“That’s right, middlemen.” She cocked her head to look down at me. She was definitely enjoying this. “We’re not the ones you should be afraid of. The folks who bought you paid a lot to get their hands on someone like you.”
“Who is it, the Daylighters?” But of course it was Agent Truman or one of his lackeys. He was probably already here somewhere, waiting for his chance to take me into custody. To strap me to some other table in some other lab and start experimenting—slicing and dicing. “Are they taking Thom too?”
She made a face. “No. I mean, yes, we’re selling Thom to the Daylighters, but not you. You should be so lucky. Once your buyers get their hands on you, they’re never gonna let you go.” She said it as if Agent Truman would have, and I think we both knew that wasn’t true.
I wasn’t sure who I was more sorry for: me, heading off to the unknown, or Thom, who’d be passed off to the dreaded Daylight Division. But all I could focus on was the one word she’d used: never.
She and Eddie Ray and Natty were planning to hand me over to someone who had no intention of letting me leave. Ever.
I practically choked myself trying to turn away again. I didn’t want her to see the tears building behind my eyes. I hated crying, but I was far too groggy to stop it. Even though I’d healed and my body was 100 percent, I was finally realizing that she and Natty and Eddie Ray had beaten me. I was thoroughly-completely-utterly defeated.
Even though I didn’t respond, my elevated heart rate probably said it all.
I’d never see my mom or my dad again. Never get the chance to see my little brother, Logan, or Cat or Austin.
I’d never get the chance to tell Simon how grateful I was that he’d saved my life. How much I appreciated everything he’d done for me, to keep me safe, to reunite me with my dad and Tyler.
But even I knew I was a liar, because my feelings for Simon weren’t all about gratitude. If whoever they were planned to kill me, or let me die, then why shouldn’t I at least be honest with myself?
Simon mattered. More than I meant for him to.
And if I was really playing the truth game, so had that kiss . . . the one he’d given me when he’d said good-bye.
That sweet, demanding, puzzling kiss that reminded me so much . . . too much of Simon himself. Demanding and complicated. And sometimes, when he really wanted to be, sweet even.
I squeezed my eyes shut and my vision blurred. Hot streams poured down my cheeks.
Then there was Tyler. I’d never see Tyler again.
“Don’t you want to ask again? I heard you asked Natty why you. Don’t you want to know the truth?” Blondie tugged the tube that disappeared beneath the sleeve of the hospital gown I was wearing. She didn’t try to be gentle since she must know by now that my skin had definitely healed around it, locking it firmly in place.
“No.”
“Aw, c’mon. It was more fun when you were playing along,” she coaxed.
Any other time I would’ve added a little something to my inflection, but I had nothing left to give. “Screw you,” I said flatly.
She laughed, because that’s what I was, a big, fat joke.
Kneeling down so she was right in front of my face, she whispered, “But here’s the thing—I wanna tell you. No harm in it, I suppose. It’s not like you can tell anyone, right?”
She reached out, her cold, spiderlike fingers stroking my cheek, and even though I felt dead inside, I couldn’t stop from inwardly cringing. “You’re not like us,” she said, like this was some major revelation.
It didn’t matter what she said. If she was right, if they were planning to pass me off to someone else—someone who’d apparently paid a lot of money for me—then I didn’t give a crap what their reasons were. My fate had already been decided.
It didn’t stop her from pretending we were having a conversation. “What?” she chided. “You think I mean that you can do things we can’t?” She spoke quietly, a whispery sort of venom to her tone. “Did someone forget to tell you the part where those things up there might not be as peace-loving as we’ve been led to believe? And . . . whatever you are . . . whatever they made you into . . .” Her fingernails sank sharply into the flesh of my cheek. “Don’t even kid yourself we’re the same because I know what I am. I’m still part human.”
She may as well have jammed Lucy right into my heart. I could no longer ignore her, even though part of me was convinced she was insane—the way she touched and prodded me, her low, boastful voice.
What was she saying—that it really was us versus them? That I was the enemy?
“You’re wrong,” I started, and then changed my tactic. Pissing her off seemed like a seriously bad idea. “You’re confused. I want the same thing you do. We’re on the same side.”
She leaned closer, and the notion she might be crazy amplified. “This is bigger than us. Way, way bigger. You know they’re up there. I know you know it. You feel them, don’t you?” She did that thing my dad had, where she nodded skyward as if to say, Them, the aliens.