A World of New (A Shade of Vampire, #26)(26)

“They must be lying,” Lethe muttered.

It was extremely disconcerting to me that Shayla hadn’t replied yet. Her large, brown eyes were traced with doubt. I reached out for her arm and grabbed it, forcing her to look at me. “What are you thinking?” I demanded. “Do you think he could be telling the truth?”

She chewed nervously on her lower lip. “As I told you, I don’t know exactly what they did to him. If I knew, it would be more likely that I could find a cure… I can’t recognize for the life of me most of the traces in his blood. I can’t help but think this is merely a ruse to get us to hand him over—for whatever reason they want him so badly—but of course, I can’t say for certain that they’re lying.”

I drew in a sharp breath and gazed back up at the hunters. Handing Josh back to them felt like it would be certain death, surely. Either death, or some kind of prolonged miserable existence. How could we hand him back over?

I took the amplifier from Shayla and yelled, “What did you do to him?”

“Hand him over!” the hunter roared.

“Why? What treatments have you been giving him?”

No response.

Oh, God. My breathing coming hard and fast, I twisted to face Shayla again. I was so tempted to suggest that we immediately launch an attack on the IBSI and drive them away, but… that hunter’s guarantee of Josh’s death had arrested my mind. I couldn’t shake the biting doubt. What if it really were true? And who was I to make this kind of decision to ignore or accept his words? This wasn’t my life. This was Josh’s. It was only right that I talk to him about this… even though it killed me to lay this kind of stress on him—just when he had been showing some tiny signs of progress.

“L-Let me go and talk to Josh,” I stammered, as the hunters dropped yet another explosive.

“Where is he?” Shayla asked.

“I left him in my apartment. Lethe, please take me there.”

Lethe soared away with me over the treetops. As we reached my treehouse, he paused and lowered to the veranda, allowing me to leap down. I raced into the apartment to find that Josh had moved up to the window and was staring out at the chopper-filled sky over the Port.

He turned to me as I entered, looking just as confused and anxious as he had when I’d left him.

“What is going on?” he croaked.

I drew in a deep breath, buying myself time as I thought about how best to explain this to him. But in the end I figured it was best to just tell him the hard truth and not try to sugarcoat it.

“The IBSI… They admitted that they were using you as a specimen for experimentation, though they refuse to say what for… but they’re demanding that we hand you back to them.”

His eyes bulged. “What? How do they even know I am here?”

I scanned his face, neck, arms, and hands: every inch of his skin that was uncovered by clothing. “They claim to have inserted some kind of tracker in you. But right now, that’s beside the point.” I swallowed hard, steeling myself for my next words. “Josh,” I said, “they’re claiming that if we do not return you, you’re going to die.”

He stared at me, dumbstruck. “Die? Die from what?”

“Well, that’s just it,” I said, blowing out in frustration. “We have no idea. A part of me thinks that they’re simply lying and this is some stupid ruse to get us to give you up, but another part of me is… afraid.” I paused again. “I hate to lay this on you, Josh. I really do. But this is a decision that none of us can make. This is your life. You need to decide.”

He covered his face with his hands, rubbing his temples, even as he let out a low groan. “I would rather die than return to them.”

Although that was what I’d expected he would say, I didn’t voice my agreement. He needed to make this decision without any interference on my part.

He raised his head and gazed out again at the choppers, buzzing around in the sky like angry black hornets. He shook his head, shuddering. His brown eyes darkened. “I don’t want to go back to them.”

He might’ve lost his memory, but deep down I believed he must have still been conscious of the trauma they had put him through.

“For all I know,” he went on, “they could wipe my brain all over again. Lock me back in some tiny, airtight bunker for God knows how long.”

As more explosions were let off, I said, “Are you sure about this? Don’t feel you have to rush to make a decision. These hunters might be causing a disturbance, but they can’t get inside. No matter how hard they try. You have time to think about this.”

He took another moment to think, but then met my eyes, his mouth set in a thin hard line, his expression resolute. “I would rather assume that they are lying than take the risk that they are not.”

I held his gaze for several moments longer, trying to verify whether I really saw true conviction in them. I did. He had made up his mind. “Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll go and tell Shayla your decision.” I was about to rush out again but I held back to give his hand a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of this.”

Then I turned on my heel and returned to the veranda before resuming my seat on Lethe’s back.

As he carried me back to the Port, I tried to fill my mind with only positive thoughts. I tried to reason with myself. We were seeing small signs of improvement in Josh, like his being able to hold in solid food, and his stamina slowly rebuilding. If the hunter really was telling the truth, how would that be possible? Wouldn’t he only be getting worse?