The Similars (The Similars #1)(56)

“What do you mean, you’ll plateau? You won’t get older?”

“We’re not totally sure.” He shrugs. “It’s simply one more way in which we’re different. That’s the polite way of saying we’re freaks. It’s the reason our guardian told us we’d never lead normal lives.”

“You don’t know that,” I insist.

“Don’t I? Look, Emma. Do you understand why I didn’t tell you all this earlier at the lake? You were never supposed to see that. You were never—are never—supposed to know.”

“Of course not,” I say hotly. “Because I’m never supposed to know anything about you. About your life. About what you feel, or think, or believe. I knew nearly everything about Oliver, but you’re not him!”

“Is that really how you see me?” he asks. His voice sounds so painfully sad.

A sudden guilt washes over me. I know he’s kind. I know he’s the most infuriating person I’ve ever met, and also the most insightful. I know he’s suffered. I know he shares Oliver’s DNA, and yet they are not the same. But I can’t. I don’t…

“Yes,” I say instead. “Yes, that’s how I see you—”

“It’s for your own good!” he shouts, then lowers his voice. “You have to trust me, Emma. I’ve just told you the one thing that is very much in my self-interest—and yours—for you to never know about.” He gets up and starts to walk away.

“What?” I ask, my own voice coming out violent. I get up too. “That I can’t hurt you?” I follow my question by pushing him, hard—hard for me, anyway. Levi isn’t expecting my sudden outburst and trips backward a step before finding his footing. I see something in his eyes engage. I’d never win against him in a fight, but what I’m doing isn’t logical; it’s primal. I push him again, even harder this time. “That you’re the only one who has the power to hurt me? And not the other way around?”

Levi doesn’t say anything. I think he’s too stunned. I keep pushing him, over and over, until my pushes turn into punches. “I can’t hurt you, right? I can’t cause you pain because of your ‘special properties’?”

I treat his torso like a punching bag, hitting harder with each blow. “You said Theodora never bruises? Well, I’m glad you do!” I shove at him with all my strength, then collapse into myself.

Levi catches me in his arms. He holds me so tight I almost can’t breathe. Leaning against his body, I can feel his every breath as his chest rises and falls, rises and falls. We don’t speak. He keeps his arms fixed around me, and I let him.

Oh my God, I think. What did I do, lashing out at him like that? I start to apologize. “Levi—” Suddenly, his lips are on mine. Our mouths meet, and heat rushes from my head to my outer extremities as I kiss him back.

I can’t explain it. I can’t control it. But we are both hungry and desperate. Our kiss is anything but soft or sweet. It is hard, raw. Ugly, even. Yet inexplicably tender too. The heat from our bodies merges. Somewhere in the back of my mind I register that this is inadvisable, not good for either of us—is it?—and yet, all I want is in front of me, right now. Don’t stop.

But he does. Abruptly. He lets go of me, and we step back. I feel the absence of his touch instantly. It’s cold and unwelcome. I dislike it.

Levi runs his hands through his hair. My heart thuds so loudly in my chest, I’m sure he can hear it.

“Did we just—?” Levi asks.

“Yes,” I answer softly, finally meeting his eyes.

“We don’t even like each other,” he says.

“No,” I answer. “We don’t.”

For a minute, we’re both silent.

“Emma?”

“Yes?” I answer quickly.

“Please forget everything I told you. I’m not saying this for my sake. It’s for yours too.”

Is he serious? “I’m not a bot,” I snap. “I can’t reboot myself and pretend I don’t know that you and the Similars have special powers.”

“They aren’t powers! For God’s sake, Emma. What I told you—”

“You told her?” asks a bleak voice. We both turn to see five figures standing behind us in the lamplight. It’s Maude, Jago, Theodora, Ansel, and Pippa.

Did they see us? Did they see…everything?

I’m nearly certain they did. I have no idea how long they’ve been standing there, but it’s not like we’re particularly hidden.

“She knows?” Maude asks as she looks from Levi to me and back again.

“Yes. I told her, but not on purpose…”

“Irrelevant!” Maude shouts before regaining her composure. “It doesn’t matter why you told her. She knows. That changes everything.”

“She knows about the tasks too,” says Pippa. The others turn to look at her.

“You told her about those?” Theodora asks, incredulous.

“She found out when Jane and Booker’s shares of Ward, Inc. were transferred to our guardian,” Levi says in explanation. “It was bound to come out. It’s not as though she knows the details…”

“Just that we have them,” says Ansel. Levi nods. I cross my arms over my chest, ignoring the chill running up my spine. I feel cornered. Surrounded. They’re just like you, Emmaline. Human beings with super strength, I remind myself, then push that thought out of my head.