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“And Jack?”
My mouth parts. “What are you exactly? Here in Ambrose Oasis.”
“Your memories of me. All of them as a child. Everything I would have said and how I would have said it. All in the safe, sacred part of your mind.”
“A hallucination,” I clarify.
“I guess.”
I smooth the lines of my forehead. Being here is as close to heaven as I may ever get. Especially after I get through the asylum.
“I’ve seen a lot from our childhood. I saw how you took care of me and shielded me from the experiment. But—I don’t understand why you had to keep all of it a secret. It’s not like I wouldn’t have believed you. I mean, it probably would have taken some convincing… but you and Dessin went through huge lengths to keep me blind.”
Young Kane lifts his head. “Then you haven’t seen everything yet.”
“I’ve seen enough.”
“Have you been back to the day your father beat you? The day I ran miles to bring you to the infirmary?” The wind brushes over his soft brown hair. And the sun glints in his eyes, just right, making him look so young and yet so wise.
I shake my head.
“That’s the key,” he says quietly. “That’s why they kept their secrets.”
I search my brain for those memories. But nothing significant comes up. After I get out of the asylum, I’ll have to visit my father’s house again. Go into that living room and find the missing piece that will make all of this make sense.
“We didn’t know Scarlett was part of the experiment, y’know,” Kane adds, crossing his arms over his knees. “When your parents separated you… it was assumed that you were Vlademur’s only target. But he kept the information of what they were doing to Violet and Scarlett hidden. It’s why we didn’t check on her, protect her from the experiment too.”
I take a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“But we must!” Young Kane leans forward, trying to get my attention. “Vlademur was sick. He discovered my weakness when I rescued you from your father. That was his end goal. He knew he couldn’t build two successful subjects without a fail-safe. Think—how does he control two people that can defeat an army from the inside? How does he keep the two subjects from ruining him?”
I shrug.
“He finds their weakness and uses it against them to keep them in line. It’s why I had to leave, turn myself into the asylum. It’s why—” He stops and looks over his shoulder at DaiSzek coming back for me.
Meridei’s beating must be ending. I wince at the pain I’m going to experience when I come back to my body.
“I wish I didn’t have to go,” I mutter.
He stands with me. “Go back to Jack’s house when you’re ready. You need to see how this all ends.”
My eyes peel open slowly, like the inside of my lids are coated in glue.
“How the fuck did you do that? Huh?” Meridei is slumped over in front of me. Her whip strewn out in front of her feet. A thin, oily layer of sweat covering her forehead, chest, and arms.
I blink several times before my vision clears.
“You didn’t even flinch.” She’s out of breath. Her right hand trembles.
How long has she been trying to get a reaction out of me?
I make a mistake when I look down at my body. Bright red, swollen, and decorated with shiny blisters and bruising welts. She beat me senseless.
The pain topples over me like a rogue wave. My nerve endings wake back up, and I’m lit on fire. It takes every last atom of control and willpower I have left not to start screaming. And something else. An urge to sink my claws into her mind. A violent need to use my new abilities to disrupt her thoughts, memories, and brain, only I can’t figure out how to do it.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” I ask in mild boredom.
She continues breathing heavily, glaring at me with defeated agitation.
