Touch (Denazen #1)(21)

I settled back, across from Kale. “Tell me what Denazen is like?”

“Please don’t ask me that,” he whispered.

“Is it painful? To talk about, I mean? Bad memories?”

Across from me, he opened his eyes. “It’s—unpleasant. Why do you want to hear about it?”

“Were you—I mean, did they keep you in a cage?”

For a minute, I didn’t think he’d answer. I felt bad for pushing it, but I wanted to know more. Needed to know. My mom was in there.

Jaw tight, he said, “Not all the time, no.”

I swallowed. “But some of the time?”

His fingers twitched. One by one, he started flicking them. “I was… difficult as a child. I resisted. Fought them. But they have their methods of gaining control.”

The quiet fury in his voice made my blood run cold. I wanted to know what methods they had, but didn’t dare ask.

“After awhile, I was allowed to live with Sue in her unit as long as I behaved.” He laughed. “I see now that they were trying to keep me pacified because they couldn’t control me.”

My stomach twisted. “So my mom wasn’t locked up?”

He frowned. “Denazen uses any method necessary to ensure control. Some are brainwashed into thinking their assignments are doing good. Helping people. While others, the not so pliable, are forced. There was no need to keep Sue locked up. Cross kept her a prisoner with a single threat.”

What would be enough to keep someone in such a horrible place, doing such horrible things?

Then it hit me. “Dad threatened to hurt me.”

“She would have done anything for them to keep you safe, as I would have done anything to keep her safe.” He reached across and grabbed my hand. “And now, you as well.”

As comforting as it was, I pulled free from his grasp. “Me? Why me?”

“Because you are brave. Strong. Not easily broken.” He leaned back, closing his eyes again. “You’re like me. You make me feel…nice.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that threatened to overtake my face. Situation aside, Kale made me feel kind of nice, too.

Despite the cramped space, my eyes grew heavy. Kale’s voice, the warmth of his body so close to mine, was soothing. A strange way to look at things considering our circumstance, but there it was. Despite Denazen scouring the city—and from the look on Dad’s face when Kale and I ran, I knew they were—I felt pretty safe here with him. Kale was different from anyone I’d ever met. Sure, he’d spent his entire life thinking he was nothing more than a killer, but it was more than that.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

Despite the life he’d endured, Kale was a good person. Fiercely loyal and courageous. To have lived through what he had and still have those qualities… It was amazing, not to mention miraculous. He’d called me brave and strong? I couldn’t hold a candle to him.

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. The last forty-eight hours of my life had been crazy with a heaping side of fail. How could I have not seen this coming? How could I have not known? The whole thing had been under my nose the entire time. I wondered what the FML post would look like.

Today, when my father tried to shoot me, I found out he was an assassin monger who’s been keeping my mom locked away in a secret facility for freaky killers. FML.

Seriously. F.M.L.





8


I woke up the next morning with a serious case of have-to-pee—now. The rain splashing against the ground outside didn’t help. I’d drifted off to sleep curled up next to Kale. When I opened my eyes, he was at the edge of the tube, watching the rain. Every few moments, he’d reach out and let it fall across his skin.

“I’ve never felt anything like it,” he said without turning. How he’d known I was awake was a mystery. He pushed up the sleeves of his borrowed blue shirt, now soaked. “It’s cold and wet, yet still pleasant.”

“You’ve never been in the rain before?”

He shrugged, but said nothing.

Never out in the rain? Jesus. Each minute I spent with Kale made me question my perception of reality. How the hell had I missed seeing who Dad really was? Maybe, deep down, I hadn’t. I’d chosen to hide things from him at an early age. Keep certain parts of myself a secret. Suddenly I wondered if maybe—just maybe—a part of me recognized him for what he truly was right from the start. A monster. “We better get moving.”

“Moving to where?”

I went to pull my phone from my back pocket to text Brandt, but remembered I’d smashed it. Great. Cut off. Digging into the duffle bag I’d miraculously been able to hold onto during everything, I pulled out the remaining cash and stuffed it in my back pocket. “I’m starved. Let’s go see what time it is, get some noms, and go find Alex Mojourn.”

Kale climbed from the tube, then leaned over to help me out. If possible, the rain fell harder now. We were soaked almost instantly. Fantastic. Now on top of homeless chic, I’d be rocking the drowned rat look.

Kale didn’t seem to mind. He shook his head, sending droplets out in every direction. “Where do we look? The man died before telling us where to find this person.”

I sighed and brushed soggy bangs away from my face. “I know where he is.”