Penumbra (22 page)

Again Sam wondered if Mary's memories were true, or if she was getting imagination and reality mixed up. She glanced up as the nurse finished her exam.

“She's fine,” the nurse said. “Just keep her calm.”

Sam nodded, waiting until the two nurses had left the room before continuing her questions. “Did Joshua say why he was here, Mary?”

“He said it was all right to talk. He said they couldn't stop me anymore.” Fear briefly crossed her half-frozen features. “Maybe that's why
he
came. He knew.”

“He who? I really need to know which one of them, Mary, so we can stop him.”

Mary frowned again, then eventually said, “The general. It was the general.”

“Blaine? Or Lloyd?” It had to be one of them. Lloyd was an obstetrician, and apparently in charge of the Hopeworth breeding pens. Blaine had been the man behind the experiments and training, and maybe even the whole Penumbra project.

But if it was Blaine, which of the Blaines had been here? The one she'd met in Wetherton's car, or the one who'd been in Wetherton's office?

And did it actually matter? Just because she hadn't felt anything evil about the first Blaine didn't mean he wasn't.

“It was Blaine.” Mary shuddered. “We used to call him the day shadow. Always creeping about, he was, and harder to spot than a ghost at dusk.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Didn't get a chance, did he? He saw Joshua and scooted out of here as fast as he could.”

“So he recognized Josh?”

Mary smiled. “You always used to call him that when you were angry with him. It was like you couldn't get his full name out fast enough.”

Her
dreams had never shown her angry at the man who was supposedly her brother. The only emotions in the dreams were fear and longing—fear of what the scientists were doing, and of what Joshua was going to do. And longing to be free, to have what she'd never had—a family, friends. Things she still didn't possess.

“Did we fight often?”

Mary shrugged. “You were as different as night and day, you two. You were always the fiery one, the one quick to judge. He was more…careful.” She looked away for a minute, her gaze distant. “But for all that, I always thought he was the more dangerous of the two of you. He never seemed to have limits of any kind. And he did some nasty things.”

“We both did,” she said softly.

Mary's gaze met hers again, and she raised a slightly shaking hand to brush Sam's skin with dry fingertips. “In many ways, you were always the good one. What you did, you had to do.”

Her words made Sam remember the pin Joe had given her. Had it been more of a clue than she realized? Had the abstract man and woman on its surface—one light, one dark—represented her and the man who was supposedly her twin?

Had Joe been trying to tell her that he knew not only who she was, but who her brother was? And did that mean he was a friend or foe? For sure, he'd warned her of trouble more than once, but that didn't mean she could trust him. Hell, for all she knew, Joe might be Blaine in disguise.

“Mary, was there anyone on the project who went by the name of Joe Black?”

Mary frowned. “Not that I remember. But then, I didn't know everyone on the project, because I was basically confined to the nursery and housing areas. Nor did I know all the secret names you two called yourselves. Only some.”

“Can you remember some of the other names?”

“Not really. I only remembered Josephine and Joshua because those were the names you used most often.”

“What about Sethanon? Is that one of them? Or maybe the name of someone who worked there?”

“Sethanon?” Her frown deepened. “I don't think there was anyone on the project called that. It's such an odd name that surely I'd remember it. But Joshua was once caught reading a book by that name, I'm sure.”

A chill went through her. “Sethanon is a book title?”

“Yeah. I caught him reading it well before they did, and I warned him. But he took no notice.”

“So we weren't allowed to read fiction?”

“No, only what they gave you. On technologies, weapons, stuff like that.” Mary shrugged. “No one ever knew how he got that book. When they took it off him, he got mad.” She looked away again. “Joshua would never have hurt me, I knew that, but that day I was afraid. And not just of him, but of both of you.”

Sam raised her eyebrows. “Why both of us?”

Mary's gaze came back to Sam's. “Because separately you were powerful, but together—I swear, heaven and earth trembled in fear of your wrath that day.”

Sam swallowed heavily but didn't ask what had happened. Right now, she really didn't want to know. It was enough to know that she was not what she'd presumed—and that the past she'd spent most of her life trying to uncover was one better left shuttered. And yet, now that she'd started down the path of remembering, there was no turning back. The military and their rising level of interest ensured that, if nothing else.

Besides, the dreams were becoming relentless. Remembering was being forced on her, whether she wanted it or not.

“If we were so powerful, Mary, how did they ever restrain us?”

Her smile was grim. “Simply by placing special pellets under your skins, and threatening the death of one if the other did anything out of place.”

She remembered the dream in which she and Joshua had been running up a slope on a moonless night. Remembered the promise he'd made as fire danced across his fingertips that soon they would have their revenge and be free.

He'd obviously found a way to remove the pellets and fulfill that promise.

“How did you escape the fire that destroyed the project, Mary?”

“I don't know.” She frowned. “There was an explosion, and heat—horrible heat—and the next thing I remember I was outside on this grassy slope.” She rubbed her arms. “I think an angel saved me that day. I should have died with the rest of them. The nursery was the second place the fire hit.”

“And the first?”

“The arena where they used to train you both.”

Something in the way she said that scratched at Sam's instincts. “Both of us? What about the others?”

“There were no others. Not in…” Mary hesitated and rubbed her forehead. “It still hurts if I try to say the name. Joshua told me it wouldn't.”

Sam lightly squeezed the older woman's free hand. “You don't need to say the name, Mary. I know the project.” She hesitated. “So, Joshua and I were the only ones in Penumbra?”

Mary nodded. “There were others created. Lots of others. But none of them survived past toddlerhood. No one knew why, but I reckon it was because you were twins. You had each other, and you took care of each other. The other little ones had no one but themselves.”

