Tremble (22 page)

“I know it’s here,” Kale snapped. He was in the corner by Dad’s bookcase, running his hands along the bottom of each shelf. When he came up empty-handed, he stood and kicked the corner. “Damn it!”

I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to hearing Kale curse. I made my way to him, taking his hands in mine. With a squeeze, I said, “It’s okay. We’ll find it.”

Something tapped against the back of my hand. His fingers. One. Two. Three. “Lives depend on finding it. Your life depends on finding it. How can you be so calm?”

“Calm? Trust me, I’m not as calm as I seem. I’m actually kind of a mess.”

The tapping stopped and he reached across to cup my cheek. “A mess? No. Not even close, Dez.”

This was dirty pool on the universe’s part. To push us together after being pulled apart for so long. All I wanted to do in that moment was kiss him. Thankfully it was one of the few moments lately that I didn’t find distraction plaguing me. I was able to pull away. “Come on. We don’t have much time.”

27

It killed me to walk away from him, but this wasn’t the place for
Kale Time
. I made a move to cross the room. There was a file cabinet in the corner we still hadn’t checked. But Kale stiffened and clamped a hand across my mouth. I waited, breath held, and then heard it, too. Voices in the hall.

Kale grabbed my arm and made a move toward the door, but there was nowhere to go. The office had no closet, and the desk wasn’t big enough for both of us to hide under.

But I had an idea. After shoving Kale toward Dad’s leather sofa, I pushed him down, tore off my T-shirt, and straddled him, bending down just as the door flew open.

“What the hell is going on?” Dad growled.

Doing my best impression of Kiernan’s innocent stare, I lifted my head from Kale’s and frowned. “Sorry, Daddy,” I said, snapping up the shirt and clutching it to my chest. “We were just—”

“I can see what you were doing,” he barked. “How did you get in here?”

Déjà vu
. When I’d snuck into his original office in Parkview, he’d asked me the same question—only that one had been easier to answer. There was no way he’d buy that the door was open.

“Gino let us in.” Kale sat up, coolly elbowing me aside. He inclined his head in my direction. “She wanted to go someplace private.”

Dad’s face was a mask of rage. “Of course she did. This is all one big game to her.” He stepped closer, finger jabbing at the air inches from my face. “If you don’t straighten up, I’m putting you right back where I found you. You’ve done nothing but screw up since the moment you got here! Deznee is a pain in the ass, but she’s a thousand times smarter than you are—now
get out
!”

I didn’t need to fake the stricken look I knew was plastered all over my face. Dad had always been distant and cold to me. Then, when I found out who he really was, he’d shown his true colors. A man with no heart. But until this moment I truly believed he must have had some semblance of human emotion—even if it was buried deep. If this was how he treated her, why the hell did Kiernan stay? Why did she resent me for growing up with him when she couldn’t? The man was a bastard.

We didn’t move fast enough. Dad slammed his hand against the doorframe and said, “Don’t make me tell you again.”

I stuffed my arms through the shirtsleeves and stumbled off the couch, Kale at my heels. We were out the door and into the hall before I took another breath. “Holy crap. That was close.”

“We didn’t find the vial,” he growled.

“We’ll have another shot.” I almost sounded like I believed it, too. The truth was, every minute that ticked away, our window of opportunity got smaller and smaller.

Kale stopped walking. We’d made it to the staircase. “No.
We
won’t. You’re leaving. She won’t be out forever, and just because she looks like you doesn’t mean she won’t be able to prove what you did. A few select questions from Marshal and this will explode in your face.”

“But we can—”

“Too dangerous. Bringing you here served one purpose. To get me back inside as a trusted Denazen affiliate. That’s done. There’s no reason for you to stay.”

“What about that speech in the car? What a great team we made?” I fumed. He couldn’t force me to leave him behind. I wouldn’t stand for it.

“I changed my mind,” he snapped.

“You changed your— Holy crap! This is so not right!” While I wanted my Kale back in his entirety, the new version seemed to have slightly more faith in my ability to handle things on my own. And now he was reverting?

His eyes widened and he leaned closer. “Can you possibly blame me? When I agreed to this, I had no clue what these people were capable of. Now that I’m starting to remember, I don’t want you here.”

I folded my arms. “And how are you going to explain my disappearance?”

He matched my stance as well as my stubborn expression. “You’re wearing Kiernan’s face. You left me in the hall and walked out on your own. Not complicated.”

