The Similars (The Similars #1)(50)

I freeze. What he has planned for them?

“We were all sent here with tasks,” Levi says quietly. “Me, Maude, Jago, Ansel, Pippa, and Theodora.”

“Tasks?” I ask softly.

“Yes. We each have one.”

“I don’t understand.”

“No,” he says, scanning the horizon. “How could you. You think we’re just kids. Teenagers attending Darkwood to get a top-notch education and prepare ourselves for the most prestigious Ivy League universities.”

“Aren’t you?” I ask, but I think I already know the answer.

Levi laughs. “We learned calculus at ten and biophysics at thirteen. We’ve read every classic and written our own. Maude’s an expert computer programmer. Pippa could be playing flute at Carnegie Hall. Trust me, we don’t need a Darkwood education.”

“But your strata,” I insist. “If you’re all more advanced than us, Ansel and Jago should also be in the top five. You and your friends would have taken all five spots.”

“Come on, Emma—think about it. Wouldn’t that have been a tad suspicious?”

“What are you saying?”

“Jago and Ansel didn’t—how should I put this?—‘try their hardest’ on the test. Frankly, none of us did. Though Maude, Theodora, and I still ended up with the top spots.”

“You threw the test.” I feel like an idiot.

“All part of Gravelle’s plan, Emmaline. All part of his plan.”

“What did you mean when you said you had tasks? What kind of tasks?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Mine was to make sure Jane and Booker accepted me into their family and into the family business, so that Gravelle could seize shares of Ward, Inc. He’s wanted to be a major stakeholder in their company for years.”

“But why?”

“He says it’s for my own good.” Levi shrugs. “He told me I’d be reclaiming what was rightfully mine. He says I deserve it, that they owe me, as my DNA parents.”

“But why would you need to sign your shares over to him?”

Levi shrugs again. “He thinks I might make emotional decisions as I get to know my DNA parents. If he owns the shares himself, he can act on my behalf.”

“So you knew about this,” I say, trying to comprehend. “You knew about this plan all along—this, this task, and you were always planning on going through with it?”

Levi stares into my eyes. “Yes.” He has no shame, no remorse. “I did. And I played my role well,” he says wryly. “You’ve wanted to hate me from the minute I arrived at Darkwood, but you never had a reason—except for the fact that I look like your dead best friend. Congratulations. Now you have all the justification you need. I’m going to get changed.”

Levi walks away, and I’m left standing in that desolate field, wondering if everyone has been right all along. The Similars can’t be trusted.





The Suspect


The wind whips at my cheeks and ears as I hurry back to Cypress, walking as briskly as I can without running. For the first time, I’m afraid of him, of the Similars. He explained about the stock, but he failed to tell me how his cut disappeared like that, so quickly. Are they human? I ask myself, the cold starting to pound in my head. Who—no, what—are they?

Pippa stands outside Cypress waiting for me. I check my plum. It’s 11:55. How did she change and get here so fast? She holds out my key.

“You weren’t in your room when I went by to get you for the session,” she says as an explanation, and she puts the key around my neck. “If I were you, I’d be a little more careful where I left this. I walked right into your room and saw it on your bed.”

For the first time, I cringe being so close to Pippa. She is one of them, after all. I don’t know if I can trust her, or any of them.

I say nothing about what I saw as we walk together up the creaky stairs to the Tower Room. I never thought I would look forward to spending time with Madison, but at least in this group setting, I will be safe.

What are you afraid of, Emma? That they will hurt you? I run the first day of duty over in my mind again: both of us working, Levi and me. Both of us painting. Hearing Pru scream. Entering the boathouse together.

Is that what happened, or is my mind playing tricks on me? He carried Pru to safety, didn’t he? Of course, there’s the possibility that he did that to cover his tracks. But Levi couldn’t be that fast, that devious, that disturbed as to have hurt Pru…could he? He shares Oliver’s DNA. Oliver, who wouldn’t hurt a fly. And yet, their upbringings. They were so drastically different. Oliver was so loved, Levi… I don’t know. Abused? Brainwashed? Pushed to extremes or simply neglected? The way he dove under that water… It scares me to think how strong he might be. How easily he could have grabbed Pru.

It’s the same with Pippa. She shares Pru’s DNA, after all. Surely she can’t be dangerous, I think, as I sit next to her, not taking off my coat. I’m shivering. I take in a sharp breath when Levi enters the room followed by Theodora and Maude. He doesn’t meet my eyes as he sits between his fellow clones. The others arrive, all except Tessa. I wonder if she’ll show, if anyone’s seen her since the news about her father. Madison shuts the door. The click of the lock makes me jump.