Chapter Thirty
W alking Dorian back to his cell is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I cling to his hand as he steps over the threshold. He turns to face me and bends to press a chaste kiss to the back of my hand before he disappears.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back,” I promise the seemingly empty room. Then I walk away, fighting tears.
It would’ve been easy for us to escape in the chaos that happened after the fight. But Ezra and I sat side by side in the hallway, Dorian standing protectively over both of us, until the MRF’s emergency services team swarmed in. Still, none of them could actually see that Dorian was free, and they’re too busy tending their wounded and cleaning up bodies to chase after us until we’re long gone.
But Ezra once told me to have faith, and that this was about more than me and Dorian, and I’m choosing to trust him. I owe him for all that he’s done. Dorian and I both do.
But as I turn to head to Dr. Wright’s office where we’re supposed to meet her to discuss all of this, I pause. The door next to Dorian’s—cell X-16—is left wide open. Fear slithers down my spine as I remember Godric’s last words. You’re too late. I’ve already released…
That demon came to the MRF with a plan. What kind of monster was it hoping to set free? I imagine some huge creature with horns and bloodred claws, a monstrous aberration unleashed to wreak havoc on Ash Valley. Maybe our troubles have only just begun.
I’m about to hurry past and warn Dr. Wright and the rest that a subject is free, but movement within the cell gives me pause. I stop in the doorway and look in and see a man sitting on the edge of the bed. A tall, slender young man with hair like ink and skin like porcelain. He’s bent over, clutching his head.
I hesitate, confused. Is that Subject X-16? Why did Godric go through so much trouble to release what appears to be a normal young man, and why is he still in his cell when the door is wide open?
I step toward him. “Hello? Are you all right?”
He flinches at the sound of my voice, angling his shoulders away. “Don’t come any closer!”
His voice slams into me like a physical force. I gasp, mind going blank, and the next thing I know I’m on my knees, my hands braced on the floor. An immense pressure weighs on my shoulder, forcing my spine to bend.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and the pressure is gone as quickly as it arrived. I scramble to my feet again, heart racing. “I’m sorry! I just…something is happening. I…” He cuts off in a groan of pain, clawing at his own face. Blood drips from between his fingers.
“Let me help you,” I say. Fear is weakening my knees, making it hard to breathe, but still, it’s obvious he’s in pain. “Tell me what I can do—”
He lowers his hand, turning to me. His eyes meet mine, and they are bloodred, burning. Pure hellfire. And in the center of his forehead, a third eye is emerging from his skin, its slit pupil focusing on me.
“Get out and shut the door,” he rasps, and his voice echoes in my mind.
My mind goes white again. The next thing I am aware of, I’m standing in the hallway, in front of a closed metal door.
* * *
I rush through the door of Dr. Wright’s office, breathing hard.
She turns her chair to face me with a thin smile. “There you are. I was half afraid you’d leave and—”
“There’s something wrong with X-16,” I blurt out.
She pauses, eyes widening in immediate concern. “ Sixteen ?”
I nod, wrapping trembling arms around myself. I explain what I saw from the moment I found his cell open, and Dr. Wright’s shoulders slump in relief as I relay that I shut the door as I left.
“Well, thank God he’s still contained,” she murmurs.
“He seemed like he was in pain,” I say. “He didn’t try to hurt me or anything…”
“He never tries to hurt anybody,” she says. “But trust me, it’s good you got out of there when you did.” She turns, and I realize that we’re not alone in the room. On the other side of her office, a redheaded woman is seated in front of Ezra, shining a flashlight in his eyes. “Ms. Sullivan,” says Dr. Wright, “I’ll have to sedate him first, but would you mind taking a look at X-16 for me before you leave?”
The woman shuts off the flashlight and looks over at us, eyeing me curiously before nodding to Dr. Wright. “Whatever you need. I’m in town all weekend.”
“And we are fortunate that’s the case. How’s our Mr. Bradford?”
