32. Fiona
Chapter 32
Fiona
Andrew argues with his father in Chinese. I take the moment to compose myself when all I want to do is curl into a ball and die. Watching Clay shatter…I’ll never forgive myself. I should have just ran to him. Sure, they’d kill me, but at least Clay would know that I would never betray him.
We relied too much on his powers to determine the truth. We should have focused on building trust the old-fashioned way. One day at a time, but time was never on our side. His powers saw nothing but truth when Edgar asked his question about my aunt, and it might have cost us everything.
“Take her to her room. Discussion is over,” Dr. Chen barks, striding away.
Andrew sighs, taking the elbow of my good arm. He doesn’t speak until he punches in a code and guides me into a room that’s identical to Clay’s down a different hallway. He picks up a tablet from the table and taps a few buttons until the camera in the corner turns off.
“I don’t know how long I can keep lying for you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You weren’t very convincing back there. Father ordered me to keep you in here until we can be sure of your loyalties.”
I cross my arms and look away as traitorous tears escape.
“There’s no way you're an Infinitum sympathizer. I saw the way you looked at him.”
I glare at him. “Then turn me in and be done with it. You don’t need to protect me.”
He sets the tablet down. “You think I want this? Not long ago, I was envisioning a happy life for us. They want me to put a bullet in your brain the second you show any sign of being a traitor.”
I face him, crossing my arms. “You’d do it too. Wouldn’t you?”
He sighs, taking my hand. “I’m going to do everything in my power to prevent it, but you have to help me. You can’t show any emotion around him.”
I swallow and nod. He didn’t answer the question, but I guess he doesn’t have to. I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life. How could Clay view me the same, knowing I’m related to the woman responsible for his trauma? The future we planned was a joke, and we didn’t even know it. If I want to get out of this, I have to pretend like the past year never happened. I have to pretend like I didn’t give my heart, body, and soul over to an amazing man. I have to pretend like it doesn’t kill me or I’ll be dead, anyway.
After a fitful night of rest, someone arrives with my breakfast and I eat in the terrible silence, startling when the anteroom door slides open with a hydraulic hiss.
“Come with me,” Eli says. My spoon clatters to the bowl as he places his hand on the panel and the door to my room slides open.
“Where are we going?”
He barges past me, opening the wardrobe and handing me black cargo pants and a gray sweater. “Put them on. It will be cold.”
He turns his back while I dress. I throw my hair into a ponytail and he constricts the air long enough for him to whisper, “stay by my side. No matter what happens, don’t react.”
We walk down the hall, our footsteps the only sound. We reach a door and once through it, Eli hugs me to him. “Hold on tight.”
We fall through a tunnel of light and arrive seconds later on a cliff side overlooking the ocean. A corner juts out like the bow of a ship, curving into a small hill before it plummets at least fifty feet to craggy rocks. Sunlight glints in the spray of the waves that reach past the edge, shooting into the sky like liquid fireworks.
Four men wearing metal bands across their foreheads surround another man, who lies unconscious in the middle. His arm sits at a stomach-curdling angle, and I avert my gaze, struggling to keep my face neutral. First generation super soldiers, or First Gens as they’re called in my forum, are another myth come to life. They’re spoken of in hushed whispers like the boogeyman when we were kids.
A group of men in lab coats mingle nearby. Andrew and his father are among them, and Andrew’s eyes widen when he sees me. More men in black uniforms stand at parade rest in a line behind them. I stay within Eli’s reach while I attempt to be as invisible as possible.
All conversation halts, and everyone takes an appraising look at me as Eli approaches the group.
“His name?” he asks in a controlled tone.
“Gerard Clemens,” the younger lab coat holding a clipboard replies.
“Background?”
“Twenty-five years old. Initiated one year ago. His father was part of phase 4 trial.”
“You may begin,” he intones, and Dr. Chen nods to another lab coat, who approaches the unconscious man with a syringe. He injects the needle and hustles back to the group. The First Gens stand straight, unmoving, with their gazes locked on the man. A sense of dread settles low in my gut.
Nothing happens for several minutes, but like something out of a movie, the man’s arm moves back into its proper position, lesions and burns on his skin I hadn’t noticed before heal before my very eyes. My mouth pops open, but I clamp it shut. Luckily, nobody is paying the slightest bit of attention to me.
The man slowly blinks and sits up, his expression guarded, while everyone else waits for Eli to speak. He swallows once, then nods at Chen before he turns on his heel and strides away. I chase after him, struggling to keep up and tripping over my own feet as I cast glances at the man, who settles into a cross-legged position and closes his eyes. The lab coats murmur with excitement.
Eli stops at the point of the bow-like cliff and stares at the churning water below. We’re far enough away that I risk a question.
“What was that?” I whisper.
He sighs, clenching his fists before he fixes his gaze on the horizon. “The beginning of the end.”
The group disperses. Super soldiers and First Gens speed away with the lab coats.
“This is where everything changed for me,” Eli says.
I stand next to him, wrapping my arms around my middle. “What happened?”
“I tossed the woman I was in love with off this cliff to prove a point.”
And just like that, I’m reminded of the dangerous company I keep. He glances at me. “She survived.”
“Was it Deanna?”
He laughs, the sound so sudden, I startle. “If only.”
He holds his hand out to me and I let him pull me against him. We arrive at Insidatrex a moment later and he walks me back to my cell.
“Why did you take me with you?” I ask once I’m sealed inside.
“It was a statement. The demonstration was only for officials, and all the higher ups noted your presence with me. Nobody will mess with you. Not even Andrew or his father. But that doesn’t mean you’re safe. Nowhere is safe, Fiona. The second you forget that, you’re dead.”
I nod, clenching my fists to stave off the fear.
“In a few days, they’re promoting me to Victor’s old position. I’ll instate you as my second after its announced. It will require your public oath of loyalty to Infinitum and to me. It’s a bond that death can only break, and it goes both ways.”
I stare at him. The stakes keep climbing higher and higher.
“Edgar knows you’re in love with Clay. We’ll figure a way out of that mess later. We’re in this now. Stay awake.” My eyes widen. He knows about the forum.
My ears pop and he departs without a backwards glance. I’m left wondering if I escaped the frying pan, only to land in the fire.