The empty bed greeted me.
Pushing up, I blew curls out of my eyes and surveyed my surroundings. I had no memory of moving into a bedroom and mused that I could have sleepwalked here. I did have a history of that.
Disappointment strummed through me that I was alone. Flint and I had never slept beside one another. Not really at least. It had been too hard at the ranch since we tried to respect our roommates. None of them appreciated our kissing and petting on display. Not to mention twin sized beds weren’t exactly practical for that sort of thing.
My fingers drifted to the indent lining the pillow beside me. I leaned down and inhaled. Flint’s unique scent wafted up. So he had slept here. I smiled, but then a frown tugged at my lips. We still hadn’t slept together, though. Well, at least not that I knew of. Perhaps we had before we re-met in August, but I simply didn’t remember it.
Flint’s distant figure abruptly appeared in the bedroom door. He was pacing in the large family room outside the bedroom. After a few paces, he stopped and stood quietly by the wall of windows. He gazed at the desert landscape, hands stuffed in his jean pockets, his profile a chiseled line. In the sun, his beautiful chestnut hair shone with dark streaks of gold.
I got up and quickly dressed. When I approached him, he didn’t seem to know I was there. I encircled his waist from behind and buried my face between his shoulder blades.
“Good morning.” His voice was a deep rumble.
“Morning, did you sleep at all?”
“A few hours.”
“Flint? Lena?” a voice called from the stairs. It was Di. “Are you two coming up?”
Flint turned and gave me a brief hug. Dark circles lined his eyes. “Let’s go.”
I glanced at the clock when we all gathered in the living room. It was almost ten in the morning. Everyone else was up and talking nervously to one another. From the whispered comments, it sounded as if everyone knew about the “additional abilities” that Conroy had told us about in the car. Despite the chance of side effects, most seemed eager to take it.
Conroy had sold his drug well. If we wanted to defeat O’Brien, what better way to do that than to present our strongest selves?
The older scientist was nowhere to be seen. I approached Di. That manic gleam was in her eyes again. “Do you know if Conroy discovered anything about that man in the sedan?”
Di sipped her coffee and nodded. “He came back clean. His description matches the driver’s license photo of the man registered to that vehicle.”
“So he doesn’t work for O’Brien? They don’t know we’re here?”
“No, not yet.”
Not yet. Right.
Nervous energy churned in me when I walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. When I returned, Flint was standing in front of the windows again. He stood like he had been in the basement: still, not moving. He looked like a statue, hard marble carved with graceful strokes. His gaze was trained on something in the distance. I could only imagine what he was thinking.
The sky was overcast with spurts of blue intermingled among the white cloud cover. Mountains bathed in snow surrounded the rolling hills. The high mountain desert was beautiful, and in a way, reminded me of Hideaway Hills.
Jacinda appeared at my side. “Are you nervous?” Her honey-brown eyes were especially bright this morning. Dark circles also lined her eyes. It seemed everyone was on edge.
“A little. You?”
She nodded.
Mica approached. She held up a plate of food. “Conroy made quite the spread in there. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, you name it. You guys eat yet?”
We both shook our heads.
“Better get some before it’s all gone!” Mica said cheerfully before taking a big bite of eggs.
I smiled. Mica’s appetite hadn’t diminished in the slightest since leaving Hideaway Hills. It didn’t seem the prospect of being drugged and potentially suffering severe side effects affected it.
“I think I’ll wait until we’re done.” I was too nervous to eat, which was probably an absolute first for me. Food and I usually got along quite well, but I kept thinking about what Flint was doing. For me.
“I’ll stick with the coffee.” Jacinda held up the steaming mug in her hand.
Mica shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She ambled toward Jet and Jasper. For once, Amber wasn’t with them. Mica smiled brightly at Jasper when she reached his side.
I glanced at Flint. He still hadn’t moved.
