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“What?”
Luca worried his bottom lip while staring at Reese’s shoulder.
“No. I mean, not till recently. Now it’s a few times a day.” Either the ghost of sharp teeth breaking through his bones or the fire left behind boiling under his skin. “And sometimes…” He squeezed his shoulder.
“What?”
“It’s like it’s happening again. You know when…” Paul Dekker bit him. The same man who killed Luca.
And here Reese was whining over what was essentially a dog bite. A big dog, but still.
“I really need to quit feeling sorry for myself. Considering…” He couldn’t even say it because that memory was just as bright in his mind, which meant it had to be that way in Luca’s too.
“Dr. Dante—”
“Reese. Just Reese. My friends call me Reese. And I’m pretty sure you’re my friend.” He hoped Luca was. Reese needed all the friends he could get.
“I am. But it’s gonna be hard for me to get used to that.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re special, and smart, and… Nox calls you Dr. Dante.”
Reese wished he wouldn’t either. Because he wasn’t special, smart maybe, foolish definitely but in no way worthy of being called doctor after years of working in the Utah Facility.
Luca took Reese’s hand again. “I don’t think what happened to you was less than what happened to me.”
Reese scoffed. “I’m pretty sure getting killed is worse.”
Luca’s smile was soft, kind, understanding. It was the same expression his brother wore on so many occasions, especially when Reese was at the point of breaking.
“I don’t remember dying. I was looking at Nox. Then there was nothing until I woke up. But you remember what happened to you and me.” How could one man have so much compassion?
If Reese felt any smaller, he was sure he’d disappear.
A tear rolled down his cheek, and he swept it away. If Luca noticed, he didn’t say anything.
“And going by what Seung said, and Johnathan, I think there’s more than just getting bitten.”
There was. Like a tectonic shift in Reese’s very being. Either he’d gained something, or a part of him had woken up. “Do you know what an epigenetic change is?”
“No.”
“When an organism is exposed to stressors, either toxins, changes in food, or environmental conditions, it alters the way molecules bind to DNA or changes the structure of proteins that wrap around it.”
“That would make you able to hear better and see in the dark?”
Would it? “I’m not sure. I’ve never observed something that extreme in mice, but I don’t think it’s impossible. I mean, it would explain why I… did that.” And maybe why he couldn’t get it out of his head. The rush, the want, thecraving,just like Seung said.
“When you ran?”
Reese nodded. “Almost ran. If Seung hadn’t stopped me.”
Anger crumpled Luca’s features, and he glared at the door hard enough, Reese was sure he’d burn a hole through it.
And he didn’t even have to ask why. Luca had made his feelings about Reese being pursued very clear.
“She told you the truth.” Reese didn’t want Luca to hate them. This wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Just chance and probably genetics. “I wanted them to chase me.” More precisely, he’d wanted Johnathan to chase him.
