Cooper ignores him. “It was almost too delicious to contemplate. What would happen if Zane were to find out whose sister you are? He could have killed you simply to spite me. Hell, I would have. You didn’t do that though, did you, Zane? I owe you a great deal of thanks for that.”
“I’ll kill you,” Zane answers.
“And you, dear sister, as ever, disappointed me. You didn’t even attempt to deal with Zane for me. No, that would have redeemed your position in the city. The CCP would have labeled you a hero and let you walk away from here without asecond thought. That would be far too easy for the infamous Checkmate.”
A fresh wave of pain comes over me. It hurts too much to look at Zane. “You knew who my brother was all along. And you still did this to me?”
“I didn’t know until that day when… Kaye, I’m so sorry. I was certain that you knew. That you were playing me. I was so angry and everything was heightened with that last dose of serum. I lost control. I didn’t know what I had done until it was too late.”
“Oh yes.” Cooper snickers. “After years of fighting and failing, I am sure his first reaction was to show mercy to his sworn enemy. No, he hurt you to get back at me.”
Zane shakes his head, pupils blowing wide and wild. “Kaye, I know I fucked up, but I wouldn’t do that. What happened between us was real. Genuine. I haven’t been that happy in… God, maybe I’ve never been that happy before.Yougave that to me. Kaye, I love you. I didn’t think that would ever be possible for me again.”
There’s a hole in my chest and it’s gnawing, growing with every word. Our eyes finally meet, and I know he sees it. The empty pit where my heart used to be. I know, because I feel its absence too, but it must have gone, like so many pieces of myself. Pieces that may never come back.
Tears gather in the corners of those beautiful, terrifying eyes.
“Please,” he whispers. “Please tell me you remember.”
I wish I did. I can feel those moments skating along the edges of my mind, but each time I think I have a hold on one it slips too quickly away. Instead, I’m left with that emptiness, and the memory of the violence that caused it.
I shake my head, feeling nothing.
“You don’t remember?” The anguish in his voice is clear. I squeeze my eyes closed against the sound of it. Instead, he turnsto Cooper. “You said you’d heal her. That it was the only way to make things right. I held up my end of the deal.”
“Clarify,” I demand, cutting my gaze to my brother.
“Zane,” he tsks. “There’s nothing on this planet that could heal the damage you did so quickly. I’ve seen extinction events with less human casualties.”
“Leave it to a psychopath to say something like that.”
“I am NOT a psychopath.” Cooper grinds his teeth so hard I hear them pop.
“What did you give him?” I ask.
Cooper cuts in before Zane can answer, suddenly full of glee. “The remnants of your power mixed with his. And it createdsucha powerful tonic, Kitty. Can’t you feel it coursing through you?”
He’s right. I felt different as soon as I woke up. Flush with power, like a switched flipped inside, a bulb glowing with light. It pulsed with every beat of my heart, pounding through my bloodstream almost painfully. I feel invincible.
“I perfected it, of course. Made the reaction more stable,” Cooper brags. His gaze roves over me with pride. I was the ideal guinea pig, nothing more than a thing to alter at his whim. “We couldn’t have any more outbursts like what Zane did to you, could we? Not so close to my work.”
I’d like to say that it made me feel better to know that it was only the over-abundance of our powers mixed together that made Zane do what he did, but that doesn’t quite fit. He’d promised to erase my memory once before. The memory rises fresh and new from the ashes. His hand crushing into my skin over cold granite.
Who is Checkmate?
My eyes sting, tears flowing freely down my face. God, I’m such an idiot. How could I have trusted this man enough to do that to me? I was so desperate that I forgot the most important rule of life as a Super: we are all on our own.
Then Cooper is there, solid and warm as he always has been. The big brother that helped me face my bullies. I know now that version of him is a mask. When his palms cradle my face, thumbs wiping my tears, I flinch. And watch the humanity drain like dirty bath water from his face.
“You made Kitty cry, Zane.” It’s like watching a corpse talk, so little emotion shows in his expression and tone. His palm slams down on Zane’s wrist, pinning it to the chair cuffing him in place. “Didn’t learn the lesson the first time, hmm? Don’t worry. We’ve got five more fingers to educate you.”
My attention falls on the polished silver tray beside them, filled with an assortment of tools: a large old wrench, needle-nose pliers, and—my stomach lurches at the sight—a steel mallet.
“No.” I step into Cooper’s line of vision. Intentionally place my hand over his, curl my fingers under his palm. So I have leverage. Just in case. “He doesn’t matter anymore. We’re together now, right? We can—we can leave all this behind us. We can be a family again. Start over. Don’t you want that, Coop?”
When I look at my brother, I don’t recognize the boy I grew up with, don’t see the young man who used to walk with me to school. He’s no longer the person who made sure to text me every day after he left for medical school.
Who is this man?Another track of wetness drops down my cheek.