“All right, everyone, gather round.” Conroy emerged from the hallway. He carried a briefcase and was dressed more elegantly than I’d ever seen. Tan dress pants, a navy sweater and a button up shirt underneath. The pants were smooth, the sweater tailored perfectly. Everything about his clothes hinted at money. I wondered if the outdoor gear he’d been wearing since we met wasn’t his usual attire. Perhaps this was.
I frowned. Those thoughts only made me realize that Flint may be right. We didn’t know Conroy at all. I switched my vision. Conroy’s beautiful rainbow cloud appeared. It billowed around his shoulders. Despite the faint colors, it was vibrant and unique. My worry evaporated. An instinct deep inside of me told me that I could trust Conroy. I trusted my instinct. It had kept me alive during my homeless months.
Flint finally turned from the window, his expression stony. For a brief second, it faltered. Once again, a fleeting glimpse of fear emerged.
My shoulders slumped. He was doing this for me and only me. It didn’t seem he was remotely interested in our childhood or pasts. He was happy to live in the present, but he didn’t want to risk me being hurt by the drug, so he was going to take it first. Never mind that the drug may affect each of us differently. Never mind that one of us may experience side effects that the other didn’t. He would still insist on going ahead of me.
I stepped closer to him. Flint put his arm around my shoulders and gripped me tightly. Leaning down, he buried his nose in my hair and inhaled.
I squeezed him back.
Conroy stepped into the middle of the living room. Everyone formed a circle around him, including Amber, who had finally appeared. Conroy put a strange looking briefcase on the center coffee table. It opened with a hiss, revealing rows of glass vials.
Conroy removed several vials and a handful of incredibly long syringes. My eyes widened.
“The drug will need to be injected. It’s not an easy procedure as it requires a lumbar puncture. From there, it will travel up the spinal column before it passes through the blood brain barrier. I’ll only be able to inject one of you at a time, and you’ll need to be monitored afterward. This will most likely take all day.”
“I can help,” Di said. “It’ll go faster if I help.”
Conroy smiled, a knowing glint in his eyes. “If you’d like to help, Diamond, I’d appreciate your assistance.”
I marveled again that Di was a doctor. Apparently, Conroy had taught her, and although she didn’t hold an official degree, she was a very talented physician.
“I’ll let all of you decide who will go first,” Conroy continued. “From there—”
“Wait a minute,” Flint interrupted. His entire body tensed against me as a push of power rolled off him.
I gasped when it hit me. It felt like a hot wave as powerful as the surf pounding the shore.
“You said this requires a lumbar puncture?” Flint asked.
Conroy nodded. “Correct.”
“But if that’s true, how did you administer the drug to yourself?”
The nervous whispering that had been traveling in the living room stopped.
“You claim to have already taken it,” Flint said tightly. “Yet you couldn’t have given it to yourself, could you?”
I stopped breathing. Flint was right. There was no way Conroy could have injected this drug into himself.
“You’re right,” Conroy replied calmly. “I didn’t give it to myself. Diamond did.”
A few gasps sounded. My gaze darted to Di’s.
Di
looked as surprised as the rest of us. “I did?”
The silence resumed before Mica sat down heavily on one of the couches. I followed suit before pulling Flint down too. I faintly registered how uncomfortable the hard, angular sofa was.
“That means Di knew about this drug,” Jasper said slowly. “Before it was given to us . . .”
Jasper eyed his brother. Their features became a rotating display of every emotional expression. I had no idea what they were saying to one another.
Given what he just revealed, I couldn’t help but question Conroy’s sincerity. It was obvious Flint felt the same. The powerful, hot feeling pouring off him kicked up a notch.
“Is it true?” Jacinda pierced Conroy and Di with suspicious looks. “Did you do this together?”
Conroy sighed. “Yes, Diamond knew about the drugs—”
The energy in the room exploded.
I switched my vision. Everyone’s clouds had quadrupled in size.
Di collapsed onto a chair, wide-eyed. I think it was the first time I’d seen her speechless. Jet and Jasper began shouting accusations, telepathy forgotten. Mica appeared dumbstruck, while Amber practically fell off the couch. Flint remained motionless as hot energy rolled off him.