Ezra looks over and flashes us a thumbs-up. “I’m good,” he says, though his bruised and battered face looks far from it.
“He’s mildly concussed and lucky not to have a broken nose,” the redhead says dourly. “But from what I’ve heard, it could’ve been a lot worse.”
“See? Even Lucy says I’m good,” Ezra says. He shoots us a crooked smile and then winces from the effort.
“Not what I said.” She nudges his shoulder and then stands and walks over to me. “Your face,” she murmurs, studying it.
I almost forgot about the gouges Godric left across my skin when I fought him in my mind. I reach up a hand to touch the marks and wince.
“Could I take a look, and examine you for any side effects?” Lucy asks.
I shrink back from her, my mind flashing to tests and doctors and a padded cell, but at Ezra’s encouraging nod, I force myself to relax. “Yes.”
As she pulls up a chair beside me and begins looking over my wounds, Dr. Wright sits back in her chair and folds her arms over her chest.
“Now, while we’re here… Is one of you going to tell me the truth, or is this going to be another incident that I have to write off as a freak accident?”
“I can explain,” Ezra says.
“We both can,” I say.
We share a long, loaded look. Both of us know how dangerous the truth can be, and neither of us can give the full story unless we’re both willing to lay everything out on the table. Our secrecy and lies over the last few months. Our abilities, which set us apart from normal people.
After searching my expression, Ezra nods. I turn to Dr. Wright.
“I suppose I should start by reintroducing myself,” I say. “My real name is Daisy Dumont…”
* * *
It takes a long while to sort through everything that’s happened over the last few months. By the time I’m done, Lucy has tended to my face, declared me otherwise healthy, and left to check on Subject X-16. Ezra has pulled his seat beside mine, and we sit with our hands clasped between us as we wait for Dr. Wright to speak.
“Well, I’m not happy with how you’ve handled all of this,” she says, with a pointed look at Ezra. “But I suppose I can’t blame you, either. I was here while the old guard was in charge of the MRF too, Ezra. I understand how afraid you must have been. But I want you to come to me with these concerns from now on.”
“To you,” Ezra says. “As in, not Director Ramsey?”
Dr. Wright’s lips firm as though she’s trying to hide a smile—but then she gives in, and they curve upward. “We haven’t officially made the announcement yet, but he’ll be stepping down from that position soon.”
Ezra’s smile is genuine. “Are congratulations in order?”
“Yes, well. I think we’re all aware that I’ve been the one keeping things running for a while now. Might as well make it official.” She opens her desk and flicks through a stack of papers until she finds what she wants.
I clear my throat delicately. “Sorry to interrupt, and I appreciate your understanding, but…” I clench my hands in my lap, trying to stop them from trembling. “What will this mean for Dorian?”
“As Daisy just explained, Dorian is innocent,” Ezra says. “He’s harmless. More than that, he helped us. He saved my life, and likely the lives of countless others, by preventing Godric from walking free.”
Dr. Wright looks at him—her gaze curious, assessing. “What would you have me do, Ezra?”
Ezra’s grip on my hand tightens. I squeeze him back.
“I think now is the time that we decide what kind of facility we want this place to be,” he says. “And if we want to be better than our predecessors, then…” He sits straighter. “We should do the right thing by setting him free. He never deserved to be locked up in the first place.”
Dr. Wright twirls a pen in one hand, her expression impossible to read. “This has always been a place that captures monsters,” she says. “There is a lot that you don’t know, Ezra. If word of this reached the shareholders…”
“There’s a lot that the shareholders don’t know, too,” Ezra says.
I stay quiet as they share a look. There is so much to this I don’t understand, and I don’t need to. I know that Dorian and I are a small part of a larger story, but all I want is for our chapter to have a happy ending.
“This is all very unorthodox,” Dr. Wright says.
“When has the MRF ever been anything else?” Ezra asks, smiling. “ You get to decide what our new normal is, Director Wright.”