Karl had said that walkers came as a pair. That they had to, or they could become lost in the very power they were destined to control. Was that the reason she and Joshua had survived when the others hadn't? Because they were twins? Yet if Joshua was her base, why did she appear to have a connection with Gabriel?

And if Hopeworth had studied walkers, and were intermixing walker genes with those of other races, how could they not know that walkers had to come as a pair to survive?

“So we were the only twins they bred?”

“They didn't breed you as twins. It just happened in utero. One whole became two.”

A chill went through Sam.
Two halves of a whole.
Joe had said that, too. Another clue she hadn't taken note of.

God, who
was
he?

And was he friend or foe? Or something else altogether?

“So once the project was destroyed, you left?”

Mary nodded. “I went on to work for several adoption agencies.”

“And the military hasn't tried to contact you before now?”

Mary shook her head. “Not until now.”

So what was different about now? But even as the question went through her mind, Sam remembered Blaine's reaction as he'd come out of Wetherton's office. Remembered his certainty that they'd met before, that she knew just who he was and what he did in the military.

She
was the reason he'd come to see Mary.

He'd wanted to confirm his suspicions, and Mary was the one person left alive who seemed able to connect her with that red-haired child bred and raised in Hopeworth.

This meant Mary couldn't stay here. Blaine would be back—and if there was one thing Sam was certain of, it was that she didn't want Blaine anywhere near either her or Mary. And while Mary might be living in a fantasy world most of the time, what she did remember of the past was enough to confirm any suspicions Blaine might have. And once that happened, they would come after Sam in force. She'd been bred to be a weapon. It didn't matter if her abilities were buried along with her memories. They'd want her back regardless.

Maybe that was why Joshua had come here, to give Mary permission to tell all. Maybe he was trying to speed up Sam's memory so that she could escape Hopeworth's clutches once again.

She glanced around as Gabriel walked into the room. “Any success?”

He shook his head. “I saw a crow fly away from the window, but by the time I shifted shape and flew after it, its lead was too great.”

Joshua in crow form? Or Joe? And if it
had
been Joe, what did he want with Mary? “I wouldn't have thought a crow would be faster than a hawk.”

“Neither would I.” He stopped beside the sofa and gave Mary a smile. “Are you all right?”

“I don't know you,” Mary said, somewhat crossly. She glanced at Sam. “Do I know him?”

“This is my new partner, Mary. His name is Gabriel, and he's going to arrange a nice place for you to stay while we track down Blaine.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, but he didn't refute the statement. “Somewhere nice and safe.”

The mobile half of Mary's face lit up. “A holiday would be nice. Gets boring, this place does.”

Sam patted the older woman's knee and rose. “We'll just go talk to the nurses and arrange it, then.”

“And lock the damn window,” Mary said. “I don't want that bastard coming back to visit me while you're gone.”

Sam obeyed, locking the window and closing the curtains for good measure. When they were out in the hall, Gabriel asked, “What was that all about?”

“Mary was screaming because she saw Blaine.” Sam glanced back at the room to ensure Mary wasn't moving around, then looked back at him. “And if Blaine
was
visiting her, it's because he wanted to confirm his suspicions about me.”

Gabriel frowned. “But the nurses said she had no visitors.”

“No visitors that checked in with them. That doesn't mean there weren't any.”

“Or that Mary wasn't imagining it.”

Sam nodded, conceding the point even if she didn't believe that was the case. “What, exactly, did you see when you climbed out of the car?”

“I thought I saw something move—something that was human in shape and yet held no substance.”

“And later, when you gave chase?”

“A crow, as I said.”

She blew out a breath. “A crow is one of Joshua's shapes, apparently.” But it was also one of Joe's. And one of them, more than likely, was Kathryn Douglass's murderer.

If
they were two separate beings, that was. It was more than possible Joe and Joshua were one and the same.

“So this Joshua of yours is Blaine?”

The sudden edge in his voice surprised her, though, as usual, there was little emotion to be seen in his expression. She shook her head. “Not unless he can be in two places at the same time. Mary was talking to Joshua when Blaine appeared. Blaine apparently recognized Josh and ran. Joshua gave chase.”

“So if it was Joshua I was chasing, what happened to Blaine?”

“Who knows? But Mary called him a day shadow—apparently he could creep around without being seen.”

His eyebrows rose. “Meaning he could still be here? Can you feel him?”

Sam extended her senses, searching, but there was no sense of the shadowy evil she'd felt earlier. Blaine—if it was indeed Blaine she'd sensed—had gone. She shook her head.

“So, the question is,” Gabriel said, “why were both men here today?”

“If you believe her—and I do—then Joshua was here to tell Mary that it was okay to tell me everything. He apparently told her the military could no longer stop her.”

He studied her, his face unreadable. “And Blaine?”

“As I said, I think he was here to confirm his suspicions. Mary worked in the nursery. She's probably the only one left alive who has any true knowledge about me and Joshua.”

“Did you ask her about Sethanon?”

Sam nodded. “She didn't know anyone by that name, but said that Joshua was punished once for reading a book with that title.”

“A book? He named himself after a book?”

“Well, if Sethanon is actually Joshua, then yes. But it's a bit of a long shot, isn't it?”

Gabriel shrugged. “We've never been able to find a birth record for someone with that name, so it has to be an alias. And there's no rule stating an alias can't come from a book title.”

“But if Joshua
is
this Sethanon of yours, then how has he managed to remain unknown so long?”

“I think the only people who might be able to answer our questions are Blaine and Lloyd,” Gabriel said. “Both of them were involved in the Penumbra project.”

“And neither of them will be inclined to be forthcoming.”

“I agree.” Gabriel hesitated. “Look, let's get Mary moved; then we can talk some more.”

Sam studied him for a moment, again noting the sudden edge in his voice. “About what, exactly?”

“About crows. The one seen here, and the people you know who are crows.”