“Let me finish,” Conroy stated calmly but loudly.
It took a few moments before everyone quieted down. When they did, Conroy said, “Diamond knew about the drugs, but she did not know I intended to use them on you.”
“How could she not know?” Jet’s blue eyes flashed dangerously.
Conroy shook his head. “I was always manufacturing drugs. That was nothing new, and you were all aware of that. I’m a biomedical chemist. It’s what I’ve been doing for over thirty years. My work didn’t stop because we left society. In fact, all of you helped me at one point or another.”
“In that lab under the cabin?” I asked.
“Yes. All of you worked in the lab at various times. That’s where I spent most of my days. Believe it or not, you all know more about chemistry than most chemistry majors.”
Mica’s forehead scrunched up. “We do?”
Conroy smiled, as I almost did, at her stumped expression. “Yes, Mica, you do. Living in the Forbidden Hills for fifteen years gave all of you plenty of time to learn more than most graduates.”
Everyone grew silent again.
I took a deep breath. So far, Conroy had an explanation for everything. Any time anything questionable had arisen, he had been able to give an immediate rational explanation. I figured that could mean one of two things. One, he was telling the truth, or two, he was a good liar who thought quickly on his feet. He was a genius after all. The second option could very well be the reality.
I leaned back on the uncomfortable sofa. I’d trusted Conroy from the first moment we’d met. I knew it came down to two choices. I could either choose to continue trusting him. Or, I could choose Flint’s path and second guess everything Conroy said.
I switched my vision. Once again, a rainbow of colors appeared in Conroy’s cloud. So many colors. Why is his cloud like that?
The only similarity to the eight of our clouds and Conroy’s was the bright blue. However, that was where the similarities ended. The eight of us only had two colors in our clouds—a single color that was unique to each of us mixed with the bright blue. None of us had dozens of colors like Conroy, but the blue in our clouds did match the blue in Conroy’s.
My mouth fell open. I studied everyone’s colors again. I bit my lip. A theory grew in my mind for why we had colorful clouds. However, there was only one way to know for sure if that theory was correct.
Conroy continued on. “I’m not forcing this drug on any of you, but I am recommending it. If you want to defeat O’Brien, you’ll need to be strong. Your memories are one way to help that. If you choose to take it, I will gladly administer it, but if you do not want to take it, that is entirely your choice.”
Everyone eyed one another. It seemed from most of our expressions, the others had reached the same conclusion as me. We either chose to trust Conroy or we didn’t. Regardless, the choice was ours.
“I’m still doing it,” I replied. “I’ll go first.”
Flint tensed. “No, you won’t. I’m first.”
I sighed. I knew he wouldn’t let me, but I figured it was worth a try. I still wanted to give him an out if he had changed his mind.
“You could both have it done at the same time,” Di offered, shaking herself out of silence. “Conroy could inject one of you, and I could inject the other.”
Flint gave Di a sharp look.
Di took a step back. “Right,” she said matter-of-factly. “Lena won’t be going first.”
“I’ll go then,” Mica volunteered, standing up. “If that’s okay, Lena?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s fine.”
Flint turned to me while Conroy led Mica to a table he had set up. “Promise me you won’t go until I’m done,” he whispered.
My breath sucked in at the emotion in Flint’s dark eyes. Once again, they were full of fear. My annoyance vanished as I pulled him into a tight hug. “I promise.”
“Flint?” Di called. She stood by the second table. “You can lie here.”
Conroy was already prepping Mica’s back for the puncture. A large swab of iodine painted her skin orange.
Flint leaned down. He kissed me softly. “Remember your promise.”
In a flash, he was on the table. The movement caused the air to stir and ruffle my hair. “Promise,” I repeated, more to myself than him.
