Touch (Denazen #1)(79)

“All the other subjects in Supremacy showed early signs. Fin, we believe, only developed his abilities a few months ago. We found him purely by accident last week. He’s quite remarkable. Most element throwers can only manipulate their element. Fin can actually create it. Because of his advanced age, bringing him in willingly was questionable. Especially with Ginger and her people spreading the word through the Six community. We didn’t know if her people had gotten to him. Until we know the success rate of Supremacy past the age of eighteen, we still need to obtain and retain employees the old-fashioned way.”

“You mean kidnapping,” Mom spat. “Ripping families apart and forcing them to steal and kill for you.”

Dad ignored her, laughing. “You never wondered? Denazen? Deznee? I named you for the company you’d one day serve.”

Kale took a step forward.

“Stop right there, 98.” Dad’s smile got wider as he pulled out a small pistol from the folds of his jacket. “To prove to you I’m not quite the bastard you think I am, I’ll give you a choice.”

Kale froze. Maybe he knew what Dad was going to say, maybe he didn’t, but when he turned to me, the terror in his eyes made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck jump up.

“Give me Ginger’s location, and I’ll let you pick one.”

Kale looked from me to Dad, confused. “Pick one?”

“By having Sue mimic Deznee, I hoped to kill two birds with one stone. You see, Sue was the one who instigated this entire mess. She was the traitor I brought here to be retired. She had every comfort at Denazen and she abused it. She began feeding our residents ideas and dangerous thoughts. She told them we were using them. Keeping them locked away as prisoners.”

“Um, you are keeping them locked away,” I said.

He slapped me. It wasn’t hard, but the blow surprised me. I stumbled back and Kale caught me before I could topple over. He didn’t dare make a move on Dad while the gun was still in his hands. Instead, he stayed at my side, clutching me almost painfully close.

“We had an increasing level of problems stemming from disobedience that all came to a head when 98 managed to escape. The news traveled fast, causing further problems.” He waved the gun in a small circle, then pointed it at Mom. “I discovered Sue was the root of the issue, and then this little party came together so nicely, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to take care of the situation.” He turned to me and frowned. “Unfortunately, as usual, Deznee ruined my plans by getting in the way.”

“Me?” I hadn’t managed to accomplish anything. Mom and Kale were, as of that moment, still prisoners of Denazen, and I was about to join them.

Dad turned to Mom, who stared at him with pure, unadulterated hate in her eyes. “98 was compromised when he took off with our tramp of a daughter. I didn’t want to destroy him, but the board already put in the order. They gave me one last chance to fix things, and this was supposed to be the perfect plan.”

“This?” I asked.

“98 grew very attached to Sue. So attached that we were able to use her to control him in the beginning. My plan was to let that work in my favor one last time.”

And then I got it. With a horrifying chill, I understood. She’d seen Kale, thinking he was the shifter she was there to target, and followed him down the hall. Kale thinking it was me, would reach out to take her hand… “You wanted Kale to kill her.”

Dad nodded. “It would have been perfect. He would have been so destroyed by what he’d done, he’d be pliable again.”

Mom laughed. “You’re underestimating him as usual, Marshall. He’s stronger than that.”

“Unfortunately, I did underestimate him. I also underestimated the hold our daughter had on him.”

Kale’s mouth hung open in horror. “How did you know I would touch her?”

He gave a chuckle and nodded toward Mom. “It was a safe bet. One I’m sure would have worked if you hadn’t been interrupted.” He sighed. “I’m giving you a choice. If you tell me where Ginger is, I’ll let you keep one of them. Sue or Deznee.”

“No,” Mom cried.

“Ticktock, 98. Choose quickly or I’ll choose for you.”

“Don’t listen to him, Kale,” I said. “He’s not going to shoot me. I’m too important.”

Kale looked from me to Mom, eyes wide. He stood between us, frozen.

“Kale,” Mom said, voice sharp. “There is no choice here. Do not let this bastard hurt my daughter.”

She reached out and pulled me close, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Kale came with me, stepping dangerously close to mom. She smelled like lavender and cigarettes. I breathed in, committing the scent to memory.

“You are beautiful,” she whispered into my hair as her arms tightened. “I am so glad I got to see for myself what an amazing young woman you’ve become.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn’t. This sounded like good-bye. I pulled away and turned to Kale. “Don’t…”

Fists clenched at his sides, Kale let out an anguished howl. The muscles in his jaw twitched and his fingers flexed. In and out. In and out. He stared at us, clinging together like the world was about to come to an end. Shaking, he took a small step closer to my mom. “Dez, I can’t lose you…”