Talk about role reversal. “Everything’s
complicated
,” I mumbled. He was right, though. Kiernan wouldn’t be out forever. A prolonged stay wasn’t something I had any interest in, but there was still one minor problem. “What about Kiernan?”

“What about her?”

I had to tell myself to close my mouth. “Um, she’s still wearing
my face
? Trust me—I’ve been down this road before. It’s creepy, not to mention she’s the last person I want walking around in my skin.”

Kale frowned. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Further proof that he wasn’t himself. My Kale was sharp. Always thinking—always aware.

“If I swap her back and leave, you promise to lift the vial and get out, right?”

“Yes.”

I sighed. The idea of leaving him behind—especially with Ms. Gropey Fingers—made my skin crawl, but there weren’t a whole lot of options at this point. “Fine,” I relented. “Let’s get back to the room. According to what Devin said, she should be out for a while longer. That’ll give me enough time to switch her back and slip out before anyone notices.”

“There!” I shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

Well, Kiernan-as-me shouted.

My sister had woken up early.

28

I whirled to run the other way, but four agents were just coming through the door on the landing above us. There was no way I’d get through them. Not without Kale’s help—and I couldn’t get that. Not without blowing his cover. And if his cover was blown, not only would we both be trapped here, but any hope of snagging the cure would be gone forever.

In short, I was screwed.

Kiernan stomped up the steps, eyes on me and expression fuming. “That’s Kiernan, Kale,” she spat.

Kale, to his credit, shot her a look of confusion that would have even fooled me. He looked from me to her and took a step away from both of us. “What’s going on?”

“She mimicked and knocked me cold.”

Hand on hips, I curled my lip like I’d seen Kiernan do a thousand times when annoyed. “Bullshit. She’s lying!”

“If I’m lying, then how did I get out of the room?” Kiernan growled.

That was a good question—and then I remembered Kale opened the door as I was leaving the room. Kiernan had locked it after stepping inside. Of course she’d have the key to open it. Knowing there was no way out of it, I shrugged and nodded to Kale.

“Busted,” I said simply and closed my eyes. I felt a shiver run through me and when I opened them and looked down, it was my own form I saw, not Kiernan’s.

“Change me back,” she snapped. “This face makes me sick.”

“Make me.”

Her anger melted into smugness. “I don’t need to make you,” she said, grabbing Kale’s arm and tugging him close. “He will.”

He turned to me and, even though I knew it was an act, the threatening tone of his voice gave me chills. “Fix this.
Now
.”

As I touched her hand, I contemplated giving her a little something extra, but with this many agents surrounding me, I decided against it. Instead, I closed my eyes and pictured her as she’d been—the day we first met. Clothes and all.

When I stepped away, Kale stared at her. Her hands flew to her face, a panicked light in her eyes. “What? What did she do?”

“Your hair is different. Purple.”

Kiernan looked horrified. Worried the color might spark Kale’s memory, no doubt. But she recovered quickly. With a smug smile, she said, “Very nice, Kiernan—but sticking
your
old hair color on me won’t work. Kale remembers me.”

“Does he? My bad. He didn’t realize the difference when he was kissing me a few minutes ago,” I said, even though I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t help it, though.

Kale grabbed my arm and spun me closer to the steps. Wiping his mouth with a disgusted expression, he looked at Kiernan. “She’s telling the truth. We did kiss.”

“Is that all you did with her?” She looked genuinely hurt and it took every ounce of self-control not to scream.

Kale never got a chance to answer because Dad appeared at the top of the first landing. “Is there anything you manage to do without screwing it up?”

Kiernan tensed and Kale’s fingers around my arm twitched.

Descending the stairs, Dad locked eyes on Kiernan. In all the years I’d spent with him, and all the stupid crap I’d pulled to get his attention, he’d never once looked at me with as much venom. There was no love in his gaze. No compassion. There was only anger and hate so potent, it made me shudder. “Is there
anything
you’re capable of succeeding at?”

Her cheeks flushing, she looked away from him. “I’m sorry. But in my defense, she—”

“Your
defense?
We don’t need your excuses.” He turned away and said to Kale, “Put Kiernan in holding—
restrained
, please.”

Kale nodded, then guided me down the steps. Kiernan made a move to follow, but from the corner of my eye I saw Dad stop her. He pointed to the door at the top of the steps, then turned on his heel and breezed through.

