Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(126)

“Maybe you were a trial or something. I don’t know. But look at the facts! You have the right score, the right age. You had some kind of work done. And now there’s this ‘coincidental’ necklace, which I’ll bet anything you want has some sort of religious meaning—and which I also bet we’ll find with some of the other victims.”

“Which is it?” she demanded. “A vindictive geneticist or a crazy cult?”

“I think it’s what Callista said: both.”

“Right,” said Mae, scoffing. “Because she’s an authority. Don’t drag me into your fanatical theories of—”

She stopped abruptly when she saw her mother standing in the door. Judging from her shocked expression and Tessa’s paleness, he and Mae had gotten pretty loud. He’d been too caught up to notice.

“Is everything okay?” Astrid asked.

“Everything’s fine,” said Mae. “I apologize for the disturbance.” She was the ice princess again, but there was fire in her eyes.

“Everything is not okay!” Justin said. “You guys are so caught up in your polished images and passive-aggressive comments that no one ever comes right out and says anything. Well, I’m going to.” He stared Astrid straight in the eye, uncaring if she thought he was a plebeian savage. “Mrs. Koskinen, was there or was there not genetic manipulation used when Mae was conceived?”

Mae gasped, probably as much from someone actually speaking openly in this house as from the topic itself. He kept his gaze on Astrid, looking for any telltale signs of lying in that impassive face. She was clearly someone who’d perfected controlling what she revealed to the world years ago. Her whole life was built on appearances, and while Mae was good, she was a novice compared to her mother. As it turned out, though, Justin didn’t have to read through any lies.

“Yes,” said Astrid. “Yes, there was.”





[page]CHAPTER 28





HER DRUG





For a moment, Mae couldn’t breathe. She stared at her mother, waiting for something else, some explanation or—preferably—the revelation that this was all a joke. But Mae should’ve known better. Her mother wasn’t the joking type.

“You…you can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m perfectly serious.” Her mother strolled with complete ease into the room, settling down on the plush, satin-covered bed as though she were at tea. “Dr. March’s observations were very astute. Did you really think you were the result of some freak chance? After your siblings?”

“They aren’t that bad. They’re your own kids!” Mae frantically tried to remember how much of the case she and Justin had inadvertently discussed just now. Tessa had been hearing pieces of it for weeks, but it wasn’t her discretion Mae was worried about.

“Yes, Maj. They are. And I love them, just as I love you. I loved you enough to give you your best fighting chance in the world.”

Mae swallowed, still unable to believe this conversation was taking place. “What you’re saying…you broke the law. It’s illegal. It’s unethical.”

Her mother shrugged. “Is it unethical to want healthy children? The government’s too paranoid. What harm was done? You’re here, you’re healthy. Mephistopheles wasn’t unleashed on the world again.”

“I can’t believe Dad would’ve agreed to it.”

“He didn’t need to. You were all in vitro. It was as simple as giving the lab what they needed and letting them do their business. It was what we did at other places for your brother and sister. Your father had no reason to think any more than normal fertilization was going on. I got pregnant, and we got you.” She made it sound so nauseatingly easy.

Justin crossed his arms and leaned against a wall, thoughts churning behind his dark eyes. “He must’ve suspected something later when he saw this perfect face and athletic skills that’d be mind-blowing in a plebeian, let alone a cas—patrician.”

Her mother didn’t deny it. “What was he going to do? Return her?”

Mae felt dizzy and rested a hand on the dresser, steadying herself. That her father had had no part in this was the only piece of sanity in this increasingly unbelievable tale.

“You know the name of whoever did the work?” asked Justin.

“I don’t remember.” Mae’s mother waved a dismissive hand. “I’m sure I could find it in our records somewhere, though they’re not in business anymore.”

“I’m sure they aren’t,” said Justin. “And I’m sure whatever name you’ve got will be untraceable anyway.”

“You should’ve told me this,” said Mae. It was all she could manage.

Her mother actually seemed to find that funny, though there was venom in her voice. “Why? Would that have changed anything? Would you have stayed behind and done your duty? Married respectfully and helped us recoup our losses instead of sleeping around with plebeians?”

There was a lot of Astrid’s response that was out of line, but one word caught Mae’s attention. “Recoup…that’s not why you ran out of money, is it?”

“I took out a number of loans to pay for you,” her mother said, confirming it. “Loans that came due around the time of your disastrous debut. It cost a lot to make that ‘perfect face.’”