Chapter Two #2
Reed swallowed and looked down at his hands.
He needed to speak, and he wasn’t sure where to start.
He was pretty sure that the best way to do this was to be completely honest with them.
If he put everything on the table, including the fact that he’d worked in the lab, there wouldn’t be any bad surprises later.
Everyone would know what they were getting into.
No one pushed him to speak. Reed was pretty sure that Franklin was just about ready to reach over the table and give him a good shake, but he kept his hands to himself. His gaze was intense, and Reed couldn’t find it in himself to look up as he started confessing what he’d done.
“I’m a mutant, like you,” he started, hoping that would mean they would give him the benefit of the doubt. He gestured at his hair. “This is a sign of my ability. But unlike you, I was created by accident.”
“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of any mutants created by accident,” Moore said. “But Rikar and Franklin aren’t mutants. I’m the only one other than you who’s at the table.”
Reed was only half surprised to hear that.
He suspected that Rikar was here because he was a Nix, probably the leader of the tribe, while Franklin was obviously here because he was related to Garrett.
Reed didn’t know if there were other mutants around, and he didn’t dare look.
It wasn’t like it would change anything.
He was in enough danger as it was, surrounded by three men who could no doubt kill him with barely more than a thought.
He nodded. “It was an accident. I wasn’t one of the subjects in the cages.
I was a lab technician.” He paused, waiting for something, maybe for one of the men around the table to explode.
When nothing happened, he glanced up at Franklin, who was staring at him with intense eyes.
It made Reed shiver because he wasn’t sure what was going through Franklin’s mind.
Was he planning how to kill Reed? He’d probably want answers first.
When no one said anything, Reed continued, “I’m not going to come up with excuses.
I needed a job, and what the Glass Research Company offered seemed like a good job.
It was, initially. They didn’t thrust me with this kind of facility right away, but when they did, it was too late for me to back down.
I knew that if I tried to leave, they’d find a way to keep me quiet, and it wouldn’t be a nice way.
I was still planning on doing just that, but the accident happened before I could.
I’m still not sure what went on that day.
There was an explosion, and when I woke up, I was in one of the beds.
It took everyone a few days to realize that I wasn’t the same person I’d been before, and from then on, I was a prisoner.
They didn’t put me in a cage, but there was no denying that.
They forced me to use my ability on people, and I did it. ”
“They would’ve killed you otherwise,” Franklin said.
“I don’t know about that. I was useful to them, so maybe not.”
“You’re only useful to them if you do what they want. They would’ve killed you if you hadn’t.”
Reed blinked at Franklin. He wasn’t sure what was going on.
“Either way, I did horrible things even before the accident. Maybe what happened to me was karma, or maybe it was a punishment for what I allowed to be done. Either way, there’s no going back.
Eventually, one of the other lab technicians helped me.
She let me escape, but I knew I couldn’t leave.
I wanted to help the people left behind. ”
“You wanted to atone,” Moore said.
Reed nodded curtly. “I escaped six months ago. Since then, I’ve been gathering as much information as possible on this lab, in particular. I know it very well, so I thought it was logical. I also know a lot of the people who work there, as well as the people who are being held there.”
“Including Garrett,” Franklin said.
“Including him.”
“You mentioned a demonstration,” Rikar interrupted.
“It’s what I gathered from the emails I found when I hacked into several servers. The government will be there, as well as well-known rich criminals. The Glass Research Company is in it for the profit. They’re going to make one, no matter what.”
“They’re going to sell my brother,” Franklin said with a growl. “And you helped them.”
“I never wanted to hurt anyone. Once I realized that was what they expected of me, it was too late.”
“It’s never too late to do the right thing.”
“I agree. That’s why I’m doing what I can now.”
“A little bit late, don’t you think?”
“I hope not.”
Moore cleared his throat. “So you’ve been watching the people who work in the lab for six months.”
“Watching them and gathering as much information about them as I could find. I have the name of every single person who works there and of most of the subjects. I know where every guard will be and when, and I know where the cameras are.”