I’d hoped Kale would bring me down to holding—wherever that was—by himself, but Dad sent two agents with us so there was no choice but to keep up the charade.

We didn’t travel long, and when one of the agents unlocked the door and Kale pushed me inside, I had to remind myself it was all an act.

He shoved me toward the wall and wrenched my right hand up, snapping the same cuff he’d worn just months ago into place. As he moved to restrain the left one, our eyes met. He snapped it closed, then glanced over his shoulder at the two agents standing by the door and back to me.

I knew what he was thinking—and it was too dangerous. We were too close to getting our hands on the vial to ruin it now. I shook my head slightly and let it fall so my hair framed my face. “Don’t,” I whispered. “Please.”

His hands, still on my left wrist, twitched, but after a moment he backed away. Without another word, he turned and breezed through the door, the agents on his heels. Several sharp clicks and a clatter followed as they locked me in.

I held my breath, waiting for them to leave. As soon as the door clicked closed, I’d mimic these puppies and get the hell out of Dodge—but of course, Dad would have thought of that. As the agents walked out, he walked in. “How are you finding the accommodations, Deznee?”

“Why don’t we switch places and you can see for yourself?”

He laughed and closed the door, punching a four-digit code into the keypad on the wall. “There’s that bravado. I have to say… I’ve always found it admirable how you can stand tall even in the face of disaster.” He turned to me. “Or maybe you’re just too ignorant to be fearful?”

“Aww, there’s the Dad I know and hate,” I spat. Leaning as far forward as the chains would allow, I winked knowingly. “So let’s have it—just between you and me. Not exactly brimming with pride over your other spawn, are you?” This was the first time we’d been alone since Kiernan had revealed our shared parentage.

Dad sighed and pulled over the desk chair on the far side of the room. “Kiernan has been somewhat of a disappointment.”

“Who’s her mom?”

Dad shrugged, face impassive. “No one important. An unwilling Resident chosen for her ability to conceal objects by camouflaging them. I’d hoped Kiernan’s ability, aided by the Supremacy drug, would surpass her mother’s.”

“She can move around unseen—and unheard. I’d say that’s an improvement.”

“Oh, it is,” he agreed. “Unfortunately she inherited her mother’s stupidity.”

“Wow.” I chuckled. “Must have been a
West Side Story
kind of love, huh?”

Dad stood and began pacing from side to side. “I trust you appreciate the gravity of your predicament. You were created to be a boon to Denazen, not a hindrance. I’m sure you understand that I can’t let it continue.”

“Is that your way of telling me my time is almost up?”

He smiled, and I was struck by how wrong the expression looked on him. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“Well, then at least let me ask you one thing.”

“I don’t see what it could hurt at this point.”

“Are there any more?”

He stopped pacing and faced me, interested. “Any more what?”

“Kids. Do I have any more freaky sibling science experiments running around out there?”

Dad sighed. He made his way over to the desk in the corner and began pulling open drawers. I couldn’t see what he was doing because he purposefully blocked my view. When he turned back to me, his smile was even wider than before. “I’m going to answer your question, Deznee. I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told another living soul.”

“This should be good,” I mumbled as he stopped a few inches from me. There was something in his pocket. He’d taken it from the desk.

“I loved your mother.”

Laughter. Hysterical and unabashed. “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

His expression didn’t change.

“Holy shit, you’re actually serious?”

He didn’t seem insulted by my disbelief. “I know, I know. But it’s true. She was beautiful and wild and something about her called to me. I was in upper management at the time and viewed Sixes as nothing more than a means to an end. But she was different. For her, I made an exception.”

“If locking her up in your institution of crazy was your way of showing love, then I’d hate to see how you treat the people you hate.”

Smile still firmly in place, Dad lashed out his hand and clipped me hard across the cheek. “
You
should know. I hate you. Still, I kept you even though I knew the truth.”

The air thinned, and despite the stinging itch spanning the entire right side of my cheek, a chill had settled in the room. “Truth? What truth?”

“I lied, of course. Had a test done and changed the results in my favor, but as you grew, it was so obvious. That’s how much I loved her, Deznee. I put up with you.”

“What,” I snapped. His words were making me dizzy. “
What
was obvious?”

He came close—so close that we breathed the same air. A moment later something sharp pricked the skin on my forearm. When he pulled away, he wiggled a small hypodermic needle in front of my face. “The answer is yes, Deznee. You do have a sibling—and it’s not Kiernan because
she’s
my daughter. You are not.”