Whoa. Overwhelmed was an understatement.
I was freaked out that the woman had been able to speak to me in my head. Not because I didn’t know about the ability, it was that she managed to get through my blocks I had around my thoughts. Blocks I’d spent years building.
“Like I said, meddling. You good?”
“Yeah.” But I didn’t like having someone speak to me in my head. It was invasive and scary. “Can I… can I be alone?”
A subtle twitch at the corner of his mouth and his hand squeezed my hip. “Fuck, yeah. You need me, I’ll be upstairs.” He let me go and quietly left.
I sat in the wide lounge chair by the window, fighting the raging emotions I swore died inside me years ago. I wanted to curl up and sleep for weeks.
But I wasn’t safe here. I don’t think I’d ever feel safe again.
There was a faded memory before my parents died when I’d felt safe. I remember my room all dressed in pink, subtle and soft like cotton candy. There’d been frills on my bed and the curtains, and I had a pink blanket laying over the back of a rocking chair where my mom used to sit and read to me. When I was older, I’d sit and read to myself.
Had it been a dream? Why were so many memories from my childhood gone? Why couldn’t I remember what my parents looked like anymore?
I pulled my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees. Despite what the Wraith, Genevieve, said, this was another prison. Just a decorated one.
WHEN I ENTERED THE kitchen, breakfast was already made and on the dining room table in the next room. Unfortunately, that meant the other Scars were sitting at the table eating.
“Hey, buddy,” Jedrik said as he shoveled in a mouthful of scrambled eggs.
“I’m not your fuckin’ buddy.” I grabbed a plate from the cupboard above the toaster and moved to the table to pile on eggs, two pieces of rye bread, a few slices of well-done bacon, and a slice of tomato. Then I sat across the table from Jedrik.
Hack, who was in the seat at the head of the table, reached across and grabbed two pieces of toast and his favorite morning vegetable, green beans. I shook my head with disgust as he made a green bean sandwich with a shitload of hot mustard and Tabasco sauce.
Jedrik laughed. “You know, Hack, ever thought of going on a reality show? ‘Cause, man, you could win eating competitions hands down.”
“Not eating bugs. I hate those things—June bugs, cockroaches.” He made an exaggerated shiver. “Could you imagine the sick crunch those suckers would make? Not happening.”
“Hey, boys.” Anstice strolled in wearing jeans and a white blouse. Her massive furball dog ambled in after her, probably hoping for leftovers. She grabbed a plate from the pile at the end of the table and sat beside Jedrik. “What things?”
“Hack hates eating bugs,” Jedrik announced.
“Really? Any bugs or just certain ones?” Anstice asked as she scooped scrambled eggs out of the bowl and onto her plate.
“Anything with a solid crunch.” Jedrik grabbed a green bean, lifted it to his mouth, and crunched. “Mmm, friggin’ good.”
Hack threw a piece of toast at him, but Jedrik was quick with his telekinesis and sent a strip of bacon back at him.
Fuckin’ idiots.
Jedrik turned to me. “So what’s the deal? You show up in the middle of the night with this chick from the compound?” Everyone had seen me carry a sleeping Rayne through the house into the basement. When the questions started, I ignored them and I told everyone to back the fuck off. They did. Now, that was ending. “Compound was off the board until Waleron gave the okay.”
“Not off my board,” I said.
“She mean something to you?” he continued.
I wasn’t justifying my actions to any of them. Never had and I wasn’t about to start. And the truth was, I didn’t know, and right now, I was still reeling about Genevieve’s unannounced drop in. I hadn’t seen her in over a hundred years, after I escaped my brother’s torture chamber. Seeing her brought back memories I wanted no part of.
“Waleron’s going to kick your ass,” Jedrik went on. “You sure you don’t want to go back to Vancouver with Quill?” He looked at me, a mild twitch playing at the corners of his mouth like he was trying to keep from smiling.
Interesting. Quill left? He’d come in with me last night, although he stayed upstairs with the other Scars. He’d probably told them what happened at the compound. I was betting it was Anstice who warned him to leave before Waleron found out. Pussy.
I ignored Jedrik and shoved a strip of bacon in my mouth.
“She tell you anything about what the hell that place was besides a Scar testing laboratory? Ryker is too fucked up and can’t tell us anything.” Jedrik shook his head. “Friggin’ guy has completely lost it. Maybe when we talk to her, she can—”
“No one goes near her.” My fork clattered on my plate as I dropped it. Just the thought of Rayne being interrogated sent my pulse racing.
Jedrik continued, “She has to know something about why the CWOs were there and—”
I slammed my fist down on the table and Jedrik grabbed his juice before it toppled over. “Leave her the fuck alone. She is screwed up enough and doesn’t need us grilling her.”
“Fuck, man. It’s just a few questions.”
“That she isn’t answering. The CWOs are dead. Compound is gone. End of story.” Yesterday, I remember thinking I’d ask her myself about the compound and hand her over to Waleron to get her memory erased.