“You haven’t used that knowledge.”
“I want to, but if I try to go in alone, things will not end well for me or for anyone I’m trying to help.
I might have an ability that no one else has, but I can’t use it on many people, not all at once.
I definitely can’t use it to free the prisoners.
” He leaned forward. “I know you don’t have a reason to trust me, and I don’t blame you for that.
I don’t blame you for being wary of me or for being angry.
I don’t care if you hate me, although I’d rather you didn’t, mostly because I’m afraid of what you might do if you did.
I know that you only have my word, but I really want to help the people still suffering today at the hands of the Glass Research Company.
I don’t think it’ll ever be enough to atone, but I have to at least try.
I have to help where I can. I should have done it a long time ago, and I didn’t. It’s time that changed.”
Moore leaned back in his seat. He and Rikar glanced at each other. It looked like they were having a conversation without speaking. Reed supposed it was possible. Rikar was a Nix, which meant that he could use telepathy with his mate. Maybe Moore was his mate.
Reed looked away, only to realize that Franklin was staring at him.
He wasn’t sure what to think of the man, but the way he was watching Reed was odd.
He probably just wanted to strangle Reed, and Reed couldn’t blame him.
He wouldn’t blame anyone who wanted to hurt him.
Some days, he wanted to hurt himself, both because of what he’d done and what he’d become.
There was no way out of this for him. He would have to learn to accept his present, but maybe helping people, helping Garrett, would help with that.
* * * *
FRANKLIN WASN’T SURE what to think of Reed.
On the one hand, he’d been in a similar position Reed had been in.
He’d worked for a few labs over the years as he tried to find his siblings, and while there, he’d seen things that had made him wish he could intervene.
He’d tried helping the people in the cages as much as he could, but he’d had to be careful.
He’d known they wouldn’t hesitate to kick him out, or worse, if they thought he was planning on freeing anyone.
His goal had always been to find his siblings, and as much as he wanted to help other people, that hadn’t changed.
He’d had to step away from things that made him want to scream and cry, and he had.
He still felt guilty about it, and he suspected he always would.
It was different for Reed. He hadn’t gone into the labs looking for a loved one.
He hadn’t gotten in there to help people.
He’d started working for the Glass Research Company because he wanted money, and the only reason he’d stopped was that he’d turned into a mutant and they’d been using him.
And now, well. He couldn’t change what he was.
He’d never be able to. Maybe this was his punishment for what he’d done while he worked for the company, just like he’d said.
Franklin didn’t know, and he told himself that he shouldn’t care.
Reed had hurt people willingly, not because he’d been trying to help someone else. That made him different from Franklin.
It might just make him the enemy.
But Franklin needed Reed. He was the only one who could help them with Garrett, and Franklin wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of that.
He’d be friendly with Reed if he had to.
He wasn’t sure what Rikar and Moore were going to do about him once this was over, and he didn’t really care.
He only cared about finding Garrett, and he was pretty sure the only way for him to do that was through Reed.
That meant he’d help the man, no matter what.
But part of him couldn’t help but wonder if Reed had ever hurt his siblings.
From the way he talked, it was clear that he knew Garrett and that he’d had some kind of contact with him.
What had he done to Garrett? Had he hurt him?
Had he been one of the people who’d turned Garrett into whatever he was now?
Reed had said that he was a lab technician, so maybe not, but at the very least, he’d helped.
If Franklin ever found out that Reed had a hand in what happened to his siblings, he wasn’t sure how he would react. Other than not well.
He tightened his hands into fists. He wanted to demand answers, but he didn’t want Moore to decide to kick him out of the diner. He could feel the man watching him as it was.
“So you want to work with us,” Moore said.
Reed nodded once. “I do. I’ll give you all the information I have. Hopefully, it’ll be enough for you to get into the lab and free everyone.”
“We’ve done something similar before, and we didn’t have your help. Everything went well anyway.”