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“Chloe!” Her voice was so harsh my eyes flew open. “Not so hard…bring him. ”
“Royce? I’ve dealt with him before. I want to talk to you. ” I summoned again.
“Chloe!…keep…I’ll leave…shouldn’t be here…not allowed. ”
“What’s not allowed?”
“You aren’t allowed to speak to her,” Derek murmured. “Necromancers aren’t supposed to be able to contact their dead relatives. I’ve heard that. I didn’t want to say anything, because I wasn’t sure. Obviously, you can contact her, just not very well. And she doesn’t want you to try harder, in case you bring Royce. ”
“But I need to-”
I didn’t even get the sentence out, and the air began to shimmer, a shape taking form. My mother’s shape, so faint I could barely see it, but enough so I knew. I knew. The tears started. I blinked them back, and she disappeared again.
“It was you that night at Andrew’s,” I said. “In the woods. When they were chasing us. You tried to help. You’ve been following me. ”
“Not always…can’t…tried to warn…oh, baby…run…”
“Run?”
“…not safe…no place safe…not for you…so many lies…get away…”
“We can’t run,” I said. “The Edison Group found us that night at-”
“No…that’s…tried to tell…” Her voice started to fade. I strained to hear, but it kept moving away. I held out my necklace.
“Um, Chloe?” Simon said. “If your mom said to leave that on-”
“She was trying to tell me something, and she’s disappearing. ”
“Summon her again,” Derek said, taking the necklace, “but carefully. ”
I gently pulled as I called for her. Derek stayed poised beside me, necklace stretched between his hands, ready to drop it over my head at the first hint of trouble.
“She’s gone,” I said finally. Tears prickled again. I blinked them back and cleared my throat.
“What’d she say?” Simon asked.
“That it’s not safe for us anywhere, which we already knew. But there was something else. Something she wanted to tell me about that night at Andrew’s. ”
“If you want to keep trying, go on,” Derek said. “If you pull through Royce, you can send him back, right?”
I nodded. Margaret said it wasn’t safe, but I wouldn’t feel bad about shoving that particular ghost into the wrong dimension. So, still kneeling, I cranked up the power, trying to summon-
“Looking for someone, little necro?”
I jumped, losing my balance. Simon and Derek both grabbed for me, Derek catching me with one hand while awkwardly dropping the amulet ribbon over my head. I pulled it down and looked around.
“Royce,” I said. “Can I see you? Please?”
He chuckled and appeared partway, like he had before. “Liked what you saw, huh?”
They say you can’t fake a blush, but I sure tried. That was the way to deal with this jerk. Flattery, as painful as it was.
“You were right,” I said. “We need your help. Things are going wrong. ”
“Surprise, surprise. ”
“Were you…one of us? Part of the Genesis project?”
“I’m genetically modified, but I’m not one of you imitations. ”
“Imitations?” I said.
“Of the original model. Me. Well, Austin and me. ”
“I thought we were the first subjects. ”
“They called it Genesis Two,” Derek murmured. “I thought they meant two as in second to the biblical one. They meant the second study. They must have done one before us. ”
Royce laughed. “You kids really are idiots. Do you really think this is their only experiment? Yeah, you’re the second wave…of the Genesis project. Then there’s the Icarus project, the Phoenix project…”
Dr. Davidoff had hinted that the Edison Group was involved in other experiments, but I acted like this was all new. “How do you know all this?”
“I’m smart. ”
And his uncle was one of the group leaders.
“What went wrong?” I asked.
“Wrong?”
“You’re dead. Austin ’s dead. Dr. Banks is dead… Did that have anything to do with you? You and Austin?”
Anger flickered across his face.
“Something went wrong,” I pushed. “With you two. That’s how he knew-”
He feigned a yawn. “Anyone else finding this conversation really boring? Let’s liven things up with a game. ” He walked over to Simon. “You joked about a secret passage earlier. ”
“He can’t hear you, remember?” I said.
“Do you want to make your boyfriend happy, little girl? I’ll tell you where the secret passage is. You know there is one. In a house this big, the basement has to be just as large. ”
I told the guys what Royce had said.
“Not necessarily,” Derek said. “It was common in that period not to build full basements-”
“Boring. There is a passage to another room-one they don’t want you to find. Especially you, little necromancer. They wouldn’t want you to bring those bodies back, get their stories. ”
I hesitated. Simon asked what he’d said and I told them.
“I think he’s full of it,” Derek said. “But I’ll bite. Where’s the passage?”
Royce pointed and I relayed it.
“The workshop?” Derek said. “There’s nothing in there. I already checked. ”
“Why do you think the door’s locked?” Royce said.
“Because you’re a genetically altered half-demon with telekinetic powers,” I said. “As a prototype, they wanted you under careful supervision, but in a normal environment. So instead of the laboratory, you lived here with your uncle Dr. Banks. ”
“Really bored…”
“And your power, being telekinesis, means you can move objects with your mind, right?”
“Um, yeah. Want another demo?”
“No, just making a point. You lived here. You can move objects with your mind. Over there”-I pointed at the workshop-“is a room filled with tools. Why is it locked? I think that’s kind of obvious. ”
Simon laughed. The ghost spun on him, but the scare was lost on Simon.