She mirrors his smile. “You’re correct,” she says. “And in most cases, I would want more time to review this. But I think the facts are clear here, and given the assistance that you and X-15 have given us in our time of need, I’m willing to waive some of the formalities.” She scribbles a signature on the bottom of the paper she grabbed, and pushes it across the table to me. “I’m happy to declare X-15 as our facility’s first ‘safe to release’ subject.”
It takes a moment for the words to sink in. I just sit and stare at her, my lips slightly parted. “Just like that?” I whisper, hardly able to believe it.
“It appears to me that X-15 never harmed anyone, including during this incident when he was set free. He should never have been taken into MRF custody in the first place, and I believe that he has suffered unfairly for long enough. We’ll be checking in with you as things settle down here, but he can leave immediately.”
Immediately . It is so much sooner than I could’ve hoped, and I blink away a sudden blur of tears. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“You and your friend saved a lot of lives today.” She reaches over to shake my hand briskly. “I should go check on Sixteen, so Ezra, if you’d like to do the honors, you should still have access to X-15’s cell.”
Ezra blinks, looking as stunned as I feel. “Yes, ma’am. Consider it handled.”
And just like that, she leaves us.
I turn to Ezra, still fighting disbelief. He looks back at me with a tentative smile, and then we both stand and hug one another.
“You really did it,” I say. “You got him released.”
“You saved my life. I think we’re more than even.”
Ezra might not be quite as emotional about this as I am, but I know he invested a lot of energy and heart into Dorian’s release as well. And after years of struggling to do some good in this horrible place, it seems he’s finally made some real change.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he says.
“Thank you for deserving it,” I say.
“Now, let’s go get Dorian out of that cell.”
I nod. “Do you think…would you like to meet him, before we go? Officially, I mean?”
Ezra blinks, surprised, like he hadn’t considered that. After his experiences with Godric, I wonder if maybe he’s had enough monsters for a while. But to my surprise, he smiles. “I think I’d like that very much.”
* * *
“Huh,” Ezra says, looking at the door to cell 15. Or, rather, the empty space where the door once was; it’s sitting on the floor in a twisted heap of metal. “I don’t think you mentioned this part to Director Wright.”
I wince. “Kind of forgot that detail.”
He chuckles. We both look inside to find Dorian sitting on the bed with his hands folded in his lap, waiting patiently.
I smile, holding out a hand. “Come here.”
A blink, and he’s there, gloved hand enveloping mine. I step back, leading him out of the room.
“I’ll just have to deactivate the barrier and grab his…” Ezra trails off, watching me. He blinks as I step back from the threshold, my hand still holding Dorian’s. He may not be able to see Dorian clearly, but we’re not exactly being subtle. “Ah. I see that wasn’t the only detail you left out.”
I shrug, unapologetic. For Ezra’s sake, I wanted to give the MRF a chance to free Dorian the right way and pave a new path for the facility and its monsters. But I was never going to be leaving this building without Dorian at my side.
“Dorian,” I say, squeezing his hand and looking up at him. “I’d like you to officially meet my friend Ezra.”
Dorian gives me a skeptical look from behind his mask. I shoot him an exasperated one. He sighs.
Ezra lets out a small, startled noise, eyes going wide as Dorian flickers into visibility beside me.
After a long moment, Dorian extends one gloved hand. “How do you do?”
“Er…nice to meet you face to…face?” Ezra sucks in a breath and reaches out to grasp it in his. The handshake is polite, perfunctory—but then Dorian reaches out to clasp Ezra’s hand with another, and then the other two, till he’s holding him with all four. While Ezra stands there, baffled, Dorian inclines his long body in a bow.
“I am very grateful for your assistance in my release,” he says. “And for your looking after Daisy while I was unable to. I’m glad she has a…” His eyes narrow slightly as he forces the word out. “Friend.”
“Oh. Er…My pleasure. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Grinning, I step forward and throw an arm around each of them, pulling them into a hug.
“Thank you both,” I whisper. Then I take Dorian’s hand in mine and smile up at him. “Let’s go home.”