Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Do you miss our mom?”
Hurt flickered in his eyes. “Sometimes. But I can’t forget that she left. She took you, but me, she completely gave up.”
And I realized then that we’d experienced the same heartbreak. Our mother had failed us both. “She wasn’t much of a mother to me either,” I whispered.
Questions clouded in his eyes.
“She tried to be normal, but she couldn’t get her act together. She was drunk or stoned more days than she was not. And she had more boyfriends than I care to count. Every new guy was worse than the one before him.” I felt bad for talking about my mother like that after seeing her this last time. But it was the truth. She’d never been a caring mother. Her neglect would have broken me if I hadn’t gone to the FEA.
Zach’s face tightened. “Did they ever hurt you?”
“Apart from the occasional insult, they pretty much ignored me. The loneliness and disgust from our mother were much worse.”
“Disgust?” Zach asked. I realized he’d taken my hand in his. He cared about me. Heat pressed against my eyes.
“Because I was a Variant. When she found out I wasn’t normal, she called me a freak and told me I’d ruined her life.”
“That’s bullshit!” Zach’s face flashed with anger. “She’s a Variant too. Dad said she always hated herself for it. And that’s why she didn’t want me or him.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Zach shook his head. “It’s okay. Now we have each other.”
“I can’t wait to see our father,” I said. Zach looked out of the window, his lips tight.
“Is something wrong?”
He shook his head with what was probably meant to be a reassuring smile. “No. The last few weeks have been exhausting. You didn’t exactly make it easy for us. And Dad was getting more desperate every day. I was worried he’d do something stupid.”
Zach must have seen the confusion on my face. “The hatred between Major and our dad is like a festering ulcer. It can blind you to what’s right and wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
Zach looked like he regretted ever bringing it up in the first place. “Our uncle, our dad’s twin, has been locked up in FEA’s high security prison for twelve years. There hasn’t been a day that our dad hasn’t thought of him. They were really close and now he hasn’t seen him for more than a decade. In all these years, Dad’s hatred toward the man who imprisoned his brother has only grown.” And I suspected my mother’s involvement with my father and Major only fueled the hatred.
I had an uncle in FEA’s prison. I remembered what my mother had said about him.
“He must have done something to be thrown in jail, though, right?”
Zach’s expression twisted. “Many people who are locked up in the FEA prison haven’t done anything more than refuse to work for the FEA. They think having a Variation makes you the belonging of the FEA and thus the FBI.”
Major had ordered Alec to make sure I was under control at all times, so Zach’s words made sense. Every Variant was a possible weapon, and if a weapon didn’t fire for your side, you’d better lock it up. But I also realized that Zach hadn’t exactly answered my question.
“But what about our uncle?”
“Look, I don’t exactly agree with everything he’s done,” Zach said slowly. “But our father loves him and I can see how much it pains him to know his twin is locked up without ever getting a fair trial. Sometimes love for someone can make you blind.”
No one knew that better than me. Even now the memory of Alec’s gray eyes, of his laughter, still made my heart clench. But my love hadn’t blinded me so much I’d hurt others. What did our father’s love for his brother make him do? I opened my mouth to ask, but Zach sat up suddenly.
“We’re here.”
I leaned over him and stared down but there was only barren land and mountains of glowing red rock surrounding us. We were headed right for one of the rocks.
“I don’t see anything. Is it disguised?”
“Yeah. The entire complex is underground. The base of the mountain is actually the entrance.”
My eyes widened. It would be difficult to escape from an underground headquarters. The helicopter was steering straight toward the sharp rocks. I clawed at the seat as the red of the mountains filled the entire width of the windshield. Any moment we’d collide with the rock.
Our blades hit the rock wall. But they didn’t make impact. They passed right through the surface and so did the rest of the helicopter as if the mountain was made of smoke. After a moment of darkness, we entered a huge hangar. And I realized we were inside the mountain.
Zach was smirking. “Not bad, huh?”
“What happened?” I asked dumb founded. I twisted around to look back to where we’d just come from. There was the same red, solid rock, but now we saw it from the inside.