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"Permanent," he said, drawing the word out. "Yes, it is permanent, Maya, because there's no way we can reverse it without endangering the project. Your parents are human. They know nothing of the experiment or of supernaturals in general. If they found out, they would go to the authorities, which would be catastrophic. Catastrophic for us if the authorities believed them, but more so for your parents, when they didn't. And that's presuming they don't reject you outright. A girl who can change into a mountain lion?" He shook his head. "You're not theirs. Not really. For once, I suspect they'd be glad of it."
"My parents would never--"
"Of course they wouldn't," Dr. Inglis cut in. "They will mourn you. Deeply mourn you. But, after a time, they will move on. In fact, we're pulling in the full medical resources of both the Nast and St. Cloud corporations. When your mother is ready, we're going to offer to help her conceive."
"Help her . . . ?"
"Many advances have been made in the years since they adopted you. We firmly believe that, with the right treatments, your parents could have a child of their own."
"Wow," I said. "That's like . . . it's like losing your dog-pound mutt and getting a purebred puppy in its place. They're so lucky."
My hands started to pulse. I looked down at them, certain I was imagining things. But I wasn't. The skin had begun to ripple.
Why was I shifting? It only seemed to happen when I got stressed. Sure, I wasn't happy with this conversation, but they'd said nothing I didn't expect. I was annoyed and frustrated, but my heart was chugging along at a normal--
Almost as soon as I thought that, it sped up so fast I had to gasp for breath. What was happening to me?
"Maya?" Dr. Inglis said.
I turned to her and when I saw her face, rage filled me. Blind rage, like in my room, with Nast. But I wasn't enraged with her. I was annoyed and frustrated and hurt. Yet as that untethered rage shot through me, it brought a wave of memories, of all the times I'd trusted her, all the times my parents had trusted her. As if my brain was finding reasons for the anger.
I gripped the arms of the chair and closed my eyes.
"Maya?"
Dr. Inglis touched my shoulder and I had to clench the chair harder to keep from smacking her hand away.
"She's shifting," Nast murmured as if I couldn't hear.
No, as if I don't matter. As if I'm nothing more than--
The rage surged and I clamped down as hard as I could.
"Maya?" Dr. Inglis said. "Can you tell us what you're feeling? What you're thinking?"
I'm thinking of launching out of this chair and taking you down. I'm thinking of putting my hands around your throat--
I jerked forward, a whimper escaping.
What the hell was happening to me? It was like I was outside myself, watching a stranger--
Annie's words came back. It was like watching myself. No, watching someone who looked like me and felt a bit like me, but wasn't, not really.
No. I wasn't reverting. I was stressed out, and they were making it worse by telling me to forget my parents. They'll certainly forget you . . . after we give them a real daughter.
My arms started to throb.
Don't think about that. Think about anything except your parents and Ash and Daniel . . . Daniel out there, injured, maybe even--
Do not think about that!
I took a deep breath and struggled to think of something innocent and meaningless. Think back to what I'd been doing before all this happened. Back in Salmon Creek before everything started with Rafe and Mina Lee.
Biology. I'd had a midterm coming up and I'd really wanted to ace it. I was always in competition with Brendan in bio and we'd laid a wager on who would do better this time. Winner got lunch at the Blender, which meant I needed to win, because Brendan could really pack away--
"Maya?" Dr. Inglis shook my shoulder.
Damn it, no. Leave me--