Tears moistened my eyes. I wasn’t sure why, but I was suddenly a jumble of emotions. They flooded me, as if everything inside of me was a whirlpool, swirling about. I couldn’t really explain why I felt this way. Maybe it was the vulnerable position Flint lay in, on his side in a fetal position, his back bare. Or maybe it was fear of the unknown.
I didn’t know.
Di prepped Flint’s back. I hunkered at his side. Flint’s face was expressionless, his gaze blank. Conroy began drawing up the drug into the large syringes.
Jacinda kneeled beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. “He’ll be okay.”
I numbly watched Conroy and Di at work.
Even though I trusted Conroy, I momentarily panicked when Di administered the serum. I almost lunged forward but Jacinda stopped me, her finely boned hands gently yet firmly gripping my arms.
Flint didn’t utter a sound. A few seconds after the serum was in, his eyes closed and he slumped onto the table. My gaze whipped to Conroy.
Conroy smiled sympathetically. “Unconsciousness is expected. The alterations the drugs demand remap one’s brain. To cope, the mind shuts down while letting the drug work its course. He’ll be unconscious for a few hours.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Flint.
He lay deathly still.
THE REST OF the morning passed in a blur. Jasper stayed at my side. He decided to not take the drug until he knew how Jet faired. It seemed reasonable to assume that if one twin had a bad reaction, the other would as well. Jacinda had been hesitant too, but in the end, she seemed to feel similar to me. Wanting to know our pasts trumped potential side effects. She currently lay unconscious on the table along with the others.
Di and Conroy carefully walked between everyone while monitoring their vitals.
Since the lumbar puncture was a sterile procedure and required checks for bleeding and hematomas, it took hours of monitoring afterward. I think I’d once known that. Something faintly registered in my mind, no doubt another long buried memory trying to break free. That had happened periodically over the past six months. All of us randomly remembered things, things that had escaped Conroy’s drug. Frustratingly, however, none of those things had alluded to our identities. They’d simply been things we’d once known, probably what Conroy had taught us. Apparently, it wasn’t only Di who’d been educated in medicine since I faintly remembered a thing or two about lumbar punctures.
Di and Conroy w
orked seamlessly throughout the morning as I paced the living room. From the synchronicity with which they moved, I guessed it wasn’t the first time they’d worked together. Di seemed to anticipate Conroy’s every need and vice versa. If any of us had spent a lot of time with Conroy in his lab, I was guessing it was Di.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, I’d stopped pacing and opted for hovering at Flint’s side. Di lay on her side as Conroy prepped her back. I barely glanced their way. My gaze wouldn’t leave Flint.
Flint’s pulse was strong and steady. His face twitched and moved, while his eyeballs shifted rapidly beneath his lids. I asked Conroy if that was normal.
“Yes. That’s the last stage before waking up. He’s processing memories right now like a dream. When he wakes, they’ll slowly all return to him, and he’ll realize they were never dreams at all but memories.”
I clasped Flint’s hand tightly as I waited for him to wake.
I prayed he’d be okay.
FLINT WOKE MID-AFTERNOON. He was the first to wake. The second he did he squeezed my hand tightly. I snapped my head up from where I’d been resting it on my forearm. His eyes were open, his gaze clear.
“Are you okay?” The anxiety in my voice was evident, even to me.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he smiled and squeezed my hand. “Lena . . .” he whispered.
I covered his hand with both of mine. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “It worked. I remember.”
“Everything?” I knew he would understand that I was referring to O’Brien Pharmaceuticals. Our earliest memories there.
His smile disappeared. For the briefest moment, he frowned. “Yes, everything.”
“And you’re okay? You don’t regret doing it?”
The frown vanished. “If you only knew . . .”
I waited for him to continue. He didn’t. “If I only knew what?”
“You’ll see.”
I cocked my head.
“Galena?” Conroy called. “Are you ready?”
I squeezed Flint’s hand again. “So you’re okay with me doing this?” I didn’t tell him that my mind was made up. I was doing it whether he agreed with me or not.
“I’m okay with it.”
The Complete Lost Children Series Page 31
