “It was a fabricated memory, Niles. It was given to see if your mind would work the way ours does now. It was a failed experiment.”
